Challenges of teaching English in the Arab world: Why can't EFL programs deliver as expected?

Although tremendous efforts have been exerted to improve the teaching-learning process of English, EFL programs still fail to deliver as expected, and the EFL learners' proficiency in English remains inadequate and below expectation. This paper investigates the challenges encountered in teaching English in the Arab World countries. It attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What are the challenges that we face in teaching EFL? (2) How can we meet these challenges? The findings of the study revealed that inadequate preparation of teachers, lack of motivation on the part of the learners, teacher-centered methods and inadequate assessment techniques are among the major problems that render EFL programs unable to deliver as expected. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.