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The Inclusion of Dialects in Education: An Exploration into the Use of Afan Oromo Dialects in Primary Educational Context

Received: 27 September 2015     Accepted: 9 October 2015     Published: 24 October 2015
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Abstract

The use of language varieties for instructional purposes is one of the significant factors in education. Education is claimed to be more efficient when it is provided through the medium of students’ mother tongue. This, in turn, suggests the varieties which are spoken by students should be used for education. However, it is not clear whether or not the different dialects of Afan Oromo are used in the textbooks and National Exams. Hence, the main concerns of this study were to investigate the extent to which Afan Oromo dialects are used in primary education and to describe how far the educational system is inclusive or address the diverse dialect speakers. To achieve these purposes, three school subjects (one which is taught as a subject and the other two which are taught using the language) were selected for analysis. Accordingly, the contents of the students’ textbooks and National Exams of Afan Oromo and two other subjects namely, Biology and Geography were selected and analyzed. Different findings were obtained from the data analysis. Regarding the use of dialects in education, the study noted that the vocabularies of the four dialect areas were used in the textbooks and National Exams, but the share given to the dialect areas does not seem similar. The data analysis also divulged that the Eastern and the Western Dialect Areas were largely used and the Central Dialect was less used in Grade 8 textbooks and National Exams. Besides, the research depicted that the use of dialects shows similarities in the National Exams and textbooks when Afan Oromo is studied as a subject and used as a Medium of Instruction (MOI). Finally, recommendations were given based on the findings of the study.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17
Page(s) 360-366
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), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Afan Oromo, Dialect, Education, Language, Learning, National Exam, School, Textbook

References
[1] Adugna Barkessa (2009). Terminology related problem in teaching Afan Oromo at tertiary level. (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Addis Ababa University: Ethiopia.
[2] Ali, M. and Zaborski, A. (1990). Handbook of the Oromo Language. Wroclaw: Maria Kowalska Stanis.
[3] Amanuel Raga and Samuel Adola (2012) “Homonymy as a barrier to mutual intelligibility among speakers of various dialects of Afan Oromo” on Journal of Language and Culture: Vol. 3(2), pp. 32-43.
[4] Bender, M.L. (1976). The non-Semetic languages of Ethiopia. Michigan State University: African Studies Center.
[5] Bender, M.L., Mulugeta, E. and Stinson, D. L. (1976). Two Cushitic Languages. In Bender, M.L., Bowen, J. D, Cooper, R. L. and Ferguson, C. A.(Eds). Languages in Ethiopia. London: Oxford University Press.
[6] Cheshire, J.(2005). Sociolinguistics and mother tongue education. In Ammon, U., Dittmar, N. and Trudgill, P. (Eds). (2005). Sociolinguistics: An introductory handbook of the science of language and society (2nd) (2341-2350). Berlin: Moutonde Gruyter.
[7] Cheshire, J. (2007). Dialect and education: Responses from sociolinguistics. In Papapavou, A. and Pavlos, P. (Eds). (2007). Sociolinguistics and pedagogical dimensions of dialect in education (14-33). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
[8] Derebssa Dhufera (2006). Issues in the implementation of Ethiopian school curriculum. Robe: MadaWalabu University.
[9] Feyisa Demie (1996). Historical challenges in the development of the Oromo Language and some agenda for future research. Journal of Oromo Studies, 3(1 and 2), 18-27.
[10] Gfeller, E. (1999). Language equality: Multilingual issues in Education. Hawassa: Ethiopia.
[11] Girma Mammo. (2001). Language standardization significance: With particular reference to Afan Oromo. Wiirtuu Jildii 9, 187-216.
[12] Kebede Hordofa (2009). Towards genetic classification of the Afan Oromo dialects (Unpublished PhD Dissertation). The University of Oslo: Sweden.
[13] Mekuria Bulcha (1994). The language policies of Ethiopian Regimes and the history of written Afan Oromo: 1844-1994. Journal of Oromo Studies, 1(2), 91-116.
[14] Mokonenn Hundie (2002). Lexical Standardization in Oromo. AAU, Master’s Thesis (Unpublished).
[15] MOE (1994). Ethiopian educational and training policy. Addis Ababa: St. George Printing Press.
[16] Papapavou, A and Pavlos, P. (Eds). (2007). Sociolinguistics and pedagogical dimensions of dialect in education. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
[17] Stegman, V.G. (2007). English _Borana word list. Duquesne University: Spiritan Collection Ltd.
[18] Tamene Bitima (2006). Wallo Oromo Dialect. Journal of Oromo Studies. 13, (1&2), 147-163.
[19] Tilahun Gamta (1993). Qube Afan Oromo: Reasons for choosing the Latin script for developing an Oromo alphabet. Journal of Oromo Studies, 1(1), 36-41.
[20] Wiirtu Jildii-7(1995). Swedish word list. Finfinne: Oromiya Cultural and Tourism Bureau.
[21] Wolfram, et al. (1999). Dialects in schools and communities. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Publishers.
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  • APA Style

