Browsing by Author "Italo Beriso"
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Item A Comparative Study of English and Oromo Segmental Phonemes with its Implications for Teaching English as a Foreign Language(Addis Abeba Unversity, 1988-01-01) Italo BerisoA Comparative Study of English and Oromo Segmental Phonemes with its Implications for Teaching English as a Foreign LanguageItem A Comparative Study of English And Oromo Segmental Phonemes With Its Implications for Teaching English As A Foreign Language(Addis Ababa University, 1988-06) Italo Beriso; Tilanun GamtaThe rr' ain ohi e ctive o f th is s t1] C1y was to find out the difficulties Oromo l e ar ners of f n~lish may have in p ronouncing certain Enqlish sound s . Ac c ordinq to Contr ~st i ve JI. nalysis (ell. ) hy!'othes is, in l ,=arning the p rol1unciat i Ol1 o f a second lanquaCJ0 ' :1(;, tenc' to pronounce the fore irm sounCl.s a.ccorr.i n0 to the T)honological syste m o f our mother tongue, which weans that W.:J replace them by th,~ ne arest sounds in c> u.r n a tive lanouaqe . This is so beca use, in listenin a to th e ·tarnet lanouaqe we .'le ar the fore .i.qn soune!> as i r th ~y were rat.i v e sOllOns. Ci\ c laims that a seconrl larCJlJaae learner !'lay find. his target l al1 auaae difficult or r e lativelv eas y . I n the r ea lm of phonolooy th e difEcl.l l ty of ? seconel lanqU iVTC r.iepends b oth on th.e sounds themse lve s and on thl~.i.r ab ility to combine . 'f10 verify this clairn of Cl\ em pirically, [,2 native soe akers o f f'romo ,,,ere gi v e n two tests : discrimi nation and nroductior tests. The disc rimiration t e st "ras aimed at: findi ng out the difficulties the se subjects ,"ay hilve in discriwinat: i nq cetween F.nqlish S01)nCf; i n !l1 ini nal \'lairs. '('h e oD:ie cti ve of the p roducti. on t e st ~ra G to .fil'.d out Hhether ' the slilij ects could p rod uce th" sound." \,;I'd Gh thev discrj.P1inatea a r oth"'D"i se . ~'h2 results of thi s study reveal' thai: the suJ:>jects "l p r e fmmd to b" be tte r in discrildn ation than .i.n "roduction. I' ostof thG sounds th a':: caus e d prob l e)11s for the subj rlC ts we r e categorie s that are non -existen t in OrO)11O s uch as ;8, a , n, ~ ;, diphthonos and consonant clusters. In s ome Ci".ses, sounds ~"h ich we re easily disc rimin a ted and produced .111 the initial positions were found to be trouhler.;om~ in final positions. In creneral , areas of dif f eren ces b e twe e n thp. phonemic systems of the two l anguages caused areater cifficulties for the subjectsItem The Effect of Training Students in Giving and Receiving Peer Feedback on Learners' Revision Types and Writing Quality: A Case Study of Second Year Students of: DEFENCE University College(Addis Ababa University, 2003-06) Dawit Assefa ; Italo BerisoIn the practice of peer feedback, it has been observed that writing teachers are not confident about the ability of their students in practicing peer feedback on their peers' essays. It has also been complained that the peers themselves are reluctant to comment on each other's writing. Others, however, argue that students can successfully practice peer feedback if they get appropriate training and guidance in how to exercise peer feedback in writing classes. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate the effect of training students in giving and receiving peer feedback on the revision types and their writing quality . The study focused on the case of ten second yea r students who were taking sophomore English language course. To gather information or data four essays of the succulents with two drafts each were mainly used. These were to evaluate the actual change in the revision types and writing quality. Questionnaires were also designed and administered to both the instructors and the students to identify the customs of feedback practice on the students' writing and to check the perception the students had before and after the training. The study took a month through the four essays together with two drafts each. The result of the data presentation and analysis shows that sign of improvements were observed in the types of revision made on t heir classmate's essays and the qualities of these essays were also realized since the writers used most of the feedback given by t heir peers on the higher concerns of their writings. It can be concluded that this was the result of the tra ining and the guidance given by the teacher. So, if students get proper t raining and continuous guidance in the practice and use of peer feedback or revision, they may be reliable reviewers of each other's drafts of t heir essays. To avoid the wrong perception the students may have towards their classmates' comments on their writing they might be briefed of the benefits of peer feedback. The result of this study could also be more reliable if other related studies could be made. Therefore we could suggest further study which may substantiate the current finding .Item Evaluation of writing tasks: Grade Nine New Textbook in focus By Meron Mesfin Advisor: Dr.