AAU-ETD :: Browsing by Author "Kitila, Tamene (PhD)"

Browsing by Author "Kitila, Tamene (PhD)"

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An Analysis Of The Police – Witness Interview Discourse: The Case Of Two Police Institutions In West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State
(AAU, 2019-05) Bekana, Birhanu; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The study aimed at analyzing the police _ witness interview discourses in Oromia Regional State,West Shoa Zone. Ambo town and Dire Inchini woreda police institutions were selected purposely for the study. Qualitative research methodology was employed to attain the research objectives. The participants of the study were eight police interviewers, four selected using convenience sampling from Ambo town police institution and four selected using available sampling from Dire Inchini Woreda police institution. Besides, four respondents to the researcher’s interviews (two from each site) selected purposely were participants of the study. Qualitative data were collected using audiotapping of the police _ witness interviews(interactions) and using the semi structured interviews from the four respondents. Totally, thirty six recordings (four hours) recordings were made from the two sites. Twenty two of the recordings were selected for the research purpose, transcribed using Gail Jeferson’s (1984) transcription conventions, translated into English and analyzed qualitatively using Conversation Analysis (CA), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), and Pragmatics. Results obtained from the analysis of the data transcripts indicated that there was a strong power asymmetry (control of the discourses) slanted in favor of the police interviewers in the police_witness interviews. This power asymmetry was revealed mainly through poor rapport building at the opening phase of the interviews, the interviewers’ repeated interruptions of the witnesses’ utterances, the controlling of the turn takings, the commanding (ordering) utterances, the positioning of the police interviewers themselves as persistent questioners using (‘WH’ questions, Yes/ No questions and other syntactically non – interrogatives). The finding also showed that the police interviewers had the first go to set the agenda for the subsequent discussions with the participants (interviewees/witnesses) in the study. They were sources of the agenda for the interactions. The discursive roles given to the police interviewers and the witnesses, the higher status given to the police interviewers institutionally and their relative knowledge influenced the dynamics of the interactions during the interviews. Evadings from the main agenda of the interviews (intentional digressions), pauses and disagreements with the interviewers’ ideas were merely used by the witnesses as strategies to minimize the imposition from the interviewers. The finding also indicated that the witnesses had feelings of powerlessness in relation to the police interviewers who were perceived as persons with every power, right, dignity, status, freedom, and knowledge. Finally, it was recommended that police organizations are expected to implement comprehensive trainings on language technicalities, fundamental interviewings to develop more effective interviewers to help the judicial procedures. Police interviewers need to establish a better rapport with the interviewees or witnesses before they go into the interview proper. People (the society) should be given awareness about police_witness interviews through short trainings. Further studies must also be conducted on the relationship between the police interviewers and the interviewees witnesses) in the police _witness interviews.
Communication Strategies Used by English Major Third Year Students: Debre Markos Univeersity in Focus
(Addis Ababa University, 2011-05) Anteneh, Tibebu; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The purpose of this study was to investigate communication strategies used by English major third year students at Debre Markos Univers ity. The study specifically tried to see the most and least commonly used strategies by students, and to examine the role of most commonly used strategies on students' communicative skill. The study involved 90 students.In order to meet these objectives, data were collected through questionnaire and classroom observation with the help of video recording. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Stati stical Package for Social Science).The results of the study s howed that students mos t frequently u sed seven strategies out of the seventeen. These were: Time gaining, Asking for help, Substitution, Function and Form avoidance, Literal translation and Description strategies. On the other hand, Message abandonment, Language switching, Over Generalization and Word -coinage were the le a s t frequently used strategies.Besides, Time gaining, Asking for help, Literal translation and Function avoidance were helpful strategies on students' communicative skill. On the contrary, n e ither the classroom obse rvation nor the video-recorded data s h ow the role of Form avoidance, Substitution and Description strategies on students' communicative skill.On the basis of these results, it was recommended that Students s hould be introduced to various communication s trategies in different activities. Students would benefit more if they u sed more Achievement strategies which he lp them to stay in communication and improve their communication skill while they speak in English rather than avoidance strategies. This is because in A'Joidance stategy, students avoid words or expressions. In such cases, students might ignore important events that might be expected by their instructors. For example, in classroom presentation if students use achievement strategies, they would see possible ways of expressing those ideas.
