Assessing the Teaching practice of English Instructors in Ethiopian Universities through the Lens of Post-method pedagogy

Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 72 ISSN 1989 – 9572 DOI: 10.47750/jett.2024.15.01.008 Assessing the Teaching practice of English Instructors in Ethiopian Universities through the Lens of Post-method pedagogy MolalignBiregaWorku1* DerejeTadesseBirbirso 2 AdinewTadesseDegago 3 AberaAdmassu 4 Journal for Educators,Teachers and Trainers, Vol. 15 (1) https://jett.labosfor.com/ Date of reception: 14 Jul 2023 Date of revision: 12 Oct 2023 Date of acceptance: 22 Oct 2023 MolalignBiregaWorku,DerejeTadesseBirbirso ,AdinewTadesseDegago,AberaAdmassu (2024). Assessing the Teaching practice of English Instructors in Ethiopian Universities through the Lens of Post-method pedagogy. Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers,Vol. 15(1).72-84 1(MA in TEFL) Lecturer at the Department of English Language, &Literature College of Social Sciences & Humanities,Wachemo University, P.O.BOX 667, Hossaena Town, Ethiopia 2 Ph.D,Director of Human & Social Development Research,Associate Professor of TEFL/TESL, Linguistics & Critical Social Science,School of Foreign Languages &Journalism College of Social Science and Humanities,Haramaya University, P.O.BOX 138, Haramaya Town, Ethiopia 3 Ph.D,Associate Professor of English Language Education,Dean, College of Social Sciences and Humanities Editor-in-chief, East African Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities,Haramaya University, Po Box: 138 4 Ph.D,Assistance Professor of English Language Education,head of Foreign Languages & Journalism School College of Social Science and Humanities,Haramaya University, P.O.BOX 138, Haramaya Town, Ethiopia Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, Vol. 15 (1) ISSN 1989 –9572 https://jett.labosfor.com/ Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 73 Assessing the Teaching practice of English Instructors in Ethiopian Universities through the Lens of Post-method pedagogy MolalignBiregaWorku1*,DerejeTadesseBirbirso 2,AdinewTadesseDegago 3,AberaAdmassu4 1(MA in TEFL) Lecturer at the Department of English Language, &Literature College of Social Sciences & Humanities,Wachemo University, P.O.BOX 667, Hossaena Town, Ethiopia 2 Ph.D,Director of Human & Social Development Research,Associate Professor of TEFL/TESL, Linguistics & Critical Social Science,School of Foreign Languages &Journalism College of Social Science and Humanities,Haramaya University, P.O.BOX 138, Haramaya Town, Ethiopia 3 Ph.D,Associate Professor of English Language Education,Dean, College of Social Sciences and Humanities Editor-in-chief, East African Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities,Haramaya University, Po Box: 138 4 Ph.D,Assistance Professor of English Language Education,head of Foreign Languages & Journalism School College of Social Science and Humanities,Haramaya University, P.O.BOX 138, Haramaya Town, Ethiopia Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between post-method pedagogy practice, teacher autonomy, and English teachers' experience. To this effect, a mixed-method research design was used. For qualitative using semi-structured interviews, with 10 English instructors data was collected and analysed thematically. A post-method questionnaire was used for quantitative; 71 English instructors were participants in the survey and data was analysed using spss. The result of the data analysis carried out on the collected instruments of post-method pedagogy indicated that English teachers were practicing the post-method pedagogy theoretical assumptions. The results specifically showed that instructors were practicing macro-strategies such as integrating language skills, promoting negotiated interaction, and fostering learners' autonomy exceptionally. A collection of macro-strategies that the instructor said they were using include contextualized language input, maximized learning opportunities, and minimized perceptual mismatches.Concerning the interaction between post-method pedagogy practice, teacher autonomy, and English teachers' experience,the interaction between practicing post-method pedagogy and teacher autonomy was statistically significant while the practice of post-method pedagogy and teaching experience is not statistically significant. It was implied that the more teacherbecomes autonomous and empowered the more they come up with solutions for specific problems that happened in their context. Keywords:post-method pedagogy, teacher autonomy, teaching practice, macro-strategic frameworks, and language teaching method. Declarations Ethics: this study has not been considered for publication or published somewhere in any other form. It is the original work of our efforts and we confirm that the data from human subjects have been collected following the standards and guidelines of the human subjects review board at our institution. Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no competing interests. INTRODUCTION The low teacher performance was a factor in the 2002 introduction of the Teacher Development Program (TDP), which the Ethiopian minister of education put up at £60 million. The redesign of the teacher education system featured three core programs: pre-service teacher education, ongoing professional development for in-service teachers, and professional development for teacher educators. Additionally, a program that strives to increase the English language proficiency of in-service teachers included an English language improvement program (ELIP). A new initiative was launched by Ethiopia's minister of education in the middle of 2009. This program, known as the General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP), consists of the school improvement program, management and administration, teacher development, curriculum, textbook production, and program Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 74 coordination. Since the British Council provided consulting services for both ELIP and the English language teaching improvement program, English as a foreign language makes up the majority of GEQIP (ELTIP). Around 150,000 people have reportedly utilized the ELIP program, and English Language Improvement Centres have been established at several universities and teacher training institutions nationwide, according to a 2012 workshop paper sponsored by the US Embassy. Ethiopia's general education is still in danger despite the implementation of programs, and the English proficiency of EFL instructors and students at all levels—from elementary to tertiary—remains "low" and "very unsatisfactory" (Birbirso, 2014 & 2013). Why the government initiatives like GEQIP and ELIP programs do not yield fruits in Ethiopia? Even if so many reasons are laid out, looking at the fundamental philosophy of such top-down programs is essential. When we look at developments in the area of second and foreign language education, we may see a variety of different notions of teaching and teacher learning. Based on their distinctive characteristics Jack Richards identify the two contrasting philosophies that underline teacher education programs for language teachers as the Transmissive and transformative approach. In the former, the course designer aims to create efficient processes and techniques that will "impart" the necessary information and skills to teachers if teacher education is seen as a process of the transmission/top-down/product or transfer. Everything thing is prescribed from material preparation to teaching methods. It’s very common to see the recommendation of specific language teaching methods in the national curriculum/syllabus (Richards, 2017). Pedagogical obstacles are related to pedagogical teacher education approaches that rely on the transmission of a certain point of view on knowledge. The politics of representation and the definition of reliable information are examples of ideological hurdles (Akbari, 2008). In the teacher education model that merely transmits a body of knowledge recommending language teaching methods is common. As a sign of progress in the language teaching profession, many language teaching methods from Grammar translation to communicative language teaching have come and gone. Osborn E.tal(2008) put that though changes are being confirmed in different disciplines, little is achieved in foreign language education since the 1950s. This is not to deny the shift from grammar-translation to communicative language teaching. At least this indicates that foreign language education is in the middle of self-examination and reflection. In foreign language teacher education a lot has been said about a shift of paradigm and the arrival of new approaches, theories, and practices. Practically, little changes are confirmed in terms of outcome. In practice what is theoretically proposed by language teaching methods cannot easily be translated into practice. The belief that teachers' practices would be straightforwardly influenced by their knowledge of the methods they learned in English language teacher Education (ELTE) programs has been replaced by an acceptance of the significance of teachers' own contextually informed understandings, beliefs, and sense of plausibility in implementing or adapting methodological ideas and forming their classroom practices (Graham, 2019). According to Graham (2016), recognizing the complexity, constraints, and opportunities presented by local contexts and needs, many scholars have put aside notions of 'progress' and the search for a 'best method,' while maintaining a belief that methods still have an important role to play in teachers' decision-making, development, and classroom practice. Others have stated that the concept of the method is a reductive 'myth' that has warped our understanding of both ELT history and local teaching methods and customs. The language teaching profession of the 1980s due to a search for metanarratives and grand theories lacks social/ political awareness (Akbari, 2008). Furthermore, methods and 'method narratives' are critiqued and conceptualized as ideological constructs which serve the interest of a certain group (Pennycook, 1989), and as colonial constructs (Kumaravadivelu, 2003a). To deal with complexity and diversity issues lacking in language teaching, one can appreciate observing the broadness and deepness of some of the journal articles and topics of recently published books, and understand that language