Students’ and Teachers’ Use Of English as the Medium of Instruction in Nekemte Town Grade 9 History and Geography Classes: Oral Interaction in Focus Tamiru
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Date
2013-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The use of English as the medium of instruction in the Ethiopian secondary schools seems an
ignored study area. The objective of this study was, thus, to explore the extent to which
teachers and students use English in relation to Oromo and Amharic at grade nine.
Accordingly, it investigates the amount of students’ and teachers’ use of the TL; explores the
subjects’ reasons for code-switching; and examines teachers’ help of students to use the TL.
For the investigation, a mixed-method research approach is used under the umbrella of
pragmatic paradigm of research design.
One hundred and twenty students and four Grade 9 History teachers and Geography teachers
were purposively selected for the study from two secondary schools in Nekemte town. The
data were collected through students’ questionnaire, teachers’ interview and classroom
observations. The data from the questionnaire were analysed using simple statistics
(percentage and frequency), and the data from the interview and the lesson transcripts were
analysed by using content analysis of the transcripts.
The results indicated that the students’ use of the TL is 3.6% of the class time while that of
their teachers’ is 62.2% of it. The data also showed that students switched code 4.9% of the
class time while their teachers did so 29.3% of it, which indicated that teachers played the
dominant role in using both languages. The data also indicated that the students switch code
because teachers did not encourage them to use the TL. It also revealed that students’
inefficiency and lack of confidence and lack of time enforced them to use the local
languages. The data from the lesson transcripts also showed that teachers and students switch
coded for different reasons. Lastly, it was discovered that History teachers and Geography
teachers hardly showed efforts to promoting students’ use of the TL.
From the findings, it could be concluded that teachers need to be aware of the additional
responsibilities of promoting students’ language skills and thus work in collaboration with
English teachers in this regard. Similarly, students should try to use the TL in oral
interactions in order to improve their oral proficiency.
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Instruction in Nekemte Town Grade 9 History and Geography