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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS MOTHER
TONGUE INSTRUCTION AS A CORRELATE OF
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: THE CASE OF SIDAMA
ADAMU ASSEFA
JUNE, 2002
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STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS MOTHER TONGUEINSTRUCTION AS A CORRELATE OF ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT: THE CASE OF SIDAMA
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THEREQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
OF MASTER OF ARTS INEDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
BYADAMU ASSEFA
JUNE, 2002
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS MOTHER TONGUE
INSTRUCTION AS A CORRELATE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT:
THE CASE OF SIDAMA
BY
ADAMU ASSEFA
Approved by board of examiners:
______________________________ _______________Chairman, Department
Graduate Committee Signature
______________________________ _______________
Advisor Signature
______________________________ _______________
External Examiner Signature
______________________________ _______________
Internal Examiner Signature
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i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First of all I would like to give thanks and glory to my Lord God for His
inseparable assistance in all my ways to complete my study successfully.
I am so thankful to my advisor Dr. Habtamu Wondimu for his intelligible guidance and
painstaking evaluation of this work. It is his skillful, sympathetic and considerate support that
makes the work to be accomplished.
I am grateful to my friends Ato Yohannes Latamo and Ato Shemelis Gizaw for their
translation of the questionnaire from English to Sidama and Amharic languages.
I want also to express my gratitude from my heart to my wife W/o Selamawit
Teferi and my daughter Bethel Adamu for their priceless spiritual support, tolerance of
financial deficit and longing for me during my departure in the study leave.
I would like to appreciate Ato Asamenew Assefa, W/o Zewdie Tilahun, Ato Urago
Ugamo, Mengsteabe Teferi for their help during data tallying, and teachers and school
directors who assisted me in data collection.
Many thanks go to SNNPR Education Bureau that sponsored me for the
postgraduate studies. My thankfulness also goes to colleagues of Awassa College of
Teacher education, especially for Distance Education Unit for their continuous provision of
computer and stationery materials.
And finally, I would like to say God bless my church leaders, Christian brothers,
and friends who have been wishing my successful accomplishment in my study and who
prayed for me for two years.
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ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
Acknowledgment i
List of Appendices vii
List of Tables viii
List of Figures x
Abstract xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Background of the Study 1
1.2. Statement of the Problem 3
1.3. Significance of the Study 4
1.4. Delimitation of the Study 5
1.5. Definition of Terms 5
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 8
2.1. Attitude towards Language 8
2.2. The Effect of Language Attitude on Education 9
2.3. Pros and Cons of the Use of Mother Tongue Instruction 10
2.3.1. Arguments in Favor of the Use of Mother Tongue Instruction 11
2.3.2. Arguments against the Use of Mother Tongue Instruction 12
2.4. The Development of Sidama Language as Medium of Instruction 16
2.5. Change in the Medium of Instruction and Education Policyin Ethiopia 17
2.6. Attitudinal Development towards a Language 21
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iii
Page
2.7. Factors Affecting Language Attitude 22
2.8. The Relationship between Attitude and Motivation 23
2.8.1. The Effect of Attitude on Achievement 23
2.8.2. The Effect of Attitude and Motivation on Achievement 24
2.9. Gender and Motivation on Second Language Learning 25
2.10. Gender Difference in Achievement 25
CHAPTER THREE: METHOD 27
3.1. Subjects 27
3.2. Instruments 29
3.3. Data Analysis 30
3.4. Variables 33
3.5. The Hypothesized Causal Model 34
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 35
4.1. Result of the Pilot Study 35
4.1.1. Reliability and Validity of the Instruments 35
4.1.2. The Discrimination Power of the Items 37
4.1.3. The Relationship between Attitude and Motivation of
Students towards Mother Tongue Instruction 38
4.1.4. Attitudinal and Motivational Differences by Sex, Place
of Residence, and Mother Tongue 38
4.2. Results of the Main Study 39
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iv
Page
