Ounongo Repository :: Browsing by Author "Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke"

Browsing by Author "Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke"

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Assessment of doctor-patient communication at Adama Hospital Medical College: A symbolic interactionist perspective
(Arsi Journal of Sciences and Innovations, 2021-10-31) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke; Hundessa, Amare Bayissa
This study followed a symbolic interactionist theoretical framework and positivist paradigm to assess doctor-patient communication at Adama Hospital Medical College (AHMC). Specifically, it assessed the communication competencies of medical doctors (with their own inpatients), investigated how inpatients interact with their doctors and evaluated the major barriers to doctor-patient medical communication. A descriptive, explanatory, and cross-sectional study designs were followed. Out of 66 medical doctors of AHMC, 36 were selected as they were more directly and highly involved with bed-ridden patients in six wards and the remaining 22 were much more occupied with teaching and the management of the hospital and were not readily available for this study. A total sample size of 180 (144 patients + 36 medical) respondents were included. An SPSS 16 was used for presenting quantitative data and emerging themes guided the qualitative data analysis. The study found out that all medical doctors practice greeting socially and treat patients with due respect. The qualitative data indicated that some doctors exhibited communicative competence failures, and some lacked the cultural competence needed to comprehend traditional expressions. Due to heavy workload, some medical doctors show lack of interest. However, almost all doctors confirmed that they show interest in the patient’s ideas about their health. Generally, doctors allocated little time with patients who were not in a very critical situation. Almost all medical doctors assumed that they devoted their time to understand the main health concerns of patients and gave much attention. Those patients from the rural communities were often interrupted because they did not talk about their illnesses openly. This implies that some medical doctors lacked a profound knowledge of cultural communicative competence. Patients used traditional and vague expressions. Factors such as avoiding medical jargons, recounting the next steps, giving much care and concern, apportioning sufficient time, and writing legibly have been considered as major elements influencing medical communication. In the three factors (showing interest, understanding, and giving attention), doctors have been evaluated good communicators. This current study identified communication barriers and their possible causes. Some of these barriers have been caused due to poor communication skills, lack of the proper sense of confidentiality, the misuse or inappropriate use of medical jargons, lack of spacious workspace, language difference, the patients’ low level of understanding sickness, patients’ low level of education, inappropriate use of cultural and vague expressions, poor time allocation, patients’ taking too much time due to unnecessary repetitions, the gap between substantive lab evidence versus oral evidence and lack of family partnership and responsibility. Among other suggestions, the study recommends that the hospital needs to design a communication strategy to address these communication gaps.
Causes of the underachievement of Grade 12 learners of English: A case study of a rural school in the Oshikoto region, Namibia
(Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), 2016-12) Kamati, N.; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
This study assessed the causes of the underachievement of Grade 12 learners of English focusing on rural school in the Oshikoto region, Namibia. In January 2016, the Namibian (National) Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary Level (NSSCOL) examination results were announced. The results were slightly decreased in the percentage of graded entries, from 93.9 % in 2014 to 92.9% in 2015. The survey showed that teachers lacked knowledge of subject methodology and knowledge of subject content. Classrooms were overcrowded, creating more challenges for the teachers to assist individual learners. Learners lacked self-motivation and confidence in the subject, as English was stigmatised as a foreign language which was regarded as hard to learn. The school lacked teaching and learning resources. Parental support was not practised as most parents were uneducated. It was recommended that there was a strong need for regular in-service training for teachers, English teaching and learning resources, for emphasising the importance of parental education and awareness sensitisation at all levels. The lower primary curriculum needed to address the second language problems faced by these learners and improve the ways of tackling language difficulties. This included rigid language usage as from primary level (in rural area schools) and, finally, the government needed to build more secondary schools with hostels to accommodate more learners, as this could solve the problem of overcrowding of classrooms.
Comparing the exile and return memories of Namibian women in the Namibian autobiographies
(Namibia Educational Reform Forum Journal, 2023-08) Emvula, Kaarina; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
This article compares the expressions used to recount the memories of women who lived in exile with those born and raised in exile from a predominantly cognitive stylistics image schema theory. The linguistic expressions compared were obtained from the four Namibian autobiographies namely Tshiwa Troudie Amulungu’s in Taming my elephant, Fousy Shinana-Kambombo’s Southwest Africa to Namibia, in My personal struggle, Valentina Nghiwete’s Valentina: The exile child and Lucia Engombe’s Child No. 95: My German African Odyssey. The autobiographies were examined by comparing how basic image schema such as SOURCE-PATH-GOAL, BALANCE, CONTAINER, and LINK can be used as a cognitive tool in dissecting the exile experience, understanding abstract linguistic expressions and meaning as well as explaining the impact of exile experiences on second generation refugees in a post-independent Namibia. The article concludes that the majority of linguistic phrases used in autobiographical narrations were found to be based on the four-image schema either at the concrete or at the abstract levels. Further, the article concludes that all the autobiographies examined have used figurative languages based on the various image schemas theory.
