An in-service training program for developing the teaching performance of EFL teachers and its effect on their students’ learning at Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University

Abstract

Teacher development is best supported through optimal participation by teachers and the relevance of program concerns. Action research is now widely used in in-service teacher training programs as a means to integrate curriculum development and teacher development. In the current in-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher training program, action research is adopted to develop the teaching performance of EFL teachers and to explore its effect on their students’ learning at Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). It addresses the essential principles for building an in-service training program to provide EFL teachers with the teaching skills required to teach reading and writing effectively. Results indicate significant improvement in the teachers' performance during and after the treatment. Similarly, the proposed teaching strategies and techniques for teaching reading and writing had a large effect on the experimental group students’ learning on the post-test as compared to that of the control group students receiving regular instruction. It is concluded that action research enabled an evolutionary development in teachers' thinking and encouraged their personal syntheses of theory and practice. Teachers are recommended to adopt interactive, communicative strategies and techniques for teaching reading and writing. And students should be offered enough opportunities to practice reading and writing on a daily basis for authentic purposes in EFL classes.