Teaching English as Foreign Language
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Item Elt Instructors’ Curriculum Implementation Approaches in Teaching Freshman English at Ethiopian Public Universities’ Context: Debre Tabor University in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2025-03) Baye Ashebir Anteneh; Alemu Hailu Anshu (PhD) (Associate Professor)The study aimed to investigate the curriculum implementation approaches of ELT instructors, utilizing the frameworks of fidelity, (mutual) adaptation, and enactment, each rooted in positivism, post-positivism, and constructivism philosophical paradigms. In addition, the study explored the motives that influenced instructors to follow a particular approach over the other. It also examined instructors’ fidelity of implementation using the adherence and exposure dimensions of the fidelity measurement. To meet the purpose, using more than a single approach was imperative. As a result, the study used a case-study mixed-methods design (CS-MM) that integrated the qualitative and quantitative approaches. However, the study treated the case study as the parent study and the mixed method as supportive data. The study also employed a concurrent data collection strategy in which one method did not wait the completion of the data collection using another method. The qualitative and quantitative data were merged in the data analysis stage of the study. The study employed purposive, random, and proportional-stage sampling to obtain participants and respondents involved in it. Interviews, observations and post-observation interviews were used to collect data from ELT instructors, and questionnaires were used to collect data from student respondents. The qualitative data were analyzed after employing open coding, axial coding, and selective coding in categorizing the data based on themes. Moreover, descriptive statistics (percentages, mean, aggregate mean, and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (one-sample t-test) were employed in the analysis of the quantitative data. The data gathered from both instructors and students revealed that ELT instructors adhered to the fidelity approach to curriculum implementation, albeit the use of the skipping strategy disrupted their fidelity. Instructors followed the order or sequence of activities unit by unit, page by page and activity by activity except in areas where instructors skipped activities. Hence, instructors followed predictable procedures even if they knew the activities did not suit the context. Student-related, institutional (environmental), and instructor or personal motives all play significant roles in influencing ELT instructors’ curriculum implementation approaches though participants gave weight to institutional motives. Furthermore, the study revealed instructors’ fidelity of implementation fell at a medium adherence score that came as a result of skipping, not as a result of using other adaptation strategies. Furthermore, the study also demonstrated that students were not adequately exposed, particularly in the areas of writing and listening. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that ELT instructors often adhere to the VII prescribed curriculum contents, which in turn restricts them from fulfilling their professional roles and using their professional judgments in classroom curriculum development. Therefore, it would be crucial to provide in-service training to instructors and work towards reducing institutional impediments. This in turn would enable ELT instructors to use the approaches in a balanced manner, thereby meeting student needs without neglecting the needs of the institution.Item A Study of English Teachers’ Perception of Preparedness and Practice of Teaching Early Grade Reading(Addis Ababa University, 2024-12) Endrias Yisihak Ukumo; Abebe Damtew(PhD)The purpose of this study was to investigate English teachers’ perception of preparedness and practice of teaching early grade reading. The context of this study was randomly selected public primary schools in Hawassa City Administration, Sidama National Regional State, Ethiopia. To achieve its objectives, this study chose a descriptive research design of mixed methods. Quantitative data were gathered from 125 English teacher of 20 randomly selected schools through questionnaire of closed ended items of four scales adapted from (Salinger et al, 2010; Nyguyen, 2013) and knowledge assessment test of 40 multiple choice items; qualitative data were gathered through unstructured classroom observation of 60 video recorded lessons, two focus group discussions, 15 writtenclassroom assessment activities and semistructured interviews.The data gathered through knowledge assessment test and questionnaires were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Scieneces (SPSS Version 25.0). The qualitative data from focus group discussions and interviews were coded by using grounded theory techniques, and categories were identified for interpretation and discussion. It has been learnt from the teachers’ responses that teaching early grade reading got little emphasis of coursework and practicum of primary English teacher preparation. As result, the teachers are not completely sure how to use the strategies and activities with students in all early grades and at all reading levels. Moreover,the results have revealed