English language is a global language since it enjoys the position of formal language in several countries and because it is taught in many other countries as a foreign language. This position is due to “historical and sociocultural” reasons (Crystal, 2003, p. 29). As a result, English became a ‘lingua franca’ in Harmer's (2007) words. This situation was caused by some reasons such as colonial history, economics, information exchange, travel, and culture. In addition, it is spoken by million and a half of the world inhabitants; most of them are non-natives (Harmer, 2007). By 2040, according to Graddo (2006) as cited in Harmer (2007), the number of people speaking it will increase. Furthermore, it is taught as a foreign language (FL) or second language (SL) in all educational levels almost worldwide making the number of learners continuously increasing. In Sudan, as a part of the world, English is taught as a foreign language.

Learners study English for seven years in general education in Sudan. They start learning it at the fifth grade in basic level and continue to study it up to grade three in secondary school. Until 1989, English was the language of instruction at tertiary level in Sudan, but it was replaced by Arabic then. It became a university requirement, and students who join university study it for 90 credit hours divided into two academic years (Ibrahim, 2010; Nur & Mohammed, 2012).

English Language Teaching (ELT) is globally promoted by specific objectives related to “a country, an age group, a whole school, a class, or an individual” (McDonough, Shaw, & Masuhara, 2013, p. 5). These goals pertain to education, trade, or cultural understanding. Cook (2002 & 2007) lists ELT objectives to include, among others, to enable students to communicate with the users of the other language. These goals can be stated in the general policy of teaching the language or in precise terms (McDonough et al., 2013).

Consequently, attaining these goals could be influenced by the students and the educational context where the instruction occurs. In the design of any English language courses, there are many factors need to be accounted for. These factors are essential to the success of a language programme. Richards (2001) called them situation analysis or constrains analysis. Nation and Macalister (2010) named them environmental factors and McDonough et al. (2013) called them contextual factors. These factors contribute to the effective implementation of any language programme and they should be taken care of in the design phase.

For Richards (2001) these factors can be classified into several types. The first one is social factors which refer to the impact of community members on the programme design and learning. These members of community include “government policy makers, educational and other government officials, politicians, tertiary education specialists, parents, citizens, and students” (Richards, 2001, p. 93). The second factor is related to institutional referring, in particular the educational institution where the course is being taught. This factor encompasses directorship, classroom teaching aids, library, the function of the coursebooks, teachers' problems and how the institution deals with them, the position the institution enjoys in for providing successful language programme, and the institution obligation to achieve quality. The third factor is related to teachers. Aspects shown by teachers are language competence, practical knowledge, education, motives, and instruction strategies they adopt. Fourth, there are the learners whose previous experience in learning the language should be considered. In addition, students' motivation, predictions, learning approach, preference in terms of materials, speculation of the functions of instructors; students; and teaching subject matter, and the learning facilities available to them are to be considered in the design an implementation of any EFL programme.

1.1 Language Proficiency

Language proficiency refers to "the degree of skill with which a person can use a language" (Richards & Schmidt, 2013, p. 321). This includes how good an individual is at reading, writing, speaking, or comprehending a language. Language proficiency is measured through proficiency tests. Moreover, it has some levels; language learners can be classified as 'beginner, intermediate, and advanced' (Brown, 2001). Nevertheless, various points of views exist regarding the meaning of these levels.

Thus, language proficiency refers to a student's ability to use a language appropriately. According to Littlewood (2002) the most proficient interlocutor in an FL is the one who takes care of "processing the complete situation involving himself and his hearer, taking account of what knowledge already shared between them, and selecting items which will communicate his message effectively" (p. 4). Exposures to contexts that help in developing these skills enable the FL learner to communicate his meaning effectively. This is the role of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).

Communicative language teaching is a group of views on the objectives of language teaching, how students learn languages, the types of class tasks facilitating learning, and teachers and students' role in the class (Richards, 2006). CLT target is the teaching of communicative competence which means the use language for meaningful communication. Communicative competence covers some aspects of language knowledge such as using language for an array of various purposes and functions and varying the use of language based on the setting and the participants (Richards, 2006).

