CONCLUSION
This essay discussed the dilemma of Saudi public school students’ deficiency in English communication competence by drawing on a review of the literature and personalexperience in the field. It explored the possible causes of this deficiency and approached some resolutions that stakeholders might consider applying in the future. These resolutions are as follows:
⁃ English departments in Saudi universities should reform their policies to guarantee quality in the training of future Saudi teachers.
⁃ The Ministry of Education should reframe its English language learning goals in public schools to ensure Saudi students can compete in international domains. In addition, the ministry should rewrite its testing policies to emphasise quality over quantity in examinations.
⁃ Students will benefit from the young age factor in SLA if the ministry introduces English as a compulsory course in the first grade in public elementary schools.
⁃ Teachers should adopt contemporary teaching methods that appreciate students’ needs and learning styles and encourage stress-free classrooms that engender positive attitudes towards language learning, such as the CLT approach.
⁃ Teachers should encourage Saudi students to take charge of their learning by helping them discover what they are capable of. It is the teachers’ duty to guide students at this stage to develop self-awareness. This is a significant issue when teachers cannot meet students’ diverse needs in the classroom.
⁃ Authenticity and technological devices are essential in creating a lively classroom and avoiding boring textbooks and tasks.
⁃ Implementing some of these changes will improve students’ motivation to learn English and change their attitude towards language learning.
⁃ The government should consider the long-term option of transforming some public schools into bilingual schools. This could save money that would otherwise be spent to send Saudi students abroad to study the English language
⁃ Founding a research centre will enable stakeholders to keep an eye on every new matter in the field and provide statistics and studies to help inform stakeholders’ decisions.
Improving students’ English speaking proficiency in Saudi public schools requires the total cooperation and dedication of teachers, students and the Saudi educational system. Without modifying every element of the triangle and the circle, true success is impossible. This essay has provided some general suggestions that each stakeholder might consider, but further research needs to be conducted in this area. In particular, converting Saudi public schools into bilingual schools will be a big undertaking and require perfect planning.