Bad Study Habits of EFL Learners as Indicators of their Poor Performance: A Case of the University of Bisha

Abstract

The  objective of this study was to identify the study habits of the  college students of English,  and  examine their  role on the their  performance as assessed by the instructors. The study was intended to be a preliminary  and exploratory one and to be followed by a more at a larger scale study. The participants were 150  students distributed between  males (60%) and females (40%). They were selected purposefully representing the  different academic years from the  Departments of English, Colleges of Sciences and Arts, University of Bisha, An-namas, KAS. Three different tools were used to collect the data: a self-prepared 19-item survey questionnaire, informal observations, and informal meetings with  the instructors of the intended groups.  The percentile  and frequency techniques were used to analyze the collected data. The results showed that the majority of the students, boys in particular, devoted less time to their study, revised less frequently, never took notes, did not plan their study time, and study mainly to take examinations or please parents. They studied alone in their rooms and rarely study at library. All this  corresponded with the instructors' assessment that the participants’ performance was below the expectations. Though this was true of both genders, females, however, did better than males in many of these respects. Their study habits were less negative; they were more motivated and therefore their performance was reported to be better than those of the males. The study  concluded with some recommendations and suggestions  for future actions.