WIKIS IN EFL WRITING CLASSES IN SAUDI ARABIA: IDENTIFYING INSTRUCTORS’ REFLECTIONS ON MERITS, DEMERITS AND IMPLEMENTATION

This paper presents the pre-and-post-reflections of English language instructors concerning the incorporation of a new pedagogy in English as foreign language (EFL) writing classes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This approach is to integrate and blend wiki-mediated writing into a different course plan, with tasks that fit with the normal syllabi used for teaching writing skills. The methodology took a qualitative approach, specifically by conducting semi-structured pre-and-post-interviews. The qualitative analysis focused on the most frequent themes which occur in both cohorts. The participants, who were faculty members in the chosen institution, gave their reflections after they were shown the processes, thoughts and outcomes produced by the participants who actually applied the course and relevant tasks. It is important to identify instructors’ perspectives as this practice can be applied to enhance (novice) non-native learners of writing in English for academic purposes (EAP). Accordingly, this paper intends to shed light on three vital elements: merits, demerits and some principles for implementation.