Journal of Ethiopian Studies

A special Issue on language education and use in early grades in Ethiopia

Binyam Sisay Mendisu — 2024-12-23

No abstract

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

Samuel Zinabu Haile — 2024-12-23

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.

Phonological awareness instructional practices and challenges for implementation in Ethiopian Primary School: a case study of Goffa language Grade One

Zerihun Haliso Atsero — 2024-12-23

This article delves into the classroom instructional practices of teachers and the challenges they face in teaching phonological awareness. Employing a qualitative research approach within a case study design and drawing upon the sociocultural learning theory as a theoretical framework, the study involved four teachers, one school director, and one college instructor as participants. Data collection utilized observations and interviews, with deductive analysis methods including descriptive and narrative approaches. The findings underscore that teachers commonly utilize phonological awareness instruction techniques such as sound identification, syllable segmentation, phoneme manipulation, phoneme blending, onset-rime awareness, and rhyming. However, these strategies often fall short in addressing the diverse needs of students. Additionally, teachers predominantly rely on traditional methods such as sound and phoneme naming, counting, pointing, and repetition, rather than more interactive instructional approaches like demonstration, scaffolding, and modeling of sound and letter teaching methods. These instructional practices are compounded by various challenges, including low teacher phonological knowledge, lack of positive attitude and motivation, inadequate educational resources, and limited parental and community involvement. Addressing these challenges necessitates ongoing professional support to enhance teachers' phonological knowledge and capacities in essential instructional approaches. Moreover, stakeholders must foster conducive learning environments equipped with diverse educational resources to facilitate more effective phonological awareness instruction. Furthermore, broader studies are imperative to grasp the constraints and possibilities of phonological awareness instruction, ultimately enhancing children's reading abilities.

Causal correlations of letter naming and number identification with numeracy and literacy: Evidence from Af Somali medium of instruction schools, Ethiopia

Abraha Asfaw — 2024-12-23

Letter and number identifications are foundational components of literacy and numeracy development. This study hypothesized that letter naming and number identification have important implications for numeracy and literacy learning, respectively. Accordingly, the study employed a correlational design on a sample of 229 grades 2 and 3 children selected from six primary (two refugee and four host community) schools in Kebribeyah and Awbare refugee areas. Data analyzed using Pearson r showed correlational indices ranging from .40 (between number identification and literacy) to .47 (between letter naming and numeracy). The values computed on the relationship between letter naming and number identification as well as between literacy and numeracy indicated a similar relationship, i.e., r=.43. In terms of shared variances, further analysis showed shared variances that amounted to 16%, 22.10%, and 18.50% respectively. Generally, the results suggested limited predictive powers for practical purposes. Besides, linear regressions carried out taking sex and types of community yielded statistically significant contributions of type of community, favoring refugee context, on letter naming and literacy learning only. Hence, further large-scale studies are suggested to validate the findings and draw curriculum, pedagogical, and teacher development implications.

Early-grades’ vocabulary instruction and Nation’s (2013) word learning framework: the theory’s realities and instructional contents in the Grade One Amharic textbooks

Nigist Gedife — 2024-12-23

This study aimed to investigate the vocabulary knowledge components delivered in grade one Amharic textbooks in light of Nation‘s (2013) word knowledge framework. It targeted to address two main objectives: firstly, to reveal the Nation’s (2013) word knowledge components existing in the grade one Amharic vocabulary instruction with reference to the student book and the teacher’s guide. Secondly, it aims to examine the framework’s theoretical suggestions in terms of the vocabulary contents appeared in the selected instructional materials. The study employed a qualitative document analysis method. Data was collected using a checklist adapted from Nation’s (2013) word awareness components’ framework. The results reveal that (a) the textbook consists of more vocabulary knowledge components’ activities than the teacher’s guide; (b) meaning is given more coverage, followed by form, where the component of use is found to be the least attention. The most impressive finding is that some sub-components of Nation’s framework, such as word part (under the component of form), and grammatical function (under the component of use) do not appear as parts of the contents of the selected instructional materials. On the other hand, word formation is found to bean aspect delivered in the materials, which is not a part of Nation’s word knowledge framework. Therefore, this study substantiates that vocabulary instruction contents in early grades might go beyond the theoretical suggestions of the Nation’s (2013) word learning framework, and the framework might not be fully addressing issues related to the early grades’ vocabulary instruction, so it might need to include more elements to be a word learning framework for all grade levels.

The influence of orthography in early grade letter knowledge among Sidaama school children

Samrawit Bekele — 2024-12-23

Though the use of similar scripts in two or more language curricula is common in Ethiopia, the literature on orthographic influences on reading ability development is thin so far. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to examine the facilitating or hindering effects of orthography in letter name identification and letter-sound correspondence tasks in Sidaama and English languages that use Latin-based script. Data were collected from randomly selected grade 2 students in two Hawassa city administration schools using a survey. The descriptive statistical analysis technique on the reading tests showed greater accuracy of children when reading letters and sounds in Sidaama (transparent orthography) than in English, which is characterized by a deep orthographic system. Confusion was observed in both languages across the two tasks where children mixed up letters with sounds, especially when they tried to distinguish between identical letters and sounds in both languages. Such influence comes because the two languages share a common script, though their orthographic consistency differs by language, which has important implications for classroom instruction and curriculum organization.

Defects on children’s Amharic story-books in Ethiopia: a critical evaluation

Bayleyegn Tasew — 2024-12-23

Conducting research on the qualities of children’s literature on a continuous basis can serve as supportive reading materials for children’s literacy development in the country. But, unfortunately, there is no research work on this critical issue in Ethiopia. Therefore, the productive competence of the books for the development of knowledge and language acquisition skills in children still remains little known among policymakers, implementers, scholars, and those concerned. The main purpose of this study is thus to explicate the productiveness of children’s storybooks written in Amharic in the last four decades using the major literary criteria in reflection on the fundamental concept of “children’s realities,” including ‘age-stage, proposed by scholars from different but most closely related fields of study in the social sciences and humanities. Data are collected based on critical reviews done on 28 randomly selected children’s story/folklore books.

Predicaments in employing Ethiopian sign language as mother tongue of deaf children

Elizabeth Demissie — 2024-12-23

This study aimed to investigate the use of Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) as a mother tongue in the education of deaf children while also revealing some of the challenges encountered in this field. The study utilized qualitative methods, such as observations, document analysis, and interviews with school staff and government officials. The findings highlighted that EthSL is not yet acknowledged and accepted as a full language of education like other Ethiopian languages. Lack of curriculum, textbooks, trained teachers, allotted periods, and other necessary inputs are some of the manifestations of its exclusion. The study also revealed that the dominant inclusive education approach was not tailored to the specific sociolinguistic needs of deaf students. Consequently, the Linguistic Human Rights (LHR) for Mother Tongue (MT) education of deaf children in schools is neither promoted nor protected. These results suggest a critical need to reevaluate current policies and practices.