Administrators', Teachers' and Students' Perceptions of Peer Work in Tertiary English Language Classrooms in Saudi Arabia

by

1. Introduction1

1.1 Research Background1

1.2 Research Aim and Objectives2

1.3 Research Questions2

2. Literature Review3

2.1 Communicative Learning3

2.2 Peer Work6

2.3 Teachers', Administrators' and Students' Perceptions and Attitudes regarding Group Work9

3. Methodology11

3.1 Research Method11

3.2 Research Approach11

3.3 Research Instrument11

3.4 Primary Source12

3.5 Data Analysis Methods12

3.6 Ethical Consideration12

References14

Administrators, Teachers and Student's Perceptions of Peer Work in Tertiary English Language Classrooms in Saudi Arabia

1. Introduction

1.1 Research Background

According to some of the early researchers, language is learned by people because they either want to integrate or interact with certain people/ group, or for getting a job, earn more money, or for passing an examination. With an increase in globalization, people are exposed to English more than ever before. Due to this, English has become widely spoken language and the global demand has lead towards increased demand of quality learning and teaching of the language. People across the globe, tend to communicate with each other about economics, culture, society, education, and politics in English (Savignon &Wang, 2003). Sometimes, students lacking at their academic achievements stems not from their low intelligence level, instead of that from poor grip or hold in English language. Various techniques are used by teachers in order to focus on providing quality teaching. Out of these, strategies and methods falling the under the category of Communicative Learning have been most commonly used (Ansarey, 2012). Teachers can use different strategies to motivate their students to be more supportive of English language at Saudi Arabia. Peer work is one of the techniques through which learning can be increased by motivating students. Peer work is as a vehicle for knowledge and learning, in which learning is evaluated through more traditional techniques and peer assessments is used for assessing individual written work, tests, and presentations.

Using these techniques in classroom, teachers tend to promote and motivate students towards increased learning. Peer work techniques are generally used by teachers for decision making by promoting and groping students. This research focuses on identifying and analyzing the attitudes and perception of teachers, administrators, and students towards peer work in Tertiary English Language in Saudi Arabian context. This research will help in understanding the attitudes and perceptions of teachers, students and administrators in order to analyze the effectiveness of peer work in learning English as a second language.

1.2 Research Aim and Objectives

The main aim of this research will be to identify teacher's, administrators' and students' perception of peer work in Tertiary English Language at Saudi Arabia. This aim will be achieved through following goals and objectives:

To identify attitudes towards peer work and its effectiveness

To identify the frequency with which: a) administrators recommend teachers use peer work; b) teachers use peer work; and c) students report a desire to engage in peer work

To compare and contrast the perspectives of administrators, teachers and students towards peer work and its effectiveness

To suggest ways to address challenges and barriers towards peer work and its effectiveness

1.3 Research Questions

This research will be focused on following research questions:

What ...