4.2.1. The Frequency Histogram and the Scatter Plot that
Shows the Test for Adequacy of the Regression Model
Used in the Analysis 40
4.2.2. Descriptive Statistics 42
4.2.3. Sex Differences on Attitude, Motivation and Achievement 43
4.2.4. Attitudinal Orientation of Students towards Sidama
Language as Medium of Instruction 44
4.2.5. Place of Residence and Differences on Attitude, Motivation
and Achievement 45
4.2.6. Achievement Differences of Students with Low/High
Attitude and with Low/High Motivation 46
4.2.7. Mother Tongue and other Language Differences on
Attitude, Motivation and Achievement 47
4.2.8. Correlation Analysis of Variables in the Study for the
Pooled Subjects 48
4.2.9. Correlation Analysis of the Variables in the Study for
Sex Subgroups 50
4.2.10. Causal Relationship of the Variables Treated in the
Study for the Pooled Subjects 52
4.2.11. Combined and Independent Contributions of Predictor
Variables 55
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vi
Page
CHAPTER SEX: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 76
6.1. Summary of the Study 76
6.2. Conclusion 77
6.3. Recommendation 79
REFERENCES 81
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vii
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix 1: Result of the Pilot Study 86
Appendix 2: Some Annexed Results of the Main Study 90
Appendix 3: The Questionnaire in English 91
Appendix 4:The Questionnaire in Sidama Language 98
Appendix 5: The Questionnaire in Amharic 106
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viii
LIST OF TABLESPage
Table 3.1: Sex by Grade Cross Tabulation 28
Table 3.2: Sex by Place of Residence Cross Tabulation 28
Table 4.1: The Descriptive Statistics of the Variables Considered
in the Study (N = 391) 42
Table 4.2: Means, Standard Deviations and t-values for Boys
and Girls on Attitude, Motivation and Achievement 43
Table 4.3: Chi-square Test between Students Grouped under Positive
(above the Neutral Score) and Negative (below the Neutral
Score) with Regard to Attitude towards Sidama Language
as Media of Instruction 44
Table 4.4: Means, Standard Deviations and t-values for Boys and Girls
on Attitude, Motivation and Achievement 45
Table 4.5: Means, Standard Deviations and t-values of Achievement
for Students with Low/High Attitude and Motivation
towards Mother Tongue Instruction with Respect
to Upper and Lower 25% 46
Table 4.6: Means, Standard Deviations and t-values for Sidama
and other Language Speakers as Mother Tongue on
Attitude, Motivation and Achievement 47
Table 4.7: Means, Standard Deviations and the Zero-Order
Correlation Matrix of the Variables in the Study
for the Pooled Subjects 48
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x
LIST OF FIGURESPage
Figure 3.1: Hypothetical Causal Relationship among Sex, Place of
Residence, Attitude, Motivation and Achievement 34
Figure 4.1: Frequency Histogram Showing Residual Distribution 40
Figure 4.2: The Scatter Plot of the Predicted Scores against the
Residuals 41
Figure 4.3: A Path Model Portraying Causal Relationships
among Sex, Place of Residence, Attitude, Motivation
and Achievement for Pooled Samples (N = 391) 52
Figure 4.4: A Path Model Displaying Causal Relationships among,
Place of Residence, Attitude, Motivation and Achievement
for Sex Subgroups (N = 391) 60
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate students' attitude towards Sidama
language as a medium of instruction and its determination on the language
achievement.
To carry out this aim, 391 students' were chosen from 7 Sidama Zone upper
primary schools. In addition to background information students were given with
attitude and motivation questionnaires to measure their inclination towards the native
language instruction. In the mean time students' one year cumulative GPA of Sidama
language were obtained from the record offices.
Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to find out the combined
and independent effect of the independent variables. Path analysis was employed to
examine the relationships among the predictor variables and between the predictor
variables and the criterion variable. Comparison of means and chi-square techniques
were used to find out the significance of difference between sex subgroups and
between rural and urban dwellers.
As the result indicated students of grades 7 and 8 had positive attitude towards
their vernacular language instruction with out sex differences, and attitude was
identified as a vital predictor of Sidama language achievement.
On the basis of these results it was suggested that teachers and educational
practitioners should give due attention to attitude and motivation during instruction
besides the cognitive factors.
