INVESTIGAING VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND LEARNING STRATEGIES: FOCUING IN GRADE 11 AND 12 TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF WAGEBETA SECONDARY SCHOOL

Abstract

The purpose of this study was investigating vocabulary teaching techniques employed by EFL teachers and learning strategies used by their students. To achieve this objective, descriptive survey research design involving both qualitative and quantitative approach was used. This design was chosen because it provides information concerning the status of the current use of vocabulary teaching techniques and learning strategies. The total population of the study includes four EFL teachers from grade 11 and grade 12 and 184 students at Wagebeta Secondary School, Hadiya Zone, Ethiopia. Of 184 the mentioned target population students of the school, 92 were selected using simple random technique for the questionnaire. Since the number of the teachers was only four, all of them were selected as the sample of the study. Therefore, the questionnaire for students, interview and classroom observation for teachers were applied for collecting data for this study. The questionnaire was triangulated through classroom observation and interview. To analyze the data collected through the mentioned data collecting tools, descriptive (e.g., frequency and mean) was applied. The findings indicate that some of the teachers in this school at indicated grade level used a few types of the vocabulary teaching techniques such as: antonyms, synonyms, definition and reading texts. Similarly, the result shows that students have habit of using limited vocabulary learning strategies; most of the students were dependent of dictionary and their teacher rather than using other learning strategies. On the other hand, teachers show challenges that hinder the practice of teaching vocabulary like: students’ lack of basic knowledge of vocabulary aspects like spelling, pronunciation and they were dependent on their teachers, lack of reference materials on vocabulary teaching techniques like: dictionaries and teacher guide. The study concluded that vocabulary teaching techniques and learning strategies did not apply always at the mentioned school. Based on the conclusions, the researcher recommended that teachers should let stude nts to practice different vocabulary learning strategies equally based on their language proficiency and should teach unfamiliar words usig different types of vocabulary teaching techniques as much as possibl e. And challenges to practice vocabulary teaching techniques may be reduced if the teachers get adequate training on how they practically practice vocabulary teaching through different techniques , have got sufficient teaching materials on vocabulary teaching techniques and students be motivated on the learning vocabulary.