As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, most learning around the world has been transferred online. Learners who previously engaged in traditional learning now face a new challenge, a distinctive rise in e-learning. This drastic change could impact their learning behavior and acceptance of the change. As a result, their learning engagement could be affected massively. The present study therefore explores learners’ level of engagement in online courses using a designated school platform within the context of Saudi Arabia. A reliable measure was implemented in the study based on the Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ). A survey was consequently conducted in a high school in Saudi Arabia, with a sample of 379 female English as a foreign language (EFL) learners studying a general English language course. The results revealed a high level of engagement among EFL Saudi learners. This helped to generate recommendations to improve EFL practices, primarily through the use of an online environment either at the national level in the Saudi context or the international level.

Social distancing became a must during the pandemic, which not only had implications for people’s social lives, but also for their learning. Collaborative work was almost impossible, especially in the classroom, despite a great need for this approach. For example, in their translation classes, the learners needed to collaborate with their peers, assisting each other in translating texts. Thus, the use of breakout groups is proposed in this study, although there is no guarantee that learners will accept this online approach. Consequently, the current research looks at learners’ acceptance of breakout groups on Blackboard in a translation class. To examine their acceptance, an existing scale was used, developed by Davis (1989) to measure two factors of technology acceptance: perceived usefulness and ease of use. A sample of 54 students on a Translation course at Al-Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, participated in this study. The results show that the learners found breakout groups on Blackboard to be useful and easy to use.

Even though learning can be complex when using a language other than one’s mother tongue, the English-medium communicative approach has been widely adopted in Saudi universities over recent years. Many universities in Saudi Arabia are teaching their courses through the medium of English rather than Arabic, as was previously the case. This also applies to the social and natural sciences. Moreover, instructors are trying to avoid using any Arabic in class, given that English has become the lingua franca in many domains. Thus, the current study seeks to understand how students in the College of Business and Management at Al-Imam University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia feel about English being used as the medium of instruction (EMI) as they study general course. Also examined is the relationship between their previous language test scores and current reflections. Twenty-four female students participated in a survey adapted from generating results to reveal a positive attitude to using EMI on their course. However, no relationship was found between the participants’ language assessment test scores and current feelings.

COVID-19 has dramatically changed the process of teaching, as educational institutions replaced in-person teaching with online teaching to ensure educational continuity while managing the spread of the contagious disease. Drawing on the multifaceted concept of engagement, engagement is addressed as a sole construct. The present study adapted Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ) to explore the impact of online teaching through Blackboard on English as foreign language (EFL) college students’ engagement in writing. The study sample included 148 students. The results of the present non-experimental study generally indicated that online learning through Blackboard positively influenced the engagement of Saudi EFL learners. However, it is essential to note that the students showed a high level of engagement in terms of skills engagement. In contrast, the levels of engagement were moderate for the other three elements of engagement: Emotional, participation/interaction, and performance. The findings also demonstrated that the students perceived the learning experience positively. The participants valued the various virtues offered by online learning platforms, specifically Blackboard. Consequently, it is recommended that using Blackboard features such as blogs, breakout groups, and videoconferencing will help foster educational practices locally and internationally.

Sustainable development and education for sustainable development (ESD) are crucial and interconnected topics under wide discussion today. Young adults need to be educated in how to help bring about change. Thus, the dynamic relationship between school and home is important. In education, use could be made of English language classes, especially since English is a global language that enables access to the literature on sustainability and facilitates discussion in global conferences and meetings. Consequently, English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate students could gain confidence from being able to understand and use the terminology of, for example, sustainability. In this paper, the use of competence-based language teaching (CBLT) is proposed as a means of introducing sustainability topics into EFL writing classes at a university in Saudi Arabia. Student competence in sustainable development is therefore considered based on students’ ability to write about suggested sustainable development topics, measured in a survey against five dimensions of ESD that were proposed by Michelsen and Fischer. The results demonstrate that the students possessed competence in sustainable development and intended to participate in its implementation. Thus, recommendations for the stakeholders in the education sector include sustainable development topics as an initial offering in the curricula of various specialties using the CBLT approach.

The aim of this paper is to describe the different approaches applied to teaching writing in the L2 context and the way these different methods have been established so far. The perspectives include a product approach, genre approach and process approach. Each has its own merits and objectives for application. Regarding the study context, it may be noted throughout previous researches that the product approach is the most common way of teaching EFL writing. In this regard, L2 teachers are mostly concerned with grammatical accuracy and the final written product. However, this paper shifts the emphasis more towards the process approach and how this is more appropriate for the Saudi context. A further description of measuring elements in this approach is provided. Finally, this means of providing feedback is considered in relation to the teaching of writing. As a result, it is hoped that this paper will provide insights for developing writing practices in EFL teaching in Saudi Arabia.