Examining teachers’ practice of phonological awareness (PA) in early grades: a qualitative study of Koorete language classes, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the practice of Koorete language teachers in teaching phonological awareness in the early grades of Ethiopian public primary schools. The study was conducted at selected primary schools in the Koore zone in the southern region of Ethiopia. For this purpose, a qualitative research design inspired by case studies was used. An attempt was made to answer basic research questions: a) To what extent do primary school teachers practice the key components of phonological awareness in the teaching of Koorete language? b) To what extent do primary school teachers plan or prepare to teach the components of phonological awareness? Data were collected from four Koorete language teachers from four purposively selected primary schools through classroom observation and semi-structured interviews supported by video and audio recordings. The collected data were carefully transcribed, translated, coded, and then analyzed using a thematic approach. It has been noted that early-grade Koorete language teachers do not integrate and practice the key components of phonological awareness in their daily lessons. The teachers also have a knowledge gap in teaching the key components of phonological awareness, as revealed from classroom observation. Furthermore, there was an apparent lack of explicit and systematic lesson planning for teaching phonological awareness in the early grades. Therefore, it is recommended that teacher training programs include a major component in which language teachers are properly trained on how to teach phonological awareness in a systematic way. Besides, explicit in-service training needs to be given to Koorete language teachers on new ways and approaches of teaching reading in the early grades.