The development of pragmatic competence (PC) through pragmatics stylistics (PS)
(Polytechnic of Namibia, Departments of Language and Communication, 2015-06) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
The major objective of this research was to evaluate the relevance of pragmatics stylistics (PS) in the development of the pragmatic competence (PC) of students through teaching local poetry in English in a tertiary context. The paper, therefore, deals with a pragmatics stylistics model of teaching poetry interfacing the communicative language teaching (CLT) tasks so that an intriguing environment could be recreated in the ELT classroom for the students to develop their pragmatic competence. In this pragmatics stylistics model, pragmalinguistic features such as speech act verbs, deixis, modal verbs and hedging expressions were interlaced with the sociopragmatic features such as politeness and cooperativeness principles during the poetic conversation situation. Pragmatics stylistics model based interpretation of contexts and addressor and addressee relations in poetic texts were assumed to be transferable skills so that students could analyse other poems independently. The research was carried out on the basis of an experimental research design following a mixed research method. A total of 190 students (63.3%) were selected from the population of 300 students in various programs of the Department of English and Other Languages at Adama University, Ethiopia, through a systematic random sampling procedure. These students were again classified into experimental groups (95) and control groups (95). The students in the experimental group took a pragmatics stylistics module through five stylistics methods which included PS. However, the students in the comparison group took the same content with a traditional teaching method which was dominated by the lecture method. A summary of the total mean gain score out of 20 showed an interesting result. As the mean pre-test score showed, both the control and experimental groups performed almost similarly in their pragmatics stylistics pre-test which was calculated out of 20. The experimental mean score for the pre-test, which was 11.01, was a little higher than the control mean score of 10.95. Similarly, the t-test showed that the p-value of the pre-test was 0.852, which was higher than 0.05. It also showed that the t-value of the pretest was 0.187, which was less than the t-critical value of 1.960. In both cases, it meant the result was not statistically significant. Therefore, there was no significance difference between the mean pre-test scores of the two groups. The t-test results for both pre- and post-tests for the pragmatics stylistics module showed that the t-value of the pragmatics stylistics post-test was 8.293. On the other hand, the table value of t-critical was 1.960 with 188 degree of freedom and at a significance level of 0.05. Because the t-value of 8.293 exceeded the t-critical value of 1.960 for the two-tailed test at 0.05 level of significance for 188 degree of freedom, the null hypothesis was rejected. Similarly, the t-test showed that the p-value of the post-test was 0.000, which was less than 0.05. The difference was statistically significant. Therefore, it was concluded that a pragmatics stylistics method of teaching poetry does contribute to the development of the pragmatic competence of students under EFL context. It was strongly recommended that the growth of the pragmatic competence (PC) of EFL learners could be extended through indigenous literature in English using a pragmatics stylistics approach.
