Self-esteem of Saudi Learners and Its Relationship to Their Achievement in English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

This study examined the concept of language self-esteem among 263 Saudi learners of English as a foreign Language (EFL) and its association with their achievement in this language. The study utilized a questionnaire survey for data collection and descriptive statistical analyses (e.g. mean, standard deviation, correlations) and a t-test for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.414) between learners' self-esteem and their EFL achievement. In addition, participating learners demonstrated low levels of self-esteem (M = 2.94 (out of 5), SD = .44); and low language achievement (M = 62.80 (out of 100), SD = 12.75). There were also no significant differences between male and female learners in terms of both their self-esteem and EFL achievement. The findings derived from this study acknowledge the vital need for all the partners of EFL teaching/learning process in Saudi Arabia to find practical solutions to build and promote Saudi EFL learners' self-esteem for learning the English language. Based on these findings, some suggestions on how to put learner's self-esteem into practice in order to ensure optimal EFL learning outcomes as well as other points for possible future self-esteem research are presented in the concluding section of this paper.