English as Second Language (ESL) Learners in Saudi Arabia

Introduction

Language is the most powerful and effective tool of communication. Without spoken words, men cannot communicate with each other. Language has a great impact on man's cognitive development. This is to say that without any language, man would have difficulty to think, as they are unable to integrate and associate the things they see in words, and that they are unable to describe their feelings and define, construct and translate their thoughts to a communicative form. Every nation has its own national language and set of native languages or dialects. In Saudi Arabia, the country's national language is Arabic. The Saudis express themselves and communicate with each other using Arabic.

This case study primarily focuses on the Saudi English as second language (ESL) learners. Consequently, it would also dwell on the problems that they usually encounter in the process of learning the English language, including all the challenges they typically deal with like problems in grammar, pronunciation, syntaxes, tenses, prepositions, among many others. Further, the case study would also look into the problems why students in Saudi Arabia, perhaps including some Arab countries, have difficulties learning and understanding the English language. At the latter part of this study, recommendations and suggestions will be laid out regarding how to overcome these problems and challenges.

External Forces of Bilingualism

However, in this age of Information Technology and globalization, most nations, including Saudi Arabia, have to cope with the technological, scientific, social, political, academic, and even linguistic changes that take place across the globe. Both Information Technology and globalization are taking the world by storm, as they have their own codes, systems, purposes, standards, and, of course, language. Information Technology is almost synonymous to the world we live in, as people on Earth now breathe and communicate in a global village. It has an indefinite, tremendous, and supreme impact on trade, academic, and people's way of life. On the other hand, globalization is now the trade system that is dominating the world market. Saudi Arabia, being one of the world's top exporters of petroleum, is also bound by the terms and effects of IT and globalization.

The English language is now the lingua franca of the modern world. English is the main medium of world trade, information technology, global universities, and globalization. Most contracts binding multinational companies are drafted and written in English, including major international laws, treaties, and agreements that have major effects on global politics and wide-scale trade and industry. Because of the far-reaching effects and influence of globalization, whose official language is English and whose official tool is IT, nations are now looking at many ways to cope with fast-paced international developments, and of which is by uplifting the quality of their education to global standards.

Despite its stable economy fueled by oil products, Saudi Arabia is not spared by these expansive global changes. The Saudi government has been making ways to uplift its educational standards in order to deal with the requirements and opportunities of both globalization and Information Technology. Saudi Arabia's educational institutions, mostly those private schools, are now including English subjects in their own curriculum. This only means that the Saudi government is really preparing its students for the competitive market that is IT and globalization.

The ESL Learner

In the beginning most English schools in Saudi Arabia were largely catering to the children of expatriates working in the oil-rich kingdom. But due to the advent of the age of Information Technology and the unprecedented effects of globalization on the interests of countries in the global market, more and more Saudi students are now studying English as they subsidiary language mainly due to government support and fundings. This is evidenced by the spread and unprecedented proliferation of academic institutions offering English-related courses and the increase in the number of English teachers in Saudi Arabia.

Many Saudi students now would like to upgrade their educational level by learning English. In fact, parents of Saudi students are ready spend plenty of much money just to send their children to reputable schools abroad, particularly in the United States and Canada. The top destination of most Saudi students looking forward to upgrade their level of learning is the United States (Shemary 2008). The Saudi government through the Program of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz is currently offering a multi-stage scholarship grants to deserving Saudi students. This is perhaps a political move to prepare the oil-rich kingdom for its economic goals in the near future.

To show its seriousness in giving quality education to its students, the Saudi government recently offered scholarship grants to about 7,000 students to study in countries with the best universities in the world- Canada, the US, Great Britain and Australia.

At home, most students now start to learn the English language at a grade level. This means that students will continuous learning and schooling of the English language. Due to massive industrialization that took place about thirty years ago and the advent of computerization in the last decade, Saudi students are compelled to compensate the needs and opportunities offered by the country's labor market, and to achieve this, the kingdom-government turned to education sector.