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1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) issued a new education policy called
"Education and Training Policy" in 1994. This policy declares the use of nationality
languages as medium of instruction for primary level under section 3, subsection 3.5,
and Article 3.5.1. It says "Cognizant of the pedagogical advantage of the child in
mother tongue and the right of nationalities to promote the use of their languages,
primary education will be given in nationality languages" (TGE, 1994:23). On the
basis of this declaration, many nationalities became the beneficiaries. Sidama is one
of these nationalities that utilized the advantage and started providing instruction by
its own language in 1993. The Sidama Zone mainly inhabited by the Sidama
nationality (ethnic group) is one of the zones of Southern Nations, Nationalities and
Peoples Regional Government, which is located at 270 km South of Addis Ababa.
The Ministry of Education did not conduct research in introducing the vernacular
language as medium of instruction. As Seyoum pointed out:
The new educational policy took the unprecedented step to make themother tongue a medium of instruction of primary level of schooling. Thefact that Ethiopia is multilingual is not a debatable issue. Furtherempirical evidence substantiates that it is advantageous for a child tolearn in its own mother tongue . . . to rush things for the sake of politicalexpediency would be courting and disaster whose consequences wouldbe difficult to fathom to generation to come (Seyoum, 1996: 27-28).
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On the other hand, authorities that support the use of mother tongue as medium of
instruction suggest their belief too. For instance the stand of Unesco, as Fasold put it:
It is axiomatic that the best medium of teaching a child is his mothertongue. Psychologically, it is system of meaningful for expressing andunderstanding. Sociologically, it is a means of identification among themember of the community to which he belongs. Educationally, he learnsmore quickly through it than through an unfamiliar linguistic medium(Fasold, 1984:293).
The purpose of the study is not to give "empirical evidence," as Seyoum said. To this
debatable issue implying advantages and disadvantages of using mother tongue, as
medium of instruction is out of the scope of this paper. But this is presented to make
the reader clear that the controversy among scholars on the issue gives clear picture
about the attitude of the users too. That is, as scholars debate with each other, the
users (students) could also have similar notions.
The attitude of students, in turn, whether it is favorable or unfavorable, will affect their
academic performance positively or negatively. As Yoseph pointed out, "the
achievement of educational objectives partly requires pupils' positive attitude towards
learning that pupils' attitude is an important factor in their potential to receive
education" (Yoseph, 1997:21). More specifically, Yoseph emphasized the point as
follows:
As positive attitude towards learning facilitates pupils' progress inschool, a negative attitude is a hindrance to pupils' successful progress
in schoolwork. The value one attaches to school learning influencespupils' effort, which, other things being equal, may determine theirsuccess or failure. A positive attitude towards schoolwork . . . helpspupils attain higher achievement scores and, thus, meet schoolrequirements for grade promotion. More precisely achievementdifferences among pupils may, partly, be explained by 'affective states asattitudes, motivation, self perceptions, intentions and expectations'(1997:21).
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6. What are the major causes for unfavorable attitude towards mother tongue as a
medium of instruction?
7. What kinds of relationship exist between the independent variables and the
dependent variable, and among the independent variables themselves? (To
determine causal model and the direct and indirect effects among the
variables)
1.3. Significance of the Study
In the bilingual or multilingual community, language choice for every day ordinary
communication or for instructional purpose is inevitable. For every day
communication, language choice is personal, but for instructional purpose the
language choice can be made collectively by the community and/or by the
government. The government can decide on the language of education based on the
community or on its own political interests. If the government decided on instructional
language on the basis of political purpose, it cannot satisfy the interest of the majority.
The attitude of people on that language therefore could be negative. Even if
educational language decision was made on the basis of attitudinal survey,
unfavorable attitude cannot be completely avoided because the interest of all people
could not be the same. So the need to carry out research on the effect of student's
attitude on instructional language is very vital and timely in our country.
Secondly, as mentioned earlier, research findings on the area of students' attitude
towards vernacular language as an instructional medium and its effect on academic
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performances was scarcely existent in Ethiopian context. This study endeavored to
contribute some theoretical and practical basis for such relationship.
