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The focus of this study was to explore the teachers' beliefs and practices of vocabulary teaching
techniques in EFL classrooms at General Secondary Schools in Bahir Dar City. The study aimed
to survey the types of vocabulary teaching techniques EFL teachers use and to find out the
similarities and difference of teachers' beliefs and their actual practices in the EFL class rooms.
It also attempted to investigate the challenges that teachers' faced in employing vocabulary
teaching techniques in the EFL classroom instruction. To do this, from the eight general
secondary schools of Bahir Dar city four grade 9 general secondary schools were selected using
probable sampling design through simple random sampling of a lottery system. From these
sample schools all the eighteen grade 9 EFL teachers were taken as the sample of the study using
comprehensive sampling techniques. Then, the sample teachers were engaged for questionnaire
administration. However, in order to gather data through classroom observation and interview
taking the 18 sample of EFL teachers was unmanageable. Therefore, out of those four sample
general secondary schools eight grade 9 EFL teachers were chosen using proportional sampling
techn'1es to make their members being elected according to t~e amount of teachers they held.
In order to gather qualitative and quantitative data, interview, ·observation, questionnatre and
document analysis instruments were utilized. Then, the data obtained from the interview was
analysed by categorizing common responses which, after wards, were written in the form of
descriptive text. In addition to analyse the data collected through observation, frequencies were
changed in to percentages. And then, the data obtained from questionnaires was analysed by
Pearson's coefficient relation and by the t-test. As a result, the study found out that there was a
mismatch between what the teachers said that they do and what they actually did in the EFL
classrooms. The findings also showed that teachers did not plan and design various vocabulary
teaching techniques to teach vocabulary: they usually taught vocabulary using translation,
context, board work and definitions techniques. They did not use visual aids, drilling, semantic
map, pictures and flash cards in the EFL classrooms. Furthermore, lack of teachers' knowledge
of some vocabulary teaching techniques, large class-size, teachers' commitment to plan or
design the techniques and inadequate supplies of materials and photo copy services from the
school were factors affecting to employ various vocabulary,teaching techniques. Finally, based
on the findings the following suggestions and recommendations were forwarded: teachers should
practice various vocabulary teaching techniques while they are teaching vocabulary; they have ·
to design and plan various vocabulary teaching techniques by their own and schools should have
accountabilities to~de the necessary materials and photo copy services for implementing
various vocabulary teaching techniques.
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