THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS IN An EFL CONTEXT: AN INVESTIGATION OF TEACHERS' READINESS AT TAIF UNIVERSITY
Reem Alkhammash
Assist. Prof. Dr., Taif University, Saudi Arabia, reem.alkhammash@gmail.com
Abstract
Promoting 21st century skills in the classrooms and the call for the integration of soft skills in all subjects have become national & economic "imperatives" to succeed in the global world and the diverse economy (Lamb, Maire, & Doecke, 2017, p.8). Research has found that second language proficiency is relevant to effective leadership in the U.S. labor market (Oliverio-Olivieri, 2016) and that fostering leadership skills (LS) in language classrooms is paramount to make connections and develop lasting partnerships (Eaton, 2010). This research paper aims to investigate language instructors’ level of readiness to implement leadership skills (LS) in EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom at Taif University. The study addresses leadership from a competency perspective and explores the benefits of fostering of LS in the Saudi EFL context. The study followed a quantitative approach in collecting and analyzing the data. The findings of this study show that the level of teachers’ readiness to implement leadership competencies was high. In addition, the study explored whether there are significant differences in language instructors’ readiness to implement leadership skills due to formal qualification, years of teaching experience, first language and streams of courses in which the findings revealed no significant differences. Conclusion and recommendations for future research studies are presented at the end of this paper.
Keywords: classroom practices, competency-based leadership framework, ESL/EFL classroom, leadership skills, skill development, student-empowered classrooms
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