Descriptive Analysis of Oromoo Personal Names and Naming Practices in Eastern Wollega Zone of Oromia National Regional State
(Addis Ababa University, 2018-04) Jibril, Alima; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
This dissertation describes personal names and naming practices of Oromoo people in Eastern Wollega of Oromia National Regional state. The study was carried out at Naqamte Administrative town and Giddaa Ayyaanaa district in Eastern Wollega. The study describes how children are named and explores the factors that influence childnaming among the Oromoo people in the study area. It explains the connotations and social realities that are reflected in their personal names and analyzes the roles personal names play in construction of personal and social identity. In addition, it describes the linguistic descriptions and causes and purposes of the new emerging trends in Oromoo naming and name changing practices in the area. To this effect, the research employed descriptive analysis research design in qualitative methods to collect and analyze data. The data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The data were gathered from ten parents and twelve key informants who are language experts, cultural and tourism officers and more experienced elders in naming practices. Moreover, four individuals who had changed their names were interviewed to investigate the reasons behind the name changing and their feelings about their names: both the previous and the current names. Two focus group discussions were held and documents from schools and Legal Court Offices were used. The data collected through these instruments were analyzed and interpreted qualitatively using Onomastic theory. The theory is used to glean the intended and implied meaning(s) of various personal names. The analysis of data indicated that fathers, mothers and close relatives such as grandfathers and grandmothers played a significant role in deciding a name of a newly born child. Unlike the past, naming children by traditional practices were forgotten and the involvement of Ayyaantuus, who are the blessed persons of the society, was stopped. As a result, naming becomes parents’ responsibility. Besides, the data reveal that factors such as parents’ life experiences, the circumstances happening during pregnancy and child birth and situations of life and living in the family and socio-political dynamics at the country level determine the names to be given. Moreover, the day, time and condition of birth, the family’s livelihood conditions, attitudes towards politics, social and cultural issues, their wishes, hopes, beliefs, successes and challenges they come across and theirfuture aspirations and hopes are also factors that govern the naming practices of the society. Furthermore, naming trends of the people have been changed from a single word names to coined phrase, clause and sentence form names. These happens to express the revival of nationalism, self-discovery and parents’ political devotions and assertiveness in different aspects of life such as social, cultural, political and identity issues. Depending on the meanings personal names communicate in social, political, economic and cultural issues, the current trend names express the people’s optimistic feelings. These names depict that the people are hopeful about the future. They wish and need betterment in politics and national issues in near future. Thus, for the Oromoo people of Eastern Wollega, personal names are an occurrence of language use for specific purposes which represent an important part of the people’s life. Finally, the name changing practices are widely happening in the research areas for different reasons. These reasons are for expression of individuals’ Oromummaa (feelings of Oromoness) and Saboonummaa (being proud of their Oromummaa), to search for their identity that they lost in the past system and feel comfort with their indigenous names. The other reasons of name changing practices are to express their identity and inspire generation in philosophical truth that lead to self-fulfillment and selfdescription
The Effect of Modifying EFL Teachers’ Assessment on Students’ Integrated Approach to Learning English
(Addis Ababa University, 2013-06) Asrade, Nibret; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of modifying EFL teachers’ assessment on students’ integrated approach to learning English. One Grade 11 section was selected to be a single case experiment group. Interrupted time series quasi experimental design was employed to investigate the trends of students’ global-analytical learning dimension and the trends of their day-to-day performance in learning English. All the students of the section and the English teacher who taught the class participated in the study. Evaluation checklists were used to compare and contrast the nature of the teacher’s assessment before and after the training, and check whether or not the desired modification has been brought. Willing’s (1994) questionnaire was employed to collect data about the before and during intervention trends of students’ global-analytical learning dimension. Data about the trends of students’ day-to-day English learning performance were collected using worksheets adopted from students’ Grade 11 English textbook. Data obtained from the questionnaire were summarized based on the frequency distribution of students’ global-analytical learning dimension preference and eye-balled on line graphs having a cut of point. Student’s performance in the activities of each section were marked and scored out of 1o. The mean performances of students’ in the different section of the worksheets were calculated. Then, the means were summarized on line graphs in their respective section having a cut of point in order to display side by side the before and during intervention students’ English learning performance trends. Comparative analysis results of the checklists show that the teacher has made modifications on the assessment method after receiving the training. Trend analysis results of students’ global-analytical learning dimension preference reveal that the modification had an effect on students’ integrated approach. The global-analytical integration trend analysis results reveal that the intervention (the modifications) had an effect on students’ integrated approach to the global versus analytical learning dimension preference. The findings of Students’ day-to-day English learning performance trends have also showed the effects of the intervention on students’ emphasis shift from one language skill to the other to integrate the different skills.
