Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)

This study investigated the relationship between Saudi EFL learners’ English language proficiency levels and their perceptions of the educational experience in the Preparatory Year Program using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This study employed a mixed-method approach to ex...

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Main Authors: Asma Alshehri, Ebtesam Abdulhaleem, Afzal Khan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2439163
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author Asma Alshehri
Ebtesam Abdulhaleem
Afzal Khan
author_facet Asma Alshehri
Ebtesam Abdulhaleem
Afzal Khan
author_sort Asma Alshehri
collection DOAJ
description This study investigated the relationship between Saudi EFL learners’ English language proficiency levels and their perceptions of the educational experience in the Preparatory Year Program using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This study employed a mixed-method approach to explore learners’ perceptions of the educational environment using the DREEM survey with 225 female participants across three proficiency levels. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 20 learners to gain deeper insights into their experiences. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners in their first year held more positive than negative perceptions of their educational environment, as evidenced by a mean score of 2.92/4 and predominantly positive perceptions across the five sub-scales of DREEM. The chi-square statistical analysis indicated a significant relationship between proficiency levels and perceptions of the educational environment, with advanced-level learners perceiving it as excellent in 16% of cases, compared to 6.7% for intermediate learners and 22% for beginners. Notably, only 49.3% of beginner-level learners perceived the environment as more positive than negative, but 22.7% considered it excellent. The study identified some problematic areas, such as authoritative teachers and the need for a better support system for stressed students. The findings have important pedagogical implications for English language teachers, teacher trainers, and policymakers.
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spelling doaj-art-a2bec5367aa54966b6f93aa9d3eaae322025-08-20T02:34:32ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Education2331-186X2024-12-0111110.1080/2331186X.2024.2439163Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)Asma Alshehri0Ebtesam Abdulhaleem1Afzal Khan2Common First Year, English Language Skills Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaEnglish Language Skills Department (ELSD), Common First Year, Al Khaleej Training and Education-King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaThis study investigated the relationship between Saudi EFL learners’ English language proficiency levels and their perceptions of the educational experience in the Preparatory Year Program using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This study employed a mixed-method approach to explore learners’ perceptions of the educational environment using the DREEM survey with 225 female participants across three proficiency levels. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 20 learners to gain deeper insights into their experiences. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners in their first year held more positive than negative perceptions of their educational environment, as evidenced by a mean score of 2.92/4 and predominantly positive perceptions across the five sub-scales of DREEM. The chi-square statistical analysis indicated a significant relationship between proficiency levels and perceptions of the educational environment, with advanced-level learners perceiving it as excellent in 16% of cases, compared to 6.7% for intermediate learners and 22% for beginners. Notably, only 49.3% of beginner-level learners perceived the environment as more positive than negative, but 22.7% considered it excellent. The study identified some problematic areas, such as authoritative teachers and the need for a better support system for stressed students. The findings have important pedagogical implications for English language teachers, teacher trainers, and policymakers.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2439163Saudi EFL learners’ proficiency levelsEFL learners’ perceptionseducational environmentPreparatory Year ProgramsDundee Ready Education environment Measure (DREEM)Sustainability Education, Training & Leadership
spellingShingle Asma Alshehri
Ebtesam Abdulhaleem
Afzal Khan
Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)
Cogent Education
Saudi EFL learners’ proficiency levels
EFL learners’ perceptions
educational environment
Preparatory Year Programs
Dundee Ready Education environment Measure (DREEM)
Sustainability Education, Training & Leadership
title Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)
title_full Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)
title_fullStr Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)
title_full_unstemmed Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)
title_short Correlating English language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among Saudi EFL learners in preparatory year programs using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)
title_sort correlating english language proficiency levels and perceptions of educational experience among saudi efl learners in preparatory year programs using dundee ready education environment measure dreem
topic Saudi EFL learners’ proficiency levels
EFL learners’ perceptions
educational environment
Preparatory Year Programs
Dundee Ready Education environment Measure (DREEM)
Sustainability Education, Training & Leadership
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2439163
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