The development of pragmatic competence (PC) through pragmatics stylistics (PS)
(Namibia University of Science & Technology, Faculty of Human Sciences, 2015-06) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
The major objective of this research was to evaluate the relevance of pragmatics stylistics (PS) in the development of the pragmatic competence (PC) of students through teaching local poetry in English in a tertiary context. The paper, therefore, deals with a pragmatics stylistics model of teaching poetry interfacing the communicative language teaching (CLT) tasks so that an intriguing environment could be recreated in the ELT classroom for the students to develop their pragmatic competence. In this pragmatics stylistics model, pragmalinguistic features such as speech act verbs, deixis, modal verbs and hedging expressions were interlaced with the sociopragmatic features such as politeness and cooperativeness principles during the poetic conversation situation. Pragmatics stylistics model based interpretation of contexts and addressor and addressee relations in poetic texts were assumed to be transferable skills so that students could analyse other poems independently. The research was carried out on th basis of an experimental research design following a mixed research method. A total of 190 students (63.3%) were selected from the population of 300 students in various programs of the Department of English and Other Languages at Adama University, Ethiopia, through a systematic random sampling procedure. These students were again classified into experimental groups (95) and control groups (95). The students in the experimental group took a pragmatics stylistics module through five stylistics methods which included PS. However, the students in the comparison group took the same content with a traditional teaching method which was dominated by the lecture method. A summary of the total mean gain score out of 20 showed an interesting result. As the mean pre-testscore showed, both the control and experimental groups performed almost similarly in their pragmatics stylistics pre-test which was calculated out of 20. The experimental mean score for the pre-test, which was 11.01, was a little higher than the control mean score of 10.95. Similarly, the t-test showed that the p-value of the pre-test was 0.852, which was higher than 0.05. It also showed that the t-value of the pretest was 0.187, which was less than the t-critical value of 1.960. In both cases, it meant the result was not statistically significant. Therefore, there was no significance difference between the mean pre-test scores of the two groups. The t-test results for both pre- and post-tests for the pragmatics stylistics module showed that the t-value of the pragmatics stylistics post-test was 8.293. On the other hand, the table value of t-critical was 1.960 with 188 degree of freedom and at a significance level of 0.05. Because the t-value of 8.293 exceeded the t-critical value of 1.960 for the two-tailed test at 0.05 level of significance for 188 degree of freedom, the null hypothesis was rejected. Similarly, the t-test showed that the p-value of the post-test was 0.000, which was less than 0.05. The difference was statistically significant. Therefore, it was concluded that a pragmatics stylistics method of teaching poetry does contribute to the development of the pragmatic competence of students under EFL context. It was strongly recommended that the growth of the pragmatic competence (PC) of EFL learners could be extended through indigenous literature in English using a pragmatics stylistics approach.
The English Language needs of business students at Adama Science and Technology University, Ethiopia
(Nawa: journal of language and communication, 2015-06) Mognhode, Tadele; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
English plays an irreplaceable role in international businesses. According to the statistics, over 80% of international corporations use English as their working language (Zhang, 2007). It is now widely recognised that “…English has become the primary language for doing international business” (Estaban & Cañado, 2004, p.137). The purpose of this study was to investigate the English language needs of business students at Adama Science and Technology University. A survey method was employed for this study. To this end, questionnaires, interviews, teaching materials, evaluation checklists and model proficiency tests were designed based on the related literature reviewed. Then, the data gathered were analysed using mean scores and percentiles. Based on the results, findings were summarised in terms of the research questions. As the findings of this study pointed out, the target groups were not satisfied with the English courses being offered. There was a big gap between the English courses offered and the students’ needs. There were also gaps between what the target groups could do and the language necessities in the target situations. Similarly, it was noticed that the target groups had limitations in performing specific tasks in English. On the other hand, the results of the target situations language needs analyses indicated that business graduates were expected to acquire special English language skills for different purposes. In fact, it was confirmed that employers want their workers to be proficient in specific English language skills.
Enhancing linguistic competence through a formalist stylistics approach
(Polytechnic of Namibia, Departments of Language and Communication, 2015-12) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
The major purpose of this research was to find out the pedagogic relevance of formalist stylistics practices in teaching Ethiopian poetry in English in a tertiary context. Ethiopian poems chosen for this research were: Be’alu Girma’s “Crows” and Solomon Deresa’s “Shifting Gears”. The poems were taught with the objective of developing the linguistic competence of EFL students. The research was carried out on the basis of an experimental research design. A total of 190 students (63.3%) were selected from the population of 300 students in various programss of the Department of English and Other Languages at Adama University through a systematic random sampling procedure. These students were again randomly grouped into experimental groups (95) and control groups (95) randomly. The students in the experimental group studied the poems through five stylistics methods which included FS. Active learning methods were also integrated so that the students could vigorously dominate the learning and teaching process. However, the students in the comparison group studied the same poems with a traditional teaching method. Pre-prepared notes and lectures on themes, techniques and figures of speech were focused. The teacher (the researcher himself) often dominated the teaching and learning process. Each group was given five similar pre and five post-tests designed specifically for this research purpose. A summary of the total mean gain score showed an interesting result. It was found that the t-value of the formalist stylistics post-test was 12.992. On the other hand, the p-value of the test was .000 with 188 degree of freedom and at a significance level of 0.05. Because the p-value of .000 was less than 0.05 at two-tailed test for 188 degree of freedom, the null hypothesis was rejected. The students in the experimental group performed better and developed their linguistic competence due to the treatment compared to the students in the comparison group. Therefore, there is a significant link between the formalist stylistics teaching method and the improvement of the linguistic competence of EFL learners.
