Al - Zubaidi

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Vol. II, Issue 7/ October 2014
Impact Factor: 3.1 (UIF)

ISSN 2286-4822 DRJI Value: 5.9 (B+)
www.euacademic.org
An analytical study on identifying the causes of the

difficulties faced by Arab teachers teaching English
as a second language while using Bilingual Method
NIHAD MOHAMMED JASIM AL – ZUBAIDI

M.A. English Language
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences
Allahabad, India
Abstract:
The present study entitled “An analytical study on identifying
the causes of the difficulties faced by Arab teachers teaching English as
a second language while using Bilingual Method” aims at
investigating and analyzing the most common difficulties faced by the
Arab teachers in using Bilingual Method. It attempts to find out
answers to a set of research questions. In order to achieve the aims of
this study, a questionnaire was developed that consisted of 20 items
and demographic information was designed. The major portion of this
paper is devoted to present the difficulties encountered by the Arab
teachers in general and Iraqi teachers in particular.
The population of this study includes seventy teachers (Male 22
and Female 48) who were selected randomly from different regions in
the middle and north of Iraq. The findings have showed that the
participants had positive attitude for some questions and negative
attitude for others. In the finding, the researcher has found that most
of the teachers lack in using appropriate teaching method and also
lack of knowledge regarding the different types of methodologies. The
teachers have only one language that is Arabic with them and less of
second language that is English understanding, therefore translation
was incorrect for them to either apply academic helped in teaching nor
their experience helped in developing this methodology & they slacked
miserably. Thus it has been impossible. The researcher also has
analyzed through this study that most of teachers emphasized on
8734
Nihad Mohammed Jasim Al – Zubaidi- An analytical study on identifying the
causes of the difficulties faced by Arab teachers teaching English as a second
language while using Bilingual Method
reading skills more than other skills like Speaking, listening and
writing so the concept of Bilingual Method was not achieved by them
at all.
Key words: Identifying, Causes of the Difficulties, Arab English

Teachers, ESL, Bilingual Method.
Introduction
Teaching English for students who study English as a second

language (ESL) is always affected by many factors because of
the social and cultural backgrounds of the students. Teachers of
English face a lot of problems while teaching English when
using Bilingual Method in teaching Arab students especially in
Iraq. The first and the most important reason is that the Arab
students have no knowledge of even basic English although
they are being taught English in schools. Perhaps in the school,
teachers do not pay proper attention towards the teaching of
English. Whatever may be the reason for this but the teacher
who teaches these students in higher classes suffers the most
and face a lot of difficulties and challenges while teaching them
a prescribed book or course in higher classes.
On the other hand, students look towards their teachers
with great hope. They consider the teacher as the most
competent, and they think that their teacher would make them
learn English very soon. Thus teacher's responsibility towards
his students is doubled. As a result, many English teachers are
fed up and disappointed and so leave the assignment in the
middle of their contract. But if the teacher has patience and is
competent and intelligent, he will handle the situation easily
and achieve his goal. So we find a lot of students who belong to
different environments attending lessons of English language,
and they learn formally and like any material methodology
taught in the class. However, at the end of the lesson, they
EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

8735
leave the school without paying any sort of attention to

whatever they have taken especially in English language class.
English language needs more interaction and
communication between learners of ESL and others who know
how to speak English or even among themselves. Therefore, we
find a lot of students attending lessons of English language only
for the sake of getting grades and passing the exams; and that
by keeping answers appropriate in the curriculum and without
motivation to learn the language, and spend number of years
without making use of the language. This case fluctuates right
from the beginning students learn the material of English in
the primary stage and until the end of the secondary stage,
then when they come to post secondary and access to colleges
and universities to study other sciences such as medicine,
engineering and computer science, they face problems this is
because all the sciences taught in English.
However, this is a study of exploring and identifying the
causes of the difficulties faced by Arab teachers in general and
Iraqi teachers in particular in teaching English as a second
language by using Bilingual Method. The study was motivated
by the author’s observation over many years of teaching
English language to young and adult learners. An investigation
of the role of Bilingual Method in teaching and learning
appeared to be acceptable in view of the fact that the author
had observed greater levels of met linguistic awareness among
Arab English teachers (Smith, 2004). The difficulties faced by
the teachers and the methods of teaching English to these
students have been discussed in details in the present research
paper.
English Language Teaching (ELT):
English language teaching tradition has undergone through