teaching has begun tolerating diversity and accepting a reality of language teaching on the ground. Thus, World Englishes, critical applied linguistics, critical discourse analysis, ethnography of communication, qualitative research, and linguistic imperialism have become common themes of discussion and research. (Akbari, 2008). With the shifting trend from a top-down/transmission/transfer approach to a transformative/ecological teacher, the alternative conception of education that we refer to in this context as an ecological/transformative approach sees teaching as being more uncertain. The nature of it is significantly less predictable and reflects both the unique qualities the teacher brings to teaching and the dynamics that arise in the instructor's class, even while it occurs within set constraints and is not a case of "anything goes" (Richards, 2017). With this conception postmethod pedagogy is appearing as an alternative to the language teaching method. Language teaching is now in the post-method era. The most influential work in the area is the works of Kumaravadivelu. In his book published in 2003b at Yale University, he outlined four points in the introduction part that the book captures the increased awareness that the L2 profession experienced in the closing decades of the 20th century. Being aware that teacher beliefs, teacher reasoning, and teacher cognition are crucial in Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 75 determining the nature and content of daily teaching practice; being aware that there is no best method that has been proven to work; being aware that the artificially imposed division between theory and practice has done more harm than good for teachers; and being aware that teacher education models that merely transmit a body of knowledge are inadequate. Thus, post-method pedagogy can go beyond the restrictions of the concept of method and provide teachers the autonomy, knowledge, and skills needed to create a methodical, logical, and applicable theory of practice for their students (Kumaravadevilu, 2003b). In light of the current EFL situation in Ethiopia, it may be appropriate to approach the entire problem from the perspective of post-method pedagogy. This is because post-method pedagogy places a strong emphasis on the professional development of teachers to help them overcome new situational constraints and improve teaching and learning. LITERATURE REVIEW Post-method condition First, instead of looking for an alternate method, the Post-method condition is searching for an alternative to the method. There is a need to explore beyond the idea of the method itself because of the inherent inconsistencies between the method as conceptualized by theorists and the method as actualized by practitioners. According to the conceptualizer, every approach to teaching a language is based on a single set of theoretical principles in its idealized form. The teacher's job is to present new vocabulary and grammatical constructions one at a time and guide students in practicing them until they are fully internalized into the L2 system. In contrast, according to the practitioner's point of view, none of these claims made by the conceptualizer is true because they were not developed through research in the classroom but rather were introduced fictitiously; none of these strategies can be implemented in the actual classroom in its most complete form. Even teachers who claim to use a certain technique and have received training in it do not always adhere to all of its theoretical precepts and classroom practices. Given these circumstances, it is not unexpected that all efforts to develop alternate techniques have proven to be fruitless (Kumaravadivelu, 1994). Second, the traditional idea of a method "ignores the reservoir of experience and tacit knowledge about teaching" (Freeman, 1991, p. 34-35); the post-method condition acknowledges that instructors can understand not just how to teach, but also how to operate independently within the confines of the administrative and academic systems. Additionally, it supports teachers' capacity to create a reflective approach to their instruction (Kumaravadivelu, 1994). Third, the post-method condition is based on principled pragmatism this is what makes it different from eclecticism, which seeks to overcome the limitations of any given teaching method. It offers no criteria according to which we can determine the best theory, nor does it provide principles by which to include or exclude features of existing theories or practices (Kumaravadivelu, 1994). These three outlines pave way for the birth of post-method pedagogy macro-strategic framework according to Kumaravadivelu (1994), a pedagogical framework might make it possible for instructors to acquire the information, abilities, attitudes, and autonomy required to come up with an organized, cogent, and useful method alternative on their own. Such a framework is designed to assist teachers in developing their independence as decision-makers. It ought to give teachers the chance to activate and grow their sense of plausibility. Macro-strategies Framework The 10 macro strategies included in the strategic framework are as follows: (a) increase learning opportunities; (b) promote