that early grades English teachers have serious knowledge limitations of early grade reading instruction; the average knowledge assessment test score is 36.4%; 113 (90.4%) teachers scored below 50%. and 57.5% of the items were answered incorrectly. The results of classroom observations also reveal that participant English teachers are not properly employing the strategies for effective early grade reading instruction. The participant English teachers are not systematically assessing and recording students’ progress of learning to read; some of the classroom assessment activities have been repeatedly used with no relevance to language and literacy skills development; instead such repeated and irrelevant assessments may have detrimental effects. That is, teachers are inadequately prepared and are teaching and assessing inappropriately. Therefore, due attention should be paid to revising primary school English teacher preparation curriculum with particular focus on teaching early grade reading and providing systematic, explicit and hands-on training to teachers on early grade reading instruction and assessment techniques. However, the implementation of curricular revision of primary English teacher preparation and professional development activities would be effective if the trend of attracting potential teachers of poor academic performance and low interest to the profession is improved.Item An Exploration into Efl Teachers’ Perceptions, Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Practices of Critical Thinking Skills in Teaching Reading(Addis Ababa University, 2024-12) Michael Amale Kirko; Abebe Gebretsadik(PhD)The purpose of this study is to explore teachers’ perceptions, self-efficacy beliefs and instructional practices regarding critical thinking skills in the teaching reading. The study employed a descriptive survey design that utilized mixed_ methods approaches. Specifically, it utilized the sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, which involves initially gathering quantitative data, followed by the collection of qualitative data, to provide additional insights and elaboration on the quantitative findings. To achieve this, the researcher employed multiple data collection methods: surveys, interviews, document analysis and non-participant classroom observations. The study sample consisted of forty university teachers and sixty second- year English major students who completed the survey. Besides, seven experienced instructors who taught reading courses at the university were purposively selected for interviews, while two instructors who were offering reading skills courses, were observed in their classrooms. Additionally, for document analysis, three texts were randomly selected from six texts the teachers selected for the classroom practices to examine how they infused critical thinking skills in the activities. And the passages that teachers used for reading skills tests were analyzed to assess how the teachers integrated the critical thinking skills into them. The teachers’ perceptions about critical thinking skills was strong (m=3.59). However, the participants’ classroom practices of integrating critical thinking skills in the reading activities and tests were insufficient. Moreover, the teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for critical thinking strategies was moderate (m=3.33); this contradicts the result of students’ survey that revealed the implementation of critical thinking strategies was insufficient (m=2.91). Similarly, the classroom observation revealed that the teachers’ use of critical thinking strategies in the reading classroom was inadequate (m=2.24). Furthermore, teachers perceived that student-related factors (m=3.76) influenced the practices of critical thinking skills in the reading classroom more than the teacher-related ones (m=3.64). In conclusion, teachers who possess a high level of self-confidence are more likely to excel in integrating critical thinking skills into reading activities and assessments, as well as implementing strategies that enhance students' reading comprehension. However, the teachers’ strong level of perceptions of critical thinking skills alone may not guarantee to implement them. Therefore, it is imperative to train teachers in the integration of critical thinking skills in an interactive reading curriculum to motivate and engage students and help them comprehend reading skills in greater depth. The research contributes to the theoretical and practical awareness for teachers to integrate critical thinking skills in reading instruction. Further research is also needed to explore how the integration of critical thinking skills impacts students' reading comprehension.Item Assessing the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning English Language Grammar at Kilinto No.2 High School: Grade 9 Students in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2024-08) Motuma Diriba; Taye Regassa (PhD)This study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of teaching and learning English language grammar at kilinto no.2 high school grade 9 in focus. The study was conducted at kilinto no.2 secondary school as a sample. The questionnaires were distributed to 228 selected students and interviews were made with 7 teachers of grade 9 English language teachers in the school. In addition, three grade 