It is also expected that the result would point out some of the reasons for the
unfavorable attitude of students toward mother tongue as medium of instruction.
Fourthly, the findings anticipated in helping the people, who speak the language, to
be aware of the factors that affect the attitude towards their language and hence work
towards the development of better understanding.
Furthermore, the result of the study would serve as a baseline for further study.
1.4. Delimitation of the Study
This study is delimited to some selected upper primary school grades of the Sidama
Zone (i.e. grades 7 and 8). The use of nationality language as medium of instruction
is in the primary level (up to grade 6). But some zones and regions (including Sidama
Zone in SNNPR) started instruction with the nationality language as a subject while
the medium of instruction for other subjects is English. Their interest is to substitute
the medium of instruction from English to the native language for grades 7 and 8.
Therefore, no need to study attitude of students over these grades.
1.5. Definition of Terms
According to their usage in this study the following terms are defined in the manner
stated below.
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Achievement: It refers to pupils' academic performance on Sidama language as
shown by their average scores of two semesters of grades 6 and 7. The
phrase "academic performance" is also used interchangeably with this word.
Attitude: According to Gilbert, Fiske and Lindzey (1998) "Attitudes expresspassions
and hates, attractions and repulsions, likes and dislikes. People have
attitudes when they love or hate things or people and when they approve or
disapprove of them... In formal terms, an attitude is a psychological tendency
that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor
or disfavor." Attitude in this context could be considered as pupils' feelings
about mother tongue as medium of instruction, or their liking or disliking of
getting instruction in their own mother tongue.
Upper primarygrades: refers to the second cycle according to the new education
and training policy (i.e. from grade 5 to 8). But for the study only grades 7
and 8 are included.
Mother tongue: According to Unesco as cited in Fasold (1984), mother tongue is the
language which a person acquires in early years and which normally
becomes his natural instrument of thought and communication.
Motivation: Generally, as to Corsini and Auerbach (1996) "it refers to internal states
of the organism that lead to the instigation, persistence, energy, and
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CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Attitude towards Language
Unfavorable attitude towards their mother tongue or preference to some language
over the mother tongue could develop due to unawareness and prejudices (Assebe,
1981: 42). In other instances dislike toward language arises due to political bias,
social stratification, economic incongruity, and other socio-psychological factors. As
Assebe (1981) pointed out by referring to Leach, preference of one language over the
other is not because of instinct but for other reason. As Leach argued:
If . . . we find political system which embraces several language groups,and these language groups are ranked in a class hierarchy, superior andinferior, there is a prima facie probability that the language situation isunstable, and that the higher ranking groups are tending to assimilatethe lower ranking groups . . . it follows from very simple economiccauses. It is advantageous for the individual to identify himself with
those who posses political and economic influence (as quoted byAssebe, 1981:43).
Holmes shares the same idea with Leach with respect to attitude towards language.
According to Holmes, "attitudes to language are strongly influenced by social and
political factors." Then what do we understand from people's attitude towards
language? For this question Holmes further indicates that some people "develop
attitudes towards languages which reflect their views about those who speak the
languages, and the contexts and functions with which they are associated" (Holmes,
1992:346).
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2.2. The Effect of Language Attitude on Education
Many social psychologists argue that an attitude is an internal state that affects the
overt behavior. There are different views regarding the effect of attitude on behavior
and vise versa. The mentalist Williams, as cited by Fasold, forwarded that an attitude
is an internal state aroused by stimulation of some type and may mediate the
organism's subsequent response (Fasold, 1984: 147).
More specifically, "language attitude can have a great influence in areas such as
education" (Holmes, 1992: 146). Furthermore, Fasold pointed out that "there is some
evidence that language attitudes may influence how teachers deal with pupils; . . .
and other evidence suggests that attitudes about language affect second language
learning" (Fasold, 1984: 348).
As to Fasold, attitude studies conducted so far are two types, language attitude of
teachers, and language attitudes of second language learners. The first type of study
reveals the effect of teachers' attitudes towards language of instructional medium on
students' academic performance. While the second type of study is usually conducted
to find out whether the learners' attitudes toward the language they are learning affect
their progress (Fasold, 1984: 170).