Government Initiative

Education has a great impact on the economy and workforce of a country. About three or four decades ago, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established its first Ministry of Education to resolve the increasing demands of its labor market due to immense industrialization (Hendrickson 2007, p.6). With its over 20 million population, the Saudi government sought to improve its own workforce that would replace its foreign workers. However it was found out that there was a large discrepancy between the needs of its stable economy and the country's educational system.

The Saudi government also saw the need to integrate the English language into the school curriculum in order to meet the need its evolving economy. This mode was even more triggered by the arrival of the Information Technology era that galvanized the influence and effects of globalization. As a result, many international schools have been granted permission to operate in year 2006 (Hendrickson 2007, p.6). Accordingly the kingdom had adopted two ways to improve the quality of its workforce. One is by improving its academic system at home by integrating English into school curriculum, and the other is by sending thousands of scholars abroad.

Massive scholarship programs have been offered to more than ten thousand Saudi students few years ago to study primarily in the United States and Canada. Part of the kingdom's educational system is the adoption of the English proficiency test that seeks to monitor the potentials of Saudi Students.

The country's academic policy seeks to establish two areas of concern: to upgrade the quality of education and to improve the academic system (Hendrickson 2007, p.11). This is done by starting to educate the Saudi children before the age of six, and that they continuously receive quality schooling until they reach the secondary and then the tertiary level. The government emphasizes much premium on its academic system through maintaining and protecting the Islamic values that should be part of the school academic program. To upgrade and enhance the academic program, the following aspects are largely and thoroughly considered: by updating the educational program and school offerings, connecting the purpose of the educational system to the demands of the country, forming and building up an academic infrastructure that would support information technology and communication system that are instrumental to the ends of education, and fortifying the values of integrity and accountability (Hendrickson 2007, p.11).

What is Bilingualism?

Bilingualism refers to the system that seeks to teach individuals two or more languages. There are many aspects that would give rise to bilingualism. Some of which are immigration, colonization, state-formation, cultural pluralism, cultures of exogamy, and innovation. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the rise of bilingualism was due to its internal demands and external factors. It is internal because of requirements of the kingdom's domestic economy, like the need for native workers, industrialization, Saudization, among many others. On the other hand, it is also external because of the changing formation of global economy that led to several socio-political and economic changes. One best example is the age of Information Technology whose official language is English.

Many technical books related to and concerning IT are written in the English language. Also, the ultra-rapid rise of IT fueled the proliferation of the culture and trends of globalization that is now the dominant system of global trade and industry. This is to say that most contracts involving multi-national companies are drafted and written in English. In Saudi Arabia, most oil executives were educated abroad, most particularly in the United States, so to better communicate with foreign investors and businessmen.

Bilingualism is mainly due to the wide adoption of a second language (L2) (Second Language Learning Bilingualism n.d.). It may be true that in this age, L2 is learned at an early age. However, apart from the old causes of bilingualism like colonization and migration, some of its driving forces in the modern age are the rise of IT and the need to study abroad. This is particularly true in Saudi Arabia that is regularly sending over ten thousand students abroad as already well elaborated above.

There are, however, several corollary effects of bilingualism, which are either positive or negative. Needless to say, the positive significance of bilingualism is the opportunity to learn at least two languages (Second Language Leaning Bilingualism n.d.). This will give the speaker the advantage and opportunity to communicate with different kinds of individuals, from different cultures and worlds. People who could speak more than one language(s) have better opportunity in the labor market. This is especially true in Saudi Arabia whose stable and expanding0 economy demands the workers' competence in and knowledge of the English language.

However, it must be important to state that learning L2 or English is not an easy task to do. A student cannot learn English overnight. It may be true that one who is not a native speaker of English can learn the basics of the language in a year, but it would be impossible to attain mastery and high proficiency of the English language in just the same period. It would take years before a student could achieve mastery of the language.

Teaching ESL

Most of the teaching workforce now working in Saudi Arabia was recruited from its neighboring countries. The Ministry of Education has required all educational institutions to teach English as a second language in Saudi Arabia. Due to lack of native English speaker in the oil-rich country, there is an increasing demand for English mentors to work there for a high compensation package. Apart from the Saudis, there is also a growing number of expatriates in the region that also look forward to improving their communication skills in the English language.