9 English classes were observed for three consecutive periods. Moreover, interviews were also conducted to know the effectiveness of English grammar teaching and learning in classroom. During this study, descriptive survey research was used through both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The results of the study revealed that the participants recognize the teaching learning English language grammar is not effectively taught and learned in classroom. And also the findings of the study indicated that teachers still teach grammar following structural approach which has been criticized as traditional, teacher-centered and focus on accuracy or grammatical correctness.. English language teachers should not only know grammar well enough to explain to their students, but they should also use different techniques when they present grammar in their classes. Hence, the overall finding of this study throws light on the positive aspects and effectiveness of grammar teaching and learning integrated the form and meaning during English classroom.Item Perceptions and practices of activelearning Ineflclasses of Senbete General Secondary School.(Addis Ababa University, 2024-08) Dawit Fentahun; Dr.Hailom BanteyrgaThepurposeofthisstudywastoinvestigateperceptionsandpracticesofactivelearning,toassesshowtheperceptionsofteachersandstudentsinfluencetheirpracticesofactivelearningandtoidentifyfactorsaffecting the implementation ofactivelearning. To conductthe study,qualitative methodwasemployed.The studywasconductedin Senbete General Secondary and Preparatory schooland the data werecollectedfrom60 studentsand6 teachersofthe school. In the selection ofthe sample population purposive and systematicsamplingwereused.The maininstrumentofdata collectionwas.The datawereanalyzedusingpercentage,meanandgrandmean.The findingsofthestudyrevealedthatthemainimplementersofactivelearning(teachersandstudents)havepereceivedactivelearningpositively.Inspiteoftheirgoodperceptions,theirpracticesfactivelearningwerelow.Amongthefactoraffectingtheeffectiveimplementationofactivelearning;teachers’andstudents’tendencytotraditional/lecturemethod,lackofstudent’sinterest,shortageoftime,lackofinstructionalmaterialandlargeclasssizewerethemajorones.Finally,recommendationswereforwardedbasedonthemajorfindingssoasto minimizeproblemsencountered andmaximizethe implementationofactivelearning.Item Effects of Teacher Mediation on Students' Locus of Control, Self Efficacy Belief and Oral English Performance(Addis Ababa University, 2010-07) Negari, Wogari; Kebede, Seime (PhD)The objective of this study is to assess the effects of teacher mediation on students' self efficacy belieD SEB, locus of controll LOC, and oral English perfolmance/ OEP of Addis Ababa preparatory-I students. To this end, an experimental study was carried out. For the experiment, two schools: Bole and Wondrad were selected and 40 students were drawn from each and participated in the contro::~J and mediated oral English lessons, which were conducted by two teachers for four months. Moreover, preparatory-I English teachers were the target of the study in order to collect the data that assisted me to understand the oral English teaching! learning experiences, and played a great role in triangulating the findings. The data were col1ected tlu'ough mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative). The quantitative methods included questionnaires on MLE for both teachers and students, questionnaires on SEB and LOC scales, and OEP for students. The qualitative data were collected tlu'ough class observations, interviews and focus group discussions that were held with both students and teachers. From the quantitative fmdings, it was learned that both teachers and students underlined that MLE criteria could create a good atmosphere to practice and improve oral English. Nevertheless, differences were observed in the teachers' claims to utilize the MLE cliteria, and whal' the students reflected about their oral English teaching 'culture.' The findings of the students' LOC, SEB, and OEP indicated that MLE caused statistically significant changes. These changes were also justified from the comparisons made between mediated and unmediated students. From the qualitative findings, differences were observed in the mediated students' understanding of oral English, the way they evaluated their oral ability, and attributed their success or failure in OEP after the application ofMLE. In order to confiml the occurrence of the changes in the way they used to think about oral English and performance, their responses were compared with that of the unmediated ones, and it was apparent that MLE introduced changes to the mediated students' understanding and reasoning capacity about practices c.hal1p.llges, and possibility to improve their OEP. From the study, It was leamed that the findings have research, pedagogical implications, and recommendations that could initiate future actions in training English teachers in general and oral English teachers in particular have been drawn.Item An Exploration of Efllearners' Attitudes Towards Their Oral Errors: Gatama Secondary School Grade Nine in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Sura, Tesfaye; Kassaye, Mekasha (PhD)Oral errors in second/ foreign language learning are more frequ ent in that it is inevitable for the learners to commit erro rs as