In our country such kinds of studies on language attitude and its effect on education
are few, if any. So this study tries to put its outstanding effort in filling the gap of
knowledge. More specifically, it studied the students' attitudes toward their mother
tongue as medium of instruction and its effect on their academic achievements.
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2.3. Pros and Cons of the Use of Mother Tongue Instruction
There is a controversy about the importance of mother tongue instruction and second
and/or foreign language instruction on the child's achievement, intellectual
development and the socio-cultural involvement for a long period of time.
In bilingual or multilingual countries, language-planning decision is a crucial issue
especially in the determination and choice of instructional language. Some
governments and responsible institutions try to solve the issue by forwarding certain
criteria to be fulfilled in order to choose certain language as instructional medium.
However, conflicts stay unresolved, because on one hand the proposed criteria may
satisfy one group and may not the other. On the other hand, within the proposed
criteria, some points may not be accepted by any. For example, as Fasold pointed
out, in Ireland and Tanzania three main considerations were postulated to choose
language of instruction. They are stated as follows:
(1) do the prospective students know the language well enough to learneffectively through it;
(2) would the proposed choice be consistent with overall nationalistaims; and
(3) are the language itself, the material written in it, and the number ofpeople able to teach in it adequate for use at the proposed level?(Fasold, 1984: 292)
As Fasold (1984) concluded, even if the considerations are set, conflicts could not be
prohibited because no language had been identified which satisfy the above three
conditions in both countries. In Tanzania, the third condition is not fulfilled. Whereas,
in Ireland, the first condition is not satisfied; so Irish cannot be universally used
language of education.
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2.3.1. Arguments in Favor of the Use of Mother Tongue Instruction
First the important authority to mention in favor of mother tongue instruction is
Unesco (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).
Unesco assembled a Committee to study about the language in instructional medium
at global level. And the Committee came up with the position that "the language that
children can effectively use, should be given priority in selecting the medium of
instruction. If this is done, then it becomes clear that the choice in virtually every case
will be the child's mother tongue" (Fasold, 1984: 293).
California State Department of Education, Office of Bilingual Bicultural Education
(CSDE) (1991) experts forwarded reasons why they need and make real effort to
maintain first language as follows:
1. Speakers of a language other than English can make priceless contribution
for their countries so it is very important to maintain this natural resource.
2. Sustaining the first language and culture of 'non-English proficient' (NEP)
children may help to put up their self-importance and reciprocate
unfavorable attitude of linguistic minority. According to Gardner and
Lambert cited in CSDE (1991) those individuals who accept their own
language and culture do well in second language learning than those who
have unfavorable attitude towards their own group.
3. According to Cummins as referred in CSDE (1991) so as to sustain in
subject matter and maintain normal mental development, students need
to build up high stage of first language capability.
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Thirdly, Chumbow (1990) like Unesco listed out the importance of mother tongue
instruction in education by providing more scientific arguments. First, mother tongue
has psychological value to the child. That is, it serves very important role in shaping
the child's early perception because language and thought are highly interrelated. No
one can think with out using language in its any form (articulated, symbolic, etc.).
Second, mother tongue has socio-cultural significance since it would help the
member of the target group to express its common cultural familiarity and tendency.
Thirdly, the early school use of mother tongue in the child's life will give permanence
for the child's course of learning and which in turn enhance its cognitive development.
Early switch of language from mother tongue to second or foreign languages will
create feeling of insufficiency, low self-esteem and develop dislike toward his
teachers and school. And finally, ' mobilization of rural communities' for agriculture,
adult education, vocational training etc could best be attained by the use of native
languages. This kind of community mobilization can provide a lot of contribution for
national development and to build modern society.
2.3.2. Arguments Against the Use of Mother Tongue Instruction
Fasold reviewed the objections forwarded about the recommendations of Unesco's
Committee on the use of mother tongue instruction. The objections are:
(1) Some languages, it may seem, have no grammar or alphabet;(2) ...it is useless to teach a mother tongue, since a child already knows
it;(3) to teach in mother tongue will make it more difficult for a youngster to
learn a second language later; and(4) ...using vernacular languages would impede national unity (Fasold,
1984:293-294).
