Ethiopian Journal of Language, Culture and Communication

An exploration of teaching critical thinking skills on EFL students’ reading comprehension

Bantalem Derseh, Dr. — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:22:15 +0200

Teaching critical thinking skills is a controversial issue among scholars worldwide. This study was an exploration of teaching critical thinking skills on Ethiopian high school students’ reading comprehension. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest two-group design was used. The data were obtained using test, reflective journal, and interview from 98 grade ninth Ethiopian students who were selected through random sampling. The experimental group students received critical thinking skills instruction, but the control group students learned through the conventional teaching reading method. The quantitative data were analyzed through using independent samples T-test and descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in their reading comprehension. When the students who participated in critical thinking skills instruction enhanced their reading comprehension, the students who learned through the conventional method achieved inadequate reading comprehension. Hence, students who were taught reading skills through critical thinking skills, principally, were able to understand explicit and implicit meanings of reading texts, recognize major themes, examine relationships and differences of arguments, and propose alternative explanations. It is, therefore, recommended that researchers, teachers, and students pay due attention to critical thinking skills instruction.

Beyond the Male Gaze: A study of Female Protagonists in Amharic Cinema

Hirut Admasu, Dr., Tilahun Bejitual, Tesfamaryam Gebremeskel — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:26:21 +0200

The main objectives of this article were to show how strong female protagonist and their counter male characters are constructed and to identify the gender power relationship between female and male characters are presented in two selected Amharic films. Here the two films are taken as texts and textual analysis is applied to them. This paper argues that though most directors and people in film industry are men and incline to portray women as second or inferior position however, there are some men who represent women as important as men. Having this in mind, films are chosen purposely based on three criteria: thus are films that have a strong female protagonist; content that raises gender issues and directors’ gender i.e. male. The films are Semayawi (Heavenly) (2020) by Bereket Tesahle and Anlakekim (I will not leave you alone) (2014) by Solomon Muhie. The films were analyzed using feminist film (male gaze) and poststructuralist (deconstruction) theories as frameworks. The findings of the analysis showed us women in the two films were professional journalist and lieutenant. Because women in the films are professional, they are not the object of male desire rather they are the subject of the story. They are goal-oriented, knowledgeable, powerful, and successful in the storyline. On the contrary, male characters tried their best to get what they want but were unable to be successful on their own. They found what they want with the help of female characters. Therefore, the selected Amharic films show a positive change in the portrayal of women beyond the male gaze.

Provision of Higher Education Involving Students with Disabilities: Opportunities and Challenges

Kassie shifere, Dr., Marew Alemu, Dr. — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:29:38 +0200

This study was intended to assess the provisions of higher education with the involvement of students with disabilities (SwDs). A descriptive survey design was used by mixing quantitative and qualitative methods in collecting and analyzing data. Questionnaires, interviews and focused group discussions were employed to collect data from different sources pertinent to the research. Available sampling was used to determine the targets of the study. Hence, the targets of this study were 109 SwDs who were pursuing their education in the four universities, namely Bahir Dar University, University of Gondar, Woldya University, and Wollo University in 2017 academic year. Forty two teachers who were engaged in teaching SwDs in inclusive class were also involved in the research. The findings showed that though teachers claimed they have a strong belief (mean=4.14) and positive attitude (mean=4.09) towards teaching SwDs, they didn’t effectively demonstrate these into their actual instructional practice. This variation was seen with a significant difference between teachers of Bahir Dar University and University of Gondar with better performance and Woldya and Wollo universities with limited practice. BDU and UOG universities were also found to be in a better position to address the needs of SwDs by rendering essential services though the degree of provisions was not to the level SwDs demanded. The findings also revealed that though there seemed to be opportunities for SwDs, these were not found to be enough to address their needs and bear the various challenges they face to pursue their education in higher institutions. Hence, based on the results, recommendations were made to improve the quality of academic and service provisions in the higher institutions involving SwDs.

የመካከለኛው ዘመን ኢትዮጵያ የግእዝ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ፍልስፍናዊ ፋይዳ ዳሰሳ

Dawit Girma, Samuel Getnet — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:31:05 +0200

የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማ ዘመን ተሻጋሪ የግእዝ ድርሳናት ላይ ፍልስፍናን ማጥናት፤ የፍልስፍና ድርሳናቱን ፋይዳ መመርመር ነው፡፡ ከፍልስፍና ጽሑፎች ውስጥ ፊሳልጎስ፣ ስክንድስ፣ አንጋረ ፈላስፋ፣ ሐተታ ዘርአ ያዕቆብና ሐተታ ወልደ ሕይወት በጥናቱ ተካተዋል፡፡ የመጀመሪያዎቹ ሶስቱ የፍልስፍና መጻሕፍት በዘይቤና ተምሳሌት ከፊል ኢትዮጵያዊ ሆነው ተወርሰዋል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ፍልስፍናዊ ይዘት ያላቸው እሳቤዎችና ቅኔዎች ተዳስሰዋል፡፡ ዲበአካላዊነት፣ ሥነ እውቀት፣ ሥነ አመክንዮ፣ ሥነ ምግባር የመሰሉ የፍልስፍና የጥናት ዘርፎችን እንደንድፈ ሃሳባዊ መቀንበቢያ በመጠቀም በገላጭ ሥነ-ዘዴ የሰነድ ትንተናን እንደ ስልተ ጥናት ይተገብራል፡፡ ድርሳናቱ በጥልቅ ፍልስፍናዊ ይዘት ከመርቀቃቸውም በላይ ለኢትዮጵያ ፍለስፍና ፋይዳቸው ጉልህ ነው፡፡ ዘርአ ያዕቆብ የመጀመሪያው ኢትዮጵያዊ ፈላስፋ ሆኖ ዘመናዊ ፍልስፍናን እንደነ ዴካርት ካሉ ታዋቂ የምዕራቡ ዓለም ፈላስፋዎች እኩል ተነጻጻሪ ሆኖ በኢትዮጵያ ጀምሯል፡፡ ደቀ መዝሙሩ ወልደ ሕይወትም የመምህሩን አስተምህሮ ቀጥሎ የራሱን አሰላስሎት አክሎ አስፋፍቶታል፡፡ ከተጠቀሱት የፍልስፍና መስኮች በተጨማሪ እንስታዊነትና የኃይማኖት ፍልስፍና የሚንጻባረቅበት እሳቤዎችን ሁለቱ ዘመናዊ ኢትዮጵያውያን ፈላስፎች መርምረዋል፡፡ ጥናቱ በጥንታዊ የግእዝ ድርሳናት ፍልስፍና መኖሩን፤ የታወቁት የፍልስፍና ድርሰቶችና ፍልሱፋኑም ከዘመናዊ ፍልስፍና አንጻር ተፈትነው ምሉዕ መሆናቸውን አጽንቶ ለሃገራችን የፍልስፍና፣ የጥበብና በነጻ የማሰላሰል ትርክትም ዘርፈ ብዙ ፋይዳ እንዳላቸው ድምዳሜ ላይ ይደርሳል፡፡

ጽንሰ ሐሳብ-ተኮር የማንበብ ትምህርት፣ በማንበብ ታታሪነትና በአንብቦ መረዳት ችሎታ ላይ ያለው ተጽዕኖ፤

Atsede Maru, Marew Alemu, Dr., Bizyayehu Kerisew, Dr. — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:34:11 +0200

የዚህ ጥናት ዋና ዓላማ አካባቢ ሣይንሥን በጽንሰሐሳብተኮር የማንበብ ትምህርት መማር በማንበብ ታታሪነትና በአንብቦ መረዳት ችሎታ ላይ ያለውን ተጽዕኖ መፈተሽ ነበር፡፡ ጥናቱ ቅደመትምህርትና ድኅረትምህርት ባለቁጥጥር ቡድን ፍትነትመሰል (quasi experiment) ስልት ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው፡፡ የጥናቱ ተሳታፊዎች በባሕር ዳር ከተማ በዕውቀት ፋና አንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርትቤት በ2014 ዓ.ም ከነበሩ ዐራት የዐምስተኛ ክፍል መማሪያ ክፍሎች ውስጥ በቀላል የዕጣ ንሞና ዘዴ የተመረጡ የኹለት ክፍል ተማሪዎች ናቸው፡፡ በዚህም በቁጥጥር ቡድኑ 48 እና በፍትነት ቡድኑ 48 በድምሩ 96 ተማሪዎች ተሳትፈዋል፡፡ የፍትነት ቡድኑ ለዐምስት ሳምንታት (ለ20 ክፍለጊዜያት) በጽንሰሐሳብተኮር የማንበብ ትምህርት (በማንበብ የግንዛቤ ብልሃቶችና የተነሳሽነት የድጋፍ ተግባራት)፣የቁጥጥር ቡድኑ በመደበኛው ሥርዓተትምህርት ስልት አካባቢ ሣይንሥን ተምረዋል፡፡ የጥናቱ መረጃዎች በአንብቦ መረዳት ፈተናዎችና በማንበብ ታታሪነት መጠይቅ በቅድመትምህርትና በድኅረትምህርት ተሰብስበዋል፡፡ የመረጃ መሰብሰቢያ መሣሪያዎቹ ተገቢነት በፍተሻዊና በአረጋጋጭ የፋክተር ትንተና ስልቶች (Exploratory & confirmatory factor analysis) እና አስተማማኝነቱ በውስጣዊ ወጥነትና (internal consistancy) በተቀናጀ አስተማማኝነት (composit reliability) ተረጋግጧል፡፡ የጥናቱ ተሳታፊዎች የጾታ ተመጣጣኝነት በካይ ካሬ፣ የዕድሜና የዳራዊ ዕውቀት አቻነት በባዕድ ናሙና ቲ-ቴስት ተለክቷል፡፡ የጥናቱ መረጃዎችም በSPSS AMOS 23 ሶፍትዌር በመታገዝ በመዋቅራዊ ስሌት ሞዴል ስልት (Structural equation model) ተተንትነዋል፡፡ በዚህም ጽንሰሐሳብተኮር የማንበብ ትምህርት በተማሪዎች አንብቦ የመረዳት ችሎታ (β=.34, t= 2.8, p<0.05) እና በማንበብ ታታሪነት (β=.65, t= .4.76, p<0.05) ላይ ቀጥተኛ፣ የማንበብ ታታሪነትን በማጎልበት በአንብቦ መረዳት ችሎታ ላይ (B=.18, t=1.3, p<0.05) ኢቀጥተኛ ተጽዕኖ እንዳለው የውጤት ትንተናው አመላክቷል፡፡ በዚህም መሰረት በጽንሰሐሳብተኮር የማንበብ ትምህርት አተገባበር ላይ የመፍትሔ ሐሳቦች ተጠቁመዋል፡፡

