Final Reflection

Well, we are about to wrap up our workshop/seminar in World Englishes. This moment, the moment of finalizing our discussions and moving on with our current or future careers, represents a significant point of time to reflect on our professional development and future quest as educators, be it of TESOL or composition. To this end, in the following few lines, I would like to share the difficulties that may slow or even hinder implementing WE in the EFL curriculum in the Saudi Higher Education.

one of the difficulties that faces WE implementation in the EFL curriculum in the Saudi Higher education is the notion of standardization. This notion of standardization in the context of Saudi Arabia means that teaching being governed by rule and policies not only in what is being taught, abut also on how to teach and evaluate what is being taught. Thus, teachers do not have much agency in the curriculum design and the instructional practice. The second difficulty lies on the students' perceptions of WE and its relevance to linguistic backgrounds. That is, students in higher education often come to the classroom with at least seven years of EFL instruction in the elementary (1 year), intermediate (3 years), and high (3 years)schools where they have been socialized into the integrative skills approach dominating the Saudi schools. This might make students resist the notion of WE as it could seem unfamiliar, and hence, irrelevant approach of teaching. The third difficulty might be represents in the surrounding educational environment in higher education such as fellow instructors, mentors, course coordinator etc. who often function as pl icy keeper and, for some reason, seem not to cooperate in pedagogy transformation and, hence, seem resistant to the notion of WE in the EFL classroom. Other difficulties may include funding in case of inviting guest speakers and arranging experiential trips to interact with other WE speakers.

Despite the above mentioned difficulties, there is still room for resistance through action research, use of technology, including critical discussions in the class, and choosing topics that represent WE in the supplementary materials. I understand that these ideas will be in a form of extracurricular activities, but they will serve as valuable source for action research through which WE can be included in the higher education in Saudi Arabia.