they experiment with the target language as is indi cated by Beebe ( 1983) and Ellis (1994) . Accordingl y, the purpose of the study was to explore grade nine learners' attitudes towards their oral errors in EFL elassroom . Thus, the spccifi c obj ectives of the study were (a) to fin d out the learners' att itudes to the ir oral errors, (b) to examine some of the factors attributed to the learners' attitudes to their oral errors, and (c) to cxplore the effects of the learners' attitudes to their oral errors on their learning to speak EFL. To this end, sixty five systematically sampled grade nine students and their respecti ve Engli sh tcachers from Gatama Secondary School in East Wall aga were in foc us. To obtain the data, questionnai re (attitude scales) to the students and interview wi th the teache rs to investigate the st udents' att itudes towards their own oral errors were employed. T'hen the data were analyzed both quantitat ively and qua litati vely: data obtained from the students' responses were ana lyzed using frequency count and percentage, whereas the data elicited from the teachers using interview was analyzed by summari zing, organi zin g and grouping the key ideas un der the ma in themes. Accordingly, the study has obtained some findings. Firstly, it was found that at least about half of the learners tend to hold more realistic attitudes because they do not worry about making oral erro rs, do not demand perfect acc urac y, and feel they learn from their oral errors whi le about half of them seem to hold erroneous attitudes towards their own oral errors because they afraid of mak ing oral errors, demand perfect acc uracy, and fe el their own oral errors are ind icators of their weakness and impede their learning to speak Engli sh. Secondl y, the study reveals a lso that some fac tors favorably influenced some of the learners' attitudes whil e still some other factors have wrongly affected the rest of the learners' attitudes. Fina lly, it indicates that a significant number of the learners are concerned with accuracy than fl uency, are anxious, fcar of taking risks of making erro rs, lacked opportuni ties whi ch cncourage thcir learning of speakin g Engli sh, and had decreased communicative competence in spoken Engli sh becausc o f their unreali stic attitudes to their own oral errors though they are ready to partic ipate in communicat ive acti viti es. As a result, in the study it was fina lly attempted to propose some practical suggestions to promote learners' learning of speaking English tak ing ri sks of making errors. In order to remove inhi bi tion and reticence, the learners should cxpose themsel ves to the practice and usc of spoken ~l1glisb 'JhQl!! fea r of making errors. S im i larIy~lwo ul d be advisable if both teachers and learners with erroneous attitudes are given adviscs and informat ion by senior teachers, counselors and learning speciali sts, or in the teacher's book and student's book that errors are natural phenomenon, cruc ial and can bc improved thro ugh practice, and should be treated properly. Besides, tcachers al so have to offer consc iousness-raising activities and advi se to enable the learners aware that errors are made by everyone every time, that they have to emphasize fl uency over accuracy, and that improvements can happen over tim e. Lastly, to identi fy the factors att ributed to some inconsistencies in the learners ' responses and a bit disparity between the teachers' responses and the learners' responses on the variables considered in the study, it seems desirable if further study is conducted .Item Satirical Elements in the Poems of Nine Post-revolution Amharic Poets(Addis Ababa University, 1993-05) Endrias, Mestin; Gessesse, Tesfaye (PhD)The purpose of thi8 study is to investigate the use of satire by nine poets who published their works during the po.t-revolution era. Although some of the poems date back to the pre-revolution era, the purpose of the study is not to show their relevance to the period. In specific term8 the research paper aims at shoving with what features of satire the themes of the selected poems are concerned with as well as the type of tones they employ. A general look at their con+.ents vividly reveals to us that they focus on social problems, particularly on pretentiousness, abuses of t~chnological discoveries and corruption. Most of the poets capitalize on the identity crisis and the pretentious behaViour of the youth, especially of the overseas educated. Some of the poets even go beyond the issues of their own country and attempt to touch on international issues. Further scrutiny shows us the frequent utilization of irony. Moreover the tones that are employed ia most of the satirical pieces are serious and only some of them humorousItem The Effects of Teachers' Oral Error Treatment on Students' Behaviour in Error Correction: 10+3 in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Bogale, Mengesha; Beriso, Ltalo (PhD)The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teachers' oral error treatment (supportive oral error feedback) on students' behaviour in error correction in the EFL classroom. Of this, the study tries to explore the types of oral errors students made frequently in their attempt to speak in the class. In addition, this study attempts to find out the extent of supportive oral feedback (clues) teachers