(Addis Ababa University, 2015-05) Meron Mesfin ; Italo BerisoThe main purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which the writing tasks (activities) in the currently in use Grade 9 English textbook are well structured and organized in such a way that they could promote writing skills. The writing tasks were identified and analyzed base on the basic components of communicative tasks as well as the evaluation checklist for the communicative tasks suggested by Nunan (1989). Textbook analysis (content analysis), focus group discussion and questionnaire were the instruments used by the researcher, for availably sampled teachers and randomly selected students. To evaluate and interpret the data, the researcher wed qualitative methods. Findings of the study revealed that most of the writing activities do not fulfill many of the relevant criteria stated in the checklist which enable the students to communicate through writing in and outside the classroom. The findings also indicated although the goals (Objective) of the writing tasks clearly stated in the textbook for the students and teachers, they lack variety. Similarly, the contents as inputs are familiar to the students and satisfy the needs and interests of the learners but they do not provide enough information due to lack of adequate authentic materials together with their implementation. In a similar fashion, the activities in the course book satisfy the principle of meaningfulness, purposefulness, real worldliness and suitability of the use of pair/group work, yet they lack motivational values, variety, and authenticity; and are barley limited in including stages of tasks and topics raising high level of thought. Furthermore, the roles of students and teacher are clearly stated in the textbook, teacher’s guide and syllabus in giving guidance, facilitating and counseling roles to the teacher leaving the entire task to the learners. However, in a few activities the teacher’s roles are not clearly stated. Finally, the settings of the activities are flexible rather than fixed even if they do not provoke the use of pair/group work to a large extent. It is, therefore, recommended that textbook writers consider incorporating the six basic components of communicative tasks in the learner’s textbook when preparing the materials.Item An Exploration into Perceptions of Junior Secondary School English Teachers towards Communicative Language Teaching and Their Actual Classroom Practices: Grade 8 in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2010-06) Daniel Debebe ; Italo BerisoResearches reveal that teachers’ perceptions play an influential role in determining their professional behavior: the way they plan their lessons, the kinds of decisions they make, the way they react towards different methodologies and the specific method they apply in their classrooms. This study has, therefore, tried to present perceptions of junior secondary school teachers towards communicative language teaching (CLT) and their actual classroom practices with a special reference to Grade 8 English teachers. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research have been used for the study. And the required data have been collected from twenty English teachers working in three different elementary schools using the three research tools: questionnaires, observations and interviews. Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage and frequency have been utilized in analyzing the data obtained through the questionnaires while the observations and interviews were analyzed qualitatively in words. As a result, it has been found out that the aforementioned teachers have, in fact, a strong perception towards CLT in principle, but when it comes to practice, almost all of them have been found to fail in holding their strong perceptions towards the same. In other words, a clear mismatch has been noticed between teachers’ perception towards CLT and their actual classroom practices. And this is attributed to the multidimensional problems pointed out in the conclusion part of the paper. Mindful of the identified problems, therefore, an earnest and persistent supervision of the schools with regard to the implementation of CLT by the concerned government and non-government bodies is forwarded as a major recommendation at the end of the dayItem An Exploration into Perceptions of Junior Secondary School English Teachers towards Communicative Language Teaching and Their Actual Classroom Practices: Grade 8 in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2010-06) Daniel Debebe ; Italo BerisoResearches reveal that teachers’ perceptions play an influential role in determining their professional behavior: the way they plan their lessons, the kinds of decisions they make, the way they react towards different methodologies and the specific method they apply in their classrooms. This study has, therefore, tried to present perceptions of junior secondary school teachers towards communicative language teaching (CLT) and their actual classroom practices with a special reference to Grade 8 English teachers. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research have been used for the study. And the required data have been collected from twenty English teachers working in three different elementary schools using the three research tools: questionnaires, observations and interviews. Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage and frequency have been utilized in analyzing the data obtained through the questionnaires while the observations and interviews were analyzed qualitatively in words. As a result, it has been found out that the aforementioned teachers have, in fact, a strong perception towards CLT in principle, but when it comes to practice, almost all of them have been found to fail in holding their strong perceptions towards the same. In other words, a clear mismatch has been noticed between teachers’ perception towards CLT and their actual classroom practices. And this is attributed to the multidimensional problems pointed out in the conclusion part of the paper. Mindful of the identified problems, therefore, an earnest and persistent supervision of the schools with regard to the implementation of CLT by the concerned government and non-government bodies is forwarded as a major recommendation at the end of the day.Item Exploring the Current EFL Teaching Practices Vis-a.