many tremendous changes, particularly in the 20th century.
Such a tradition has been practiced in English language
8736
classrooms in the world over. It is worth mentioning that the

methodologies used in teaching math and physics are quite
different from those used in teaching English language.
With the technological revolution and e-learning system
English Language has emerged as one of the world's most
important tools of formal communication. A very important
reason for considering English as a global language is that the
world's knowledge is seen to be preserved in English. English is
the most preferred language even in the regions where the local
language is supposed to be as important as the culture. But,
when it comes to the link language issue, it is English that
deals with the issues of cross cultural communication.
Teaching of English as a foreign Language is always
difficult. Teaching of English Language in the Arab regions in
general and Iraq in particle catches attention of many
researchers and scholars especially when the issue is
particularly related to the classroom situation. The
contemporary world is a universal town and the communities of
the world are getting nearer to each other. Through language
different people and communities share their thoughts and
concepts.
Lyytinen (1985); pointed out, “man uses language to
express feelings and attitudes and to establish, coordinate, and
control relationship with others”. In the result of these
interactions the majority of the nations of the world are
becoming Bilingual. As Smith (1994) pointed, “The majority of
the people in this world can call themselves speaker of at least
two languages”. According to Brown (2000) becoming
Bilingual is a way of life. Every bone and fiber of your being is
affected in some way as you struggle to reach beyond the
confines of your first language and into a new language, a new
culture, a new way of thinking, feeling, and acting. In the
context of present day situation, it is difficult (qtd. In Asghar
Ansari, 2012).

8737
It has been always a unique pedagogical approach that

is the Teaching of English language as it is a foreign language;
an essential concept is that the concentration has transferred
from teacher-oriented classes to student-oriented classes. This
concept has laid new “ideologies” and conceptions, specifically
for the teacher. Pedagogy in recent times has understood that
the class is a balanced either way relationship between the one
who educate and the one who learns. Hence, the two things
“negotiate” their implications in the classroom, in the sense
that, for a better learning prospect the one who teaches should
become more or less transforming or dynamic. Therefore the
part played by a teacher in a classroom should be more active
toward the thing the participants could be enthusiastic about.
There should be level playing field for the students to learn
more stuff rather than just being receipt ants. I think we
should finalize this statement by saying that the teacher has to
create the conditions in which The Comfortable Learning can be
put up in stages. The reasons why we aim at optimal activities
are to obtain the most desirable result (Dodson,1967) .
Teaching a second language is not easy. But it can be
taught effectively with patience and hard labour with the help
of self-invented methodologies suitable for one's students. For
this a teacher has to, first of all, study the problems and
difficulties faced by his students in the process of learning
English. Once the problems and difficulties are found out, the
task of teaching becomes easy for an intelligent teacher. A
competent, intelligent, hard working and cooperative teacher is
necessary for learning a second language.
A learner is lucky if he gets a competent teacher while
learning a second language. When he starts learning a second
or foreign language, a student faces a lot of problems. At this
stage his teacher comes for his rescue. He tries to understand
his student's problems, solves them and saves the students
from depression. He frames Curriculum suitable for his
students, selects reading materials for them and creates a
8738
suitable environment for learning English in the class room.

While learning a second language, a student faces a many fold
problems like socio-cultural problems, unfamiliarity with the
subject, different style of writing from his mother tongue,
pronunciation problem, problem in recognizing the alphabets
etc.
The socio-cultural background of a student plays a vital
role in learning the second Language. His culture is totally
different from the culture of the language which he is learning.
This unawareness of the culture confuses the student. At this
crucial stage his teacher comes for his help. The teacher tells
him something about the culture, the way of the living of the
people, and the linguistic nature and style of the second
language. He also makes his student familiar with the subject
through the class-room practice. He teaches alphabets, words
and finally gives short familiar topics to write on and to read
the selected passages, in order to improve Students' linguistic
knowledge ( R. Kannan , 2009).
Kannan (2009); said that the majority of the students
who are coming from rural areas, Bilingual Method is adopted
in language classes. This method helps only to slow learners to
some extent. Moreover, this act reduces the real learning
processes a whole. If a student does not understand anything in
English, he/she asks for explanation in L1 i.e. in his/her mother
tongue. Consequently, the English teacher is in a state to adopt
bilingual method. ELT specialists view this as a wrong
methodology.
In schools, students are being taught that English is an
international language. To learn this language requires
constant practice and patience. The kind of feeling that prevails
among students is that it is not possible to achieve fluency or
mastery over English language. This kind of tendency prevents
students from learning new languages like English. Since most
of the students are first generation learners, how can a student
get acquainted with the foreign language with regard to
8739
English without any guidance from their parents and others?