1.2 Previous Studies

Al-Mahrooqi (2012) studied Omani students' point of view on their low proficiency level of English language. A hundred students took part in the study. Data were collected through focus group discussion and open-ended questionnaire. The study revealed that the main factors causing Omani students' low proficiency were teachers, curriculum, unmotivated students, lack of exposure to English outside the classroom, unsupportive parents, and poor school system.

Souriyavongsa, Rany, Albidin, and Mei (2013) conducted a study to identify the reasons behind the weak level of the students at the Faculty of Education, the National University of Laos (NUOL). Thirty students were asked to list ten reasons for their low proficiency in English language. Results showed that the reasons were untrained teachers, students' English weak background, students' shortage in self-confidence in using English, inappropriate curriculum, unmotivated students, lack of practice on the part of students, and crowded classrooms.

Fareh (2010) attempted to explore the obstacles confronting the teaching of English in the Arab world countries. The study concluded that ELT in the Arab world faces with problems related to inappropriate teacher education, unmotivated students, unsuitable teaching methods on the part of teachers, students' weak foundation, textbook and teaching materials, evaluation techniques, and students suffer from shortage in exposure to English.

Al-Rabia (2016) investigated the causes of Saudi EFL students' low achievement. Al-Rabia found that three major factors contributed to the Saudi students' low proficiency of English. The first factor is related to learners themselves. For example, learners were not motivated to learn English. In addition, they held negative attitudes toward learning English. Finally, students were of low aptitude resulted in learners' anxiety. The second factor was concerned with external set of factors including teacher behavior, teaching methods, the curriculum, and students' learning styles. Educational system in Saudi Arabia was the third set of factors causing low English level among Saudi learners. These factors included overcrowded classes, shortage in teacher training, and deficiency in technological tools.

EFL students in Sudan study English for 9 years. Nevertheless, mostof them, whether still students or graduates, suffer from poor English proficiency as research have shown. For example, Mohammed (2016 & 2018) and Mohammed and Nur (2018) revealed that the overall performance of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Khartoum was below average in English. In addition, researchers such as Zakaria (2015), Osman (2016), Abd-Al- Rahman (2017) and Abdellah (2011) concluded that Sudanese university students suffered from problems in communicating through English, both in writing and speaking. These studies focused on problems and difficulties faced by Sudanese tertiary students in learning English. Very few studies were conducted to investigate the causes of this poor level of proficiency among university students in Sudan. The purpose of this study is to investigate the causes behind this low proficiency level and to propose some solutions to them. Thus, the study aims to answer these research questions:

• What are the causes of low English proficiency among Sudanese tertiary students?
• What are the potential solutions to these problems?

Al-Mahrooqi (2012), in Oman, conducted a study to investigate why Omani EFL students at Sultan Qaboos University had low level of proficiency in English. The current study attempts to replicate Al-Mahrooqi's study in the Sudanese context. Although this study adopted the same data collection tool with Sudanese students from several universities, it also included graduate students as well as EFL teachers. These participants may provide more insight to the results of the study.

The following are the details of the methodology adopted by the study.

3.1 Method

This study is exploratory. This type is intended to encourage participants to “express their opinions unreservedly” (Al- Mahrooqi, 2012, p. 2). This design according to Khan (2012), cited in Al-Mahrooqi (2012), enables learners to describe what they experienced while learning English, revealing their opinions on how they were taught English during their study and the possible impacts they had on the learning process.

3.2 Instrument

The study adopted an open- ended questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire was adapted from Al- Mahrooqi (2012). It contained two sections. The first sought to elicit background information about the participants. This information included gender, university, college, and academic status. The second section contained two questions, the first of which asked the participants to provide their opinions about the causes of low English language proficiency among Sudanese EFL students. The second one attempted to solicit the participants' ideas regarding their suggestions on how to deal with these causes.

