English Language Curriculum Change in an EFL Context: Shallow Scope and Marginalised Professionals

Abstract

The centrality of teachers’ views about curriculum change have long been established to exert a powerful influence in implementing educational reforms. Whilst abundant research has evidenced this, the perceptions of teachers of English as a foreign language about curricular change in Saudi Arabia is an under-researched topic in a country undergoing continuous but failing reforms. This small-scale qualitative study aimed to bridge this gap and contribute more broadly to our understanding of how teachers’ voices of the agendas of curriculum change reflect the complexity of the implementation of the intended reforms especially in an EFL contexts. The study utilised semi-structured interviews and employed qualitative data analysis. The findings showed that teachers denounced the change due to its confined scope on compliance to word-for-word implementation of ‘textbooks’. Consequently, teachers faced a number of challenges, developed negative images about themselves and as a result resisted the change. Recommendations pertained to curriculum research methodology and curriculum change stakeholders.