negotiated interaction; (c) reduce perceptual mismatches; (d) activate intuitive heuristics; (e) foster language awareness; (f) contextualize linguistic input; (g) integrate language skills; (h) encourage learner autonomy; (i) raise cultural consciousness; and (j) ensure social relevance. Teacher Autonomy The freedom of intelligence, or the ability to observe and make decisions in support of fundamentally worthy goals, is the only freedom that will ever be significant (Dewey, 1938:61). According to Husserl, consciousness is purposeful and has a variety of orientations, including perception, imagination, will, and an understanding of values. Many nations' educational systems impose limitations on the learner and teacher that are unlikely to foster learner autonomy (Lamb and HayoReinders, 2008). For teachers to be autonomous, they must be willing, motivated, and confident in their decisions. The concept of teacher autonomy may also be summed up as making decisions independently based on the needs and interests of students. Effective teacher is autonomous in that they take full responsibility for their instruction and exert the greatest amount of affective and cognitive control over it. It has been stated that the working conditions of teachers greatly restrict their ability to take charge of their teaching and learning. The limitations on instructors' judgment are frequently moderated by their agenticbehavior (FengTeng, 2019:23). Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 76 METHODOLOGY The present study adopts a mixed method research design, by using semi-structured interviews with ten English instructors to investigate whether their teaching practice goes in line with theoretical assumption post-method pedagogy, and by using a survey with seventy-one English instructors to investigate the extent to which the English instructors' beliefs match with the construct of post-method pedagogy. The way the teaching practice of EFL teachers is going to be framed in this study is by relating the ten macro-strategic frameworks suggestions and assumptions with the practices and beliefs of teachers working in four Universities and whether they are autonomous; a role which is expected from post-method teachers. As a result, validated Post-method pedagogy questionnaires and interviews were prepared on these two themes of teacher autonomy and ten macro-strategies as the main theoretical assumption of post-method pedagogy. Then the sampled instructors' teaching practices and beliefs are enquired and their responses are coded and analyzed accordingly. Participants The selection of the subjects for this part of the study is based on a purposive sampling technique and the teaching practice of 10 EFL teachers was explored using a semi-structured interview. For the quantitative study after the lists of instructors is obtained all 71 instructors were included in the survey. To predict accurately the thoughts of one group of people, it sometimes makes sense to attempt to survey the entire population of interest for reasons of fairness to allow every individual the opportunity to respond total of 71 EFL teachers were included. This is done depending on the assumption that every increase in sample size would increase accuracy and that "sampling error" can be reduced by obtaining a sample of sufficient size. Data Analysis In terms of data analysis, this study calls for an interpretive content analysis, and typically, data analysis procedures of this kind go in the following order: (i) data transcription, (ii) pre-coding and coding, (iii) growing ideasmemos, profiles, etc. recording, and (iv) interpreting the data to conclude (Dörnyei, 2007). All transcriptions were done, and pre-coding and coding for this study were carried out manually by the researcher due to the study's modest size. The quantitative data which was collected through the survey is put into SPSS. This part has two consecutive sections. The first section embodied participant demographics has both numeric and string values in SPSS, and nominal measures. For this part, the items' frequency and percentile were calculated to display participant demographics. The second section deal with the post-method questionnaires; the post-method questionnaires, the Likert scale items have a weighing of 1-Strongly Disagree, 2Disagree, 3-not sure 4Agree, and 5-Strongly Agree; therefore, numeric data and scale measures were analysed in terms of frequencies, means, and standard deviations. After the sphericity assumption was met, the One-way Within-subjects Analysis of Variance was used to analyse the interaction between teacher experience and teacher autonomy with the practice of the postmethod pedagogy. RESULTS Interview Analysis In this section, the data obtained through the semi-structured interview on teacher autonomy and the ten macrostrategies framework will be presented and discussed.Analysis of the data shows that the teachers displayed autonomy in the following areas: Selecting teaching materials, The interview data indicate that teachers made decisions to use materials other than those recommended by Universities. The data show that many teachers decided to use materials that were more engaging and interesting for their