3.3 Sample

The snowball sampling technique was employed. A total of 180 participants were engaged in this study. They were all Sudanese. There were 60% males and 40% females. Of these 180 participants, 65% were graduates, 15% were under graduate students, and 20% were teachers. The participants were from various Sudanese universities such as University of Khartoum, University of Sudan of Science and Technology, University of Gizera among other universities. The students and the graduates were with various specializations including, for example, engineering, public and environmental health, medical laboratories, business administration, and medicine.

3.4 Procedures

The study adopted snowball sampling technique to locate its subjects. The researchers designed the questionnaire through a Google form released on 21/1/2018. The researchers shared the link through various social media inviting students and graduates to participate. As the researchers had taught English at the University of Khartoum and University of Gizera for many years, they have many of their students as friends on Facebook, Email, and WhatsApp where the link was posted for students to circulate it among their colleagues. Accepting the responses was stopped on 21/2/2018.

3.5 Analysis

Participants' responses were sorted out in several main aspects which were tabulated to calculate the frequency of each one of them to identify their order. Next, under each main factor, examples of the subjects' responses were provided to show its contribution to the low proficiency.

4.1 Causes of Low English Proficeincy Among Sudanese Tertiary Students

Table 1 shows the causes responsible for the poor proficiency among Sudanese university students as perceived by the participants. The percentage of each of the factors is presented.

Table 1. Frequencies of Causes of Low English Proficeincy Among Sudanese Tertiary Students

It is obvious from Table 1 that goverment and university policies are the main cause (53%) of the low English proficiency among Sudanese tertiary students. The following is a summary for the main points pertaining to context as shown by the participants.

• The environment in universities is poor and it is not well prepared for teaching of English.
• University policies do not take teaching of English seriously.
• Few numbers of credit hours.
• Use of Arabic as the language of instruction in higher education.
• English is regarded as a university requirement.
• Migration of well-trained teachers. This is due to the economic situation.
• Large number of students in classrooms.
• The government does not pay enough money to establish the infrastructure in universities.

The participants of this study considered government and university policies toward English language as the major cause of Sudanese university students' low proficiency in English. The government policy introduced Arabic language as the language of instruction in higher education in Sudan in 1989. This step was taken promptly without prior preparation and planning. This resulted in making English as a university requirement with 90 credit hours. Consequently, the time of exposure to English was decreased. Moreover, university policy towards English is negatively influential. Most universities divided these 90 hours into two academic years. In addition, classrooms are crowded, minimum of 70 students in the best situations, which makes it impossible to teach English. Furthermore, classrooms are not well prepared to provide good teaching as they lack basic teaching aids. It seems that the respondents are aware of the contribution of policy factors among the Sudanese tertiary students' low proficiency. These findings imply that low proficiency is caused by some external factors affecting the educational system. Government and university policies have very influential contribution to the teaching and learning of English language. These results accord to what was revealed by Al- Mahrooqi (2012), Souriyavongsa et al. (2013), and Al-Rabia (2016). They concluded that large number of students in classrooms, education system, and lack of technology use in teaching and learning of English language were some reasons causing their respondents poor level of English.

4.2 Teachers

The participants suggest some aspects related to teachers that cause low proficiency level of English among Sudanese university students:

• Teachers are not qualified enough to teach English.
• They use very traditional methods, techniques, and strategies in teaching that make students feel bored.
• They use Arabic too much in teaching.
• They lack training. This is obvious from the way they teach.
• They do not attempt to motivate students.
• They do not teach English as a language; they teach to enable students to pass examinations
• They are not friendly. They do not respond to students' questions.

The results also showed that teachers at universities are the second cause of the low proficiency among Sudanese university graduates. The most striking fact was the use of Arabic to teach English. Teachers only train the students to pass examinations. Respondents felt that their teachers are not qualified and lack training, which is reflected in the traditional methods and techniques they adopt in teaching English. These results indicate a gap in the educational system in Sudan. They also imply that the requirements of teachers' employment at universities are not clear and weak. The results are in line with those of Al- Mahrooqi (2012), Sourivayongsa et al. (2013), and Al-Rabia (2016). They concluded that their respondents stated that their English teachers were not qualified enough to teach English, they used traditional methods to teach English, and they were untrained.

