Dire Dawa University

Identification of Speaking English Proficiency Defects and their

Major Causes. The case of Dire Dawa Selected Secondary
Schools.

Research Proposal for the Fulfillment of MA

By Solomon Bekele

Submitted to Alemayehu Zewde (PhD)

November ,2018
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Table of Contents
Unit One ......................................................................................................................................... 1
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the study ........................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................. 2
1.3 Objective of the study ........................................................................................................ 3
1.3.1 Specific Objectives of the Study .................................................................................... 3
1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 3
1.5 Scope of the Study .............................................................................................................. 3
1.6 Purpose of the Study .......................................................................................................... 3
Unit Two ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Review of related literature.......................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Importance of Learning Speaking Skills .............................................................................. 4
Unite Three .................................................................................................................................... 5
Research design and methodology .............................................................................................. 5
3.1 Method of the study ........................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Research Design ................................................................................................................. 5
3.3 Population and Sampling .................................................................................................. 5
3.4 Instruments of data collection........................................................................................... 6
3.4.1 Questionnaire.................................................................................................................. 6
3.4.2 Interview ......................................................................................................................... 6
1.4.3 Technique of Data Analysis................................................................................................. 6
Unit Four........................................................................................................................................ 6
Work Plan and Budget Brake Down ........................................................................................... 6
4.1 Work Schedule of the Study ............................................................................................. 6
3.2 Budget Breakdown.................................................................................................................. 7
S.N .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Transport & Communication ...................................................................................................... 7
Price ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Reason ............................................................................................................................................ 7

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 Unit One
1. Introduction
Many senor secondary school students in different high schools are not able to speak the English
language thus who have some knowledge of it, start their conversation sometimes in English and
suddenly codes which to their first language/Mother tongue/ even in English class rooms.

The reason is that they have not yet developed the ability to speak the language. As a result of
thus, this English language teacher’s end up dominating their English lessons instead of making
it interactive. Besides, many senior secondary school English language teachers do not give
learners speaking practice and ‘oral exams’, which can help them to use the language. On the
other hand, some students have the habit of thinking in their own language what they wish to
communicate for translating or saying it in English. That in itself the way the structural between
the learner’s first language and the English language creates a barrier this also implies that
learners should be changed to draw on all their understanding and the skill of speaking English
and not perceive the language as something totally strange connoted with the first language.

This paper is a research proposal which is submitted to Dire Dawa University for the fulfillment
of MA degree in TEFL. The future researcher stated in this paper that the background;
objectives, research questions, methodology, budget &time break down of the study.

1.1 Background of the study

Communication which is estimated as to be as old as human itself, is unavoidable, Almost in all
human interaction. People communicate with one another for various reason and purposes. Thus,
it is known that such communication can be held thorough different means that is:- reading,
writing, listening and speaking skill. In relation to this idea, Mesmerism Quoting (1996:1) Serett,
et. al (1951:1)in her senior essay reads:-

Speaking is more common than all other forms or skills and has served
tremendous purposes since man started to live in earth.

This clearly shows that speaking ability is the most crucial of all the skills. Therefore, scholars
believe the importance of spoken English. Concerning this, Broun and Yale (1984:1) point out

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that “……..it is time to pay more attention to the explicate development if spoken English
language in school.”

Thus from the above statement we can understand that the Ethiopian high school in general and
dire dawa in secondary schools in particular need to look in to their students communication
skill and speaking abilities as well as barriers for the proficiencies and provide possible remedies
requires much efforts.

Thus, a conclusion since level of student’s knowledge on English language hampers the smooth
and effective development of students speaking proficiency assed and relevant solution should be
sought.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

It is clear that speaking English is a skill that a second language second language learner should
develop to be good language user, one should be provided with appropriate help and practice.
Such provisions are possible only through teaching the language and communicate with student’s
o rally. English is a medium of instructions in Ethiopia starts from grade seven to tertiary levels,
but most students, especially those from government high schools have been seen to be deficient
in e/ 5ethe ability to actually use the language in normal communication in the spoken mode.

In relation to this, Hailom (1982;1) quoting widdowsen in his in his Master’s thesis says :- it has
been found the student that the student interview found that students entering higher education
with experience of 6 or more years of instruction in English in secondary school have
considerable difficulty in coping with language in normal communicative use.