An Exploration of Beliefs about Language Learning and their Language Learning Strategy Use of EFL Learners: Debre Markos University in Focus
(2013-06) Mitiku, Niguse; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The purpose of this research is fourfold. The first is to examine the overall strategies and beliefs about language learning by EFL learners at university level. The second is to find out most/least common strategies used and beliefs held by EFL learners. The third is to investigate the correlation between EFL learners’ beliefs about language learning and their strategy use. The final purpose is to examine the effect of background variables (gender, proficiency and academic major) on EFL learners’ beliefs and their strategy use. This study investigated the beliefs about language learning and their strategy usage of 402 university EFL students. Five instruments were used to measure students’ belief and their strategy use: (1) Individual Background Questionnaire (IBQ), Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), TOEFL model test, and focused group interview. Descriptive analysis (frequencies, means and standard deviations), Pearson correlation analysis, a one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and post hoc Tucky HSD test were performed at the 0.05 level of significance to answer research questions. The findings indicated that EFL students at university level used a medium range of strategies. Metacognitive strategies were used most frequently where as memory strategies were used least frequently among university students. ii Students had strong beliefs of motivation and expectation whereas they had least beliefs on foreign language aptitude. There was significant correlation between language learning strategies and belief variables indicating the impact of beliefs on strategy use. Gender, English language proficiency and academic major had significant effects on the overall strategy use, the six categories of strategies, and individual strategy items. Gender and language proficiency did not affect overall beliefs, the five categories of beliefs, and the individual beliefs held by students. Academic major, on the other hand, had significant effects on overall belief, the five belief categories, and individual beliefs held by the students
An Exploration of English Teachers' Language Use During Lessons and the Implications Opportunities Advisor this Has for Students', Language Practice
(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Birhanu, Yihun; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
This study was carried out to explore the nature of initiative language used by Grade Ten Engli sh teachers and the implication it had for students' practice opportunities in the classroom. Specifically, it was meant to investigate the kinds of eliciting and informative acts Grade Ten English teachers gave and the extent to which these affected students to practice the language; and to find out what turn allocation and feedback behaviors they used with the initi ative acts. Two Engli sh teachers and their sixty students they were teaching were the subjects of the study. The subjects were taken from one of the govenm1ent high schools in Addis Ababa. Transcriptions of audio-taped lessons were the main data used in the study. Data obtained from students' questionnaire responses, teacher interviews and notes taken from classroom observations were also used to supplement the main data. The results of the study showed that teachers ' initiative acts had a great role on students to practice controlled and discrete language items. In add ition to this, students had only the chance to provide responses, which were very short and predetermined, so licited by the teachers. They did not get opportunities to practice the language items in contexts to discover how the language items or elements work. Therefore, teachers' initiative utterances did not motivate students to use the language for communication. As far as teachers' turn allocation behavior was concerned, no consistent behavior was found. The grammar teacher, for example, had general solicit turn allocation behavior while the speaking teacher had personal solicit turn allocation behavior. Finally the finding showed that teachers used their initiative acts more frequently for the purpose of evaluative feedback behavior than discoursal feedback behavior. Therefore, it was concluded that the traditional method of language teaching, which is excessively governed by Initiation (I) by the teacher, followed by a Response (R) from a pupil and then followed by the Feedback (F) to the pupil 's response (IRF), is still an influential approach in the school. On the basis of the study, the implementation of a balanced activi ties approach, which cmmot be a continuation of the current traditional approach nor should it be a strong form of a communicative approach is recommended.
An Exploratory Study of Teaching Reading in Early Grade: In The Case of Menelik Primary School
(Addis Ababa University, 2013-06) Alemu, Sebele; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' practices of teaching reading lessons in early grade especially grade one. The subjects of the study were grade one English teachers of Menelik II Primary government School. A sample of 3 grade one English teachers were chosen, however one of the teacher left out due to her personal reason. Thus, the 2 grade one English teachers were observed for 6 periods each while they were teaching reading. After the classroom observation the 2 teachers were interviewed. Next, based on the checklist prepared from the review of related literature the text book used to teach reading was analyzed. Analysis of the data collected through observation, interview, and book analysis shows the following findings: Teachers used whole language method; Most of the basic reading instructional methods were not used; Teachers were not aware of early reading methods; The text book provide activities of phonics, · but no phonemic awareness; and the topics and pictures of the text are familiar and predictable for the students. On the basis of these findings, some recommendations were forwarded.