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He also compiled the responses to the Committee Report and for the above
objections as follows:
1. Even though some languages may not have written grammar, any language
must have grammar otherwise it should not have been spoken.
2. For the second objection the Committee provided two replies; first, "children know
their mother tongue well enough to serve a child's purposes, but their facility in it
needs to be increased; and second, the point is not so much that the school would
be teaching the mother tongue as teaching other subjects in the mother tongue"
(Fasold, 1984:294).
3. The response to the third objection is that current knowledge in several places
proposes that a healthier way to launch a second language may be to teach it first
as a subject, using the native language as an instructional media.
4. However the Unesco Committee admits that it is easier to govern a country with
the same language, persistence on the national language might motivate some
minority groups to be offended by their national government and repudiate to
accept the national identity.
On the first three objections, Unesco Committee responded satisfactorily and the
responses were accepted by most linguists as to Fasold. But on the last objection, the
answer is more political than logical for linguists. In addition, there is another set of
serious objections on which Unesco Committee responded with less success. This
set of objections is more concerned with readiness of the language to be used in
education:
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(1) The lack of textbooks and other educational materials;(2) The lack of general reading material;(3) A shortage of trained teachers; and(4) Inadequacy of vocabulary (Fasold, 1984: 294).
For the above four objections Unesco Committee recommended two suggestions:
...first, either supply what is lacking, or use the vernacular as far into theeducational process as possible and then make a carefully plannedtransition to a second language. The second recommendation is madewith extreme reluctance, since it contradicts the Report's fundamentalpoint. Therefore, the Committee urges governments to remedyshortcomings in readiness by encouraging the printing of books,magazines, newspapers, and official notices in bilingual versions, and bytraining mother-tongue speakers of vernaculars to teach in their nativelanguages, including practice teaching opportunities using thevernacular (Fasold, 1984:294-295).
Furthermore, Bull (1964) reviewed Unesco's Report of 1953. In his review he raised
some objections and some of which were similar to that of Fasold's (1984), discussed
above. The objection and responses of the Committee are as follows:
1. Like Fasold, Bull too raised the deficiency of vocabulary in many languages or
even in the majority of the world languages. For this objection Unesco Committee
forwarded two responses: first, "the mother tongue may be used as a bridge to
learning an adequate language and, thereafter, education may be carried on in this
second vehicle; second, planned experiences of the vocabulary can be
undertaken, as in Arabic, Hungarian, Finish and Estonian" (Bull, 1964:528).
2. The Committee's response for the question that 'if the child's mother tongue is not
the official language of his country,' a child has to learn a second language. But
Bull's reservation for this answer is that this will result in a 'mild kind of linguistic
schizophrenia,' which is revealed by confusion to express one's interest of
personal, political and academic issues. In turn, for such kind of doubt the
Committee recommended, "the mother tongue be used as the medium of
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instruction as far up the education ladder as possible (through college if the
language is adequate) (Bull, 1964:528).
3. In general, the preference of mother tongue instruction of the Committee is based
on what is best for the child psychologically and pedagogically. But Bull put his
opposition for this belief of the Committee as follows:
This proposition appears; however, to be somewhat unrealistic.What is best for the child psychologically and pedagogically maynot be what is best for the adult society, economically orpolitically and, what is even more significant, what is best for boththe child and the adult may not be best or even possible for thesociety..." (Bull, 1964:528).
4. "...the writing system of a number of languages does not lend itself readily tothe exigencies of the modern world and, especially, to the use oftypewriters and typesetting machines which are essential to therapid and economical reproduction of educational materials" (Bull,1964:529).
According to Chumbow (1990) some of the arguments forwarded by individuals who
favor the use of foreign languages against the use of mother tongue (particularly of
African languages) as an instructional medium are as follows:
a. The need for an international language by African nations soas to relate to the world community easily. Languages likeEnglish or French serve such a purpose readily.
b. Given the multilingualism in African nations; national unitywould be best achieved by using a foreign language likeEnglish because it is neutral.
c. African languages are not adequately developed to expressmodern scientific and technical knowledge.
d. It is better to go straight for English than starting off with anindigenous language only to return to English later. Such aswitch, it is feared, may result in cognitive deficits and low
productivity.e. It is expensive to provide educational materials and train
teachers to undertake education in African languages.
