Academic Challenges of Female Graduate TESOL Students in the Saudi Context

Abstract

Academic challenges are apparent factors that might hinder the progress and efficiency of students' higher education. Moreover, identifying these challenges will contribute to the progress of academic programs as well as maximizing academic achievement. The current research aims to shed the light on the various academic challenges that graduate female students majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) encounter in the Saudi context. Furthermore, the current study serves to expand the knowledge about the most prominent academic challenges that TESOL students experience in the given context. Thus, helping students overcome these issues which might result in better performance and more qualified students. In addition, this study follows a mixed method research; and the participants are 23 Saudi female TESOL students. The study employed a questionnaire adapted from Phakiti and Li's (2011); the questionnaire consisted of 4 sections that include 24 close-ended question, in addition to 2 open-ended questions. The results of this study reveal three leading areas of academic challenges that TESOL students experience in their academic studies. The most prominent area of difficulty is academic writing, academic reading, and lastly other general academic challenges such as speaking skills and managing the academic load. The findings of this study reveal that female TESOL students encounter several challenges and obstacles that hinder their academic success. Also, recommendations for further research are mentioned to investigate the factors causing these academic challenges.