The Communicative V. The Traditional Approach to the Teaching of English Reading Comprehension At Addis Ababa University Freshman Level: A Comparative Study
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Date
1984-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to find out the relative
effectiveness of the tradfti.nal and c.mmunicative
approaches to the teaching of English reading comprehension
in developing the reading abilities of Addis Ababa University
freshman students. An experiment, in which a sample
population of one hundred and forty freshmen in six groups
took part, was conducted for six weeks. Three of the groups
formed the control group and the other three the ยท e~erimental~
A pre-test on reading com;rehension was given to
both the control and experimental groups to see if there
was any significant difference between the reading abilities
of the two groups. Statistical tests showed that the differences
were not significant.
Two sets of teaching materials were prepared for
both groups in 'accerdance with the pedagogical principles
of the teaching methodologies in qu~ti .n. The control
classes were taught reading comprehension in the traditional
approach and the experimental classes in the~ .mmunicative
approach. Three particirating instructors each taught one
control and one experimental class respectively.
A comprehension post-test was administered t~ both
the control and experimental groups . Statistical tests
showed that the average post-test score of the experimental
group was significantly greater than that of thecontr.l
group. Therefore the null hypothesis that there would not
be any Si~lificant difference between the comprehension posttest
results of the two groups attributable to the adoption
of the communicative approach had to be rejected. The conclusion
was drawn that the communicative approach is mere
effective than the traditional approach in developing the
reading abilities of freshman students at Addis Ababa
University.
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Keywords
English Reading Comprehension