Developing English Learners' Listening-Speaking Skills Interactively: An Analytic Study in Saudi Arabian Context

Abstract

This study looks at current status of teaching listening-speaking skills to Saudi EFL learners. The focus of the study is on a group of EFL teachers and their classroom teaching practices in Saudi state schools in Riyadh city-the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After considering the practices of these teachers, it places those practices in relation to the relevant literature. This is to find our way in developing language listening-speaking skills interactively in Saudi Arabian context. The study adopts the qualitative inquiry approach used for looking at people in natural settings where classroom observation employed as an instrument for collecting data. A closer examination of data reveals that the EFL classroom communication is extremely centred on the teacher. The EFL teachers initiate the talk, ask questions, decide who is going to participate and evaluate the answers. They are in control of the period from the beginning to the end. The students are left with limited or non-communicative options.