Enrollees in ESL classes have increased due to the improving economy in the region, as there has been increase in service employment that require more workers to work for hotels, health institutions and airports. Aside from English, French classes are also offered in some colleges in Saudi Arabia's main cities (Teaching English in Saudi Arabia n.d.).

Unlike before, it is now easy to work in Saudi Arabia, perhaps thanks to the more liberal policies of its currently rulers. Now, the kingdom's royal family finally realized the function of English in upgrading its interests in the world economy. Thus, the kingdom is now actively promoting English curriculum to be integrated with the country's educational program. There are many ways why Saudis would like to learn English. The most notable reason is that English would help them advance their career (Koolmees n.d.). Some would like to learn for the sake of safe improvement, pleasure, and for communication reasons with expatriates.

Apart from the demands for ESL teachers, most Saudi Arabia's well-to-do families also hire private English tutors who would teach their children at home. The compensation is high and inspiring for teachers abroad, since one can earn over thirty thousand US dollar a year. For a tutorial job, a tutor may also earn 26 US dollar to 40 US dollar per hour (Koolmees n.d.). Because of these opportunities, most teachers abroad now want to teach in Saudi Arabia. What inspires them is not just the take home pay that could earn but the benefits that are stipulated in their employment contracts (Koolmees n.d.).

However, the demand for English Teachers in Saudi Arabia is somewhat limited to male teachers and professionals only. The compensation package offered in this kingdom is far better than those offered in some Asian countries like Thailand, Philippines, China, Japan, among others. Salaries for expatriate English teachers are almost tax-free, while there are also benefits for transportation, housing, among other bonuses.

E-learning and ESL

When it comes it ICT and e-learning, English is usually the official language. This is because the computer language, including books, manuals, literatures, and academic reported regarding computer and IT is written in English. For this reason, Saudi students need to learn English in order to better comprehend some of their technical subjects. Aside from the proliferation of private schools and international academic institution in Saudi Arabia that caused the spread of ESL programs, computer schools were also established to get a share of the country's learning population.

One example is Element K, one of the premier computer-learning providers that was established in 2004 in Saudi Arabia to cater to Saudis who did not obtain computer education (Press Release 2004). The multi-national academic company has about over a thousand online courses in over ten languages. This academic endeavor also means that Saudi students are not only to learn English but also other several major foreign languages.

Because of this, it was estimated that computer technology as well as e-commerce and Internet would improve over the next few years (Press Release 2004). It is undeniable that the computerization of the region would also lead to the increase in the demands for more English teachers over the next few years to come.

The Impacts of September 11

Without any doubt, there are impacts of September 11 on Saudi students studying abroad, particularly in the United States. After the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11 in 2001, many Saudi students returned home for fear of being trapped in an anti-Saudi counterattack. Even the wealthy children of Saudi's influential families joined the exodus after reports sprouted that Osama Bin Laden, a son of Saudi oil magnate, masterminded the September 11 attack.

The aftermath of the attack had a damaging impact not only on the reputation of Saudi Arabia as a nation but also on the safety of Saudi students studying abroad. Really, apart from their struggle to learn English as a second language, they were also caught in a limbo they never desired and never participated in. Before the September 11 bombing, a number of universalities in the United States had a huge number of Saudi students. However, after the attack, there was a massive turnaround.

In 2005, efforts were made by the royal government of Saudi Arabia to patch up relations with the international community (Saudi Students Return 2006). In 2006, a great number of Saudi students returned to the United States to study. In fact Saudi embassy spokesman Nail Al-Jubeir told the press that the damage control is rested on the hands of the Saudi students, who are among the "best and the brightest" (Saudi Students Return 2006). It was also stressed that the giving out of thousands of scholarships would continue for the following years.

Despite some anti-terrorist sentiments ironically fanned by the United States' government, most Saudi students expressed optimism that the American people are still liberal and that they would now allow themselves to associate Saudi's young people with terrorism. Among these students were Fahad Al Homazey, 20, who believed that his life in not in danger in the land of milk and honey, and Maha Mohamed, 23, whose father also studied in the United States and encouraged her to study in the state of Oregon because it is peaceful (Saudi Students Return 2006). However, on the part of the United States government, it had tightened the processing of students visa applicants by conducting wide-ranging background checks (Saudi Students Return 2006). Student visa applicants were also required to see a US consulate for personal interview.