Similarly, our students lack the basic function of a language which is communication. In recent
research findings, it has also been noted that students from government high school lack a good
skill of speaking English language and have a serious problem in using it. Yared Quoting
Tsigeweyni in his senior easy says” students can’t put their background knowledge regarding the
language (2000:5) the quote seems to lay the blame partly on the teacher and mostly on the
system which in which learning teaching occurs. Thus, it is to identify the basic skill in English
language proficiency of secondary school students in Dire Dawa. It doesn’t have a different
scenario however; the need to assess the basic barriers and defects in English language specking
requires many efforts. However, this academic research will try to highlight the major courses

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and defects both on the student’s part as well as the teaching methods and other indirect and
unforeseen realities too.

1.3 Objective of the study

The major objectives of the study are primarily focused on the Identification of Speaking English
Proficiency Defects and their Major Causes. Based on this the following specific objectives are
designed.

1.3.1 Specific Objectives of the Study

1. To identify the speaking English proficiency
2. To specify the defects and cause
3. To enumerate the solutions and possible remedies

1.4 Research Questions

Based on the above objectives the following research question are designed

1. To what extent is the speaking English proficiency of Dire Dawa secondary school
students?
2. What are the defects and cause speaking English proficiency?
3. What are the solutions and possible remedies in the defects of speaking English
proficiency

1.5 Scope of the Study

The study will focus on investigating problems that hinder student’s speking development,
particularly at secondary school level. The Research will be limited in English language
speaking proficiency barrier and defects and major cause. However, it can’t cover the other
basic skills of language like reading, writing, and listening. Thus, few number of students the
above specified secondary schools. It is also very limited in Dire Dawa secondary schools
among many other secondary schools in the country. It because, of financial, security, time
and logistics problems.

1.6 Purpose of the Study

The research will be helpful to students of secondary schools in Dire Dawa. Therefore, the
subjects of the study will be the former benefactors of the result of the study. Similarly, the

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teachers who are enrolled in teaching English will be the next benefactors. This research will
also be helpful to all correspondent level of students and teachers in all over the country/and the
world who are second language students and teachers. Curriculum developers, educational
experts will also use this research as an impute of their further researches. Similarly, other
academic researchers will use it as a reference of their study.

Unit Two
Review of related literature

The researcher will discuss some important literature review related to the topic under
consideration. These intellectuals who have a great expertise on speaking skills in particular and
English language in general write these literatures. Therefore, visiting their works would be of
great impotence the competence of this work.

2.1 Importance of Learning Speaking Skills

In order to communicate with a given language effectively, one needs to have a good skill of
speaking Nunan (1981) states that having t he skill of speaking perfectly has absolutely great
significance for these who learn second or foreign language. Accounting to Hybels and Weaver
(1986) we fulfill many different needs through communication and effective communication can
give us considerable pleasure. Venderbar (1985:118) explains the significance of speaking the
following way:- through speaking, we show others what we are thinking. Each of us have vital
information to share : we have the data needed to show a problem ; we may have procedures to
follow that will save countless dollars ; we may have insight that go beyond these of others
involved on the same work or situation.

In the society, the spoken language plays a key role. Grice and Skinner (1998) state that : the
society tall their decedents the way they flourished and feel, the way battles wedged and won.
they preserve their cure literature and history by translating them to their children. For a
speaker to convey a clear, understandable, coherent and appropriate message for intended person,
one needs to have good skill of speaking. Therefore, the transformation of language from one
generation to the other helps it to draw and be more fertile in other words the education of
language grows in a faster rate.

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According to Fincocchiaro (1989) speaking is an important part of communication. It can help us
though out our academic studies in our chosen carrier and also to become more knowledgeable.
That means, the act of speaking is crucial test of our thinking skills.

Unite Three
Research design and methodology
3.1 Method of the study

In this research the researcher will explain the methods used to collect and interpreted data. Also,

some suggested ways of data analysis will be explained.

3.2 Research Design

The research will be designed in such a way that both qualitative and quantitative (Mixed
Research). The qualitative one is used to analyze the data obtained through questionnaire. And
the qualitative one will be used to analyze and interpreted the data obtained thought interview.

3.3 Population and Sampling

The researcher will conduct the study on 40 students and 8 teachers in 4 secondary schools. To
award personal bias in the selection of the subjects, the researcher will use random sampling
method. This is because; it will be impractical to involve the whole population on the research.
The researcher also will take some of the communicative skills in teachers in these secondary
schools as his subjects. The reason is that, the researcher believes that because of their small
number it is very convenient to use the interview method. Using the data collected from the
subjects, the researcher rationally will arrive at the palatable conclusion which leads him an
acceptable generalization and recommendations. The reason why the researcher prefers to use
random sampling method is that each unites of the population will get an equivalent chance to be
selected. Therefore, the selection of any one unite is by the no means tied to the selection of any
other unite.