Regarding the use of script to write in Ethiopian nationality languages, there are
different opinions forwarded by various writers. Among the oppositions toward the
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finally, in 1993 the Sidama language was introduced as medium of instruction and
language of work in the Zone.
2.5. Change in the Medium of Instruction and Education Policy in Ethiopia
The origin of education in Ethiopia as most scholars agree, was based on traditional
religious centers of monasteries and mosques. As Ministry of Education (MOE)
pointed out "the development of Ethiopian educational system was deeply rooted in
religious education of which the two main streams were Christian and Islam" (MOE,
1996:89). These religious institutions also were the sources of distribution of
education. As to Seyoum, "in traditional Ethiopia, the Orthodox Church and the
mosque were the major institutions that were responsible for the dissemination of
religious education (Seyoum, 1996:2).
In 1908 modern education was introduced into Ethiopian educational system by
Emperor Menelik, and by a tremendous intervention of foreign religious missionaries
(MOE, 1996: 66;Seyoum, 1996:3). As to Seyoum (1997) this was with the aspiration
of endorsing the French language. Tesfaye (1971), too, agreed that English has been
introduced in education from that time on. But it was taught as a subject, while French
was used as instructional medium. Whereas, the intercession of religious
missionaries in the system of Ethiopian education was by introducing mother tongue
as a medium of instruction as a means of spreading Christianity. But this was aborted
by the proclamation, which prohibited the use of mother tongue officially as instruction
medium unless to use it for oral preaching and local use (Fisseha, 1994:169).
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The impact of foreigners, then after, went on the educational system in many
directions, politically, socially, economically etc. Because the curriculum content, the
methodology and even the medium of instruction and teachers were foreigners. In
general, as Ministry of Education report indicates, it is better to look at the
chronological stages to note how far foreigners dominated Ethiopian education:
1909_1941 _Fascist Instruction [SIC] 1941_1952 _British Influence 1952_1974 _Canadian and American Influence 1974_1991 _Ex-Soviet Influence (MOE, 1996:92)
Even though the influences of foreigners were bound to happen, there were attempts
to make the educational system Ethiopian and to change medium of instruction to
native languages other than English and French.
After 1917 until the late forties, Amharic and Giiz (customarily used in Coptic
Orthodox Church sermon) were encouraged. Between 1947 and 1958, English was
the medium of instruction in all schools and Amharic was taught as a subject. But the
medium of instruction changed to Amharic for primary schools and to English for
secondary schools in 1958 (Seyoum, 1997:157). But as to Seyoum (1996), the
medium of instruction was changed from English to Amharic at the primary level in
1963. Yet according to Fisseha (1994) the use of Amharic in the primary level and
English and French for secondary level began in 1955. That is, there is slight
disagreement among scholars about the date of change of instructional medium from
foreign languages to Amharic at the primary level.
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2.6. Attitudinal Development towards a Language
In the life span of a language, attitude is fundamental. For death or survival of any
language, attitude could be the corner stone. Specially, the issue of attitude towards
language arises when there is preference between two or more languages to use as
instructional medium or for other purposes (Baker, 1988:112).
As to Baker (1988), favoring mother tongue or any other language is due to social,
economic and political reasons. As research indicates maintaining or shifting
language to or from mother tongue is related with sentimental and instrumental
orientation toward that language. But maintaining mother tongue is mainly associated
with sentimentalism. Whereas, shifting from mother tongue to other language is due
to instrumentalism (Hofman & Cais, 1984:151). By sentimentalism to Hofman and
Cais mean that the preference of mother tongue is simply based on emotionalized
attitude, without satisfactory reasons. Preference of a language with respect to
economic importance refers to instrumentalism.
Hofman and Cais (1984) indicated that Zimbabwean Africans favor their native
tongue due to sentiment and use English mainly as an instrument.
