The Impact of an Introductory Course on the English Language Proficiency Levels of Students upon Joining the Saudi University

This study aimed to explore the impact of an introductory English course provided by the English Language Centre as a part of the Unified Scientific Track Program (USTP) at Taibah University, Saudi Arabia on developing the English language proficiency levels of students upon joining scientific colleges at three consecutive academic years, namely, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 at all the university campuses. The study compared the preplacement test scores to the post test scores showing the development occurred during a two-semester English course through the proficiency language levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The study revealed the positive impact of the introductory English language course to advance students’ language proficiency level from A1 to B2. The study recommended the necessity of administering a standardised proficiency placement test (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, Oxford, etc.) at the end of each school stage e.g. Intermediate & Secondary in order to make sure that students have achieved the target English language proficiency level.


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school tests, namely, a Test of Abilities and an Achievement Test. The accepted admission scores are determined by the university, and it varies from one university to another. Newly admitted students who wish to join the scientific university colleges (e.g. Medicine, pharmacy, engineering, etc.) at Taibah University are enrolled in a one-year study program before they join the scientific colleges. This program is called the Unified Scientific Track Program (USTP). The USTP includes various science subjects such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology. In addition, this program includes two English language courses which students have to study over two semesters. These two English courses are ENG101 and ENG102. ENG101 is offered in the first semester and is a pre-requisite for ENG102. In other words, students have to successfully pass ENG101 before they study ENG102. Only ENG102 is offered in the summer vacation period for students who did not pass ENG102 in the second semester. For both ENG101 and ENG102, the Middle East version of the Oxford Q-Skills for Success series is used as a syllabus.

Context of the Study
Before going through the procedures undertaken by the English Language Center (ELC) at Taibah University, it is worth mentioning to review the pre-university Saudi English language education system to explore to what extent those students who join the USTP are exposed to English language and what are their supposed English language proficiency levels.

Pre-University English Language Education: Textbooks and English Language Proficiency Levels
Saudi students join the university after nine academic years or 18 school semesters of English language instruction. These are distributed as follows:  Three academic years in the Elementary Stage (Grades 4, 5 & 6),  Three academic years in the Intermediate Stage (Grades 1, 2 & 3), and  Three academic years in the Secondary Stage (Grades 1, 2 & 3).

English Language Teaching at the Saudi Elementary School Stage
At the Elementary stage, students start studying English at Grade 4 and up to the end of the Elementary stage i.e. Grade 6. In these three years, two teaching periods are allocated to the study of English a week and every teaching period is forty-five minutes. Therefore, a total of ninety minutes a week. During the Elementary stage, the students have to study As shown above, students at the Elementary stage receive 144 hours of teaching English as a Foreign Language through the syllabi of Smart Class 1 to 6. Although the English language textbooks of the Elementary school stage do not explicitly state the English language level (s) to which they are benchmarked to, their content and syllabi illustrate that they start from the literacy level (with Smart Class 1) and they take students to the low beginners' level.   As shown in Table 3, the students, during the Secondary stage, have to study six English textbooks over six school semesters i.e. two English textbooks each semester. The English language textbooks of the Secondary stage are also benchmarked to the proficiency language levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), and they begin at the A2 level (i.e. Elementary level) and take students up-to the B2 level (i.e. Upper Intermediate) at the end of the second semester of the third secondary grade. As such, the Saudi students at the pre-university education receives a total of 792 hours through the three stages. They receive 144 hours of English instruction at the elementary stage utilizing the course of Smart Class 1-6. In the intermediate stage, they receive 288 hours through the three academic years using the course of Full Blast 1-6 whereas in the secondary stage, they receive 360 hours via the course of Traveller 1-6 (See Figure 1). As Figure 1 indicates, the total number of hours allocated to the teaching of English at the Elementary, Intermediate, and Secondary stage is 792 hours. According to Desveaux (2020), the following approximate numbers of hours are needed to reach a CEFR level:

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As shown above, the placement test score at the different campuses at Taibah University in the academic year 2016-2017 showed that 69% of the students are at A2 English language proficiency level, 14% at the B1 level, and only 5% at the B2 level. This result supports the results showed in Table 5 as most students are at A2 level upon joining the university stage. The following table also shows the students' language levels in the pre-course placement test, semester 1, 2017-2018.  This table also supported the results of the previous two tables as the scores of 68% of the students are at A2 level, 16% at B1 Level, and only 7% achieved the B2 level. These results reveal that Saudi students lack the required English language proficiency level upon joining the university stage which forces the university to propose remedial programs that might enhance students' proficiency levels before joining the university colleges, especially the scientific ones (e.g. Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, etc). As such, the ELC at Taibah University introduces the Unified Scientific Track Program (USTP) which includes two English language courses students have to study over two semesters. These two English courses are ENG101 and ENG102. ENG101 is offered in the first semester and is a pre-requisite for ENG102.

