Use of Students’ Native Culture as a Resource in the EFL Classroom: The Case of Second Year English Majors in the Department of English Language Education of AAU
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Date
2008-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study attempted to investigate the use of students’ native culture as a resource
in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom among the second year English
majors of the Department of English Language Education of College of Education in
Addis Ababa University (AAU).
Descriptive survey method was used in the study. In addition, Addis Ababa University
(AAU) was selected as a study site. The primary sources of data for the study were
also second year English majors in the Department of English Language Education
of the College of Education in AAU and their Communicative skills course instructors
during the 2007/08 Academic Year. In the second semester of 2007/08 Academic
Year, two sections of students took the Communication Skills course II (FLEE 202),
which is a subsequent of Communicative Skills course I (FLEE 201) taken during the
first semester. Out of eighty students taking the course, seventy were included as
subjects in the study with four of their teachers who had given them the aforementioned
courses in both semesters. Ten students were unavailable during the data
collection process for various reasons.
In order to achieve the objectives of the study, questionnaire, interview, classroom
observation and document analysis were used as instruments of data collection. In
the pilot study, data gathering was carried out immediately after designing the two
sets of questionnaires in order to verify their validity. The opinion of experts familiar
with the topic was also sought on the adapted instruments before administering them.
After carefully gathering the appropriate data using the four instruments of data
collection, the data was analyzed in an integrated manner using different statistical
tools and narration. Therefore, frequency counting, percentage, mean and
description of some qualitative data were applied to analyze and describe the data.
It was found out that the teachers were aware of the value of using students’ native
culture as a resource in their classrooms. But, they only sometimes incorporated it
owing to the lack of time, appropriate course book and related teaching experience.
Teachers need to judiciously implement this approach in line with relevant research
findings by taking in to account the role incorporating students’ native culture can
play in improving cultural inter-group relationships.
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Keywords
English Language Education of AAU