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An Ethnographic Insight into the Causal Factors of Degrading English Education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India

Received: 11 February 2014    Accepted:     Published: 28 February 2014
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Abstract

This paper is a holistic account of seven-year long ethnographic observations of EFL learners in Ethiopia, Libya, and India (E-L-I) where I found that the learners, despite acquiring linguistic competence for several years, are unable to convert their competence into performance. Given this, the study aimed at exploring the causes of learners’ failure in mastering English language in particular and poor quality of English education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India in general. To attain this objective, three data gathering tools: participant observation, unstructured interview, and document analysis were used; whereas, descriptive statistics and analytic induction were used to analyze the data respectively. As part of findings, the paper discusses thirty causal factors attributable to degrading English Education in E-L-I.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11
Page(s) 44-55
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Impediments (Causal Factors), E-L-I (Ethiopia, Libya, India), Learning, Mastering, Vulnerable Factors

References
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[7] Eshetie, A. (2010) Language Policies and the Role of English in Ethiopia, A presentation paper at the 23rd Annual Conference of IATEFL BESIG, Bielefeld, Germany.
[8] Jha, S. K. (2013) English in eastern Ethiopia is learnt; not mastered, English Language Teaching, 6(4), pp. 42-55.
[9] Razab, A. (2007) Student Attitudes in the Context of the Curriculum in Libyan Education in Middle and High Schools: Doctoral thesis, University of Glasgow.
[10] Salem, A. (2009) An evaluation of EFL textbooks and teaching methods and their effects on the process of TEFL in Libya, Master thesis. Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan.
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[18] Dhanavel, P. (2009) English problems and Indian solutions.
[19] Reddy, P. S. (2012) Problems in teaching/learning English as a second language in India, Language in India, 12(2),.
[20] Jha, S. K. (2013) A compact decoding of ELT methods, Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics, 1(2), pp. 43-53.
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[22] Shelby, M. (2012) How to master English.
[23] Harmer, J. (2006) How to teach English. New Delhi: Pearson Longman Press.
[24] Holec, H. (1981) Autonomy in foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.
[25] McDonough C. and Shaw, (1993) Materials and methods in ELT: a teacher’s guide, Oxford: Blackwell Pub.
[26] Jembere, E. (1995) A feasibility study in integrating listening and speaking skills in the teaching of English to grade 11 students (Unpublished), Addis Ababa University. Ethiopia.
[27] Negash, A. (2008) A study of the practice of integrating language skills in the teaching of English to grade 9 students, (unpublished). Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
[28] Jha, S. K. (2013) Exploring major impediments in mastering English, Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), pp.17-29.
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  • APA Style

    Sanjay Kumar Jha. (2014). An Ethnographic Insight into the Causal Factors of Degrading English Education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 2(2), 44-55. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11

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    Sanjay Kumar Jha. An Ethnographic Insight into the Causal Factors of Degrading English Education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2014, 2(2), 44-55. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11

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    AMA Style

    Sanjay Kumar Jha. An Ethnographic Insight into the Causal Factors of Degrading English Education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India. Int J Lang Linguist. 2014;2(2):44-55. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11,
      author = {Sanjay Kumar Jha},
      title = {An Ethnographic Insight into the Causal Factors of Degrading English Education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {44-55},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20140202.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20140202.11},
      abstract = {This paper is a holistic account of seven-year long ethnographic observations of EFL learners in Ethiopia, Libya, and India (E-L-I) where I found that the learners, despite acquiring linguistic competence for several years, are unable to convert their competence into performance. Given this, the study aimed at exploring the causes of learners’ failure in mastering English language in particular and poor quality of English education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India in general. To attain this objective, three data gathering tools: participant observation, unstructured interview, and document analysis were used; whereas, descriptive statistics and analytic induction were used to analyze the data respectively. As part of findings, the paper discusses thirty causal factors attributable to degrading English Education in E-L-I.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AB  - This paper is a holistic account of seven-year long ethnographic observations of EFL learners in Ethiopia, Libya, and India (E-L-I) where I found that the learners, despite acquiring linguistic competence for several years, are unable to convert their competence into performance. Given this, the study aimed at exploring the causes of learners’ failure in mastering English language in particular and poor quality of English education in Ethiopia, Libya, and India in general. To attain this objective, three data gathering tools: participant observation, unstructured interview, and document analysis were used; whereas, descriptive statistics and analytic induction were used to analyze the data respectively. As part of findings, the paper discusses thirty causal factors attributable to degrading English Education in E-L-I.
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Author Information
  • Dept. of English, Haramaya University, Alemaya, Ethiopia

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