The Inclusion of Extensive Reading Texts in Grade 11 Ethiopian Students’ English Textbooks and EFL Teachers’ and Students’ Awareness of Using It: Sayilem Secondary School in Focus

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the inclusion of extensive reading texts in Ethiopian Grade 11 students' English textbooks and EFL teacher' and students' awareness of using it. A descriptive research design which consisted of first collecting quantitative data and then collecting qualitative was used. There were four data collection tools employed in this study: a questionnaire, an interview, classroom observations, and document analysis. The first three tools were used to measure EFL teachers' and students' awareness of the extensive reading included in the English textbook. The document analysis was used to check to what extent extensive reading texts were included in the grade 11 English textbook. A simple random sampling method was used to select one hundred one (101) students to respond to the questionnaire. Thus, the results of the questionnaire and the interview showed that most students and teachers have awareness regarding the benefits of extensive reading in most aspects even though the practice is not satisfactory. Finally, the overall findings of this study showed the majority of teachers and students had an awareness of the benefits of extensive reading. However, the study conversely revealed that there is a clear mismatch between what the teachers and students are aware of extensive reading and what they practice inside and outside of the classroom. Therefore, the researcher recommends there should be collaboration among syllabus designers and teachers to assess the gap that English language textbooks have about extensive reading, teachers should encourage their students to read different materials in the classroom.

Keywords: inclusion of extensive reading texts, extensive reading, awareness

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/13-17-02

Publication date:October 31^st 2023