English in Saudi Primary Schools

The educational system in Saudi Arabia is an issue only discussed and decided by its royal rulers. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, one of Saudi's high-ranking royals, in an interview admitted that there was wrong with Saudi Arabia's educational system (Elyas 2008, p.28-48). The prince also expressed assurance that the royal government is making steps to combat extremism through reforming the kingdom's educational system. With this, some steps done were the re-writing of school textbooks, but Saudi Arabia stated that the reformation of its pedagogical system goes beyond that, as it should also include training and effective political directions (Elyas 2008, p.28-48).

Because of international pressure, Saudi Arabia's Higher Committee on Education Policy mulled a program that aimed at introducing English language as part of primary schools' curriculum (Elyas 2008, p.28-48). This decision was for the purpose of inculcating in the minds of the Saudi youths the idea of open-mindedness and recognition of others, and the notion of living peacefully with people from other races and cultures (Elyas 2008, p.28-48). To implement such a decision, the first step was to employ almost a thousand of English foreign teachers.

Today English is now part of Saudi school's curriculum. This despite the opposition of most Islamic scholars who feared that the introduction of English to primary schools would lead to the Westernization of Arab children. However, most of the liberal Saudi royals embraced the idea that English is not just part of strengthening Saudi Arabia's tie with the United States and other countries in the International community; English is also a great weapon for national survival.

One example of primary schools that adopted English in their curriculum is the Islamic Saudi Academy. The school's language curriculum for elementary levels is comprised of poetry, reading, composition, dictation, grammar, and handwriting (Elementary Grades Arabic n.d.). The school offers an ESL program for elementary pupils. The program, according to the school's website, is "designed to take students to the point where they can successfully handle grade level material, use authentic materials for school work and research, and begin to take personal responsibility for learning" (Elementary Grades Arabic n.d.). in English classes, elementary pupils' skills in English are nurtured through vital reading, enriching knowledge in vocabulary, and critical thinking.

Usual problems of ESL students

There are a lot of problems that confront Arab students in their course of studying the English language. In Saudi Arabia, since Saudis speak their native language at home and during their interaction with their friends, peers, and classmates, there is a little chance to learn English through day-to-day interface. However, most studies regarding ESL students in the Arab world were carried out in Jordan. Since Saudi Arabia is close to Jordan, and that both countries have the same religion and almost identical culture, the researcher deemed it fit to look at the Jordanian experience in ESL. In one study conducted by Haq (1982, p.1), it was concluded that most Arab students usually fumble in their writing skills.

In his study, Haq (1982, p.1) also revealed that most English instructors and University officials complained about the continuous deterioration of the mastery in the English language among the students. Another study conducted by Zughoul (1984, p.4) confirmed the findings of Haq, and revealed that most Jordanian students enrolled in EFL classes have poor oral communication skills, as they usually commit gross lexical errors.

Similar problems were also reported in Sudan, as most students enrolled in English classes usually commit serious syntactic errors in the composition of English passages. Kambal (1980) noted that most students were weak in the following areas: tenses, verb structure, and subject-verb agreement. Several problems were also observed in the students' use of tenses, like tense substitution, tense sequence, deletion of tenses, tense marker, and uncertainty of perfect tenses (kambal 1980).

In an wide-scale study about the problems being faced by Arab students, Mukattash (1983) observed that these problems are categorized into two: First, most errors committed concerned with the proper pronunciation, morphology, knowledge of the use of syntax, and spelling; Second, most Arab students have difficulty expressing themselves contentedly and competently either when faced with scholarly subjects or usual everyday issues. These two problems usually spring from the fact that Arab students are unable to apply English appropriately and properly in and out of the school and during their natural intercourse with friends and family members. It may be inferred based on the foregoing observations that Arab students have serious weakness in communicative proficiency and their ability to express themselves using the English language. Therefore, Mukattash (1983, p.169) believed that this weakness and inability of Arab students to express themselves is mainly attributed to poor study methods and inadequate approaches of teaching.

