English, in addition to other subjects, is compulsory for FY students at ELI, KAU. The students
must pass four levels of general English courses in one year, or one and half year maximum, if
needed, before they are allowed
to enroll in different colleges. These intensive courses are taught
in four six
-
seven
-
week modules, which translate into 18 hours a week. A placement test is
administered in the summer prior to the beginning of the academic year to place the students in
t
heir appropriate levels. Therefore, students can be exempted from one to three levels, according
to a set of cut scores that are carefully designed to match the CEFR (Common European
Framework of Reference). They can also be totally exempted if they score
the required marks in
IELTS, or TOEFL.
The study included 47 FY science and arts students. The sample was randomly selected from
levels 3 and 4, as these represent the majority of the students in the module when the study took
place (module 3). The partic
ipants answered a questionnaire which was carefully developed to
address the research questions. Some of the statements/questions were adapted from previous
literature and the rest were devised by the researcher.
The questionnaire consisted of two parts. T
he first part, which had 17 statements, utilized the
Likert scale, asking the students to choose one of the following responses as appropriate for
them: Strongly Agree, Agree, Don‟t Know, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. The second part
had four questions
and an open
-
ended question in the form of a statement that required
completion. Questions 18
-
21 allowed the students to choose one or more from a list of responses.
Also, in questions 18 and 21, the option „Other, specify.‟ gave the students the chance to
add
their own responses. Statement 22 asked that the students complete the statement with their own
ideas about what could make them learn English better. The questionnaire was translated into
Arabic to ensure optimal understanding among all students and t
o eliminate any potential
language barrier that could prevent them from expressing their full opinions. A pilot study was
carried out on a small scale to make sure that the questions were clear and elicited proper
responses.
The data collected were of two
types, i.e. quantitative (statements/questions 1
-
21) and qualitative
(statement 22). For the quantitative part of the data, the responses were analyzed, tabulated and
the percentages were calculated. As for the qualitative part of the data, which consiste
d of
students‟ completions of a statement, responses were translated into English, listed, then
categorized into sections, according to the theme to which they are related. The qualitative
method was chosen for this part because its main purpose was to exp
lore students‟ ideas and
suggestions to enhance their achievement in learning English.