4.3 General Education

• Teachers have poor English proficiency level in basic and secondary schools.
• There are a few number of teachers who teach English in rural areas; the authors find that one teacher teaches in two schools.
• Teachers and students alike focus on passing English exams. This makes teaching and learning a mechanical process.
• The SPINE (Sudan Practical Integrated National English textbook series used to teach English is weak.
• Literature was cancelled from the curriculum.
• Unintegrated curriculum that focuses only in reading and grammar.
• Teaching English in basic schools start late (5th grade).
• Changing the educational ladder caused a gap in the educational process as there is a missing academic year.

General education, according to the results is the third cause behind the poor proficiency level. This cause entails several aspects that affect students' level of English language. These aspects include low proficiency level English language teachers, shortage in teachers in many schools, specifically in rural areas, weak curriculum, cancellation of literature syllabus, focus of teachers in training the students to pass examinations, and change in educational ladder. These findings imply that students admit that university has a weak base of English language which demotivates them from learning English. The results also suggest that training the students to pass examinations cause students to be unaware of the importance of English as a future subject. In addition, the findings also show that curriculum in general education is imbalanced. It does not cover the four skills; it only focuses on reading and grammar neglecting listening, speaking, and writing. Teachers also are not well trained to teach English leading them to teach English using traditional methodology. These results are consistent with what Abuh and Ibrahim (2015) found. He revealed that factors that negatively affect teaching of English language at secondary schools were teachers, curriculum, and teaching techniques. The results also match what Al-Mahrooqi (2012) and Al-Rabia (2016) found. They stated that the school system contributed to the poor level of tertiary and secondary school students' English proficiency in Oman and Saudi Arabia.

4.4 Curriculum

The responses revealed that:

• The curriculum is weak.
• It does not have a clear sequence.
• There is a gap between the curriculum in university and general education.
• It repeats what students had learned before. ·It does not integrate skills.
• Most of the curriculum contently focuses on reading and grammar.
• It does not meet students' needs.

Curriculum is considered as the fourth cause of low English language standard. The results imply that the participants of this study, whether they are students, graduates, or teachers, were not satisfied with the curriculum used to teach English as university subject. The curriculum was not based on need analysis. This demotivates the students. The absence of clear aims and learning outcomes caused the materials in the curriculum to be fragments repeating what was taught in secondary schools, further demotivating the students. Generally, universities do not encourage innovation in English language curriculum. Lack of teaching aids, overcrowded classes, and untrained teachers made the curriculum ignore skills, such as listening, speaking, and writing. The researchers have taught English as a university requirement for several years at Sudanese universities, and they used to collect their own materials to teach English without training on material design and preparation.

4.5 Students

The participants agreed that students are the last cause of Sudanese EFL tertiary students' low proficiency of English language. They proposed the following aspects related to students.

• They do not take learning English seriously.
• They are not motivated to learn English.
• They have negative attitudes toward English.
• They are not aware of the importance of English.
• They do not spend any time to practice English.
• They are anxious when using English.
• They learn English only to pass exams.
• They do not use modern technology in learning English.
• They perceive English as difficult subject to learn.

The results imply that students are affected, to a large extent, by factors, such as the policies, teachers, general education, and the English language curriculum. These factors can cause students to be unmotivated to learn English, make them unaware of the importance of English language, draw their attention to learn English only to pass examinations, and do not encourage them to exert any effort to practice the language. These factors, nevertheless, suggest that students do not attempt to solve their problems due to socio-economic reasons. This also can be attributed to lack of trained teachers who could draw students' attention to autonomous learning that may contribute to the improvement of students' proficiency. Moreover, students' negative attitudes toward English language and anxiety could be easily dealt with in a friendly supportive environment that might be created by well trained teachers. Negative attitudes might have been caused by poor curriculum materials and traditional teaching methods and techniques. These results are in line with what Al-Mahrooqi (2012), Sourivayonsa et al. (2013), Fareh (2010), and Al-Rabia (2016) found. They revealed that students were unmotivated to learn English, held negative attitudes toward English, and they did not practice the language.