One website devoted to ESL learning listed the common grammatical and pronunciation errors of many Saudi ESL learners. In all levels, most ESL learners were said to be weak in phonemic. Most have also difficulty distinguishing third person and plural "s" and "es", including the proper use of intonation patterns. They are also weak in terms of the proper use of preposition, auxiliary verbs, nouns, and pronouns. There is also confusion as to the verbs and nouns, while complex sentences are often littered with grammatical errors.

Even for the highest level or level four, glaring mistakes are usually committed. Since most ESL students in this level have higher comprehension and better facility in the English language, the instructor no longer needs thorough assistance, as the latter may now focus on the students' proficiency in the spoken language. Even here, students have problems in regard to the use of modal verbs, including prepositions, which are oftentimes misused. There are also tendencies wherein personal pronouns are frequently misplaced or removed, causing vagueness to the sentence.

Causes of Poor Ability to Learn English

Most studies conducted by Mukattash (1983), Suleiman (1983), Zughoul (1983; 1987), and Ibrahim (1983) noted that Arab students' problems in learning English usually spring from the following reasons: a) school graduates have lack of information regarding the university or college they enrolled in; b) there is deficiency in the English language curricula offered by some schools and universities; c) poor teaching methodology; d) problems with proper language environments; and e) lack of personal impetus on the part of the students.

Because of the general problems encountered mostly by Arab students in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, among others, Suleiman (1983) contended that the pervading displeasure with the overall output of Arab learners in English subjects was to due poor essential principles in curriculum plan and design, insufficient in-classroom approaches, slow development in the students' communication skills, among many others.

There was an agreement among researchers that incoming freshmen should also have enough information about the course they decided to take and the university they want to join. For incoming freshmen majors, it was argued that should have enough information about the course they desired to achieve and adequate general knowledge. Suleiman (1983, p. 129) made a daring conclusion that the language barrier usually faced by Arab students was mainly due to "inadequate mastery of the four language skills, namely: listening, speaking, reading, and writing." Indeed, this opinion truly galvanizes that general idea that English learners should have solid foundation so to easily learn the fundamentals in the study of the English language.

One big reason why Arab students have difficulty learning the English language is the fact that English subjects are only studied in school. However, the fact that they speak their mother tongue whenever they are should not take the blame why they have slow communicative development. The ineffective teaching and learning process also contribute to this general problem.

Problem in ESL Staffing

While the kingdom government regularly send more than 5,000 scholars to study in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, among many others, there is a problem posed by the increasing number of ESL enrollees at home. If last year it was estimated that there were about 18,000 Saudis enrolled in foreign colleges and universities, demand for ESL teachers at home also rapidly escalated.

Sado Al-Jarf (n.d.) said that after September 11, there was a significant increase in the number of Saudi students who wanted to enroll in ESL classes. This trend led to staffing problem because the number of enrollees or students who wanted to study ESL was incongruent to the country's staffing status. There were two staffing challenges posed by the in demand ESL programs in the oil-rich country. One is the difficulty to maintain native-speaking English teachers and the other is the problem in hiring new qualified English tutors, who most probably foreigners (Sado Al-Jarf n.d.).

Based on Sado Al-Jarf's (n.d.) study, there were more male teachers than female, as a result of which, the women's department are often lacking of qualified staff than that of men's department. However, Sado Al-jarf (n.d.) asserted that this understaffing was due to open admission implemented by the Ministry of Higher education. She also pointed out several factors for this scenario, like lack of communication and collaboration between department heads and policy-makers, and lack of communication lines between English departments and job candidates. Apart from this, there was also minimal use of information technology and the Internet in the information dissemination and recruitment processes.

Sado Al-jarf (n.d.) observed that whenever there was job vacancies, schools and universities do not even exert efforts to publicize them on the Internet and that there is no website or online channel that could make it possible for job applicants to know about any job vacancies. Furthermore, she also found the following problems that caused understaffing in Saudi Arabia's ESL programs: lack of online channels to accommodate interested job applicants and for job interview, lack of financial support, no clear-cut employment guidelines and instructions, ineffective human resources scheduling and forecast, competition, and unstable political situation in the Gulf region due to September 11 issue.

