An Investigation into Teachers’ Talk and Students’ Involvement in EFL Classes in Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia: the Case of Wolkite University Students
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Date
2018-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate teachers‟ talk and students‟ involvement in EFL classes in Higher Education Institutions at Wolkite University in Ethiopia. The study was a descriptive case study with a mixed methods approach, but mainly qualitative. Data were collected through classroom observations, interviews and questionnaires. The participants of the study were English language teachers and first-year students of Wolkite University. A simple random sampling technique was used to select and observe seven teachers. Each class was observed twice. A purposive sampling technique was also employed to select the seven sample teachers for interviews. Besides, 31 EFL teachers, who were selected purposefully, filled in the questionnaire. Furthermore, 230 students were taken from the target classes through a stratified sampling technique. Of these, fourteen students (i.e., two students from each observed class) who were randomly chosen were interviewed face-to-face. The findings were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The qualitative data were analysed using open Code 4.02 and corpus analysis toolkit (AntConc) software programs, and for the quantitative data, percentages were used. Hence, the findings indicated that EFL teachers created inadequate learning opportunities in the EFL classes. They controlled every learner‟s involvement. The classroom interactions were led and controlled by the teachers. As a result, students‟ contribution to classroom talk was limited. Students did not show their curiosity to participate in the lessons and/or group discussions. It was observed that a few students chose to actively participate in the classroom interactions and thus teachers were found frequently interacting with the few active participants. In spite of the discontent with the classroom interactions, both teachers and students had positive perception and cognizance about ways that construct and obstruct students‟ oral performance. The result of the study also showed that EFL teachers largely utilised close-ended/display types of questions in the classes. Furthermore, the findings showed that learners‟ outputs were related to the types of questions that teachers utilised. The finding further indicated that when learners were asked open-ended and/or referential questions, their utterances were longer and more complex for they strived to clarify their outputs and negotiate the meanings with their interlocutors. Moreover, it was found that when teachers opted for closed-ended/display questions, learners‟ oral contributions were so simple, short and restricted and often comprising one or two words. Regarding the feedback provision behaviour, teachers recast frequently in the form of implicit corrective feedback, and learners were not able to comprehend that errors were committed and then repaired by their teachers. In addition, the result further showed that the wait-time I that teachers were pausing after they asked questions and the wait-time II that teachers‟ take turns after students‟ responses to questions were inadequate and often less than a second. Lastly, it was found that teachers dominated students‟ talk time. Therefore, findings of the study suggest that curriculum designers, language experts, researchers and teacher training programs should give due emphasis to teachers‟ talk and learners‟ involvement in EFL class alongside the pedagogic activities of students‟ oral practise. Moreover, teachers should be sensitive enough to know when to intervene and provide scaffolding. The findings also suggest that formulation of questions should be given emphasis in the English language methodology courses. With regard to wait-time, teachers should deliberately and constantly wait for 3-5 seconds or longer at particular times, and they are recommended not to dominate their students‟ talk time. Finally, it would be useful if such research undertakings are conducted at different levels of the educational system of the country. More importantly, teacher training institutes would benefit if some research on teachers questioning behaviour is carried out.
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Talk and Students