Con Textual I Zing Structural Based Exercises as a Strategy For Promoting Proficiency in English for First Year University Students
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Date
1998-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to find out the effectiveness of
an " inte rm ediate approach" which is based on the technique of creating
communicative contexts for structural exercises. The subjects of the
study are 173 first year students of Addis Ababa University who were
divided into study and control groups by using a random sampling technique
. The control groups were taught English by using materials based
on the structural approach while the study groups were taught using
materials prepared by the researcher in line with the "intermediate
approach". At the end of the experiment both the study and control
groups were given a post test . The result of the test was analyzed
by comparing it with the ESLCE results of the students. Subsequently,
the hypothesis is tested through the analysis of co-variance .
Th e result of the analysis shows that there is a significant
difference between the results of the study and control groups at 5%
level. Therefore, the hypothesis (Ho) that there is no difference
between the "intermediate approach" and that of the structural approach
on the English Language proficiency of first year students has been
rejected and the alternative hypotheSiS (H 1 ) is supported. The other
finding of this study obtained from an interactional analysis of
classroom observation is that the "intermediate approach" has a higher
surrender v alue than the structural approach since it allows more
pupil talk than teacher talk. Moreover , it has been found out from
the analysis of responses of English language experts that the "inter
mediate approach" lends efficiency to the teaching- l earning process
by integrating the quality of linguistic knowledge with the ability
of using it in real communicative situations .
The conclusion drawn from the results are : "intermediate
approach" helps the learners to cultivate the ability to assoc i ate
linguistic forms with their use in different contexts. The "intermediate
approach" also facilitates meaningful and in t eresting language practice
and by giving more student talking time, it promotes the confidence of
the learners in using the language.