Statement of the Problem
The problem of the current research might be stated that most Saudi students lack the required English language proficiency level (B2 of  Tables 5, 6 & 7 above), demonstrated that the majority of those students (68% -70%) fall at the A2 level of the CEFR Levels. Hence, this research paper explores the impact of the experience of the English Language Centre in assessing and developing the English language proficiency levels of freshmen students upon joining the USTP at the Deanship of Academic Services at Taibah University. More specifically, the paper investigated how the USTP assess the students' proficiency levels of English before and after joining the program and finding out the impact of the English courses provided through the program in developing such proficiency levels according to the CEFR Levels. Hence, the study sought to answer the following question: -What is the impact of the introductory English course provided by the Unified Scientific Track Program on the English language proficiency levels of students upon Joining the Saudi university?

Literature Review
As shown above that Saudi students failed to achieve the required level of English language proficiency upon joining the university stage despite the large number of instruction hours they received through nine years of study. Such failure was the main concern of many studies in literature to find out the reasons why students do not usually achieve the targeted proficiency levels despite all the reforms and plans that have been conducted. Ashraf (2018), for example, investigated the issues affecting the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia. Findings revealed that teaching EFL in Saudi Arabia was affected by the impact of the native language, not practicing English on daily bases, attitude towards teaching and learning English, not using up to date teaching methods, enrolling larger number of students in EFL classes and not creating effective teaching environment. The study suggested some recommendations; (1) teaching English from grade 1 of the elementary level, (2) using teaching strategies that motivate students to learn English,

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relationships in a way to stimulating students to learn English and (5) implementing diverse assessment methods. Another study conducted by Mitchell and Alfuraih (2017) aimed to provide an inclusive timeline of the development of English language education from the time King AbdulAziz Ibn Saud united the Arabian Peninsula and created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study found that there were two main factors which result in students' abilities that do not match their grade leve: 1) not all students complete their homework tasks and 2) students need more English classes per week. The study suggests more English classes and online activities. Furthermore, they study suggested structured professional development programs for teachers. Al Shumaimeri (2003) highlighted that students leave the secondary school stage without the ability to participate in a conversation. Javid and Asmari (2011) supported Al Shumaimeri (2003) as they carried out a study to investigate the reasons of low proficiency in English language among Saudi students. They recommend, a strict admission policy, an increase in language courses, developing tailor-made activities, providing increased practice in academic writing, exploiting modern teaching techniques, and equipping the classrooms with modern teaching aids to improve Saudi EFL learners' academic writing. Aljouei and Alsuhaibani (2018) also wanted to find out why school leavers cannot speak or write complete proper sentences after studying English for 9 years. The study finds that the reasons are the following; introducing English language at a late stage of studying makes students not ready to learn a new language, the teachers were not well trained, neither as language teachers nor as behavioural science teachers, and information and communication technology (ICT) is not used for teaching English. The study makes the following recommendations: 1) Introduce English from the early stages; 2) Concentrate on quality not quantity; 3) Attention should be paid to evaluation not examination; 4) No class should encompass more than 20 students; and 5) Audio visual aids should be used in instruction.
Fareh (2010)  Reviewing these studies and others revealed that Saudi students suffer from low proficiency levels due to several factors that pointed to the need for improving students' English proficiency levels before joining the university life. As such, the ELC proposed the USTP that includes two English courses with the aim of helping students achieve the required English proficiency level.

Method
To meet the purpose of the research paper, the researcher compared the Saudi students' scores on the English language test held by the ELC of Taibah University before and after the USTP. As mentioned earlier in this paper, the USTP includes two English language courses which students have to study over two semesters. These two English courses are ENG101 and ENG102. ENG101 is offered in the first semester and is a pre-requisite for ENG102. In other words, students have to successfully pass ENG101 before they study ENG102. However, before students start studying the ENG101 course, the English language Centre of Taibah University gives a pre-course placement test in order to achieve the following purposes: 1. To identify the English language levels of the students upon joining the program. 2. To place students in the fast track sections if they are able to prove a higher level of English proficiency by obtaining the target score on the placement test (i.e. 71 and above). 3. To make the English language classes more homogeneous in terms of the students' language abilities and thus more motivating for students. 4. To enable the teachers to deal with homogeneous classes in terms of the language level; and hence make their teaching customized to their students' level. 5. Every teacher is given the scores of his / her students so that they know their levels on joining the course and can monitor their students' language progress throughout the teaching semester. 6. To compare the results of students in this pre-course test with the post-course test in order to measure the difference in the students' language progress.
The pre-course and post-course English tests are two standard quality assurance procedures which are regularly applied by the English Language Center of the Deanship of Academic Services, Taibah Occasional Papers Vol.71: July (2020)

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University. As indicated above, the pre-course English placement test is regularly administered prior to the actual study at the beginning of the first semester in order to identify the English language proficiency levels of the students on joining the English language program whereas the second English placement test ( i.e. Post-course test) aims to measure the progress achieved in students' English language proficiency levels after successful completion of the English language courses taught in the Unified Scientific Track (i.e. ENG101 & ENG102).

