Teaching Reading Skills in English as a Foreign Language through Interactive Classroom Teaching Versus Plasma Teaching with reference to Grade Ten Students in Addis Ababa
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Date
2012-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate teaching reading skills in English as a foreign language
through interactive classroom teaching versus plasma television teaching. An experiment was
designed and conducted to investigate the difference between teaching reading skills in English as a
foreign language with and without Plasma television. The design of the study was mixed method
design which consisted of first collecting quantitative data and then collecting qualitative data i.e. both
quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were employed to analyze the data collected.
There were four main measurement tools employed in the pilot as well as the main study: 1) The preand
post-tests reading comprehension and vocabulary tests, 2) a questionnaire 3) an interview and 4)
classroom observation. The pre-and post-tests aimed at measuring reading comprehension and
vocabulary. The last three tools namely a questionnaire, an interview and classroom observation
measure the attitudes of both teachers and students toward teaching reading skills and they were used
in the post-test only.
The study measured and compared the performance of four groups: two experimental groups (N = 35
and 35) and two control groups (N = 38 and 40) of Grade 10 students at two secondary schools with
two teachers from each school in Addis Ababa during a period of four months one academic semester.
After the administration of the tests, the data were collected and subjected to statistical analy is. An
independent and paired t-test was used to test the hypothe es in this study. The results suggest d that
teaching reading skills through interactive classroom teaching had a positive influence on the subjects
post-test scores. The major findings obtained from the statistical analysis revealed that the
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improvement between the pre-test and po t-test of reading skills is significantly greater for the
experimental groups than the control groups. This suggests that teaching reading skills through
interactive classroom teaching has a positive effect on students' reading comprehension. In addition,
the re ults from the comprehension post-test between the two groups were significantly different
which suggests that the post-test scores of reading comprehension between the two groups are not
equal. The results of the experimental groups oulperformed than the control groups students.
Finally, the results of the questionnaires individual interviews, and classroom observation showed that
the students in experimental groups held a positive attitude toward teaching reading skills through
interactive classroom teaching and the experimental group students were observed working in small
groups and helping each other in trying to understand the passage. The results of the interview and the
classroom observation revealed that majority of the students agreed that the classroom teacher was
giving better teaching method than the plasma teacher was.
Implications drawn from the findings suggest that, for English language teachers, this research could
assist them in improving their current teaching performance and syllabus. Based on both the pilot and
the main study, teaching reading skills through interactive classroom teaching would work best in the
Ethiopian context if the classroom teacher is given further training to interactive classroom teaching.
This study suggests that teachers need to devote significant class time to teaching reading skills
through interactive classroom teaching and encourage students to engage in it.
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Keywords
Reading kills in English