students, such as novels and movies, rather than modules or textbooks. They also decided to use materials that were more advanced for their students, such as college-level and independent learning materials, rather than modules. Here is the response of Girma. The question......... is yes, I do use the syllabus. That is what I am expected to do as a teacher, but I don't just lie on the syllabus from the beginning to the end. I Use the syllabus to guide me through the courses because I need a guide, guidance is missed, so I use the syllabus to guide me, but I don't fetch everything from the syllabus or I don't just go through that structure?....... I use my mechanisms and techniques which I feel are the best for my students to teach the content that I'm dealing with, so I usually especially..........When I teach skill courses, I'm a literature teacher, my specialization, but I teach skill courses.........When I teach skill courses, I use different materials........Which are out of the syllabus but highly related to the syllabus........That's my guidance, but I go out of the syllabus so that I can make the thing more clear for my students and the students might understand the thing out of the box, so that's what I did. Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 77 Reflecting on the curriculum, When the frequency of their use is asked the teacher responded that they usually used materials other than modules and Henok specifically comment on material preparation that it is not participatory and inclusive. Here is his comment: I usually use other materials as you can see most of the materials which are prepared especially for higher education are prepared for/by some people, some guys so from their perspective from their experience from their level of understanding of cultural aspects different aspects, so we can't lie on that. We can't lean totally on that, so I usually use so I don't just go out of the content while but, I just pick some topics and I just go out of the module the hand-outs and the things, and then I bring something which I feel the best fit...But if not, I just use the things that matter. Choosing suitable teaching techniques and classroom decisions in response to the learners' conditions as well as classroom realities, The teachers are asked whether they change their techniques and strategies in response to classroom reality: most of them confirm that they are flexible and change their techniques and strategies as per students' needs and conditions, but there are some challenges. One of the respondents called Dawit confirmed this Yeah obviously, especially in the Ethiopian education system nowadays, it's hard for you to practice the different techniques that you feel because many students in a single class will not let you do that ….the willingness of the student is to go through your way is not letting you do that and then and then some factors. There are some factors these are in and outer factors.......which means psychological factors and then physical things will not. They do, but most of the time I face a challenge to apply my technique. Classrooms are a problem, so we can see what our universities, classrooms, and 50 and above students are just in. In one class and the classroom size is very narrow and you can't do whatever you want to do with your students, so there are challenges and this one is. Reflecting on situational and institutional constraints, The question about techniques and strategies that the teachers asked was indirectly eliciting some of the constraints which the teachers face. In addition to the above constraints like class size, and psychological factors: the following respondent (Habtamu) added that modules prepared in Universities' are below the level of the students: Umm… modules prepared in University most have no good techniques and strategies…. Still, I mean not allowing them…. students to practice. They are like, you know. like grade four and Grade 5 activities Yeha is below their level because the students in the universities are expected to work hard. Do you know? Analyse, synthesize….Is this? Even say, for example, if they're practicing reading….It's not serious. The only one passage there…but, rather, a student needs to read more books and summarise and analyze the books or maybe a chapter or maybe more than 4/5 texts. Evaluating teaching, To manage and reflect on their teaching and to have the know-how on what is going on in a class the teacher was asked whether they evaluate their teaching. Here is the response of one respondent called Gudata: I usually about that thing wanting to evaluate whether my teaching was successful or not, it's by evaluating my students. So I evaluate my students and then it's clear that whether I did the job well or not, you can see that, but this one is not always. It's a perfect way to do that and I usually just ask for recommendations or suggestions for my students their comments on my teaching ways and then whether they understood the course, the subject, and the content whether I am just making things clear for them or not, So from their response, I understand that I am doing the things very good with my students. Yeah I ask them a question and then after at the end of the class or