An evaluation of the pragmatic competence of high school students of English in Ethiopia
(Namibia University of Science & Technology, Faculty of Human Sciences, 2015-12) Shankule, Korie; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
This article presents an evaluation of the pragmatic competence of high school students in the English as a foreign language context in Ethiopia. Learners in an EFL scenario often find the area of language use difficult. Teachers are advised to explicitly teach the pragmatic features of language and make use of authentic models of language to help learners practice using appropriate language in social contexts. In spite of this, data about the pragmatic aspect of language and pragmatic-focused instruction are lacking in an EFL (Ethiopian) context. Textbooks and teachers are integral part of language teaching generally in an EFL setting where there are no opportunities to learn the language informally outside the classroom. The textbooks seldom provide adequate pragmatic information for students to successfully develop their pragmatic competence as the findings of this research indicated. Most of the metalanguage explanations are simple and inadequate as well. The research followed entirely a qualitative design except that some simple statistical calculations were used to compute the frequency, mean and percentage of the numerical data. The data were drawn from the content analysis of two student textbooks (grade 11 and 12), responses of four teachers teaching grades 9-12 and self-perceived competence and pragmatic awareness test results of 183 students. The findings of this study also presented the implications for teaching pragmatics to EFL learners, the development of pragmatic-focused materials, future research and well-designed teacher training. The results of this study also showed that teachers seldom use pragmatic instruction in classrooms, and mostly students have to spend time by themselves developing pragmatic competence without explicit instruction. Overall, the pragmatics instruction was immature and needed to be developed, and teachers needed professional training to be aware of how to teach pragmatics effectively. Although the learners’ self-perceived competence mean score was high, their multiple choice discourse completion test (MDCT) result was low; and this confirmed that self-perceived competence and the actual performance never matched. This is why according to Dewaele (2007) higher levels of self-perceived competence are linked to lower levels of communication which in fact has to be further investigated in the Ethiopian context.
Gender questions in Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and The Jewel and The Trials of Brother Jero
(Journal of Communication and Cultural Trends, 2022-05-31) Desdelia David, Ndapunikwa; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
This article questions how women are represented in Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel and The Trials of Brother Jero, following a feminist stylistics theoretical framework. The plays were investigated keeping in view Mills (1995) three echelons of enquiry: lexis, syntax, and discourse. Soyinka’s plays are masterfully carved to expose the suppression of women by men. In these plays, female characters are represented through withering words and phrases, which presages their disapproval and also their voluptuous accessibility and attractiveness. Women are represented through a sexist and hidebound lingo. They are rendered as malevolent, deleterious, and calamitous, as they are only credited with transporting hitches to the lives of men. They are presented as creatures of the scrubland, ferocious, barbarous, unschooled, and stumpy. These deleterious attributes were given to them with a direct implication of their subordination by their male counterparts. Also, they are represented as receivers of actions, since men carry out most of the demanding tasks/actions in the plays in comparison to women. Following transitivity choices, this article concludes that men carry out actions and women are acted upon. They are given prosaic jobs such as homemakers, paltry traders, hawkers, child bearers, and caregivers to their husbands and children, whereas men are given more important roles such as schoolmasters and chiefs. Women are not given these arduous roles, as the patriarchy perceives that they are not capable of carrying out those roles because of their emotions and simple mindset. Finally, the article recommends further research with the aim of advancing and improving the representation of women in Nigerian drama.
The impacts of pragmatic knowledge on the effectiveness of oral communication: English teachers of Adama science and technology university in focus
(Green Publication, 2018-01) Tujuba, Diriba Eticha; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
The main purpose of this study was to explore the impacts of pragmatic knowledge on the effectiveness of oral communication. Both quantitative and qualitative methodology were employed in this study. The study was conducted in Adama Science and Technology University and the data were collected from 33 English language teachers. Purposive sampling was used to select the study sample. The data collection instruments used during the study were Multiple Choice Questionnaire, Discourse Completion Test, Interview and Communication Quiz. All the data collection instruments were developed after the necessary literature were reviewed. The data gathered through the Multiple Choices Questionnaire and Communication Quiz were analyzed based on percentages while the data collected through Discourse Completion Test and the Interviews were analyzed descriptively. The findings of the study revealed that, the majority of the English language teachers in Adama Science and Technology University have lower pragmatic competence. It was learned that the majority of the teachers have problems of communication. The collected data revealed that poor pragmatic competence has greatly affected the effectiveness of oral communication. Finally recommendations such as including pragmatics skills in language classes and giving short term training about application of pragmatics were forwarded based on the findings of the study.