Ways to improve writing skills

There are many ways to improve the knowledge and creativity of ESL students in the classroom setting. The mentor or teacher has tremendous and huge responsibility in transforming his/her classroom into an effective venue for learning. The teachers must be active in that he must have full control over all classroom situations and activities, while the students must also be active in academic activities like classroom discussion, recitation, written exercises, and examinations, among many others. Among the many ways to encourage students to learn in a classroom setting are the following: avoiding unnecessary queries from pupils or students, looking at strong points and searching for something excellence in all shared opinions, methodically giving credits to creativeness and all positive traits, demanding excellence and ingenuity of students, nurturing positive values and traits, etc. (Shaughnessy 1991).

Among the many activities inside the classroom, writing is the most avoided, as many students consider it as a big burden on their part. Sado Al-jarf (2007) observed that a lot of English students find some difficulties in writing or are afraid to do writing exercises for for that they might commit mistakes and that they might not be able to produce the exact ideas required of them. Also, most students are hesitant to participate in oral discussions or recitation because they are unable to express themselves in the English language and are afraid to commit mistakes. Since oral discussions or recitation involve one-on-one process, that is, between the teacher and the student alone, students usually lack the confidence to answer spontaneous questions in English and most fear that would not be able to meet the expectation of their teacher.

However, because of the many new media technologies available today like blog sites, online journals, word processors, email, among many others, people and students are now encouraged to develop their writing skills using the English language. One study revealed that the word processor can be an efficient tool in nurturing the writing skills of students because of its user-friendly character, formatting facility, and capacity for easier revision (Casella 1989). Many studies have been conducted on this topic and they were proved to be effective, like in the case of a computer program (The bald Headed Chicken) that encouraged grade-school pupils to operate on texts and graphics so to generate or construct their own articles (Gammon 1989).

In one study conducted by Bahr at al. (1996), the impacts of two computer-based writing tools on the writing facilities of several pupils with known problems in learning English. The result did not show any conclusive outcome in regard to which tools should be used for classroom teaching; however, it was found that the use of computer-based learning can be effective in some cases as its success depends upon the needs of the pupil or learner.

Indeed, there are many factors why teachers should be utilized the Internet for ESL students. Through the Internet, ESL learners will not only be encouraged to write their own stories but they would also become aware of global issues. Through this setup, ESL students will become more motivated and that they will have greater confidence in their own capabilities. One way to apply this concept is to encourage the ESL learners to create their own blog site where they can post or publish their own stories or articles about themselves or about what they think or feel around them. They can write something about their classmates, about their favorite book or movie or actor and then post them on their blog site. This is a good start since most blog sites now allow users to view how many people viewed their articles or how many other bloggers created a link to their own blog site. This activity is interesting because they will not only be encouraged to write more and more but they will also have more opportunities to meet people and to learn about other people's thoughts.

Online writing in ESL program

In another study, Sado Al-jarf (2007) looked into the relation between online writing and the writing abilities of 39 female EFL creative writing students. Most of the participants in the study, who were all native speakers, were in their first year at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Two groups of participants applied Blackboard while the other four groups employed Nicenet. The students had to give their own answers to each and every question posted. The students were also encouraged to write their own poems or articles about something they read and post them on the net.

After about a week, one student posted her own poem. The professor gave the student a credit as well as gift. This encouraged the other students to compose their own poems and the post them on the Internet. The technique of that professor in keeping the students encouraged and inspired was by giving them positive comments and good grades. The professor also refused to correct or edit the works of her students as this might discourage them to explore their creative writing capabilities.

The results of the study showed that creative writing has no connection whatsoever with the EFL students' mastery of the English language. The study also showed that students of all levels have the capacity to write stories and poems, which make the study a confirmation of most previous researches. According to Sado Al-jarf (2007), "Creative writing does not require a special talent nor a high proficiency level in EFL. All an instructor needs to do is to encourage the students to write for communication rather than focusing on grammatical and spelling correctness." She also argued the positive remarks have significant role in encouraging EFL and ESL students to improve their facilities in English. Sado Al-jarf (2007) also recommends EFL students to devote more time to "interactive writing" than to private or autonomous writing.