in the middle of the class in the meanwhile of discussions, I just ask and then I just understand from that how I am doing so I proceed if I am doing good and then I change the techniques or not. Elements of the macro-strategic framework The ten macro-strategic frameworks are the main part of post-method pedagogy and distinguish it from other teaching practice frameworks. The questions were designed on those ten macro-strategies and asked whether they are related to teachers' teaching practices. Maximizing Learning Opportunities Dick Allwright (1986, p. 6) defined classroom instruction as "the interactive process by which learning opportunities are formed" due to the collaborative nature of learning and teaching. The definition's avoidance of what he refers to as a "provider" is intriguing; it means that both teachers and students are seen as the most Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 78 important players in controlling the production and utilization of learning opportunities in the classroom (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). According to Kumaravadivelu traditional teaching materials preparation and syllabus design are deterministic in their nature and they do not negotiate with classroom reality. Kumaravadivelu strongly suggests that to create learning opportunities and to compensate for the limitation of traditional teaching material creation and syllabus design teachers should do the following two things: Learner Involvement: one of the best methods for teachers to optimize the learning opportunities in the classroom is to pay close attention to their language learners. Even if it seems completely unrelated to the subject at hand, when they ask a question or say something, they can be providing opportunities for learning (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). Teacher questioning: by asking the right questions that will spark meaningful engagement, such as process/meta-process or referential questions, teachers can generate learning opportunities for their students. This is because they can urge learners to actively apply their reasoning skills rather than just passively draw from memory, as well as to elicit new pieces of knowledge from them (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). To know whether this macro-strategy is part of the teaching practice of English teachers, questions have been asked about the nature of questions they frequently used in a classroom and whether they engage students in a discussion. Here is Desta's response: Nature of the questions that I asked my students ….Yeah, it depends. It depends on the subject matter that I'm dealing with. For some subjects, they just give you no room for opening questions you have to go but we don't just put these types of questions are always….. would do, but it depends. For example, if I am teaching text analysis, it's open-ended questions. The students express everything they have, so I use depending on the context. This that…. I am facing so, but usually, I use open-ended kind of questions …….for students to express themselves. Facilitating Negotiated Interaction In a classroom interaction should be negotiated with students and students should be given a chance to discuss some of the topics which they are going to learn with their teacher and reach on consensus. The more students are let choose the topic and their problem is dealt with; the more they are motivated to learn. The teachers have been asked whether they let students select the topic to be learned in a class and how they deal with students' problems in a class. Most of the respondents agreed that they would not let students choose topics, but they agreed that they deal with students' problems in a class by making learning points. Minimizing Perceptual By examining learners' and teachers' perceptions of the nature, the goals and the demands of a chosen languagelearning task completed by low intermediate-level ESL learners in the United States, Kumaravadivelu (1989, 1991) attempted to identify sources of a potential mismatch between teacher intention and learner interpretation. These are communication mismatch, linguistic mismatch, pedagogic mismatch, strategic mismatch, cultural mismatch, evaluative mismatch, mismatch in procedures, instructional mismatch, and attitude mismatch (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). In response to the question raised whether they ever failed to deliver their message and how they reacted in that state. One respondent called Gashawu said that he has faced such a problem It was a kind of social understanding which is. ….The part of their mind set up …with others. Then I bring out some stories from the literature and the books, and then I brought this one to the classroom. Most of them were murmuring and not understanding. I think I thought that the cultural background. They have and that was interesting. Not interesting for them and thought. And then I saw them. I tell them you are in social student, so you have to see. Things from a different perspective, not always your perspective, so I tried to convince them it took much time, yeah, but at the end of the day, at the end of the time they just understood that we have to see things