Improving Sociolinguistic Competence (SC) through Feminist Stylistics (FS)
(Asian Journal of African Studies, 2018-02) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
Feminist stylistics (FS), like any other stylistics practice, draws basic assumptions from linguistics. Yet unlike other traditional stylistics practices, FS opens its doors to ideology and extra-textual factors in the analysis of a text. Unlike the formalist stylistics, for example, it renders less importance to linguistic form and linguistic elegance. Drawing relevant linguistic tools like passivisation, transitivity, agency and fragmentation from functional stylistics, FS can be applied to analyse power structures. In line with these assumptions, the ultimate aim of this research was to study the significance of FS in enhancing the sociolinguistic competence (SC) of students through teaching local poetry in English in the Ethiopian higher education context. A feminist stylistics model of teaching poetry was integrated with communicative language teaching (CLT) tasks so that an intriguing environment was recreated in the classroom for the students to develop their sociolinguistic competence. This project was an integral part of five other stylistics research projects. It was carried out on the basis of an experimental research design following a mixed method research. A total of 190 students (63.3%) were selected from the population of 300 students in various programmes of the Department of English and Other Languages at Adama University, Ethiopia, through a systematic sampling procedure. These students were again classified into experimental groups (95) and control groups (95) following a systematic sampling method. The students in the experimental group took FS module through the stylistics course which included FS and other modules in stylistics. A summary of the total mean gain score out of 20 showed an interesting result. Both the control and experimental groups performed almost similarly in their feminist stylistics pre-test which was calculated out of 20%. The experimental mean score was 9.8842 and a little bigger than the control mean score of 7.2316. Consequently, the t-test result showed that the existence of a mean difference of 1.33684 was not statistically significant. Therefore, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean test scores of the two groups. On the other hand, the t-test results for both pre and post tests for the feminist stylistics module were also observed. The t-value of the feminist stylistics post-test was 8.651. And, the table value of t-critical was 1.96 with 188 degree of freedom and at a significance level of 0.05. Because the t-value of 8.651 exceeded the t-critical value of 1.96 for a two tailed test at 0.05 level of significance for 188 degree of freedom, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, the feminist stylistic method of teaching indigenous poetry does contribute to the improvement of the sociolinguistic competence of students in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context.
Interrogating the contemporary English language needs for the ICT industry in the Namibian context
(BOHR International Journal of Smart Computing and Information Technology, 2023-04-06) Gawazah, Lazarus; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
New digital technology advances throughout the globe are principally responsible for the impetus behind the modern information and communications technology (ICT) industry’s requirement for English language skills. There is a steady increase in highly computerized new machinery, each with more complex, difficult -to-understand instruction manuals that demand a correspondingly high degree of linguistic proficiency. Thus, students studying computer science need access to subject-specific English for both immediate usage and long-term career development. Due to these constant changes and rapid advancements in the technology sector, it was essential to conduct research on the current needs of the ICT industry. It is essential for graduates and professionals in the ICT industry to be able to communicate fluently with teams working in the same field but located in different parts of the world. This can be in the form of written manuals or conversation. The purpose of this study was to interrogate the contemporary English language demands for the ICT industry and the necessary proficiency required of undergraduate ICT majors. The theoretical underpinning of this research was the Material Design Model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1). A mixed-methods research approach was used. The total number of participants that took part were 170 (N = 170), thus that is what the sample size was based on. Using convenience sampling, a sample size of 118 was drawn. The results indicated that ICT students often lacked skills in essay writing. The students’ lack of technical language skills seriously weakens the strength of their scientific argument. Students are recommended to attend subject-specific language courses in order to prepare for their present academic and future professional language demands. The study indicated that the existing curriculum for computer science students does not adequately prepare them for the kinds of work that would be available to them in the ICT sector. The study recommends utilizing education support professionals (ESP) professionals to teach English in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses, with a focus on using examples from specialized journals, magazines, and blog channels. The study concludes by suggesting that instructors of computer science language be incentivized to increase their usage of specialized scholarly terminology in their classrooms.