Effects of written remarks on ESL learners

The strong stance of Sado Al-jarf (2007) which postulates that positive teacher's feedbacks and encouragement play a significant role in improving the English proficiency level of ESL and EFL students was earlier proposed by Truscott (1996), who believed that giving error feedbacks to students was counterproductive. The concept presented by Truscott (1996) was highly controversial in that it was meted by strong opposition from many linguistic scholars. In his article, Truscott (1996), asserted that any form of remark, especially if it is negative, would certainly discourage ESL learners and that it would cause them to lose their appetite of learning. This controversial and highly debatable stance of Truscott (1996) was the target of attack and criticisms by some English scholars like Ferris (1999) and Lee (1997) who all argued that the use of professor's feedback was essential to learning and teaching process. Ferris (1999) attacked the idea of Truscott (1996) by asserting that it lacked both empirical and theoretical foundation and that it also lacked the concrete evidence to support the latter's suggestion.

Previous studies proposed that error feedback is essential to the academic development of students, whether he/she is a language or accountancy student. Whether a particular professor's feedback is positive or negative, one cannot discount or just discourage its role in inculcating in the minds of the students the importance of learning (Lee 1997). The glaring weakness of the idea of Truscott was that it failed to look into the individual preferences, attitude, beliefs, and perception of ESL and EFL students.

In a real-world setting, it is hard to make a conclusive opinion whether the use of form or error feedback is counterproductive or productive to the development of ESL students. So far scholarly articles related to this topic are merely theories, which mean that some could be true while others do not have bearing in a classroom setting. However for an ESL program to be effective, it is essential to give feedbacks or remarks to the works, articles, and reports of ESL learners. However, it should be impressed first upon the students the importance of giving comments, whether positive or negative, to their works. Since ESL students have a very limited knowledge and comprehension of the English language, they need proper guidance and part of it is by giving feedbacks and comments on their output. ESL students need to know their mistakes and to learn how they are going to correct it.

For example, they need to know the relation between subject and verb and the importance of knowing the correct spelling and pronunciation of a particular word. If wrong tenses were used in a paragraph, the instruction had to correct them by giving the proper tenses and by explaining the significance of tenses to events.

Teacher-students interaction
In Saudi Arabia, English teachers are usually Arabs, perhaps this is an advantage since they may be able to convey better their techniques in teaching since they can communicate with their students in their native Arabic language. The teacher usually gives instructions in written form instead of directly conveying them to their students (Al-Hazmi and Scholfield 2007, p.238). In assigning topics to students, the teacher demands that they be completed either inside their classroom or at home. Writing assignments are usually determined at the beginning of classes through class participation in brainstorming and discussion (Al-Hazmi and Scholfield 2007, p.238). However, this setup is not always done religiously with the full attention and supervision of the teacher since most of the time the students are given the liberty to perform the planning or not.

As part of the teaching method in most Arab schools, teachers do not really necessitate their students to revise or modify their works. This is in contrast to what is being practiced in western universities wherein the teacher or professor requires his students to make one or more drafts of their works, whereas in most Arab universities this technique is not usually practiced. Large classes in Arab classes are usually comprised of at least 35 students. The size of class has huge impact on the students' learning process, particularly in group works. Since group works or assignments require at least five or more students to work on a particular topic or project, problems sometimes arise owing to low proficiency in English. The students are usually left alone in revising or making drafts of their own works without any guidelines (Al-Hazmi and Scholfield 2007, p.238). This confirms most observations of researchers that teachers usually count on the personal interests of their students to learn. In some cases this practice might work as this could inculcate in the minds of the students the value of independence or self-reliance, but in most cases it would hamper the academic development of the students. As the nurturer of the cognitive development of young people, teachers have to consider the individual preference, beliefs, or behavior of their students. This is because a particular technique that suits one student may not apply to other students.