The researcher will select timely 40 students from four secondary schools using random
sampling technique.

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 3.4 Instruments of data collection
3.4.1 Questionnaire

The researcher will prepare a question are of twelve questions 10 students from each selected
school. The grade level of the students will be grade 9-10. The questions will be all close ended
questions for different reasons. First they are easy to respond second, the questions are relatively
objective and are fairly easy to tabulate and analyze. They are also helpful to increase validity
and reliability of the of the research.

The questioner will be distributed among subjects with clear instructions. Finally, the researcher
will discuss and underrate the data using table and using IBM SPSS 20.

3.4.2 Interview

The researcher will interview English language teachers of the selected secondary schools. The
interview checklist will be open ended questions. The researchers prefers this technique for the
reason that the subject teachers will be enable to get ample information of the whole topic since
they are experienced on the day today situations of the students and the result will be more
reliable. Moreover, it will become useful to compare the student’s response with that of the
teachers.

1.4.3 Technique of Data Analysis

The will classify and tabulate the data that will be collected through questionnaire. The
researcher prefers this by presenting the entire data using table for each response by quantitative
method the data that will be collected through interview will be analyzed using qualitatively.

Unit Four
Work Plan and Budget Brake Down

4.1 Work Schedule of the Study

The table below shows the time allowed to the major activities Of the study

(Tentative as it needs to match with the Dire Dawa uiversity plan and the advisor

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S.N Type of Major Activities Internal Active Time Allocated

1 Final topic submission August

2 Draft Proposal submission October 7- November 30 days
7/2018
3 Data Collection tools November10–November 30 days
30
4 Pilot testing submission Nov 31 – Dec 10 10 days
5 Data Collection Dec 11 – Dec 15 5 days
6 Data analysis and write up Dec15 – Dec 16 2 days
7 Draft report Dec 17 – Dec 20 15 days
8 Final report Dec21 – Dec 25 30 days
9 Defense (Oral examination) As of the caudle of the 1 days
school of law

*** Literature review will continues throughout all of the above process.

3.2 Budget Breakdown

Price
S.N Transport & Communication Birr Cents Reason
1 Taxi/ transportation 3000 00 To go to research sites area
2 Mobile card 3000 00 For communication purpose
Sub Total 6000 00

Quantity Unit Price Total Price

S.N Equipment & Supplies Reason
Pic/Package Birr Cents (ETB)
1 Ball point pen 10 5 50 55 For data collection
2 Pencil 10 2 0 20 >>>>
3 Sharpener 5 5 25 >>>>
4 Eraser 3 10 20 >>>>
5 Tape recorder 1 1000 1000 For recording

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6 Cassettes/memory 10 150 150 For recording
7 Duplicating paper 5 130 650 For printing
8 Flash Disk 1 (8GB) 400 400 For saving and
transport
9 Note book 5 15 75 For note taking
10 Bag 1 1400 1400 For documents
handling
11 Stapler 1 45 45 stippling the paper
12 Staples 2 12 24 >>>>
13 White fluid 2 20 40 White fluid
Sub Total 4194.00

Quanti Unit Price

S.N Service cost Reason
ty Birr Cents
1 Photo copy 300 105 00 For different material
page
2 Internet connection - 400 00 Download different material
3 For secretary 100 1500 00 Write the paper
page
4 Binding - 500 00 For different parts of the paper
5 Assistance payment - 3000 00 On study sites and reco. the data
6 Printing 1000 1500 00 Different parts of the paper
page
7 CDMA 1 4000 00 Home internet use
Sub Total 11,005.0 00
0

S.N Others Quantity Unit Price Reason

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 Birr Cents
1 Refreshment (tea, coffee, soft - 3500 00 Refreshment
drink, launch etc)
Sub Total 3500 00

Total 24699.00

Contingency =2469.9

Grand Total 27,168.9

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References

1. Browm G. and Yale ,G (1983) the spoken language. Cambridge .Cambridge university press.
2. Finocchero M (1989) English as Foreign language. New Yourk greenfinch hall recents.
3. Gric G. land Skinner J.F (1998) Matering public speaking Masschutyess . AViacom company.
4. Harmer J.(1983) the practice of English language teaching.New YorkLongman inck newyork.
5. Haybles S and Weavers ,r,L (1986) communicating effectively. New York New Berry award.
Records inck.
6. Widowson ,H.G(1978) teaching language as communication Oxford. Oxford university press.

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