An investigation of the pragmatic knowledge of year one students of the School of Humanities and Law at Adama Science And Technology University: A case study
(Polytechnic of Namibia, Departments of Language and Communication, 2016-06) Hussen, Gobena Hasso; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
This research aimed to investigate the pragmatic competence of year one university students in the School of Humanities and Law at Adama Science and Technology University. Pragmatic competence requires being able to speak and behave appropriately, and being able to understand what others say and do according to the socio-cultural context in which they are used. The data were collected from 70 students learning in six departments in the School of Humanities and Law School. Three main instruments were used to produce these results: a discourse completion test, multiple choice discourse completion test and observation. The data gathered were interpreted using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The pragmatic competence level of these participants was found to be at a middle level. Generally, from a pragmatic competence viewpoins, first year students in the School of Humanities and Law are better at recognising what is given to them than produce the utterances practically in the case of speech acts, cooperative and politeness principles. The researcher recommends that students should have to practice a variety of activities in English to be pragmatically competent in daily communication.
Language as an instrument of hegemony in selected Namibian plays written in English
(2023-08) Absalom, Wilka; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
Reproducing hegemony and strengthening patriarchy, Namibian playwrights present women who are groomed to be good wives and mothers in some selected Namibian plays. Because of these cultural and societal expectations and practices, women assume reproductive roles and responsibilities without much remonstration. Men, on the other side, assume that women’s place is at home and that men’s place is outside home, which limits the participation of women outside home and men at home (Husselmann, 2016). Capitalizing on this simple argument and unlocking language as an instrument of hegemony, the main objective of this article is to answer few fundamental questions: Do Namibian playwrights practise derogatory language against Namibian women in the plays? Is language an instrument of hegemony and discrimination in Namibian plays? Where does this language hegemony originate? Theorizing and answering these basic questions, the article follows a feminist stylistics theoretical framework, an interpretivist paradigm, an explanatory design, and a qualitative research approach. Purposively, we selected two Namibian plays: Francis Sifiso Nyathi’s God of Women (2012) and Keamogetsi Joseph Molapong’s The Woman and the Ogre (2002). The key purpose of the article is to find out how Namibian playwrights use language to represent and characterise women. The article also argues that both Nyathi (1998) and Molapong (2002) used language to present women as inferior to men in their plays. Nyathi (2012) employed language persuasively to characterise women as victims of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in the hands of their husbands within the Namibian marriage system and set ups. Similarly, we also argue that Molapong (2002) presented women characters negatively as dependent on their fathers. Molapong used language to portray women characters as beauty goddesses who are praised based on how beautiful they are, therefore, reducing and fragmenting their worth to appearances. Both playwrights used a wide range of linguistic devices such as metaphors and other figures of speech to characterise gender roles that are expected of women such as being domestic workers, providing sexual pleasures to their husbands as well as working in the fields to provide food for their families. In these plays, language is a strong instrument of economic hegemony. The article concludes that both Nyathi and Molapong largely practised language to characterise women negatively and Sara Mill’s Feminist Stylistic Theory (1995) is successful in unpacking these hidden assumptions, practices and hegemonies.
Literary Activities for the Teaching of English in a Namibian High School Setting: A Case Study
(Jimma University, 2019-12-31) Haimbodi, K. N.; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
The Namibian school syllabus covers literature as from the primary level to the high school although the teachers fail to use appropriate methodologies and models to interpret and present literary texts creating uplifting opportunities and engaging learners develop their passion for literature. Lack of sound subject delivery methods hinders the performance of learners in English as a second language (ESL). Namibian teachers have been introduced and trained to base their classroom practices on the learner-centered principle which promotes participatory pedagogy and active learning. Much focus has not been given to learners‟ participation in the English classroom setting. A questionnaire with 5 open-ended and 15 close-ended questions was distributed to English teachers and learners to find out the effects that literature had on the views, experiences, and practices of the teachers regarding lack of participation and performance in their English classes. FGDS and observations were also conducted to triangulate data. It was found out that the commonly used method of learner involvement was the discussion method and learners responding to questions. The teachers‟ roles were merely to give instruction and facilitate the learning process. In many situations, learners did not ask realistic questions and teachers preferred arranging learners to sit in groups. Teachers used the discovery and experiential methods through questioning techniques. However, despite the efforts to enhance participation, factors such as poor subject knowledge, little understanding of the topic, being coy, fear of making mistakes, lack of subject interest, hunger/tiredness, fear of teasing by classmates, and poor language proficiency hinder the performance of learners in ESL.