One of the observations is that teachers do not usually follow up the works of their students, to check whether they have improved or not. There is also a common belief or practice that giving remarks or comments on students' works are best reserved for pupils in lower ESL levels but not to those in higher levels (Asiri 1996). Remarks are mostly limited to mechanics, grammar, and vocabulary. It was also noticed that as a result of poor teaching methods applied in most Arab universities, most ESL learners have difficulty coping with the following crucial tactical aspects: formulating, planning, and revision. This means that teachers have to actively involve the students in the planning process by engaging them in active class participation, discussion and brainstorming. This was they will be better informed of the nature of their writing works, assignments, or projects. Teachers should also encourage their students to ask questions and should be open for consultation or more clarification even outside classes. They also have to personally monitor their students during the actual writing process. Also, teachers should encourage their students to revise their works and explain to them the value of revision to their academic development.

Who may teach?

As much as possible, teachers who may be invited to teach in Saudi Arabia should be native English speakers or L1. But being a native English speaker is not always a guarantee that one is qualified to teach in the oil-rich kingdom. Most academicians voiced out their worries regarding the unsystematic techniques being applied by most schools and universities in looking at the qualifications of applicants (Alosaimi 2007). They warned that there are teachers who may be fluent in English but they lack the qualifications to teach ESL students. This means that teaching English is not about knowing the language but about instilling in the students' mind the value of learning and developing their skills and competence through effective teaching capabilities, efficient teaching techniques, and compassion.

Hence, fluency in English is not just the sole requirement in applying for the job. Most academicians argue that foreign mentors, particularly those from the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia, may have the advantage, but it was suggested they must also have degree in education or must have experience teaching ESL students in their previous employment. Some were also concerned with the questionable standards being employed by employers who put mush premium on the nationality of applicants and their ability to speak well in English as well as their good accent than on the value, competence, and virtue of the applicants (Alosaimi 2007).

Indeed, because of the good compensation package, a lot of teachers mostly from Asian and Western countries are looking forward to seek employment in Saudi Arabia, which is now considered the Mecca for teachers. Since the number of ESL students continues to escalate since September 11, the demand for more teachers also continues to increase. However, all is not well in most ESL programs in Saudi Arabia as many concerned native academicians were worried that there are some schools, colleges, and universities that recruit and hire foreign teachers who only have few months of teaching experience and whose academic degree is unrelated to teaching.

Conclusion

ESL programs in Saudi Arabia have become a very lucrative business. Apart from being one of the top exporters of oil in the world, Saudi Arabia is now regarded by foreign teachers in Asia and the Western world as the new Mecca for the teaching profession, solely because of competitive compensation package and good benefits offered. But then again, not all fluent English speakers may be able to teach Saudi ESL students. There are, however, qualifications that need to be met. Fluency in English is not one of the many advantages, but it is not the sole factor in getting the high-paying job. There are other factors like degree in education, experience or qualifications in ESL teaching, and some innate qualities that must be possessed by a competent teacher like the ability to inspire students, the capability to communicate with them clearly and competently, patience, and compassion.

In regard to the question whether it is proper to comment on the works of the students, the answer depends upon the rational technique of the teacher. In the case of Al-jarf (2207), her teaching technique works well with her students. She said that a good teacher has to encourage and inspire her students to learn, and this strategy may be achieved by using rational and effective methodologies in teaching. To prove this premise, Al-jarf (2007) used online writing to encourage her students to write freely and without any hesitation. Her finding is not fully conclusive, but she found that online writing may be able to motivate creative writing students to explore their interests and improve their crafts by posting their stories and articles on the Internet.

However in some cases, form or error feedback is needed to better guide students, to tell them their mistakes, and to teach them how to improve their works. Feedbacks, if conveyed properly and appropriately, are a great help to ESL students, particularly those in lower levels who need better assistance or guidance. It is assumed that ESL students need to be taught of the fundamentals in the English language, the basics in grammar, composition, writing, revising, and pronunciation, among many others. It is alright or understandable to commit mistakes, since ESL learners are not L1 or native English speakers. It is now the job of the teacher to fill the minds of her students with the values they need in nurturing their knowledge and in improving their crafts.

For ESL learners in higher levels, they need to undergo continuity learning program so that they would be able to retain what they have learned and to absorb additional knowledge and information. This time they need proper guidance but at the same time the teacher also has to inculcate in their minds the value of independence. Undoubtedly, ESL students in higher levels need to know how to improve their skills and competencies independently.

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