not only from our perspective but from others perspective. Activating Intuitive Heuristics Heuristics in educational contexts refers to the learner's journey of self-discovery. It also alludes to a specific teaching approach, one that "allows the pupils to learn by themselves discovering things and learning from their own experiences rather than by being told things" (Cambridge International Dictionary of English, 1995, p. 666). It can be used to explain how vital it is for language teachers to establish a rich linguistic environment in the classroom so that students can use their intuitive heuristics and learn the linguistic system on their own. Intuitive heuristics are strongly related to another Marco strategy called fostering language awareness. That is to say, one can try to learn the rules and patterns of the linguistic system to develop their language awareness, and vice versa, one can improve their ability to learn the linguistic system to increase their language awareness (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). It can be used to explain how vital it is for language teachers to establish a rich linguistic environment in the classroom so that students can use their intuitive heuristics and learn the linguistic system on their own. Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 79 To know the way grammar is taught and whether this strategy is part of the teaching practice of English teachers, the question had been asked how they taught grammar directly or indirectly. Almost all of the respondents confirmed that they taught grammar explicitly except Amanuel who said that he taught implicitly. Fostering Language Awareness The Bullock Committee, commissioned by the British government to investigate "reading and other uses of English," produced a report in 1975 that serves as the foundation for the contemporary Language Awareness (LA) movement. The report's title, A Language for Life, perfectly sums up Los Angeles. It sparked heated discussions among educators, which eventually resulted in various suggestions for curriculum change. They claimed that secondary school teachers needed to be educated in subjects like the nature and purposes of language, the relationship between language and cognition, and the relationship between language and culture. While there are some slight differences amongst the methods used in actual classroom activities designed to foster language awareness, they all primarily concentrate on the characteristics of language structure and usage with special attention to literacy abilities (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). Teachers should be attentive to the structure and function of the language they are teaching. Language Awareness in Teacher Education (LATE), as proposed by Leo van Lier (1996), is centered on teachers and students conversing with one another rather than on supplementary linguistics or grammar courses. Another school of thought stresses what is known as critical language awareness emerged as a result of popular frustration with the limitations of the general language awareness movements (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). Supplemental materials like government papers or media articles may be the most helpful for the goal of critical language awareness. Texts that are typically little more than a dull, monotonous collection of linguistic input can get a motivational dimension from such a critical perspective (Kumaravadivelu, 2003b). The respondents indicated that they would encourage students to critically evaluate during the reading session related to linguistic context, but nothing is said about situational and extra-situational Context. Integrating Language Skills When audio-linguists examined how instructors used language in the classroom, they discovered a glaring discrepancy between what textbook authors and curriculum designers recommended and what teachers did. They discovered a strong and unbreakable link between language use and the context in which it is used. The majority of teachers encourage students to freely use all the abilities required for a task to be completed successfully while placing more attention on a particular talent allocated for a certain class. When it comes to the integration of language skills, there is a conflict between what textbook authors do and what should be done. According to Wilga Rivers (p. 34), the attention to form-meaning linkages in all abilities, the exposure to language through reading and hearing, and the real-time processing of listening activities can all contribute to the development of speaking. To fully understand the effects of skill separation and integration, further classroom-focused research is needed (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). All of the respondents confirm that they were taught language skills. Niguse and Yosef's responses confirm this. Promoting Learner Autonomy People all across the world have been interested in the idea of autonomy in one way or another for a very long time. It is based on a human propensity to want to be in charge of one's life. Different people present it in different ways. It changes from time to time, from context to context, and from culture to culture