Even though students are studying English, they are not able
to produce even a single sentence without any grammatical
error in English. The reason stated for this is that they study
subjects from the examination point of view only. This is true
with English language too. Our examination system is such
that it makes students’ rote memorization rather than testing
their analytical and creative skills. In this process, they
memories lessons, reproduce them in exam halls and forget
them in the someday itself. Students learn basic grammar at
school level for the purpose of passing only in the tests and in
the examinations and not to face any real life situations.
Application-oriented advanced grammar is not taught in
schools. Furthermore, adequate practice is not given to
students to learn a language. Exposure too is far less to them.
School study is an important phase in students’ life.
A student grows from a small child to a grown up when
he/she completes higher secondary examinations. After this
phase, a student enters into college life. This period is
considered as a transition period. The system followed in
colleges is different from that of schools. Moreover, students
have their own whims and fancies about college life because of
the tremendous influence of mass medias like theatres and
satellite channels on them. These Medias project a false
perception about colleges and students. On seeing such things
in movies, students take it for granted. As a result of this, they
have formed an image for a college and want to act upon those
images (Devika Malini, 2011). .
Objectives of the Study:
1. To identify the difficulties those are faced by Arab

teachers in teaching English as a second language by
using Bilingual Method.

8740
2. To find out the reasons for these difficulties faced by the

teachers.
3. To suggest various remedies for improvement of teaching
situations through Bilingual Method. .
Research questions:
Q1: What are the challenges which ESL teachers encounter in

the field of teaching English in Iraq and other Arab regions?
Q2: What are the reasons behind the challenges which Arab
English teachers faced in teaching?
Q3: What are the solutions for such difficulties in teaching
ESL?
Materials and Methodology
This chapter presents participated, research questions &

throws light on the designing of the research and its
importance, the instruments of the data collection, general
description of teachers’ questionnaire, and finally ends with
data analysis procedures.
The Sample of the Study
A questionnaire has been answered by seventy teachers

selected randomly from different secondary schools located in
different regions in the middle and the north of Iraq.
Location: The teachers have been selected from different

regions from the middle and north of Iraq.
Background: Teachers with similar educational background
have been selected.
Selection of sample: Random selection and samples.
Age: The age of the teachers is fluctuating between 23- 50.
Gender: 22 are male and 48 are female.
8741
Tools of the Research:
In this study, the instrument used in collecting data is teachers’

questionnaire designed by the researcher under the supervision
of his supervisor and other teachers of the department of
English and foreign language.
General Description of Teacher’s Questionnaire:
The instrument for data collection used in this study was

teachers’ questionnaire. This questionnaire had been used to
serve as a “research” in eliciting supplementary source date –
seventy copies of these questionnaires were distributed. This
questionnaire contains 20 questions besides demographic
questions. The majority of participants have responded to these
questions. The questionnaire for this study composes of 4
sections. The first part aimed at gathering background
information about the participants, their age, gender,
qualification, and type for the study in their schools. Part No.
one in this study contained all these information. The second
part revolves around teaching experience, this part has also
four questions related to years of teaching, training in teaching
English programmes sessions also it asks whether they enjoy
in teaching English or not.
The third part of the questionnaire is related to teaching
methodologies, this part is composed of three questions.
Teachers were asked three questions about training or whether
joined in any of methodologies sessions in G.T.M., D.M.,
Bilingual Method and so on and also asked whether they face
difficulties in teaching English as a second language when they
use Bilingual Method or not. In the fourth and the last part,
teachers were asked about using four skills (speaking, listening,
writing and reading) in teaching English in the class room and
this is the most important part in the questionnaire; it has
eleven questions. Finally, the last two questions in this
8742
questionnaire, teachers were asked whether they were satisfied

with English proficiency for their students and achieving that
through English lesson or not, also they were asked about
consideration themselves as competent teachers in regard the
communications; clarify ideas and reaching of the level of
students.
Discussions
On the basis of the results achieved through the questionnaire,

