An investigation of challenges and opportunities in application of constructivism to primary school English language teaching in Saudi Arabia

Citizens of Saudi Arabia are often confronted with English in their everyday life, but it does not function as a common second language there. Saudi education authorities have increasingly encouraged the teaching of English to much younger children over the past two decades. The traditional language teaching methods seem incapable of matching the requirements of recent English language curriculum goals and objectives. Institutional and policy influences suggest that engagement with Constructivist thinking may be useful. The purpose of this research is to investigate teacher perceptions of the potentials and pitfalls of application of Constructivism to primary schools within the Saudi Arabian context. Data sample consisted of four English teachers who agreed to be interviewed during COVID-19 and 196 primary English teachers from 15 primary schools in Hail, Saudi Arabia who participated in the online survey. Findings of the study reveal that while teachers were mostly positive about Constructivism, implementation has been impeded by lack of interaction between the management and the teachers, lack of cooperation and teamwork among teachers and the apparent gaps between curriculum and students. These challenges may stem from lack of teacher involvement in policy design and implementation, and policy and teacher confusion regarding the nature of Constructivism as possibly relevant to English learning in Saudi primary schools. This study could form the basis of future research within this area, specifically, the data collected and examined will add to the already existing body of knowledge on English Language Teaching in Saudi Arabia and highlight key challenges in successfully applying relevant understandings of Constructivist theory to Primary school English Language classes in Saudi Arabia.