-vis Students' Learning Styles: Grade 8 in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2011-05) Engliz Ketema ; Italo BerisoThe study was conducted to explore the current EFL teaching practices visa- vis students' learning styles. Many factors influence students' achievement at all level. Learning styles of the students are as well one of the many factors that need to be considered when teaching EFL students. This is because the required outcome may not be achieved when a student has a learning style that differs from the instructional practices of the teachers. Thus, the study aimed at investigating whether or not the EFL teaching practices address students' learning styles. This study was carried out at Adama town, particularly in Adama Number 4 and Burica Boku Elementary Schools. One hundred (lOO) grade eight students and seven grade eight English language teachers from selected schools participated in this study. To arrive at the res ults, descriptive research method was employed. A questionnaire, observation and interview were used as tools of data collection. The data collected were analyzed using frequency, percentage, and mean. A qualitative analys is was used for the data collected through interview. From the analyzed data it was found out that students ' major learning preferences were visual and global learning styles. Th eir minor learning preferences were auditory and tactile (kinesthetic) learning preferences, while they showed negative learning preferences towards analytical learning style. With regard to the current EFL teaching practices, the instructional practices favored auditory and analytical learners, and least consideration was given to global and visual learners . Besides, the teaching practices neglected the tactile (kinesthetic) learners . Based on these findings, it was concluded that there was mismatch between the students' learning styles and the cun'ent EFL teaching practices. This implies that the problems could be aroused from lack of giving ·attention to students' learning styles, lack of accommodating different learning styles in the classroom teaching and inability to use methods and teaching aids that cater for students ' different learning styles. Eventually, it was recommended that teacher trainers should adjust short training programs that could help teachers be aware of students' learning styles so that they can give greater attention and they can identify their students' most significant and least significant learning styles to direct the learning towards the preferred learning styles.Item Exploring the Effect of Grammar-Focused Writing Instructions on Students’ Essay Writing Performance: Grade 12 in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2023-05) Absira Mistru; Italo BerisoThe study was an attempt to investigate the effect of grammar-focused writing instructions on students’ essay writing performance at W/ro Kelemework Tiruneh Grade 12 Secondary and Preparatory School in Addis Ababa. In order to achieve the objectives and test the hypothesis, this research project was experimental in design. The study involved two sections of grade 12 one experimental and one control group using random sampling technique, which was lottery casting. The participants taken out in this study were 25students for control group and 25 students for experimental groups. Pre-test and post-test measures were analyzed using a t-test statistical procedure. The results before the intervention showed that students of the control group a mean pre-test essay score of 21.34 and a mean pre-test score of experimental group 21.44, a mean difference of -.094. This indicates that students’ essay writing performance of the two groups was similar in the pre-test stage. Teaching material which consisted grammar-focused lessons was prepared and used in the experiment. After four weeks of the experiment, the control group with conventional treatment scored 21.34 mean and the experimental group scored 24.32 mean, showing a mean difference of -2.980. The result of post-test showed that there was a significant difference between control and experimental groups in overall essay writing performance regarding the various features of writing. (P<0.05). Thus, grammar-focused writing instruction as a supportive device that can provide a fertile ground for students to improve essay writing with regard to the features of writing. On the basis of the findings of the study, it was inferred that grammar-focused writing instruction in the context of writing could have a great value in improving students’ essay writing performance. Based on this, conclusions and recommendations were made.Item Exploring the Effects of Teachers' Beliefs about Grammar Teaching(Addis Ababa University, 2015-05) Aytenew Tilaye ; Italo BerisoThe main objective of this study was to explore the effects of teachers' perception of English language grammar teaching with reference to Nifas SilkLafto Sub –City government preparatory school teachers teaching English in the second semester of 2007 E.C .The subjects of the study were thirty one in which 12 of them were from Higher- 23 preparatory school while 10 and 9 of them were from FrieHiowt and Ginbot- 20 preparatory schools respectively. Subjects were selected using available sampling technique. Three kinds of data collection instruments were used in this study; namely, questionnaire, interview and observation. