Browsing by Author "Geza, Tiglu"

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    Language Planning and Policy in the Silt’e Zone
    (Addis Ababa University, 2015-06) Geza, Tiglu; Meyer, Ronny (PhD)
    Ethiopia is endowed with various ethno-linguistic groups with their own languages. In the past, Amharic and foreign languages were given a high prestige. As a result, most people had a low esteem for other local languages. Recently, however, the constitution and the language-in-education policy of Ethiopia encourage the use of local languages. But the inquiry is, are the language planning and policy efforts effective enough to meet the needs of the local language development goals? This study examined language planning and policy issues in the Silt’e Zone, Ethiopia. It assessed the perspectives of the Silt’e people towards the language planning and policy effects on equality and development, challenges in the use of Silt’e in education, ways to improve functions, status and standardization of Silt’e, and the optimum conditions for the use of Silt’e along with Amharic and English in various public domains such as in administration, the mass media and education. Mixed research methods were used in this study. The participants were drawn from teachers, students, parents and officers. The quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires from 360 participants in the Silt’e Zone. These data were analyzed by using frequencies and percentages. The qualitative data encompass 25 interviews and 10 focus group discussions. Moreover, observation and document analysis were used to obtain additional data. They were segmented, codified and then analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that the vast majority of the participants have a positive attitude towards Silt’e but practically they need to use Amharic in public domains. Although Silt’e is used as medium of instruction, its use is dilapidated for personal and public communication. It is associated with limited mobility and job opportunities outside the community. Besides, it is viewed as a sign of lack in education, especially if a person is a Silt’e monolingual. The main challenges in the use of Silt’e in education are dialect variation, lack of terminology development, low quality of language teaching materials, inadequate time allocation and lack of trained teachers. As the linguistic variations in Silt’e do not limit verbal communication, not much attention was given for standardization. Consequently, there is no uniform standard variety of Silt’e to date. In addition, Silt’e has not yet achieved an adequate status to be used in legislation, administration and in the media. There are also constraints for a wider use of Silt’e IV for business and education. The absence of a standard limited the use of Silt’e as official language. As a result, the Silt’e people do not write in their language. For this, they insist on shifting to Amharic – the language of wider communication in the country. The Silt’e language is a cultural resource that should be maintained and promoted in its status and functions in multiple domains. In the family and in the community, Silt’e should be utilized deliberately to enhance its function and pass it to the next generation. For this, education in Silt’e should be expanded and its use should be extended to official spheres such as written communication within the Silt’e Zone. Besides, in the mass media, Silt’e should be used for its internal development.
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    The Study of the Appropriateness of Communicative
    (Addis Ababa University, 2008-07) Geza, Tiglu; Kefele, Mamo
    The study explores the appropriateness of communicative grammar teaching at grade 10. It examines whether or not the techniques of grammar teaching used motivate learners to use English communicatively, finds out teachers awareness in the teaching of grammar in meaningful contexts and situations and ascertains whether grammar activities in the textbook are appropriately designed to provoke learners to express their own ideas in the target language. The study employed three government secondary schools in South Nations in Gurage Zone as a sample .The questionnaires were distributed to 120 randomly selected students and 28 grade 10 English language teachers in the schools. In addition, three grade 10 English classes were observed for two consecutive periods. On top of that, grade 10 English textbook was evaluated to find out whether or not the teaching of grammar meets the principles of communicative language teaching. The results of the study revealed that though the participants recognize the basic principles of communicative language teaching, the communicative grammar teaching is not effectively applied. In other words, there is incompatibility between what the teacher and the students believe about and the actual classroom application of grammar teaching. The data show that the majority of the grammar lessons are not presented in meaningful contexts and situations. The students are not also encouraged to express their own feelings, attitudes and interests using the target structures. They are still given the grammar rules explicitly with one or two examples. They also do several mechanical drills after detailed explanations rather than meaningful and communicative activities. Besides, the classroom observations showed that both classroom teachers and plasma TV do not give enough time to the learners to do the exercises efficiently. The textbook analysis also indicated that the majority of the grammar lessons are presented deductively. And mechanical drills are more dominant than meaningful and communicative activities. Consequently, the researcher has recommended some important solutions to make grammar teaching communicative .It is hoped that issues raised in this work will provoke thought, inquiry and future research.
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    The Study of the Appropriateness of Communicative Grammar Teaching at Grade 10
    (Addis Ababa University, 2008-06) Geza, Tiglu; Kefele, Mamo
    The study explores the appropriateness of communicative grammar teaching at grade 10. It examines whether or not the techniques of grammar teaching used motivate learners to use English communicatively, finds out teachers awareness in the teaching of grammar in meaningful contexts and situations and ascertains whether grammar activities in the textbook are appropriately designed to provoke learners to express their own ideas in the target language. The study employed three government secondary schools in South Nations in Gurage Zone as a sample .The questionnaires were distributed to 120 randomly selected students and 28 grade 10 English language teachers in the schools. In addition, three grade 10 English classes were observed for two consecutive periods. On top of that, grade 10 English textbook was evaluated to find out whether or not the teaching of grammar meets the principles of communicative language teaching. The results of the study revealed that though the participants recognize the basic principles of communicative language teaching, the communicative grammar teaching is not effectively applied. In other words, there is incompatibility between what the teacher and the students believe about and the actual classroom application of grammar teaching. The data show that the majority of the grammar lessons are not presented in meaningful contexts and situations. The students are not also encouraged to express their own feelings, attitudes and interests using the target structures. They are still given the grammar rules explicitly with one or two examples. They also do several mechanical drills after detailed explanations rather than meaningful and communicative activities. Besides, the classroom observations showed that both classroom teachers and plasma TV do not give enough time to the learners to do the exercises efficiently. The textbook analysis also indicated that the majority of the grammar lessons are presented deductively. And mechanical drills are more dominant than meaningful and communicative activities. Consequently, the researcher has recommended some important solutions to make grammar teaching communicative .It is hoped that issues raised in this work will provoke thought, inquiry and future research.