Oral Communicative Activities in the Saudi Third Year Secondary EFL Textbooks

Abstract

This study aims to examine the oral communicative activities found in the Saudi EFL third year secondary textbooks and to determine the role they play in influencing the learners' oral communication in English. A questionnaire of 52 items based on four domains is utilized to explore the perception of Saudi EFL teachers regarding the oral communicative activities found in the textbooks. The preliminary survey, conducted on a group of Saudi teachers who are using the target textbooks, showed that the textbooks do not have highly communicative activities for fluency development. The participants' rating of the activities, found in the textbooks, was very low. The activities seem to be highly structured and lack free communicative activities. The study shows that the textbooks require much modification. Other types of oral communicative activities should be included to fulfill the goals of developing the Saudi learners' oral fluency in English.