በማስተማር ልምምድ ሂደት የፅብረቃ ክህሎት አላባዎች (Elements of Reflective Skill) አተገባበር ትንተና፡- በ3ኛ ዓመት የአማርኛ ቋንቋ እጩ መምህራን ተተኳሪነት

Asefa Woreta, Amera Seifu, professor, Sefa Meka, Dr. — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:36:48 +0200

የዚህ ጥናት ዋና ዓላማ በማስተማር ልምምድ ሂደት የፅብረቃ ክህሎት አመላካች አላባዎች አተገባበር በምን ደረጃ ላይ እንደሚገኝ መመርመር ነው፡፡ ዓላማውን ለማሳካትም ዓይነታዊ ንጥል ጥናት ንድፍ (Qualitative Case Study Design) ተግባራዊ ተደርጓል፡፡ የጥናቱ ተሳታፊዎችም በደብረታቦር ከተማ በበጌምድር መምህራን ትምህርት ኮሌጅ በ2014 ዓ.ም በአፄ ቴዎድሮስ አንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት በ5ኛ ክፍል ላይ የማስተማር ልምምዳቸውን ያካሄዱ አራት የ3ኛ ዓመት የአማርኛ ቋንቋ እጩ መምህራን ናቸው፡፡ ለጥናቱ በ5ኛ ክፍል ላይ ለማስተማር ልምምድ የተመደቡ እጩ መምህራን በዓላማ የእጣ ናሙና ተመርጠዋል፡፡ 5ኛ ክፍል በዓላማ የእጣ ናሙና የተመረጠበት ምክንያት ከ5ኛ-8ኛ ክፍል ለማስተማር ልምምድ ከተመደቡት እጩ መምህራን መካከል 5ኛ ክፍል ላይ የተመደቡት የተሻለ የቁጥር ብዛት (አራት) ያላቸው በመሆኑ በቂ መረጃ ለማግኘት ታስቦ ነው፡፡ መረጃዎቹም በዕለታዊ የፅብረቃ ፅሁፍ፣ በምልከታ እና በቃልመጠይቅ ተሰብስበዋል፡፡ የተሰበሰቡት መረጃዎች በዓይነት በዓይነት ከተደራጁ በኋላም ከመሪ ጥያቄዎች አንፃር የተራኪ (Narrative Analysis) እና የንጥል አዋቃሪ (Cross-Case Analysis) ስልቶችን በማጣመር ተተንትነዋል፡፡ በትንተናው የተገኙ ውጤቶች እንደሚያመላክቱት፣ የጥናቱ ተሳታፊዎች የፅብረቃ ክህሎት አላባዎች አተገባበር ዝቅተኛ ሆኖ ተገኝቷል፡፡ በመሆኑም የመምህራን ትምህርት ኮሌጆች አላባዎቹ ለፅብረቃ ክህሎት እድገት ያላቸውን አወንታዊ ሚና በመረዳት በማስተማር ልምምድ ሂደት ለእጩ መምህራኑ ተገቢ ድጋፍና ክትትል ሊያደርጉ ይገባል፡፡

በይነ ዲሲፒሊናዊ ንባብ በአለመኖር

Anteneh Aweke, Dr. — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:41:26 +0200