Demotivating Teaching Practices in EFL Classrooms in Saudi Secondary Schools

Abstract

This study explores demotivational teaching practices, such as teachers’ behaviours, teaching methods, personality traits, and competencies to examine how these practices negatively affect students’ motivation to learn foreign languages. The study utilised a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 female students in a public secondary school in Almadinah, located in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The study identified five teaching practices that secondary students found demotivating: (a) teacher-centred teaching; (b) excessive use of Arabic; (c) teachers’ lack of motivation; (d) lack of learning feedback; and (e) excessive strictness. Therefore, English teachers should avoid these practices and raise awareness of the detrimental effects they can have on students’ motivation.