most of Iraqi English language teachers seem to face different
difficulties and their causes in teaching English as a second
language specially in using Bilingual Method.
The first difficulty cause which gets the highest
percentage is in item No. (6), which reads “Have you joined any
of the methodologies training sessions” If yes which of these
types of teaching techniques do you follow? (G.T.M., D.M.
Bilingual Method, Other, All of them , No one of them). The
majority of the teachers answered “No one of them” (25)
(25,17%). This is the highest percentage. This difficulty is a
cause and according to the second question of the hypothesis of
the study is not verified, also this item achieves answering the
first question of the study.
The second difficulty cause we have obtained through
the results in item No. (7) Which reads “Do you think that you
face difficulties in teaching English as a second language when
you use Bilingual Method”. The majority of the teachers have
answered (Sometimes)( forty two ) that they faced difficulties
when they use this method, and as we have mentioned in the
first difficulty cause that most of the teachers did not join in
any of the methodologies training sessions because most of the
teachers did not have a specific method applying in teaching
English and this is also another reasons behind that. Through
these two items, we have fulfilled the two of the questions of

8743
this study also the second part of the hypothesis have been
achieved through these two difficulties.
The third difficulty cause that we have got from the
findings in item No.(10) reads “Do you face any difficulties
when you use these exercises in speaking skill?” the findings for
this question was that (40) teacher said “Yes” ,and (30) said
“No” in spite of many of teachers use these exercise every day
but they still have difficulties and the reason behind that may
be the teacher himself suffers from using these exercise or may
be misuse these exercises or may not have enough time for
using them .
The fourth difficulty cause that the researcher has found
through items No. (16, 17, 18 ) which are read in sequence in
findings above about using the reading skill and it’s
comprehension; most of teachers ask their students to read
aloud and to write what they read in the classroom . The
findings of these three questions by the teachers item No.(16)
the majority (52) teachers (74,28%) , item No. (17) the majority
(35) teachers (50%) , item No. (18) the majority (30) teachers
(41.45%) that they use reading and writing every day. The
reason is that most of the teachers spend most of their time in
reading and writing and this is a cause when teachers
emphasis on reading more than speaking and listening skills .
The fifth and the last difficulty cause through the
findings of this study in the item No. (13) which reads” do you
use the following exercises (Movies , Talks, Reports, Scene,) in
the classroom to develop student’s listening comprehension ?”
the finding of this item is that (35) of the teachers have
answered (sometime ) and this is a difficulty faced by the
teachers because listening comprehension is very important to
develop teachers’ and students’ skills and these are very
important in educational process . The reason behind that may
be the shortage in using these exercises techniques in the
schools or maybe it is difficult in using them in classroom
because there was no adequate time for using these things.
8744
Finally, the other findings that we have obtained, all the

teachers have answered positively through the items Nos.
(1,2,3,4,5,8,11,12,14,15 ,19,20) and the high findings for each
one as following No.1. (4-6 ) years, ( 18) teachers, and (17)
teachers above 37 , item No.2 ( 50) teachers answered (yes) ,
item No.3 . (60) teachers answered ( No) , item No. 4 (34)
teachers answered (so much) , item No. 5 (46) teachers
answered (yes ) , item No. 8 (41) of the teachers answered ( all
of them ) , item No.11( 53) teachers answered (yes), item No.12
(41) teachers responded ( much) , item No. 14(65) teachers
answered (yes),item No. 15 (33) of teachers answered (well) ,
item No. 19 ( 33) teachers responded with ( reaching the level of
the students) , and finally item No. 20 ( 29) teachers answered (
fairly satisfied ) .
Conclusion
Through the findings that we have obtained from this study, it

can be summarized some of these difficulties causes as the
following:
Most of the teachers lack in the use of appropriate
teaching methods and also lack in their experience in the field
of training on the latest methods used in world and failing to
communicate with other in the exchange of experiences as well
as the non-participation of a lot of teachers in training courses
on teaching methods during service in the field of education.
The findings that the Researcher has got said that
reading comprehension has been frequently used. The majority
of the teachers have used reading skills and follow the
traditional methods and give more time and more importance to
reading more than other skills, and these in turn are considered
as reasons for difficulties faced by teachers. The Bilingual
Method promotes both fluency and accuracy and emphasis on
speech and pattern practice so students miss on good teaching

