Browsing by Author "Demissie, Teshome (Phd)"
Item An Exploration Of The Practice Of Learner Autonomy In Learning English Language At Grade J2: Bahir Dar Higher Education Preparatory Secondary School In Focus(AAU, 2012-05) TAdele, Animut; Demissie, Teshome (Phd)III Ifle jield of language leachillg alld leaming. the lIIosl successji.d learners are believed 10 be aUlOIlOIllOUS in a sense that they accept why, what and how Ihey are leaming because leachers cannot teach evelything alld help learners outside the formal setting of educatioll and fulfill Ihe lIeeds of all the learners. Therefore, lea mel's need to leam the language all their OWII. 011 the other hand, lea mel's may not come to the classroom with natural gifl of autonomous leamillg prinCiples. Hence, teachers should train learners how to learn the language by themselves. Havillg considered these assumptions, this study was conducted to explore learller autonomy in learlling English at grade 12: Bahir Dar Higher PreparatOly Secondwy School in focus. To achieve the objective, 131 grade 12 students were selected randomly, and all Ellglish teachers were selected. Data were gathered using questionnaire, interview, focus group discussioll with th e students and observation. The questionnaire was distributed to 131 students and six English teachers. The il1lerview was conducted to six students and all the teachers. The focus group discussion was held with ten sludents. The observation was conducted to three sessions 011 volun!wy basis. The questionnaire was used to jind out the efforts of learners to develop their English lallguage skills and the role of leachers ill helping lea mel's learn how to leam. To see the consistency of the results, illtervielV lVas conducted. Focus group discussioll with the sludents was conducted to cross-check the results fOlllld Fum the questionnaire and interview because the efforts of leamers outside the classroom cannot be fully observed,. The observatioll lVas cOllducted to see the classroom practices as they occur. The results obtained through these tools reveal that most of the students did not exert individual efforts to develop their English language skills on their OWI1. Although teachers tried to train learners how to comprehend oilly wrillell texts and encourage learners to develop self-conjidence to leam the language, the)' did 1101 adequately traill learners the cognitive alld socia-affective strategies. In additioll, most of tfle teachers did 1101 adequately traill lea mel's the melacognitive stralegies. Filially based on Ihe jilldillgs. recommendatiolls were forwarded. Accordingly, the teachers should carlY Ollt tfleir roles in helping learners lem'lI hOlV to leam. The stlldellts shollid also exert individual efforts to leam tfle langllage on their OlVn.Item An Exploration Of The Promotion Of Learner Autonomy In The Efl Teaching/Learning Practices At Aau Freshman Level(AAU, 1998-06) Tekelehaimanot, Atakilt; Demissie, Teshome (Phd)This study set out to explore the existence of conditions that lead to the promotion of learner autonomy in the EFL teaching/learning practices at AA U Freshman level. To answer this general question the investigation tried to find out: (i) whether and how learner training/strategy training is being conducted in EFL classroom, and (ii) whether the instructors are prepared to incorporate learner training into their regular English language teaching programmes. This second aspect of the investigation is focused on describing the instructors ' preparedness in terms of their orientation in language learning strategies as well as in the instructional techniques to implement the training. The study was made on twelve AA U instructors currently teaching English at Freshman level. They were selected based on . purposive sampling technique. Four classroom Video-recordings, two classroom observations and a set of instructors' questionnaire were made use of in this study. The results of the study revealed that some types of language learning strategies are taught embedded in the language learning tasks and activities. There are also some indications of dealing with students ' attitudes and views regarding their roles in language learning. However, the occurrences of such elements of learner training are sporadic during the language teaching/learning processes and explicit or informed training seems to be lacking. The results also seem to suggest that the instructors in the study lack the necessary preparation in the implementation of learner training to be able to help their students 'learn how to learn ' English. In sum, the findings from the study suggest that there are some indications of the existence of learner training/strategy training in the aforementioned classroom settings, but that the training is not given in a systematic way. III Finally, on the basis of the above findings, some recommendations have been forwarded pointing to the need for pre-service and in-service teacher trainings in maiters of learner training for the promotion of learner autonomy. It has also been suggested that English textbooks include explicit or direct strategy training/learner training sections other than the embedded practices such as those found in College English Course book (Vols. I and II) - a current course book for first year students.