Iraqi post-graduate students’ tendency towards learning English

Abstract

In Iraq, the first and the official language is Arabic, and the foreign language that Iraqi students (in schools and universities) learn is English. In addition to this, some schools and universities teach French, but in a very limited capacity. The researcher, while teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Iraq and in some Arab countries, noticed that the strategies, programs, techniques, and methods of teaching EFL have been investigated in detail across the world, but there is a shortage concerning the same in Iraqi literature. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced all educational institutions worldwide to shift from face-to-face education to online platforms, students have had to use certain learning styles and strategies for the first time, especially to learn English.