    Wondimu Tegegne. (2015). The Inclusion of Dialects in Education: An Exploration into the Use of Afan Oromo Dialects in Primary Educational Context. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(6), 360-366. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17

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    ACS Style

    Wondimu Tegegne. The Inclusion of Dialects in Education: An Exploration into the Use of Afan Oromo Dialects in Primary Educational Context. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2015, 3(6), 360-366. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17

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    AMA Style

    Wondimu Tegegne. The Inclusion of Dialects in Education: An Exploration into the Use of Afan Oromo Dialects in Primary Educational Context. Int J Lang Linguist. 2015;3(6):360-366. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17,
      author = {Wondimu Tegegne},
      title = {The Inclusion of Dialects in Education: An Exploration into the Use of Afan Oromo Dialects in Primary Educational Context},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6},
      pages = {360-366},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20150306.17},
      abstract = {The use of language varieties for instructional purposes is one of the significant factors in education. Education is claimed to be more efficient when it is provided through the medium of students’ mother tongue. This, in turn, suggests the varieties which are spoken by students should be used for education. However, it is not clear whether or not the different dialects of Afan Oromo are used in the textbooks and National Exams. Hence, the main concerns of this study were to investigate the extent to which Afan Oromo dialects are used in primary education and to describe how far the educational system is inclusive or address the diverse dialect speakers. To achieve these purposes, three school subjects (one which is taught as a subject and the other two which are taught using the language) were selected for analysis. Accordingly, the contents of the students’ textbooks and National Exams of Afan Oromo and two other subjects namely, Biology and Geography were selected and analyzed. Different findings were obtained from the data analysis. Regarding the use of dialects in education, the study noted that the vocabularies of the four dialect areas were used in the textbooks and National Exams, but the share given to the dialect areas does not seem similar. The data analysis also divulged that the Eastern and the Western Dialect Areas were largely used and the Central Dialect was less used in Grade 8 textbooks and National Exams. Besides, the research depicted that the use of dialects shows similarities in the National Exams and textbooks when Afan Oromo is studied as a subject and used as a Medium of Instruction (MOI). Finally, recommendations were given based on the findings of the study.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AU  - Wondimu Tegegne
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    AB  - The use of language varieties for instructional purposes is one of the significant factors in education. Education is claimed to be more efficient when it is provided through the medium of students’ mother tongue. This, in turn, suggests the varieties which are spoken by students should be used for education. However, it is not clear whether or not the different dialects of Afan Oromo are used in the textbooks and National Exams. Hence, the main concerns of this study were to investigate the extent to which Afan Oromo dialects are used in primary education and to describe how far the educational system is inclusive or address the diverse dialect speakers. To achieve these purposes, three school subjects (one which is taught as a subject and the other two which are taught using the language) were selected for analysis. Accordingly, the contents of the students’ textbooks and National Exams of Afan Oromo and two other subjects namely, Biology and Geography were selected and analyzed. Different findings were obtained from the data analysis. Regarding the use of dialects in education, the study noted that the vocabularies of the four dialect areas were used in the textbooks and National Exams, but the share given to the dialect areas does not seem similar. The data analysis also divulged that the Eastern and the Western Dialect Areas were largely used and the Central Dialect was less used in Grade 8 textbooks and National Exams. Besides, the research depicted that the use of dialects shows similarities in the National Exams and textbooks when Afan Oromo is studied as a subject and used as a Medium of Instruction (MOI). Finally, recommendations were given based on the findings of the study.
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Author Information
  • Wolayita Soddo University, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wolayita Soddo, Ethiopia

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