Although these factors are interrelated, it seems that the participants of this study are aware of the impact of context on Sudanese tertiary students' level of English proficiency. Context in this study refers to government policy toward education and English in particular, university policy and environment, society, and family. In terms of government policy, in 1989 Arabic language was introduced as the language of instruction at universities. Then, in the beginning of 90s, the government in Sudan changed the educational system to include two phases in general education (basic and secondary school) instead of three phases. Simultaneously, all the curriculum were changed including English language. Thus, Sudan Practical Integrated National English (SPINE) series was introduced to replace NILE (New Integrated Longman English) Course. After the adoption of Arabic as the language of instruction in the higher education, English has become a university requirement. Accordingly, students' exposure to English was reduced to only 90 credit hours for two academic years.

It is important to mention that all these changes were rapidly imposed without careful planning. The SPINE series, taught level 5 in basic school and up to level 3 in secondary school, suffers from several weaknesses as noted by the participants. In addition, the English language as a required subject at university syllabus was not appropriately planned. Another aspect that was affected by policy is teacher training as several teacher training institutes were cancelled. These institutes provided in-service and preservice teacher training. These policies caused problems regarding reduction of exposure to English, imposing unplanned curriculum in both general and higher education, shortage in teacher training, and shortage in finance.

4.6 Social Context and Family

Finally, participants agreed that social context and family is the last cause of Sudanese university students' low proficiency of English language. They suggested the following:

• Families do not encourage students to learn English. They do not have relation with the educational institution to follow up their sons and daughters.
• Students have less exposure to English and they did not use English on daily basis.
• Families economic status does not allow them to send their sons and daughters to good schools.
• Families are not aware of the importance of learning English language.

These results suggest that social context and family also have negative impact on English language learning. Lack of family encouragement and follow up results in students not taking care of their study generally, and especially English language. Another social and family aspect is shortage in exposure to English in everyday life. This can be attributed to the status of English as a foreign language in Sudan. Additionally, families' economic status does not assist the majority of them to send their sons and daughters to good schools that teach English from the beginning. These results accord to what was revealed by (Al-Mahrooqi, 2012), Souriyavongsa et al. (2013), and Al-Rabia (2016). They concluded that social context and family factors such as shortage of exposure to English and families' economic status caused students poor proficiency in English language.

4.7 Potential Solutions

The participants were asked to suggest solutions to deal with these obstacles that stand behind the Sudanese tertiary students' low proficiency of English language. The following are the most common suggestions for answering this question.

Regarding context, the respondents suggest the following:

• Providing modern teaching aids to assist in teaching English.
• Using English as the language of instruction at universities.
• Increasing the number of credit hours.
• Adopting comprehensive and strict methods of assessment for students' performance.
• Improving teachers' salaries and remuneration to guarantee their continuity in teaching English in Sudan.
• Conducting continuous research to spot problems and weaknesses and suggest solutions to them.
• Initiating a preparatory year for preliminary students.
• Students admitted to English language departments should score more than 85% in Sudanese Certificate.
• Making English clubs mandatory to all students.
• Decreasing number of students in the classroom to make it easy for teachers to teach properly.
• Giving more attention to English.

