Browsing by Author "Alemayehu, Tibebe (Professor)"

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    Communication Strategies Utilized by Omo TTi Trainee-Teachers in Oral Production of English
    (Addis Ababa University, 2007-06) Alemu, Tesfaye; Alemayehu, Tibebe (Professor)
    This study was carried out to investigate trainee-teachers’ utilization of communication strategies in their oral production of English. Consequently, the study involved eight OMO TTI trainee-teachers. Four of them were from Gamo Department and the other four were from Amharic Department. In order to investigate variation, if any, in utilization of the strategies between female and male trainees, equal number of subjects, i.e. two from each sex, were selected. Thus, they were provided with five different tasks to illicit information. Three of the tasks were grade four lessons which the subjects were supposed to teach to grade four students. The other two tasks were “description of home village” and explaining about “glow worms” which the subjects were expected to talk to English native speakers. Having been provided with these tasks, the subjects were observed while they were presenting the tasks. The observation was aided by video-recording and tape-recording. In the end, the recorded data were transcribed and the types of communication strategies utilized by the subjects were analyzed. The results of the study revealed that almost all the subjects were effective in utilization of communication strategies when they were communicating with the expatriates. However, Amharic trainees were better than Gamo trainees in employing the strategies during the teaching activities. Among trainees of Gamo Department, the male trainees were better than the female trainees. On the other hand, female trainees of Amharic Department were as effective as the male counterparts in the same Department. Despite all these, all the trainees were found to be deficient in their language. Their English language was not to the level that enabled them to teach English. Utilization of both linguistic and nonlinguistic strategies during teaching practice appeared to help trainees of Amharic Department better than trainees of Gamo Department. On the contrary, all the trainees were reported to be effective in transmitting their message to the expatriates. This was because the expatriates were focusing on meaning (theme) rather than the trainees’ grammar. In general, it was concluded that though the trainees were effective n communicating meaning, their language was not to the mark that enabled them to be effective in teaching English. As a result, it was recommended that Teachers’ Training Institute as well as teacher trainers should be aware of the need to balance accuracy and fluency based teaching of English language. Moreover, syllabus designers as well as high school teachers ought to be conscious that English language teaching in high schools should be geared to balance the focus of accuracy and fluency based teaching
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    English Language Needs Analysis of 10+3 Tank Mechanics Trainees of Major General Mulugeta Buli Technical And Vocational EducationTraining College
    (Addis Ababa University, 2007-08) Shewangizaw, Gashaw; Alemayehu, Tibebe (Professor)
    The aim of the study was to investigate the English language needs of the trainees of Major General Mulugeta Buli Technical and Vocational Education Training College. The needs analyses were carried out taking respondents from five groups: the English instructors, the trainers and tank mechanics trainees of MGMBC. The other two subjects – shop heads and technicians- are from Ministry of National Defence 40720 project. The data gathering instruments employed were questionnaires, interviews and observations along with assessments of tank mechanics texts. The findings reveal that all the macro-English skills are very important. However, their relative importance to the trainees can be give as reading, speaking, writing, and listening in descending order. The specific activities are also identified and prioritized in a relation to the four macro language skills. So, the most important activities from each of the four macro sills are reading notes, asking questions, writing answers to easy type questions and listening to class discussions. The second important activities are reading manuals participating in pair/ group discussions, making notes, and listening to lectures to take notes. Concerning the ability of the trainees, they are relatively better in the receptive skills than in the productive skills. The most difficult skill is therefore, is speaking followed by writing, reading and listening. Regarding the micro-skills, giving oral presentations of project work, writing answers to easy type questions, reading manuals and listening to short talks at work shops are the most difficult ones, while giving oral instructions; writing project reports, reading instructions and listening to class discussions are less difficult than the former ones. The trainees prefer a balance of general English and technical English. They also prefer communicative way of teaching and learning with the help of teaching aids. In occupational setting the relative importance of the macro skills in descending order are speaking, listening, writing and reading. Concerning the activities, the most important are speaking to foreigners, listening to foreigners, writing project reports and reading manuals. Based on the above findings, it is essential to design an English course considering the relative importance and difficulty of the macro-and micro-skills and areas of language knowledge. In addition, course designers as well as English instructors should consider the trainees’ learning preferences and wants when designing and teaching an English course.