Ethiopian Journal of Language, Culture and Communication

The impact of teacher educators’ mediation on developing cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies for learning reading skills

2025-09-08T14:14:11+02:00

This study investigated the impact of teacher educators' mediation on the development of cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies essential for autonomous learning in EFL reading skills and its effect on reading performance. A quasi-experimental design with mixed methods was employed at Kotebe University of Education in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, involving two intact sections of first-year social science students (N=80). Participants were randomly assigned to experimental (n=40) and control (n=40) groups. An experienced English instructor mediated the experimental group using mediation strategies (MLE), while the control group received traditional instruction. Data were collected through reading proficiency standardized tests, questionnaires, and classroom observations, then analyzed using percentages, mean, standard deviation, t-tests, and thematic analysis. The results of the research indicated that mediation significantly enhanced the experimental group’s cognitive and meta-cognitive strategy use, leading to greater autonomy in EFL reading. The experimental group also achieved higher scores on reading skills tests compared to the control group, with Cohen’s d indicating a large effect size. The study concludes that mediated teaching strategies substantially improve trainees’ cognitive and meta-cognitive abilities, fostering autonomy and academic success. The study recommends that English instructors integrate mediation techniques into their teaching practices to enhance students' learning strategies and overall reading performance.

University students’ perceptions on the role of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in developing listening skills

2025-09-08T14:14:23+02:00

This study examines first-year students’ perceptions of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, focusing on enhancing listening skills through the Canvas Student platform. A descriptive research design and a mixed-method approach were employed. To this end, a total of 99 students (23 females, 76 males) participated in the study. Quantitative data were collected via a questionnaire, while qualitative insights were gathered through observation. The findings showed high student engagement with mobile-assisted learning both in and outside the classroom. Survey results revealed that 96% of students viewed mobile technology as essential for improving academic performance. The Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis indicated that students used mobile devices mainly for sharing course materials (RII = 0.941), accessing dictionaries (RII = 0.927), and reading PDF notes (RII = 0.925). This highlights the need for integrating platforms like Canvas Student into the curriculum. Generally, the study emphasizes MALL’s role in developing listening skills and improving learning outcomes. Therefore, based on the results it was recommended that English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) experts and curriculum designers integrate mobile technology into (EFL) instruction to enhance collaboration, accessibility, and student lifelong learning.

A postcolonial Afrocentric reading of Adichie’s novel Americanah

2025-09-08T14:14:30+02:00

This study is a postcolonial Afrocentric reading of the novel ‘Americanah’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for its application of Afrocentricity in reconstructing distorted African identity. It employed postcolonial theory and its strand, Afrocentricity, which gives a special focus to Africanism as its overarching framework. Through a qualitative approach which comprises textual analysis, the study probed how Adichie, in her novel, applied an Afrocentric perspective to reclaim African identity disparaged by colonial discourses. The findings of this textual analysis revealed that re-centering African identity, critique of European beauty standards, celebration of African narratives, challenging colonial legacies, and amplifying African diaspora experiences are the major Afrocentric themes and values treated in the novel. These themes were emphasized by Adichie’s innovative use of blogs as narrative devices, which served as tools for conscious-raising, racial identity development, critique of misrepresentation, and commodification of Blackness, particularly concerning African women and their hair. Based on the discussions held in the analysis, this paper, thus, concludes that African identity can be reconstructed even within the contexts of colonization, racial discrimination, and globalization.

The influence of parental involvement and teachers' background variables on early grade students’ Amharic reading achievement

2025-09-08T14:14:40+02:00

An exploration of Amharic language teachers' knowledge, self-efficacy beliefs and implementations of Explicit Reading Instruction

2025-09-09T12:43:31+02:00

This study explored the knowledge levels and self-efficacy beliefs of Amharic language teachers regarding Explicit Reading Instruction Strategies. It also examined the influence of their background characteristics. The research included 74 grade 1–4 teachers from Gondar City Administration Zone, chosen via convenience sampling. Data were collected through a questionnaire for perceived knowledge, a knowledge test, and a self-efficacy scale. Analyses involved a one-sample t-test and MANOVA with Bonferroni’s correction (p=0.017) to control type-one error risk. Results showed that while teachers’ perceived knowledge scores (t(73) = 4.20, p<.001) exceeded expectations, their actual knowledge test scores (t(73) = -11.31, p<.001) fell below average. Their self-efficacy scores (t(73) = 20.28, p<.001) were significantly above the norm. Multivariate analysis indicated no significant differences across teachers based on educational level (diploma or degree; F(3, 70) = 1.147, P = 0.336, Wilks’ Lambda = 0.95) or teaching experience (beginner to experienced; F(6, 138) = 1.59, Wilks’ Lambda = 0.88). These results suggest limited impact of pre-service training or professional development programs, highlighting the urgent need for tailored, research-based training initiatives.