As for teachers, the participants propose that:

• Only qualified teachers should be allowed to teach English language.
• Teachers should have more effective in-service training.
• Teachers need to vary their teaching methods and techniques. This could be achieved through training.
• Universities need to recruit native speakers to teach English, especially speaking and listening.
• When recruiting English teachers, a strict and careful selection plan should be followed.
• Teachers should try to make classroom environment constructive and motivating to students. This, again, could be attained through training.
• Teachers need to adopt strategies that motivate their students.
• Teachers should be aware of students' individual differences and they should cater for them while teaching.
• Teachers should use ICT to teach English language.
• Teachers should be strict in correcting students' errors/mistakes (pronunciation and spelling).
• Teachers must use only English while teaching their students.

In terms of general education, it was suggested that:

• Teaching of English in basic schools should start from grade 1.
• The curriculum in basic and secondary school should integrate all the skills.
• Literature should be reintroduced in basic and secondary school curriculum.

As far as the curriculum is concerned, the participants posed that the curriculum should:

• Include extra-curricular activities that allow students to practice communicative English.
• Integrate all the skills in communicative contexts.
• Use authentic materials.
• Be based on students' need to motivate them.
• Adopt content language teaching to prepare students for future study and profession.
• Expose students to real language use situations/ functions.
• Cater for individual differences among students.
• Adopt the use of English clubs, seminars, and forums to practice English.

According to the subjects, to improve their English, students need to:

• Attend private courses.
• Be autonomous in learning English to improve their language skills.
• Exert more effort in learning the language and practicing it.
• Be motivated to learn English.
• Be aware of the importance of English.
• Not be anxious when using English
• Make use of modern technologies to learn English.

As far as social context and family are concerned, the participants proposed the following:

• Families need to motivate their sons and daughters to take learning English language seriously.
• Families must be aware to the importance of English language learning for students' academic and professional future.
• Students need to engage in extra-curricular activities to bridge the gap that has resulted from lack of everyday use of English language.

These suggestions imply that the respondents are aware of the remedies for the low proficiency level of Sudanese university students. The results also suggest that the solution to these causes needs a wise political decision on the part of the Sudanese government represented by the ministries of General Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research who should attempt to review their policies regarding English language. It is obvious that these suggestions call for actions on the part of the Sudanese universities to revisit their plans for teaching English as a university requirement. These findings match those revealed by Al-Rabia (2016), Sourivayonsa et al. (2013), Al- Mahrooqi (2012) and Fareh (2010).

In addition, Richards (2001) and Nation and Macalister (2010) propose that the context in which the English language course is being implemented play an integral role in the success of the course. Moreover, McDonough et al. (2013) state that dealing with these factors, which directly or indirectly affect teachers, will make teachers more comfortable and thus they will perform better. This, in turn, enables teachers to provide effective teaching which is considered as the corner stone for any language programme (Richards, 2001).

The study aimed at spotting the causes of Sudanese university graduates low proficiency level of English language and to propose some solutions to deal with these causes. In terms of causes of low proficiency level, it found that factors, such as government and university policies, social context and family, teachers, general education, curriculum, and students were responsible for this weak English language proficiency level. These factors need quick response to deal with them to enhance the Sudanese tertiary students' level of English language. Responses could be taken by policy makers in the Sudanese government, universities, students, and teachers. Bridging the gap in the students' level of English needs time, money, and effort to reach satisfied results. However, the participants in this study provided some suggestions to deal with these factors. For example, they proposed adoption of modern methods and techniques in teaching English, provision of training courses to English language teachers, renewing English language curriculum in universities to meet students' needs, and raising students' motivation to learn English language.

Based on the results, the study poses the following recommendations:

• The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research must pay attention to the teaching of English language at Sudanese Universities and must not leave it to the universities. It must adopt an obvious policy catering for various ELT aspects such as credit hours and material preparation.
• Teachers must follow up-to-date teaching methods to motivate their students to learn English language.
• A review for the English language curriculum in general education is strongly recommended to provide a base for learning English language.
• English language curriculum at Sudanese universities must be designed to motivate students to learn English and prepare them for their future academic study and jobs.
• Students must take learning English language seriously and they should be aware of its importance in both academics and potential jobs.
• Further studies incorporating various data collection tools are needed to strengthen the findings and widen the scope of the topic.