Literary activities for the teaching of English in a Namibian high school setting: A case study
(Jimma: Jimma University, 2019-12) Haimbodi, K N; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
The Namibian school syllabus covers literature as from the primary level to the highschool although the teachers fail to use appropriate methodologies and models tointerpretand present literary texts creating uplifting opportunities and engaginglearnersdevelop theirpassion for literature. Lack of sound subject delivery methodshinders the performance of learners in English as a second language (ESL).Namibian teachers have been introduced and trained to base their classroompractices on the learner-centered principle which promotes participatory pedagogyand active learning. Much focus has not been given to learners‟ participation in theEnglish classroom setting. A questionnaire with 5 open-ended and 15 close-endedquestions was distributed to English teachers and learners to find out the effects thatliterature had on the views, experiences, and practices of the teachers regarding lackof participation and performance in their English classes. FGDS and observationswere also conducted to triangulate data. It was found out that the commonly usedmethod of learner involvement was the discussion method and learners respondingto questions. The teachers‟ roles were merely to give instruction and facilitate thelearning process. In many situations, learners did not ask realistic questions andteachers preferred arranging learners to sit in groups. Teachers used the discoveryand experiential methods through questioning techniques. However, despite theefforts to enhance participation, factors such as poor subject knowledge, littleunderstanding of the topic, being coy, fear of making mistakes, lack of subject interest,hunger/tiredness, fear of teasing by classmates, and poor language proficiency hinderthe performance of learners in ESL.
Multiculturalism and communication in the HE classroom context: A Namibian case study
(International Journal of Multidisciplinary Comparative Studies, 2020-12) Witbeen, Petrina Patricia; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
This study was conducted at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) to investigate the challenges of intercultural communication between lecturers and first year students in the Faculty of Human Sciences, Windhoek, Namibia. The study followed a mixed methods research design. A total of 40 respondents formed the study inclusive of lecturers, local and foreign students following a simple random sampling method. The researchers selected 40 respondents who could speak different languages and belong to diverse cultures. Out of the 40 respondents, 10 lecturers who dealt with first year students were selected to be part of the study. A total of 11 foreign respondents were included in the study and the other 19 were local Namibian students. Cultural and linguistic diversities were the main selection criteria. Primary data was collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. It was found out that the main barriers to intercultural communication amongst students and lecturers were the use of English as a medium of communication, anxiety and fear, generalizations including prejudice, poor listening skills (noise: distractions such as cell phone use and unclear messages), physical separation – the space between lecturers and students during classes, lack of knowledge of others’ cultural background, ignorance, and lack of knowledge of others linguistic background. Therefore, it was recommended that English with intercultural communication content should be offered to all firstyear students in the Faculty regardless of the programme. On the other hand, since NUST offers language classes for foreigners and beginners, students who struggle with English as a medium of instruction and communication are advised to enrol for extra language classes to help them to effectively communicate with lecturers and fellow classmates. It was further recommended that to enhance the competence of students and teachers in intercultural communication and interlanguage pragmatics, lecturers and students should expand the existing knowledge to enable them embrace cultural diversity.
The pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English
(Namibia Educational Reform Forum Journal, 2023-08) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke; Gawas, Emelda U.
This article presents the pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English and describes the views of Namibian literature course facilitators and language students. Through in-depth interviews, the study team sensitised educators, curriculum designers at NIED and high school learners to the pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English. We advocate for the inclusion of many more Namibian literary texts in the English curriculum at all levels of the Namibian education system. We visited a total of 23 high schools and 2 public universities and collected 69 questionnaires, conducted 31 interviews with high school teachers and 32 with learners. The views of five university lecturers and two language experts at NIED were also included. A review of the Namibian high school curriculum (Grade 9-12) shows that only two Namibian literary texts: Sifiso Nyathi’s “God of women” and a poem about Hendrik Witbooi were included in the new ESL syllabus. This team could not identify a single Namibian short story, novel, or an autobiography as part of the high school ESL syllabus. The Namibian high school ESL syllabus has given more focus on the descriptive, functional, and communicative grammar tasks, essay writing exercises and short piece composition activities. The imaginative writing and creative thinking part of language teaching has almost been neglected. On the contrary, at the tertiary level, it can be conspicuously observed that there exists a tremendous growth of research niche areas in the Namibian texts at UNAM and NUST. We concluded that Namibian literature in the Namibian high schools has not been taught to enhance the linguistic capabilities, the overall personalities, the literary competencies of high school learners and inculcate the diverse Namibian cultures, values, and traditions.
The pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English at secondary and tertiary levels: A terminal research report submitted to the Institutional Research and Publication Committee (IRPC), NUST
(Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), 2020-08) Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke; Gawas, Emelda
This study examined the pedagogic relevance of post-independent Namibian literature assessing the texts selected for tertiary and high school studies and evaluating course delivery methodologies. The study engaged chiefly the Namibian literature course facilitators of the two universities in Windhoek and collected the views of high school teachers and students in different regions of Namibia. The study also engaged the current University MA candidates in language departments through questionnaires. Through in-depth interviews, the research also sensitised educators, curriculum designers at NIED and high school learners to the significance of studying and reading Namibian literature in English. Significantly, the project advocated persuasively the inclusion of many more Namibian literary texts in the English curriculum at all levels of the Namibian education system. Visiting a total of 23 high schools and 2 public universities, the team collected 69 questionnaires, conducted 31 interviews with high school teachers and 32 with learners during 2018 and 2019. The views of 5 university lecturers and 2 language experts at NIED were also included in this report. A review of the latest (2018) Namibian high school curriculum (Grade 9-12) shows us that only two Namibian literary texts: Sifiso Nyathis’ God of Women and a poem about Hendrik Witbooi were included in the new ESL syllabus along with other European canonical poems, plays and novels. The research team did not discover a single Namibian short story, novel or an autobiography as part of the high school ESL syllabus. The research team expected that in order to inculcate a reading and writing culture in Namibia, Namibian children’s literature in English should have been introduced at the lower level, too. The Namibian high school ESL syllabus has given more focus on the descriptive, functional and communicative grammar tasks, essay writing exercises and short piece composition activities. The imaginative writing and creative thinking part of language teaching has almost been disused. On the contrary, at the tertiary level, it can be conspicuously observed that there exists a tremendous growth of research niche areas in the Namibian texts at UNAM and NUST. The research team documented the diversity of genres studied by the postgraduate Namibian students of language and literature departments of UNAM and NUST. Respondents who completed questionnaires and engaged in interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGD’s) recommended that literature in the Namibian high schools be taught to enhance the linguistic capabilities, overall personalities, the literary competencies of high school learners and inculcate the diverse Namibian cultures, values and traditions. This research has recommended a wide range of text selection strategies and listed several Namibian literary texts which can be studied either by the university or high school learners of English as subjects or research niche areas.
Research communication: Enhancing academic capital or Influencing educational policy in the Ethiopian higher education context?
(The Literacy Research Development Centre of the University of Greenwich and the Middlesex University’s Institute for Work based Learning UK, 2017-12) Enyew, T. A.; Woldemariam, Haileleul Zeleke
A prerequisite for evidence-based educational policy formation is the timely provision of scientifically solid and up-to-date information to policymakers. The extent to which such research is translated into policy action, however, is dependent on the success of communication strategies between researchers and policymakers. This study examined the communication strategies of researchers who interacted with education policy makers in Ethiopia. Data were collected from a sample of randomly selected 160 academic staff from seven public universities and 65 policy experts from the planning and policy department, Ministry of Education. A total of 12 interviews were made with policy makers and policy implementers so as to augment the opened ended questionnaire responses. Considering their roles in policy formulations and implementations, their accessibility and time only top academic leaders were interviewed using a structured interview checklist. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Results showed that inviting government representatives to attend research conferences, sending copies of research publications to government offices and disseminating via electronic media were the most frequently used forms of communication whereas preparing policy briefs, conducting policy seminars, coaching policy experts, and press briefings were the least exploited communication efforts. Statistical analysis of research dissemination efforts revealed that there was no significant difference between male and female (T (158) = 0.753, p> 0. 05). By contrast, applying Tukey HSD test to academic rank, the level of education and length of work suggested that the mean difference was significant for respondents whose academic ranks were between assistant professors and lecturers (F (3,156) = 7.596, p<.05), whose qualification levels were between PhD and MA/MSc ((F (2,157) = 5.496, p<.05) , whose length of work in HEIs were between 6-10 and 11-15 years (F (4,155) = 7.913, p<.05). However, age was an insignificant moderator variable. From the study, it was learned that effective dissemination of research results to policymakers was an essential element of any research program; not only as a means of translating research results into policy action, but also research outputs without appropriate communication or active dissemination efforts was a wastage in so far as policy relevant ideas were generated and tax payers money spent. Consequently, research dissemination should be a planned process, goal and audience oriented and accompanied by various active dissemination channels (face to face interaction, printed materials, internet, mass media) using communication tactics (such as scientific conference presentation, workshops, seminars for policymakers, coaching or consultation, policy briefs, tool kits, enewsletters, Web sites, newsletters, press release, best practice guides, leaflets, brochures, posters , interactive CD or DVD etc.) leading to awareness, understanding and action for an education issue identified as important such as quality and equity of education.

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