Monolingualism to Bilingualism in Tertiary-Level EFL Classrooms: Readiness and Perceptions of English Language Teachers at Saudi Universities

Abstract

Bilingualism, in general, is a process of using two different languages in different context of language contact to share the ideas and concepts. It is not only a characteristic of people but also a characteristic of societies. Saudi Arabia, for example, is somewhat a bilingual society since a significant number of Saudis speak both Arabic and English despite that English does not have official status. Taking advantage of this situation, Saudi Arabia has launched a vision for 2030 in which the shift from monolingualism to bilingualism in education is one of its major concerns. Accordingly, this study aims at investigating perceptions and preparedness of EFL university teachers toward moving from employing a monolingual approach to a bilingual one in their classrooms. The primary data collection instrument utilized in this study was a Google-based questionnaire based on a quantitative research methodology. Data were collected from 146 teachers who teach English as a foreign language at universities in Saudi Arabia. The results of the study suggest that the bilingual approach is superior to the monolingual one in every respect of EFL teaching and learning. They also indicate that English language teachers at Saudi universities are ready to employ a bilingual method in their EFL classrooms. They also showed that deploying a bilingual method assists students in understanding lessons much better than using a monolingual approach.