provided to students following their oral errors that enabled them to correct the errors themselves. An al/empt is also made to identify the effects of teachers' oral error treatment (supportive oral error feedback) on students' behaviour in error correction. To meet the objectives above, three 10+3 English language teachers and their students at General Wingate TVET College were recorded and observed while teaching and learning respectively. Completing the transcription of the recorded lessons, the types of students' oral errors were identified based on Dulay et al. (1982) categOlY of errors. The supportive oral feedback (clues) provided to students following their oral errors were found out based on Harmer (2001), and Richards and Lockhart (1994) oral feedback strategies. The effects of teachers' oral error treatment (supportive oral error feedback) on students' behaviour in error correction were also identified using questionnaire and interview for students, and teachers ' questionnaire. The results show that 102 oral errors were committed by learners and grouped under-I3 categories. Of these, errors in agreement (15.69%) are the most frequent ones. In addition, teachers provided supportive oral error feedback (clues) to students that enabled them to correct the errors themselves using repetition, statement and question which all account for 1.42% or 11 clues out of 775 number of each oral feedback used in their classes. On the provision of 2 of these supportive oral error feedback (clues) to students, only 1.96% (2) of the errors out of 102 were se!f.treated by learners themselves. As the interview ( all 4 interviewees) and questionnaire for students (79.25%) , and questionnaire for teachers ( 2 out of 3) results show, provision of teachers' supportive oral feedback (clues) to students following their oral errors had positive (encouraging) effects on students' behaviour in error correction Finally, EFL teachers are highly recommended to provide supportive oral feedback (clues) to students following their errors that enable them to correct the errors themselves rather than correcting them directly.Item Exploring the Attitudes of Grade Ten Students and Their English Language Teachers Towards Group Work(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Getnet, Melkam; Beriso, Ltalo (PhD)The main purpose of the study was to explore the attitudes of grade ten students and their English language teachers towards group work in Entoto Amba Secondary School in Addis Ababa. Because of shortage of time, the study was restricted to 150 students and seven English language teachers at grade ten level. An attempt was made to identify students' attitudes towards group work, find out grade ten English language teachers' attitudes towards group work, to assess the status of group work as a mode of classroom interaction in EFL classes, and to raise the awareness of English language teachers and other researchers about the role of group work in EFL classes. To do this, the data were collected through classroom observation, interviews and questionnaires. To get the necessmy data, classroom observation checklist, two seven-item interview questions- one for teachers and the other for students, two twenty-item questionnaires- one for teachers and the other for students were designed and used. To avoid or minimize data contamination, classroom observation was made first, and then interviews were conducted and lastly questionnaires were distributed to the subjects. The data obtained were then analyzed and discussed using percentages and means obtained from computations. The results reveal that both grade ten students and their English language teachers have mildly positive attitudes towards group work. It was recommended that English language teachers should be given additional training on how to effectively use group work.Item Investigating Methods of Training for Developing Students' Skills for Academic Oral Work: Focus on Social Science Students -- Addis Ababa University(Addis Ababa University, 1998-05) Disasa, Mekonnen; Michael, Haile (PhD)This study investigated methods of training second year students in the College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa Uni versity, for academic oral work. The main objective of the investigation was how to help the students activate their already existing linguistic resources so that they could reduce their foreign language speech--related anxiety in order for them to build the contidence to improve the level of their oral performance in academic contexts. Teaching methods and techniques relevant to the development of oral competence were extracted from the literature on current foreign/second teaching. These were used as the basis for the design of new course materials for the study. The materials were taught to an experimental group of students which was contrasted with a control group. The effects of the new training on the students oral performance were examined through: (a) the trainees' reactions to the training, (b) two simulated academic oral presentations by experimental and control groups of students and (c) assessment of the confidence demonstrated by the two study groups at the end of the training. It was found that the training was positively evaluated by the trainees. The result of Oral Presentation I (pre-training) showed the two study groups