Investigating EFL Teacher Preparation Diploma Programme in Saudi Arabia: a Case Study

The purpose of my research is to examine the English language (EFL) teacher preparing diploma programme which is run at a Saudi university in the form of a case study to get a broad picture of the teaching/learning strategy that takes place there and explain the educational, social and gender contexts using globally recognized methods and reflexivity to explore the case in more depth. This research also aims to explore difficulties faced by student teachers who are graduates from different majors to teach English language to students in Saudi elementary schools. and identify the measures that need to be incorporated for further improvement of their overall practice. The researcher employed an observational research and used questionnaires and interviews with twenty four student teachers, five teachers and one programme manager from a Saudi university. It has been found that the teacher training programme needs concentration on several aspects, condensation within the teaching period and enhancing hours for teaching and consistency between its courses and the subjects. The subjects of the programme are to be designed coherently for skill enhancement of the students. On the other hand, the interdependency as well as relationship between subjects is needed for the purpose of arranging the parts sequentially.

The study carried out in this research can be highly beneficial for the universities of Saudi Arabia and other regions, which are running the teacher training programme. These universities can evaluate the measures which are given importance by the student teachers for the enhancement of their teaching skills. They can incorporate measures through which the student teachers can perform in a better manner in their future, which could be highly beneficial for their students. The perception of student teachers with regard to the programme manager's role, teacher's role and their teaching practice are to be given an important concern, if the university expects to produce favourable results through the programme.