Examining Teachers’ Practice of Phonological Awareness (PA) in Early Grades: A Qualitative Study of Koorete Language Classes, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the practice of Koorete language
teachers in teaching phonological awareness in the early grades of Ethiopian
public primary schools. The study was conducted at selected primary schools
in the Koore zone in the southern region of Ethiopia. For this purpose, a
qualitative research design inspired by case studies was used. An attempt was
made to answer basic research questions: a) To what extent do primary school
teachers practice the key components of phonological awareness in the
teaching of Koorete language? b) To what extent do primary school teachers
plan or prepare to teach the components of phonological awareness? Data
were collected from four Koorete language teachers from four purposively
selected primary schools through classroom observation and semi-structured
interviews supported by video and audio recordings. The collected data were
carefully transcribed, translated, coded, and then analyzed using a thematic
approach. It has been noted that early-grade Koorete language teachers do not
integrate and practice the key components of phonological awareness in their
daily lessons. The teachers also have a knowledge gap in teaching the key
components of phonological awareness, as revealed from classroom
observation. Furthermore, there was an apparent lack of explicit and
systematic lesson planning for teaching phonological awareness in the early
grades. Therefore, it is recommended that teacher training programs include a
major component in which language teachers are properly trained on how to
teach phonological awareness in a systematic way. Besides, explicit in-service
training needs to be given to Koorete language teachers on new ways and
approaches of teaching reading in the early grades.