were performing at the same level of oral intelligibility , while the resu lt of Oral Presentation 2 (post-training) indicated the experimental group was, on the whole, better in its oral intelligibility than the control group. The assessment of the confidence demonstrated by the study groups at the end of the training revea led there were more confident students in the experimental group than in the control group. Thus, it was concluded that the new training positively contributed to academically relevant, better oral performance by tbe trainees. This was not found to be true in the case of the control group of students who were not exposed to the same training. Based on this conclusion and other findings of the research, recommendations were made.Item A Comparative Study of Regular and Evening Students' Anxiety in Spoken English Class: Bole Community School in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Demissie, Lemma; Lemu, Geremew (PhD)Item The Practice of 'Repair' During Conversational Discourse in EFL Classes(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Getachew, Anteneh; Mohammed, Nuru (PhD)The main aim of Ihis slUdy is to investigale Ihe practice of repair during conversational discourse in a foreign language classroom. Thus, il is mea11l to assess the nature of repair and repair-initiation patterns practiced during conversalional discourse in EFL classes, see the extent to which students and teachers use repair-initiation strategies during S-S and T-S interactions respectively, examine where the repair-initiations occur with reference to the trouble-source (I'S) in the observed palterns, find out the most fi'equent repair and repairinitial ion strategies used during classroom conversational discourse. The main subjects of the study were first year English major students taking the course Communicative English Skills-II and their teacher. Eight lessons recordings were made, fi'om all four sections students, fi'om whichfour lessons were transcribedfor analysis. The analysis of the transcribed data shows that all of the four repair initiation patterns were used during conversational discourse in EFL classes except a variation in frequency of use. In addition, the qua11litative analysis reveals that both slUdents and teachers play repair-initiation roles in S-S and T-S interactions respectively fi'om which other-initiation stralegy is more fi'equently used than self-initiation. Moreover, other initiated self repair pattern is most fi'equently used during conversational discourse in EFL classes. Along with this, concerning the position where repair-initiations occur in the observed patterns, in self initiated patterns the repair-initiations mostly occur in same turn; whereas in other initiated repair patterns the repair-initiations fi'equently occur in next turn immediately after the trouble-source. Finally, the thesis concludes by considering the implications of the .findings forfurther researches as to why other repair-initiation mechanism is highly apparent as well as other initiated self repair pal/ern is most fi'equently occur during conversational discourse in EFL classes. So, the study recommends EFL teachers to conduct CA researches in their classrooms to see the meaning negotiation strategies, in light with the practice of repair, and thereby 10 get feed back for remedial works and enhance students ' communicative competence.Item A Stylistic Analysis of the Andemta of the Four Gospels-Mathew's in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009) Belay, Zewdu; Rao, A.Subba (Prof.)Item A Term Paper for the Course Development Finance (Rlds 652(Addis Ababa University, 2003-05) Negash, Yakum; Rao, Rajeswar (PhD)Item The Attitudes Of Grade Seven and Eight English Teachers Towards English By Tv . Prorrammes(Addis Ababa University, 1990-06) Tepelde, Yacob; Despatie, Gerard (PhD)The purpose of this study is to find out whether the English teachers of grade 7 ane R of Addis Ababa government Elementary and Junior High Schools have a positive or negative attitude to\<.rards the English by TV. nrogrammes entitled Let ' s Learn Enqlish and English for You. To achieve this aims , questionnaires and observations were used. The auestionnaires preparedweee qiven out before hand to ?O teachers of 10 schools of the five zones . That is, 2 teachers from each school . Then the researcher distributed 119 actual auestionnaires to 119 teachers of 35 Elementary and Junior High Schools. 116 teachers responded to the questionnaires . That is , 49 responses of grade 7 teachers, 55 responses of grade R teachers and 12 responses of both grade level teachers were collected. The researcher made also 72 observations in one ~rade 7 and one qrade 8 from each of the four schools selected. Eight of the classes observed are : from Del Betegel, Mene lik II, Biherawi Betemenghist and ~le skerem 2 . The researcher, besides his personal observation in actual lesson transmissions inside classrooms has also recorded the eiaht classes of the four schools on a video tape.The t eachers response were tallied and percentaqe and !'lean scores have been calculated to investigate the teachers' attituoe towards the Enqlish by TV , programme. The analysis of the result shovl that , nearly 75% of the teachers showed a favourable attitude towards the Enqlish by TV. programme. The approval ratinq were hiaher for teacher ' s guide, proqramme, note·-taking, answer and question , native speakers, methodoloay , sonqs ana topics. On the other hand, drill , timing and preparation, showed a value below the anproval r ating. On the whole , through the findinqs of the observation and the questionnaire the teachers showed a positive attitude tOWa r0S the content a nd methodology of the EngHsh by TV. progrnmme. The findinqs showed also students qain from the programme. However, SO!'le shortcomings were observed and the r esearcher suqaested poirlts for improvements.Item An Exploration of the Adequacy of Teaching Listening Skill: Grade Eight in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Chegen, Tigist; Gezahegn, Girma (PhD)The main objective of this study was to assess the adequacy of teaching listening in grade eight English lessons. To obtain the information required, the listening sections of the textbook for Grade eight were evaluated based on the criteria suggested by scholars. To elicit additional information, a questionnaire was administered for all Grade eight English language teachers in Mekdela, Sibste Negasi and Mekanisa Akababi primary schools. Besides, six classroom observations were conducted to get some insight on how the teaching of listening is implemented at classroom level and an interview was conducted with three teachers and twelve students to cross check the data that were collected through questionnaire and classroom observations. The data obtained were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative means. A qualitative analysis was carried on the information obtained from the textbook analysis, the open-ended questionnaire for the teachers, classroom observations and the interview with teachers and students. A quantitative analysis was made on teachers' responses to the close-ended questionnaire items. The analysis showed that there arc no adequate listening texts and activities in Grade eight course books. In addition, teachers do not prepare their own listening texts and activities to help students become skillful listeners. The listening activitie.:; in the course book are suitable and require students to understand the main idea. Teachers encourage students to attempt the listening tasks without putting too much emphasis on the quality of their responses. Moreover, visual aids, and recorded materials are not used for teaching listening in classrooms. Accordingly, . recommendations were forwarded to design appropriate teaching material that aimed at a balanced language skills as well as to create awareness upon teachers concerning the vitality of the teaching of listening in primary schools in general and in Grade eight in particular.Item An Evaluation of the Speaking Activities in the Students' Spoken English Module: A Case at Dessie College of Teacher Education Linear 2nd Year English Language Program Students in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009-06) Bezabih, Tesfaye; Kassaye, Mekasha (PhD)The study was mainly intended to assess to what extent the speaking activities in the spoken module of Desse College of Teacher Education (DCTE) are appropriately designed with respect to addressing the learners' interests and how far they meet the major speaking task designing criteria. Pertaining to the study itself, assessing the attitudes of teachers and students towards the activities, assessing the motivational values of the activities, assessing the techn iques, methods and presentation used in the speaking tasks and fina lly assessing the organization of the tasks were examined. Content analysis was used as a major instrument to obtain information regarding how appropriate and suitable the speaking tasks (activities) for the trainees to participate on and how they meet their interests being as prospective teachers. The questionnaire and interview developed and used to measure the attitudes of the students and teachers towards the speaking activities (tasks) which are portrayed in the trainees 'spoken module. The findings of the study indicated that the inappropriateness of the speaking activities in the trainees' module in eliciting students' oral participation was taken as a fa ctor that hamper pair/group work in the classroom. The findings also showed, the absence of varied, interesting, real world, relevant activities to the needs and interests of the trainees in their spoken module. Along with this, the findings indicated that the inability of the speaking activities in promoting genuine communicative interaction among students by using various forms of classroom organization. Besides, the findings disclosed that the activities in the trainees' module have low motivational values and are not able to be integrated with the other skills except writing. In addition, the absence of supplementary materials like language laboratory, audio visual teaching aids, etc hindered trainees spoken ability. Not giving considerable attention to the structural syllabus which focused on the English sound system like segmental and superasegmental featu res and merely focusing on the functional syllabus were also the other findings which were manifested in the research. Considered vis-a-vis these and other findings on the suitability of the speaking tasks (activities) in addressing students interests, the parallel effect of the approach ill the module in not incorporating many