Effect of a Multimethod Approach on Students Perception - Literature review Example

Studies explored the role of teaching methodologies and aid in low levels of academic achievement, students' performance, and perceptions. Results from these studies have indicated that effective variable scores of students ranging from low to moderate and never higher. The most startling finding is that teachers seldom used interactive, multimethod approaches in teaching and that teachers' perceptions of students' performance were, more often than not, unreliable. At the core of the problem, it was found, lied improper teacher training, wrong objective settings, faulty curriculum design, and wrong methods employed to assess students.

The problem is as much of a concern in the English language (EL) as it in Arabic Language (AL), and Islamic Religious Science (IRS). The concerns raised with regard to EL have been raised way back in 1983 by the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States. The concerns about EL have been so deeply felt that the authorities have changed the secondary school system a number of times in the recent past in what is seen as a desperate bid to strike a balance between the progressive socio-economic development of the country and faltering achievement of the students.

In all, what Saudi society has been persistent about is the criticism of low student performance and academic achievement. Experts from different fields have attributed the low achievement to several factors and teachers, not acknowledging their lack of effective teaching methods, have blamed students' poor attitudes towards learning and lack of motivation towards it. The opinion is, thus, divided between educationists and teachers. The former believe that the secondary school environment in Saudi Arabia is grossly unimaginative and there is a perceivable lack of relevant teaching aids.

The lobby representing teachers or speaking on behalf of it, like Al-Shaffi (1993), has not moved an iota from their refrain which blames students' for underachievement. Al-Shafi argues that students lack the motivation to learn and thus do not pay the required attention to EL, IRS, or AL.