Effects of teacher–students negotiated interaction on EFL students’ competence in past tense forms

2025-09-26T09:08:45+02:00

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of teacher-student negotiated interaction on EFL students’ competence in past tense forms. Teacher–students negotiated interaction was compared with the conventional (teacher–led) instruction for teaching grammar. While prior research has established the benefits of interaction in SLA, this study introduces new empirical evidence on the role of implicit feedback and task-based negotiation in grammar learning. A total of 83 Ethiopian Grade 10 EFL students, 42 as the experimental group and 41 as the comparison group, participated in the study. Picture-based storytelling and information–gap tasks were used to teach grammar for the experimental group through classroom negotiation for 12 weeks. The classroom teacher was trained on encouraging students’ utterance, self-correction, and implicit feedback. The comparison group received the conventional (teacher–led) grammar instruction with explicit feedback. Pre– and post–tests were used to collect the data. Independent samples t–test and one–way repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The findings of this study suggested that TSNI significantly improved the learners’ grammatical competence (p < 0.05) in grammaticality judgement, writing, and completion tasks but not in gap–filling tasks, suggesting that explicit instruction may still be required in gap–filling grammar tasks. The findings of the study showed that implicit feedback, task–based negotiation, and cognitive engagement enhanced grammar acquisition by promoting noticing, modified output, and meaningful practice.

An analysis of the perception of purification from impurity through the GIs ritual in the Basoliben community

2025-09-21T09:43:01+02:00

This study investigates how the Basoliben community perceives the ritual of “Gis” as a means of purfyng impurity. The main reason for this study is that there is a gap in studies focusing on the concepts of impurity and purification in Ethiopia, both in cultural studies and other academic disciplines. In the study, from the twenty-five kebeles found in Basoliben woreda, five kebeles were selected by purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The primary data were collected through observation, interviews, and focused group discussions in natural setting. The gathered data were analyzed using a descriptive and content analysis method, framed by structural-functionalism and purification-defilment or impurity theory approaches. The finding of the study indicat that, for the Basoliben community, one of the mechanisms used to purify what is considered defilement is the ‘Gis’ ritual which serves as an institutionalized way of preserving social values. The study reveals that the Gis ritual is performed by sprinkling blood and its goal is to protect the health of people and animals, as well as to cleanse diseases related to epidemics and curses. Furthermore, the Gis ritual is not performed by individually, but through criteria that can bring people together. It is seen as a method of keeping purity in the community by avoiding defile behaviors that could jeopardize their social cohesiveness. Overall, the findings show that the community's observance of the Gis ritual serves as a means of maintaining cleanliness by avoiding undesirable acts that may harm unity, cause loss of production, or affect health. Likewise, adhering to the rules applied the norms of Gis ritual is a symbol of purity, and the diseases that results from not observing the norms and values is considered defilement.

Gender and sexual identity in six selected Amharic plays

2025-09-27T07:53:38+02:00

The study examines six Amharic dramas, written and staged across three major Ethiopian political regimes—namely the Imperial period of Haile Selassie, the Derg regime, and the EPRDF- PP (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front- Prosperity Party) era. The purpose of this analysis is to interpret, critique, and deconstruct the ways in which identity is constructed and represented in these plays, focusing particularly on personal, bodily, social, economic, cultural, natural, and marital dimensions of identity. The selected dramas were chosen based on artistic and literary merit, including the playwrights’ theatrical training, linguistic creativity, narrative construction, and depth of thematic engagement. Using purposive sampling, six plays were examined through qualitative research methods, employing cultural studies and textual-discourse analysis as interpretive frameworks.The findings indicate that in three of the plays—Yeshoh Aklil (1952), Enatna Lijoch (1967), and Wubetn Filega (2012)—female characters are frequently represented as weak, dependent, exploited, and subordinate, whereas male characters are constructed as powerful, dominant, autonomous, and authoritative. However, in Yalachcha Gabicha (1957), a different portrayal emerges: the relationship between husband and wife is represented as hybrid, collaborative, and mutually empowering, thus suggesting a reconfiguration of gender roles. Similarly, in Hod Yifjew (1977), gender and power relations are inverted, with woman depicted as dominant and victorious, while men are subordinated—an image that disrupts conventional patriarchal representations. On the other hand, Martha, a female Character (in "Keselamta Gar " Play ), Who is a unique female character compared to other women characters portrayed in the rest of five plays in that she is swinging from a critical feminist and a women who wants to be dominant over her husbands to a female who likes strongly to marry a man, for she can't live without a husband plus giving birth and having a child.