activities, and the absence of practice session of the activities, which do not allow learners' to communicate and cooperate in groups brought an ample problem in students spoken language proficiency. Therefore, the study recommended that when course materials are prepared, addressing the growing needs of students to become proficient in speaking English by giving due emphasis to what students require to participate orally in speaking activities often presented in group or pair modes of learning should be considered. It is also noted that the program (syllabus) to be prepared ought to take in hand the question of methodology, too. It should enable the learners and the teachers to use pair and group work, simulations, games and dramas. Besides, the study recommends that continuous course material adaptation based on the appropriateness of the activities for communicative goals should be practiced on the speaking tasks.Item Feedback in the EFL Classroom: An Exploration of its Role in the Communication of Teacher Expectations.(2000-06) Mohammed, Nuru; Johnson, Keith(Prof.)This study examines teacher feedback practice in a foreign language classroom in relation to the proposition in the field of general education that teacher differential expectations for students' performance may be expressed in differential treatment toward students. More specifically, the purpose of this research is to explore whether ( I) the teacher provides different feedback to students whom he perceives as high and low achievers and, (2) differences can be attributed to differential teacher expectations. It also investigates whether (3) students perceive any difference in the ways the teacher works with high and low achievers as regards the provision of feedback and (4) the teacher sees his own treatment of high and low expectation students as being different. The analysis of observational data collected on a teacher's classroom feedback behaviour revealed great quantitative differences in the feedback received by hi gh and low expectation students on their successful and unsuccessful performances. Further analysis suggested that many of the differences are attributable to differences in performance among students although there were also several other differences (e.g. those that relate to the teacher's use of praise and failure to give feedback) that are interpretable as evidence of differential teacher treatment. In addition, the likelihood of the teacher's use of certain types of feedback (e. g. repetition and explanation of a correct answer) tended to vary with the expectation group membership of students. As regards the students' and the teacher's perceptions, both parties demonstrated a considerable degree of sensitivity to differential treatment of high and low achievers.Item Teacher-initiated Learner Self-correction Strategy of Academic Writing: Wollega University in Focus(Addis Ababa University, 2009-05) Teshome, Getachew; Kebede, Seime (PhD)The major objective of this study was to investigate teacher -initiated learner selfcorrecting ability in written composition of third year EFL students at Wollega University taking the course Advanced Composition. Specifically, the study aimed at finding out the extent to which the students can self-correct their written errors, the strategies they use to process and handle the teacher's written feedback and revise their texts, areas of ease and difficulty for them to self-correct, and their general attitude to the technique. To achieve these objectives, the necessary data were collected through compos ition writing tasks, student questionnaire and teacher interview. The students (No. 25) i.e. 100% were made to write four compositions (two original ve rsions and two self-corrections or revisions). Finally they filled in a questionnaire and their instructor was interviewed. The result of the essay writing revealed that the students successfully selfcorrected their composition errors. That is from a total of 1155 errors recorded prefeedback on both sessions writing tasks, they managed to significantly reduce these to 475 errors self-correcting 680 errors or 58.9% of the errors. This implies that self-correction and rewriting are worthwhile approaches to written error correction. Moreover, it was revealed that the students attended to most (93%) of the teacher's comments and suggestions in self-correcting and rewriting. The result of student questionnaire similarly disclosed that they mostly used internal resources like reading the feedback over and over and contextual clues to process and understand the teacher's comments. They also reported having good initiation and motivation for self-correction and revision. The teacher also noted that he used teacher correction sometimes, peer correction most frequently and self correction rarely. Finally, it was concluded that self-correction is an indispensable means of dealing with written errors and promoting writing autonomy in EFL classes. However, in order to deal with or overcome the limitations of the technique, proper training and conscious-raising on its benefits and procedures are essential for the students and teachers alike. Teachers are also advised to draw on different cO/Tection techniques (peer-con·ection, etc), depending on the nature of the activities and other s ituations, giving self-con·ection the first place in their minds.