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English, national and local linguae francae in the language ecologies of uganda and tanzania
EFL Teachers' and Students' Attitudes and Practices Regarding Oral Communication in English Classes: Ethiopian High School Context
How engagement in internet fraud impact academic activities of undergraduate students in Nigeria: A socio-legal study
Impact of a Short-Term Professional Development Teacher Training on Students’ Perceptions and Use of Errors in Mathematics Learning
Improving graduate outcomes : Implementation of problem-based learning in TVET systems of Nigerian higher education
African language books for children: Issues for authors
English, national and local linguae francae in the language ecologies of uganda and tanzania
by Mohr, S.
With regard to eastern Africa, English is usually discussed as a language of urban metropolises, connected to global capital and high education. However, globalisation has created pockets away from these urban centres, where English is an important part of local linguistic practices, coexisting with rather local linguae francae. This study presents two examples of such places from Uganda and Tanzania, discusses the role English and local languages have there, and the attitudes people hold towards them. The Ugandan data stem from Gulu, a medium-sized city, and show English as an essential element of everyday interaction not only in interethnic communication or business encounters, but also in interactions among ethnic Acholi. This importance is reflected in the attitudes held towards English. The Tanzanian data were collected in Arusha, another medium-sized city. They show an equally favourable attitude towards English instrumentally, despite Kiswahili being more frequently used in everyday communication. It is especially this use of Kiswahili that divides these two language ecologies and questions the notion of the ‘heartland’ of East Africa based on sociolinguistic similarities. The examples show the importance of recognising the dynamics of language locally (Pennycook, 2010) in its concrete ecologies when assessing the role of languages in Africa. © 2020, EQUINOX PUBLISHING.
EFL Teachers' and Students' Attitudes and Practices Regarding Oral Communication in English Classes: Ethiopian High School Context
by Eyasu Yaya Sada
This study looked at the attitudes of Ethiopian English teachers and Bonga Mehal Ketema High School grade 10 students about spoken communication in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine why oral communication is such an important part of English teaching, what role teachers and students play in making orally active students in the English classroom. Four English teachers were purposively interviewed, and 95 pupils in the tenth grade completed a questionnaire. The findings show that the majority of teachers and students believe that oral communication is an important aspect of the English education process. It is primarily due to the fact that being able to express yourself vocally in English in today's world is extremely important. The findings also reveal that teachers believe assessing students' oral competence is difficult since it is not as concrete as other abilities assessed in the English foreign language course. The challenge of convincing timid or unmotivated students to engage orally, as well as a lack of time, make assessing students a challenging undertaking. Thus, EFL teachers should establish a welcoming environment in the classroom to help students enhance their speaking skills. © 2023, Universitas Negeri Makassar- Faculty of Languages and Literature. All rights reserved.
How engagement in internet fraud impact academic activities of undergraduate students in Nigeria: A socio-legal study
by Paul Ikenna Ukam
This study examined how engagement in internet fraud by undergraduate students impact their academic activities. Specifically, we examined the factors that drive the engagement of undergraduate students in internet fraud, how engagement in internet fraud activities affect their academic activities, and how they navigate their academic challenges to achieve academic objectives. We conducted this study between 2020 and 2022 and relied on both quantitative and qualitative data. 400 questionnaire instruments were randomly administered to students of four purposively selected tertiary institutions to gauge their perception of engagement in internet fraud activities among undergraduate students. We then relied on snowball sampling and semi-structured interview to elicit responses from sampled respondents. The respondents cut across five tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Analysis was done using Microsoft excel spread sheet for the quantitative data and inductive analysis for the qualitative data. We found that pressure from peers, failure of traditional morality/ethics gatekeepers, among others, are major drivers of engagement in internet fraud among undergraduate students, and that to navigate academic challenges and achieve academic objectives, they unethically induce some fellow students and staff.
Impact of a Short-Term Professional Development Teacher Training on Students’ Perceptions and Use of Errors in Mathematics Learning
by Kyaruzi, F.
