Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal Impact Factor 6.8992 (ICI) http://www.rjelal.com; Email:editorrjelal@gmail.com ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O) Vol.5.Issue 4. 2017 (Oct-Dec) 373 NIDA QAYOOM PRESENT STATUS AND THE PROBLEMS OF TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA NIDA QAYOOM Department of English, Faculty of Sciences & Arts, King Abdulaziz University – Rabigh branch, Rabigh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia E-mail: nida.qayoom@gmail.com ABSTRACT An international language belongs to its users, not to the countries whose national laŶguages haǀe ďeĐoŵe iŶterŶatioŶalized ;Edge ϭϵϵϮͿ. There is no doubt in the fact that English is the only language which can be used by non native speakers to communicate with each other. It is called as the language of science, technology and business and Saudi Arabia is no exception. English is being taught in the kingdom for almost a hundred years but still like other non native learners, Saudi learners also face many problems in language acquisition. This article discusses the history of how English language was introduced in the education system of the KiŶgdoŵ, its preseŶt positioŶ iŶ the KiŶgdoŵ as ǁell as the proďleŵs faĐed iŶ teaching this language to the Saudi students and how they could be dealt with. Keywords: ELT, Saudi Arabia, Education System, Pedagogy. Introduction The foundation of English education in KSA dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century as a result of the rapid evolution and development of the Kingdom. However, it was not the first Foreign Language that was introduced in the Kingdom. Turkish was the first foreign language ever taught in the Kingdom in the schools owned and operated by the Ottoman. However, it received a hostile treatment and was totally boycotted by the natives citing the reason of it being the language of the autocrats or invaders and it deprived them of their national respect. In 1914, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, this language was not used or needed anymore in the Kingdom and thus it was lost. However, with the rapid growth and development of the Kingdom, this negative attitude towards the Foreign Language teaching changed and in order to keep abreast with the needs of the modern world, a need for the schools to prepare Saudis to travel abroad to attain modern, scientific, technological and western education was felt. As a result, the Scholarship Preparation School was established in 1953 in Mecca which marked the beginning of English Language teaching in the Kingdom as it acted as the major window for the Saudis to the outside world, where only natives (Saudis) going abroad were taught and thus qualified foreign teachers especially from Egypt were recruited to teach in this school and thus the curriculum was sculpted on Egyptian system except Islamic education which was regulated by the KSA government. As a result, the curriculum was highly influenced by the French system. This school also marked the beginning of the modern day high school education in KSA. Thus English and French were introduced as foreign languages in the Secondary education system in KSA. In 1958, English and French began to be taught at the intermediate level from grades 7-9. But soon in 1969, French was removed by the Ministry of Education at this level and, therefore, was taught at secondary level from grades 10-12. Since then, English enjoys a higher RESEARCH ARTICLE