Bilingualism in EFL Classrooms: Saudi Female Beginners’ Reading Performance and Classroom Involvement

(Mazeegha Ahmed Al Tale)

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Abstract

This study examines the impact of a bilingual approach on the academic performance and classroom involvement/participation of level 1 English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension students. Fifty female Saudi EFL students participated in the study. A reading comprehension test, classroom observation, and interviews served as data collection methods. The researcher used an independent samples t-test to analyze the test scores, and thematic content analyses to analyze the interviews and observation. The results show that bilingualism as a teaching strategy positively affects learners' academic performance, classroom participation, and involvement. The study also indicates that most participants perceived bilingualism as a useful teaching strategy to raise their exam scores. Recommendations for teaching EFL beginners, as well as for language learning and further research, were presented.

KEYWORDS
Bilingual approach, academic performance, EFL instruction, English as a foreign language

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References

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