Exploring Teachers' Perceptions on Teaching Reading Skill: Grade 10 Chitu Secondary School in Focus
(Addis Ababa University, 2018-08) Fikadu, Chali; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The study explored teachers' perception and techniques they used to teach reading in Chi tu secondary school grade ten . In this study, descriptive rese arch design was used with th e mixed res earch methods. To achieve objective of the stu dy, the target school was selected for it is convenient for the study. With this, the researcher used all four EFL teachers available along with 1 71 students of grade ten out of 300 students. The students were sele cted through sampling technique fo rmu la proposed by Slov in s J 960 . Three data ga th ering il1Stru lI1 enl.1 were used to collect data. They were que stionnaire f or students, int erview for teachers and class room observation. The quantitative and qu alitative data gathered through these instrum ents were processed, analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics. The result of the study indicates th at teachers' classroom practice and students' response does not reflect their perception of reading. The result also reve aled th at teachers frequen tly used only two types of techniques which imply reading tec hniqu es advocate d in the literature were not effectivelv implemented by the target school teachers. Based on the findings and conclusion of sludy recommendations were forwarded for EFL teache rs and other responsible bodies
Exploring Teachers’ Perceptions on Teaching Reading Skill: Grade 10 Chitu Secondary School in Focus
(Addis Ababa University, 2018-08) Fikadu, Chali; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The study explored teachers’ perception and techniques they used to teach reading in Chitu secondary school grade ten. In this study, descriptive research design was used with the mixed research methods. To achieve objective of the study, the target school was selected for it is convenient for the study. With this, the researcher used all four EFL teachers available along with 171 students of grade ten out of 300 students. The students were selected through sampling technique formula proposed by Slovins 1960. Three data gathering instruments were used to collect data. They were questionnaire for students, interview for teachers and class room observation. The quantitative and qualitative data gathered through these instruments were processed, analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics. The result of the study indicates that teachers’ classroom practice and students’ response does not reflect their perception of reading. The result also revealed that teachers frequently used only two types of techniques which imply reading techniques advocated in the literature were not effectively implemented by the target school teachers. Based on the findings and conclusion of study recommendations were forwarded for EFL teachers and other responsible bodies.
The Organization of Group Work in Spoken English II Classes: Adama and Jimma Teachers Colleges in Focus
(Addis Ababa University, 2002-06) Negesse, Feda; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
This study was conducted to explore the organization of group tasks in teaching Spoken English II at Adama and Jimma Teachers Colleges. A descriptive case study was employed to achieve this research goal. Two English language instructors and one hundred and six students from both colleges were considered to be the subjects of the study. Questionnaire with a set of both closed and open-ended items were used to secure relevant data from the students. In addition, a semi-structured interview was designed to elicit pertinent information from the instructors. Finally, the third instrument used for data collection was classroom observation. During classroom observation, semi-structured observation checklists were used to collect data while the instructors were teaching Spoken English II to the students. The data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and chi-square test. But those data gathered through the interview and classroom observations were qualitatively analyzed. All the data secured from different sources were collated in the discussions to arrive at conclusions regarding the instructors' practices of group task organization. The results of the study generally suggest that the instructors did not properly organize group tasks, which were designed for teaching Spoken English II. Consequently, group tasks seemed to suffer from different problems created at various stages of organization. The tasks did not appear to provide the students with helpful learning atmosphere in order to practice speaking and develop their oral skills. Recommendations were forwarded to alleviate the problems.