in terms of how it is conceptualized and done. It embodies a fundamental desire for freedom of thought and action in all spheres of life, including personal, social, political, and economic. Both individuals and society have frequently looked to educational institutions for resources that can help them on their path to achieving autonomy (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). In response to the question of learner Autonomy, the teachers believe that learners need to be autonomous, but in practice, as elicited from their responses: they don't let students select topics and discover linguistic systems on their own. Ensuring Social Relevance Every classroom has an impact on the larger society of which it is a part and reflects that society. One must acknowledge that the larger social, political, historical, and economic contexts that have an impact on learners' and teachers' lives also have an impact on classroom objectives and activities if one is to make L2 learning and teaching socially relevant. To make sure that the standard language and native speaker ideologies are affecting their teaching practice and whether they believe in this line. The following question was asked: Do you think learners should attain native-like competency? Why or why not? Most of them were puzzled by questions and responded that learners should attain native-like competency and they rationalize their stance on an ideal concept like standard language that needs to be met. Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 15 (1); ISSN: 1989-9572 80 Raising Cultural Consciousness English as a "global language" is a reality, hence EFL instruction needs to broaden its geographic focus and incorporate marginalized cultural perspectives. Cultural backgrounds from places/countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Australia, Canada, and India must be considered and will start to become more important in the EFL classroom. It is important to allow students to learn about various cultural outlooks and perspectives. Textbooks should include information that encourages debate of cultural stereotypes and allows for differing viewpoints. For students to "negotiate to mean," acquire interactive and metalinguistic skills, and be able to tolerate and endure ambiguity, it is important to provide them with communicative and pragmatic tools (Byram& Grundy, 2003). Learners' cultural identities are likely to vary depending on their national and linguistic background, ethnic ancestry, religious views, class, age, gender, and sexual orientation. Raising cultural awareness in English as a Second Language (EFL) classrooms becomes a challenge given this viewpoint. The English teachers were asked how the cultural elements/norms of English-speaking countries introduce to the students; whether students' culture is compared with the culture of English-speaking countries and how the absence of English-speaking countries' culture and context is compensated. Their responses were not complete. They do believe that students' cultural background needs to be considered. It seems some of the things they do it occasionally not planned and systematic. Questionnaires Analysis In this phase, the data obtained through post-method questionnaires were analysed using SPSS and discussed below. Section I: Demographic Information Participants The participants were 71 English teachers from four Universities in Ethiopia. There were 53 men and 18 women. Teaching experience Participants’ teaching experiences ranged from 2 years to 38 years. In terms of teaching experience, 60.6% of the participants (n-43) had teaching experience of between 2-10 years, followed by 26.6% of the participants (n -19) having more than 11 years of teaching experience, 12.6% of the participants (n-12) with a range of 21-38 years of teaching experiences. Section II: Quantitative data Analysis Table 1 Teacher Autonomy Teacher Autonomy N Mean Std. Devia tion I have a say in selecting teaching material together with my colleagues at University; 71 3.90 .928 I determine how classroom space is used; 71 3.49 1.067 I determine the norms and rules for student classroom behavior; 71 3.77 .760 I am free to select the teaching methods and strategies independent from those suggested by MOE or MOSHE; 71 3.46 1.224 I have the flexibility to select topics and skills to be taught from the centralized English teaching curriculum; 71 3.84 1.050 I sometimes go beyond syllabus or recommended textbooks and use newspaper, and audio/video clipping because I think a student will better learn by doing so. 71 3.89 1.049 I frequently use other teaching aids/materials other than textbooks/modules. 71 3.76 .880 I adapt my teaching techniques/strategies for different classes to address various classroom contextual realities. 71 3.83 .810 Table (1) reports teachers' decisions regarding selecting teaching material, adapting teaching techniques, and using other teaching aids/materials other than textbooks/modules, across all these statements, it seems that teachers are autonomous in deciding on those areas mentioned above. Most of the participating teachers believed that they devise teaching techniques and strategies, select teaching material, and use teaching aids other