8745
& teachers study unaware of new techniques & education is

affected.
Most of the teachers lack in some authentic materials
like (Tap Recorder, Language Laboratory, Video Machine, the
Overhead Projector etc) in the classroom and the reasons
besides that either was not available in the schools or lack and
difficulty in using materials by the teachers also this is back to
lack in training & a validity of equipment teaching aids and
lack in experience knowledge of how to use them.
Finally, through the experience in the field of education,
the Researcher has found most of the students do not have the
motivation in learning English as a second language and that
was because of either religious reasons or lack in using the
language in daily life. Lack in interaction with others in the
school, in the house, & on the street which has made most of
the teachers do not have motivation in teaching English and
developing their skill and desiring to teach English in honestly.
Recommendation and Suggestions
Recommendation: In order to achieve answering question

No.3 of this study which reads “what are the solution for such
difficulties in teaching ESL”?
The researcher recommended the following:

1. To encourage the teachers to constitute and
communicate with other teachers in order to exchange the ideas
and opinions.
2. Performing educational training courses in how to deal
with syllables and texts.
3. Educational institutions should provide teachers more
courses and training in this field to gain experience and also
demanded in engaging sessions and learn modern methods
used in the present global.

8746
4. Demands that educational institutions should provide

schools with the best means and enhance using authentic
materials like (tape recorder, language laboratory, video
machines the overhead projector etc) to enable teachers
interaction with the students in the classroom also teachers are
demanded to use these materials without any difficulties.
5. Teachers should emphasis on the speaking and writing
skills and give more time for practicing in the classroom more
than reading comprehension or other readings.
6. Encouraging and boosting the students to write what
they learnt from the teacher and discussing the committed
errors with their teachers.
Suggestions:
In order to achieve the third objective for the present study, the
researcher suggests the following:
1. The researcher suggests carrying out researches on
comparative studies between different methods that is in use
now a days.
2. Carrying out researches about improving four skills and
emphasizing on them.
3. Adopting a research on the functions and aims of
speaking and listening skills.
4. In the present study only seventy teachers of secondary
schools from different regions in the middle & north of Iraq
were taken as a sample. For more enhance reliability and
validity, the size of the sample can be increased.
5. In this study, only questionnaire is used for collected
data. The interview and observation method can also be
applied.

8747
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ansari, A. (2012). Teaching of English to Arab Students:

Problems and Remedies. KSA: Umm -al Quara
University.
Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and
Teaching. New Jersey. Prentice-Hall. (p.1).
Dodson, C.J. (1967). Language Teaching and the Bilingual
Method. London: Pitman.
Kannan, R. (2009). Difficulties in learning English as a Second
Language. ESP World. 5 (26), 1-4.
Lyytinen, K. J. (1985). “Implication of Theories of Language for
Information System”, Management information system
research center, University of Minnesota.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/249274 [accessed 01 May
2011].
Smith, F. (2004). Understanding Reading. New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

8748

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EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Vol. II, Issue 7/ October 2014

Impact Factor: 3.1 (UIF)

An analytical study on identifying the causes of the

NIHAD MOHAMMED JASIM AL – ZUBAIDI

Key words: Identifying, Causes of the Difficulties, Arab English

Teaching English for students who study English as a second

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

leave the school without paying any sort of attention to

English Language Teaching (ELT):

English language teaching tradition has undergone through

classrooms in the world over. It is worth mentioning that the

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

It has been always a unique pedagogical approach that

suitable environment for learning English in the class room.

English without any guidance from their parents and others?

Objectives of the Study:

1. To identify the difficulties those are faced by Arab

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

2. To find out the reasons for these difficulties faced by the

Q1: What are the challenges which ESL teachers encounter in

Materials and Methodology

This chapter presents participated, research questions &

The Sample of the Study

A questionnaire has been answered by seventy teachers

Location: The teachers have been selected from different

Tools of the Research:

In this study, the instrument used in collecting data is teachers’

General Description of Teacher’s Questionnaire:

The instrument for data collection used in this study was

questionnaire, teachers were asked whether they were satisfied

On the basis of the results achieved through the questionnaire,

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

Finally, the other findings that we have obtained, all the

Through the findings that we have obtained from this study, it

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

& teachers study unaware of new techniques & education is

Recommendation and Suggestions

Recommendation: In order to achieve answering question

The researcher recommended the following:

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

4. Demands that educational institutions should provide

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

Ansari, A. (2012). Teaching of English to Arab Students:

EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Vol. II, Issue 7 / October 2014

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