Using errors in mathematics may be a powerful instructional practice. This study explored the impact of a short-term professional development teacher training on (a) students’ perceptions of their mathematics teacher’s support in error situations as part of instruction, (b) students’ perceptions of error situations while learning, and (c) mathematics teacher’s actual error handling practices. Data were gathered from eight secondary schools involving eight teachers and 251 Form 3 (Grade 11) students in the Dar es Salaam region in Tanzania. To explore the effects of a short-term professional development teacher training, we used an exploratory quasi-experimental design with parallel pre-test and post-test instruments. Half of the teachers participated in the short-term professional development training in which they encountered and discussed new ways for utilizing student errors for instruction and provision of (plenary) feedback. Questionnaire scales were used to measure students’ perceptions of errors and perceptions of teacher support in error situations, along with videotaped lessons of plenary feedback discussions. Data were analyzed by latent mean analysis and content analysis. The latent mean analysis showed that students’ perceptions of teacher support in error situations (i.e., “error friendliness”) significantly improved for teachers who received the training but not for teachers who did not receive it. However, students’ perceptions of anxiety in error situations and using errors for learning (i.e., “learning orientation”) were not affected by the training. Finally, case studies of video-recorded plenary feedback discussions indicated that mathematics teachers who received the short-term professional development training appeared more error friendly and utilized errors in teaching. © Copyright © 2020 Kyaruzi, Strijbos and Ufer.
Improving graduate outcomes : Implementation of problem-based learning in TVET systems of Nigerian higher education
by Ugochukwu Chinonso Okolie
Purpose: This study explores how the implementation of problem-based learning (PBL) in technical and vocational education training (TVET) systems of Nigerian higher education (HE) can enhance quality graduate outcomes. The study also explores the issues and challenges of PBL implementation in the TVET system of Nigerian HE. Design/methodology/approach: This study follows the assumptions of qualitative research. The authors interviewed 55 participants and had a focus group with 7 TVET postgraduate students. The 55 interviewees were drawn from TVET teachers (n = 33; 24 males and 9 females), Directors at National Board for Technical Education (n = 4; 3 males and 1 female), Directors of National Directorate of Employment (n = 5; 3 males and 2 females), Directors at the Federal Ministry of Education (n = 3 males), and industry executives (n = 10; 7 males and 3 females). Data were collected through a semistructured interview approach, transcribed and coded using NVivo 12 plus and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings: The results show that PBL in the Nigerian TVET system has positive implications for quality TVET graduate outcomes in that it can enable integrating theory and practice, motivate learning, improve students' self-efficacy, allow students to construct learning on their own, enhance graduate competencies and graduate employability. It also revealed six perceived possible major challenges to effective implementation of PBL in the Nigerian TVET system, which includes inadequacy of teaching and learning facilities; corruption in Nigerian education sector; recruitment of unqualified incompetent TVET teachers; difficulties in identifying real-life problems, among others. Participants offered benchmarks and actions and standards for improving the identified challenges, which formed a framework for coping with issues, challenges, and barriers to effective implementation of PBL in the TVET system of Nigerian HE (Table 1). Originality/value: The results of this study are original and serve as an advocacy for Nigerian HE authorities to explore how PBL can be implemented in the TVET system to improve graduate outcomes. The study serves as a starting point for more research in the domain of improving the quality of TVET programs in Nigerian HE. Industry leaders and policymakers in Nigeria and other developing countries could use the findings from this study to increase HE and industry participation and partnership for quality of TVET program. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.
African language books for children: Issues for authors
by Ngwaru, J.M.
Growing interest in bilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa has highlighted an urgent need for reading material in African languages. In this paper, we focus on authors, one of several groups of stakeholders with responsibility for meeting this demand. We address three main issues: the nature and extent of African language publishing for children; the challenges for authors; and the available support. Our analysis is based on interviews and focus group discussions with publishers, authors, translators, educationalists, and representatives of book promotion organisations from nine African countries and documentary data on children's books in African languages in South Africa. Although there is evidence of a growing interest in producing books in local languages, the number of titles is constrained by funding. The challenges for authors include the need to understand the ingredients for successful children's books and for the sensitivity necessary to negotiate the linguistic challenges associated with a newly emergent genre in African languages. Support, in the form of competitions and workshops, relies on external funding and expertise and offers only temporary solutions. We finish with suggestions for more sustainable ways forward. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.
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