Overview of the Q Skills Placement Test, Oxford University Press
The Placement Test (PT) is designed by Oxford University Press (OUP), and it is based on the Q-Skills series which is used in the English language program in the USTP. The Q-Placement Test is designed to place students into the appropriate strand and level of Q: Skills for Success (i.e. from Intro-Book 5). It consists of two parts: Reading and Writing and Listening and Speaking. These two main parts also include language use items (i.e. vocabulary & Grammar).

The Reading and Writing Placement Test
The reading and writing placement component of the placement test measures reading comprehension, other reading skills, such as vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary skills, grammar, and knowledge of writing skills. The Reading and Writing Placement Test consists of 50 items.

The Listening and Speaking Placement Test
The Listening and Speaking Placement Test measures listening comprehension, some listening skills, vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary skills, grammar, pronunciation, and knowledge of speaking skills. The Listening and Speaking Placement Test consists of 50 items. The reading, writing and the listening and speaking placement tests were combined in one test. Some test items have been transformed into the MCQ test format in order to produce the students' scores in a timely manner. The Oxford University Press Placement Test recommends placement of students as shown in Table 8 below.  The table above shows that the course lasts for 426 hours in both semesters, 213 hours for each. The course is taught in 16 periods per week for 50 minutes for each. The following section highlights the findings of the study in terms of descriptive statistics of the post-course tests in the three consecutive academic years and comparing the pre-tests and post-tests to find out how much effect had the English course taught by the USTP on the evaluation of students' language proficiency levels.

Results
As indicated at the beginning of this paper, the post-course placement test is another quality assurance procedure that is regularly conducted at the end of each academic year. The results of the post-course placement test in three consecutive years were analysed in terms of means and percentages to measure the progress achieved by the students after studying the English courses in the USTP. The following figure graphically shows the results of the post-course placement test in Semester 2 2015-2016.  As shown above, most students achieved B1, A2, and B2 proficiency levels after studying the intensive English course at the USTP. Tables 10 illustrates that the English language program in the UST has managed to upgrade most students' English language proficiency levels to B1 and B2 levels. Table 10 below shows the distribution of students over the language proficiency levels according to their campus and the percentage of students in each level in semester 2 2015-2016.

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The table above shows that 41.72% of the students were able to achieve B1 language proficiency level after receiving the English courses in the USTP, whereas 26.79 achieved B2, and only 30.03% were at A2 level. This means that the intensive course was able to advance students' proficiency level to the required level to join the scientific colleges, such as medicine, pharmacy, engineering, or science. the lower CEFR language levels ( i.e. -A1, A1) to the higher language levels on the CEFR language scales ( i.e. B1, B2, and C1). As such, the results revealed the positive impact of the introductory English course, in the development of students' English language proficiency level.
Interpretations to such positive impact of the English language program of Taibah University in improving the students' language levels from the A1 level to the B1 and B2 levels with a total number of 426 hours of English language instruction might be the well-structured English language program which starts with a placement test and ends with a post-course placement test in order to measure the progress achieved by the students. It also allows to evaluate the effectiveness of the different aspects of the English language program. Furthermore, between the two placement tests, there is a well-established and varied assessment system that measures students' progress throughout the course of study. The results which are obtained from the various assessments are analyzed to address the aspects which need improvement e.g. teaching techniques, student support, various language skills. In addition to that, well selected textbooks that are benchmarked to international standards such the CEFR, TOEFL, and IELTS; well-trained teaching staff who are closely monitored, and who are supported by a professional development program; a language support program which offers help to weak/low level students; and finally well-defined learning outcomes of each English language course. All these factors are considered vital to the success of English language courses as revealed by the previous literature.

Recommendations
Based on the above findings as well as the unique and long experience of the English Language Center, the following recommendations can help in improving the English language instructions and outcomes in the Saudi general school.
-Establish an overall English language curriculum for the Saudi general schools where the English language levels build on each other; for instance, if the English language curriculum at the Intermediate school stage aims at taking students from the A1 level to the B1 level, the English language curriculum at the Secondary stage should start teaching from the B1 level and take them to the B2/low C1 levels. This way English language courses at the university level can focus more on English For Specific Purposes (ESP) courses which are related to the students' majors in the colleges that students join. This will save a lot of time and resources and allows for maximising the benefits of the English language instruction at school and university levels. -A standardised proficiency placement test (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, Oxford, etc.) should be given to students at the end of each school stage e.g. Intermediate & Secondary in order to make sure that students have achieved the target English language proficiency level. Students who fail to meet the required level can then take a summer course in English. -Similarly, a language benchmark/ standard should be set for admitting students at the university. For instance, students should join the university at the B1 level (Intermediate). This will allow the university to offer the ESP courses which students need for their college majors. -An English language training/professional development program should be established to develop the English language teaching skills, techniques, and strategies of the Saudi school-teachers. -A comprehensive assessment system should be developed at school level to make sure that the target learning outcomes of the English course are being achieved. The results which are obtained from the various assessments should be analyzed to address the aspects which need improvement e.g. teaching, learning, textbooks, student support, etc.