Perceptions and Practices of Active Learning in Efl Classes of Dilla University
(2008-06) Geressu, Taye; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions and practices of active learning, to assess how the perceptions of instructors and students influence their practices of active learning and to identify factors affecting the implementation of active learning. To conduct the study, qualitative method was employed. The study was conducted in Dilla University and the data were collected from 60 students and 8instructors of the University .In the selection of the sample population purposive and systematic sampling were used. The main instrument of data collection was. The data were analyzed using percentage, mean and grand mean. The findings of the study revealed that the main implementers of active learning (instructors and students) have perceived active learning positively. In spite of their good perceptions, their practices of active learning were low .Among the factors affecting the effective implementation of active learning; instructors’ and students’ tendency to traditional/lecture method, lack of students interest, shortage of time, lack of instructional material and large class size were the major ones. Finally, recommendations were forwarded based on the major findings so as to minimize problems encountered and maximize the implementation of active learning.
The Practice of Teaching Speaking Skills at Ayertena Secondary School
(Addis Ababa University, 2011-07) Guye, Abdisa; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The main objective of this study is to describe the classroom practice of teaching speaking skills in government high schools, especially in grade nine. The researcher focused mainly on the teachers’ role, students’ role, the techniques and procedures used by the teachers, the resources used to teach speaking skills and the way students sit in the classroom. To gather information on the above main objectives various instruments were used. These are: classroom observation, students’ and teachers’ interview, students’ questionnaire, tape and video recordings. The data were categorized and descriptively analyzed. The findings depicted that inappropriate speaking techniques and procedures were used in the mentioned grade level. Teachers were observed using the traditional way of teaching speaking which is dominated by reading model dialogues aloud. There has been little or no time given for the modern speaking skills teaching techniques such as group and pair discussions, oral report, drama, panel discussions and interviews. The consequences of inappropriate speaking practices used has resulted in the weak performance of the students in of speaking. To that end, this research paper provides recommendations that could bring about a change in the practice of teaching and learning speaking in the grade level studied so that current techniques and procedures of teaching speaking could be employed.
Some Insights into the Mentoring Role of High School English Teachers: F1ve Secondary Schools in Focus
(Addis Ababa University, 2001-06) Geda, Solomon; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
This study was mainly designed to investigate the extent to which the cooperating teachers are aware of th eir mentoring role, the extent to which they discharge their mentoring duties and factors that affect of the teachers' mentoring activities. The subj ects of th e study were English teachers in five cooperating secondary schools in Addis Ababa who have served as 'mentors' in the last five yea rs, student school directors and English department heads, the teaching practice supervisor, head of the university's teaching practice coord inating unit and teachers in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature Addis Ababa University (AAU). The data collecting tools used were questionnaire, interview and the student teachers' diaries. Some of the data are quantitative while others are qual itative in nature. Therefore , both quanti tative and qualitative data analysis methods were used. For th e analysis of the quantitative data, descriptive stati stics like, frequency, percentage and mean were used, whereas, the qualita tive data were described and explained. The study has general ly shown th at the cooperating teachers are aware that they are supposed to serve as 'mentors' and that then are ready to work with the student teachers. However, there are pieces of evidence in the data that show that thecooperating teachers do not seem to be successfu lly discharging their mentoring duties. For example, the study has noted the following as factors that affect the cooperating teachers successful discharg ing of their mentoring duties shortage of the teaching practice time, weaker liaison between the university and the coopera ting schools, the university's failure to give due attention to the student teaching practice program and lack of enthu siasm and under performance in the teaching practice on the part of the stud ent teachers.
Using L1 in the Efl Classroom: The Case Of The Oromo Language With Particular Reference to Adama Teachers College by
(Addis Ababa University, 2003-07) Beressa, Kenenisa; Kitila, Tamene (PhD)
The principal intent of this research was to investigate classroom use of L1, in this case the Oromo language, in the English classroom at Adama Teachers College. To this end, a descriptive research method was employed. Fifty first year regular diploma students majoring in English and five instructors participated in the study. Pertinent data were elicited through questionnaires and interview. Moreover, classroom teachers' and pupils' talk were audio taped. While most of the data gathered through the questionnaires and tape recording lessons were analyzed with the aid of frequency and percentage, those collected through interview and the openended items of the questionnaires were sorted out and summarized. The study indicated that both teachers and students have positive attitude towards the use of Oromo language at a college level. It also showed that certain amount of Oromo language has been used in the EFL classroom: 1.28% of Oromo language, which accounts for about 1.25% of the class time. However, the time devoted to the Oromo language was found to be less than what was deemed acceptable by the teachers and the students (i.e. 6-10 % of the class time) suggesting that there was a gap between teachers' perception and their classroom practice.

Browsing by Author "Kitila, Tamene (PhD)"

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