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively including descriptions, such as frequency counting and percentage. The findings indicated that the great majority of the subjects of the study were that their perception of grammar teaching has effects on English language grammar teaching in classroom. As the result, it is concluded that there is a deep woven correlation between teachers’ beliefs about teaching English grammar and their classroom practices of teaching grammar. So, the administrations of the three preparatory schools should assessed teachers based on structural approach. So, proper classroom observation system should be arranged in the schools to guide the teachers on the right time and proper language development program for parents should also be arranged so that the students can get better language exposure. As the result, providing additional and professional training so as to have directly related beliefs and classroom practices.Item Investigating Problems Related to Coopera Tive Learning in English Classes With Reference to Grade 10 Students of Fenote Birhan Secondary School(Addis Ababa University, 2011-06) Gebremedhin Ghidey ; Italo BerisoThe main purpose of this study was to investigate problems related to cooperative learning with reference to grade 10 students in Fenote Birhan secondary School in Adigrat town. Specifically, the study also dealt with identifying the roles that English teachers play to alleviate problems related to cooperative learning. To conduct the study, a descriptive survey method was employed. 118 students and 5 English teachers were subjects of the study. Student subjects were selected using random sampling technique. Three data gathering tools namely, questionnaire, interview, and observation were used to collect data for the study. Erggygn.q; andyerce~tage were used to analyze the close -ended data whereas qualitative data ana YSls . was used for open-ended questions, interview, and observation. The result of the study showed that there were several problems during cooperative learning in • English classes. In line with this, some students dominated cooperative learning. Majority of the students used their mother tongue instead of the target language. The time allotted for cooperative learning was very little. Students did not cooperate when they were grouped with those whom they were not familiar with. Students did not have good English ability to share ideas among themselves. Most students did not use their team praclice time effectively. Some students were misbehaving and malcing noise and disturbing others. The physical arrangement of classes was not suitable for cooperative learning as the chairs and deslcs were fixed. Similarly, the data revealed that English teachers disregarded some of their duties during different stages of cooperative learning. Based on the findings, it was concluded that dominating group by some students, students' low English ability, use of mother tongue, misbehavior, noise, insufficient time allotted by teachers, students' grouping unwillingness with others, in appropriate classroom arrangement, and students' inability to use the allotted time effectively were the problems encountered during cooperative learning in English classes. Hence, English teachers should consider thes~ problems and then should exert maximum efforts to promote students' cooperative learning.Item Is Contextual Vocabulary Teaching Being Effectively Employed in Grade Eleven(Addis Ababa University, 2001-06) Ewnetu Seid ; Italo BerisoThe object ive of thi s stud y is to in vest igate whether eYT is be in g effecti vely employed in Grade 11. So, to achieve this objective a case contro l cross-sect iona l inte rven ti on type of stud y was conducted on rand om ly sele cted sa mple size of 100 s tudents (50 as experim e nt al an d 50 as co nt ro l) and on ten 11th grade En g li sh teachers of th e fo ur gover~me nt sch oo ls - ETSSS (No. I ), YI2SS , l eSS and M II SS - in Addis Ababa to determine whether eVT is bein g effect ive ly employed in Grade II amon g the study p opulation as it is exp ec te d. To make the objective of th e study achievable, th en , a prestructured and pre-tes ted questionnaire was administered to know the attitud e, knowle dge and practice of both teach ers and stud en ts pertaining to eyT. Moreover, classro om obse rvations were conducted whil e the Engl ish te achers,teac he rs embraced in the study, were teaching vocabulary to counter- check wheth e r th e re sponses prov id ed to the question s on th e qu estionnaire correspond to w hat was being observed during th e te achin g-l earn in g process . Y H owever, prior to di stributing qu estionnaires and conducting c lass room observat ions, a pre-test was administered to both groups - experim e ntal and , control groups - to see wheth er a statistically significant difference wou ld be obse rved with regard to g rad e achievements of th e groups at the outse t. L ate r, after the two g roups were found out to be th e sam e in their abi lity, because t-observed w as less th an t-critical (i .e. to < te = 0.88 8 < 1. 645 at P < 0.05 ) whi ch by the same token means 'there is no s tati stica ll y s ign ifi ca nt difference', lesso n s with regard to eVT were tau g ht to stud ent s in th e experimenta l group 'fo r a period of one and a half months. After th e inte rv eotio n or teac hing, th en, a post-test was admini stered to both groups - experimental and control groups - to see whether a kind of progress would be observed as a res ult of the int erven t ion. Then, from th e resu lt s of the post-te st, it was found out that stu de nt s in th e experim ental group sco red very high grades in terms of average ( i. e. 64.9) whereas those in the control group obtained only 49.7%, thou gh th e two groups were th e sa me in the ir ability before the interve ntion. Of course, a very strong stati stica l difference was also observed betwe e n the two groups; t~ observed was g reater than t-critical (to < te = 55.7 > 1.64 at P <0.05) on th e exp erimenta l group s sid e w hereas it was vic e versa on the co ntr o l gro up's s id e (to < te = 2 .5 < 2 .575 at P < 0.005). In general, the two gro ups, though they w ere equ a l in their abil it y a s the res ults of th e pre-tes t witness ed, differed widely in th e ir resu lts of the po st te Moreover, the responses of the students, in the experimental group, to the questions on the questionnaire also indi cated that CYT is not being effectively employed. However, on the contrary teachers, in their responses to the questions on the questionnaire, revealed as CYT is being effectively empl oyed. This depicts that there is a big discrepancy between what the teachers believe and what is being exercised perta ining to CYT. This find ing, hence, warrants the pol icy makers or other authorities concerned to take appropriate measures to correct or solve the problem as regards CYT as much as possibl e.Item Students’ and Teachers’ Use Of English as the Medium of Instruction in Nekemte Town Grade 9 History and Geography Classes: Oral Interaction in Focus Tamiru(Addis Ababa University, 2013-06) Tamiru Olana ; Italo BerisoThe use of English as the medium of instruction in the Ethiopian secondary schools seems an ignored study area. The objective of this study was, thus, to explore the extent to which teachers and students use English in relation to Oromo and Amharic at grade nine. Accordingly, it investigates the amount of students’ and teachers’ use of the TL; explores the subjects’ reasons for code-switching; and examines teachers’ help of students to use the TL. For the investigation, a mixed-method research approach is used under the umbrella of pragmatic paradigm of research design. One hundred and twenty students and four Grade 9 History teachers and Geography teachers were purposively selected for the study from two secondary schools in Nekemte town. The data were collected through students’ questionnaire, teachers’ interview and classroom observations. The data from the questionnaire were analysed using simple statistics (percentage and frequency), and the data from the interview and the lesson transcripts were analysed by using content analysis of the transcripts. The results indicated that the students’ use of the TL is 3.6% of the class time while that of their teachers’ is 62.2% of it. The data also showed that students switched code 4.9% of the class time while their teachers did so 29.3% of it, which indicated that teachers played the dominant role in using both languages. The data also indicated that the students switch code because teachers did not encourage them to use the TL. It also revealed that students’ inefficiency and lack of confidence and lack of time enforced them to use the local languages. The data from the lesson transcripts also showed that teachers and students switch coded for different reasons. Lastly, it was discovered that History teachers and Geography teachers hardly showed efforts to promoting students’ use of the TL. From the findings, it could be concluded that teachers need to be aware of the additional responsibilities of promoting students’ language skills and thus work in collaboration with English teachers in this regard. Similarly, students should try to use the TL in oral interactions in order to improve their oral proficiency.Item The Effects of Dialogue Journal Writing on the EFL Students‟ Writing Performance and Writing Motivation at Andinet International School: Grade Six in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2021-05) Million Tegegnework; Italo BerisoThe major concern of this study was whether the dialogue journal writing had an effect on the students’ writing performance and writing motivation of EFL students of Andinet International School, Grade Six in focus. The writing features dialogue journal could address and the perceptions of students about dialogue journal were also assessed. A total of 45 subjects were involved in the study. The subjects were divided in to the experimental and the control group at the beginning of the study. The students were made to write a personal narrative paragraphs as a pre-test. The pre-and post-questionnaires, which examines students’ intrinsic writing motivation, and interview were also given to the experimental group of students before and after the study. This was used to investigate whether the dialogue journal had an effect on students’ intrinsic writing motivation before and after the study. The analysis of the students’ written text results showed that there was significant difference in overall writing performance between the control and the experimental group in terms of the high order of features of writing: content, organization, and vocabulary. As the t-test result revealed that the critical t-value (df=43,) at the 0.05 level of significance is 2.0617, and the calculated t-value was found to be 3.514, p=0.00. There was also significant difference in students’ intrinsic writing motivation. The experimental students’ intrinsic motivation was highly increased. The students had also a positive attitude towards the practice of dialogue journal writing. However, there was no significant difference between in the low order of writing features: grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Based on the findings, it is concluded that use of dialogue journal may be an effective technique in teaching writing in EFL settings. Therefore, teachers should use dialogue journals to help students who have difficulties to produce ideas, that is, content what to say. Finally, though as this study is limited to one school, hopefully, it opens a new insight for further study to the area. (millasaint7@gmail.com)