Similarly, according to Zughoul and Taminian (1984)
...the average Arab university student strongly favors the use of his own
language - Arabic- as the medium of instruction at the university level,although he views English as more instrumental than his nativelanguage...Arab students do have strong feelings about their language.They view Arabic as more expressive, more beautiful, more logical, andparticularly more sacred than English (Zughoul and Taminian, 1984:174).
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Zughoul and Taminian's findings highly agree with Hofman and Cais's finding. That is,
Arab university students maintain their language for sentimentalism, and prefer
English as instrument.
The preference towards second language learning could be one's heritage language
that the learners do not know before. Otherwise the language could be that of another
group. In any case the motive is either instrumental or integrative according to R.C.
Gardner as cited by Berry (1992). That is, if the interest is purely for occupational or
economic advantage, the motive is called instrumental. Whereas, if the learners are
interested to learn the language for the sake of joining the group of target language or
to enter into the cultural life, the motive is called integrative.
2.7. Factors Affecting Language Attitude
Baker (1988) reviewed different research reports on factors affecting language
attitude. The variables (factors) are gender, length of residence, attainment in school,
ability and density of neighbor hood speaking Welsh language. Baker put the
situations as follows:
... attitude to Welsh was connected with gender (girls more favorable inattitude than boys), length of residence in Wales (a less favorableattitude tends to be held by immigrants), attainment in school (a morefavorable attitude to Welsh is linked with higher attainment with someage...); ability (younger children of high ability tend to be more
favorable), and the Welsh-speaking density of neighborhood (the higherthe density of Welsh speakers, the more favorable the attitude) (Baker,1988: 119-120).
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2.8. The Relationship between Attitude and Motivation
As cited in Spolsky (1989) Gardner and Lambert consider that motivation comes from
attitude. That is, from language learning point of view, attitudes do not have direct
influence on learning, but they lead to motivation, which has straight effect on learning
performances. In Gardener and Lambert's words:
Motivation in the present context refers to the combination of effort plusdesire to achieve the goal of learning plus favorable attitudes towardslearning the language. Attitude itself is to be measured by asking asubject to evaluate an object: ...from an operational point of view, anindividual's attitude is an evaluative reaction to some referents orattitude object, inferred on the basis of the individual's beliefs ofopinions about the referent (as cited in Spolsky, 1989:149).
Nunan and Lamb (1996) also agreed with the point of view of Gardner and Lambert in
that attitude is strongly linked with motivation. Actually it could be claimed that
students' motivation will be mostly determined by their attitude toward the culture of
interest group, language, and learning surroundings.
Beliefs or opinions about the attitude object can be rated by the use of instrument
called attitude scale. But there is some doubt about the validity and reliability of the
instrument.
In practical terms, then, an attitude is a construct derived from asubject's answers to a number of questions about an object. Itsestablishment is subject to all the normal worries of validity of theinstrument used and of the honesty of the subject's answer to thequestions (Spolsky, 1989:149).
2.8.1. The Effect of Attitude on Achievement
Attitude towards a certain language can serve as a means to an end and as an end
by it self as well. That is, attitude can serve as a promoter of a certain behavior. For
example, if a person has a positive attitude towards that language, he would have
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interest to learn that language. On the other hand, if a person is exposed to a T.V
program of that language and/or given school lesson, as a result the individual
develops positive attitude and also enculturation takes place (Baker, 1988: 112-113).
Nunan and Lamb (1996) put the effect of attitude on learning as follows:
The attitude of learners toward the target language, the learningsituation, and the roles that they are expected to play within that learningsituation will have an important effect on the learning process. It willtherefore have implications for the management of learning. If the learnerhas a negative attitude towards the language, the culture, the classroomor the teacher, learning can be impaired or even rendered ineffective(Nunan and Lamb, 1996:216).
However, in the case of mother tongue, attitude necessarily comes at first because
mother tongue as the name implies, develops from the very beginning of early child
hood. And as "...an important component of culture, it is also a salient feature of the
individual's social, cultural or ethnic identity" (Hamers and Blanc, 2000:202). Similarly,
from statistical point of view, in order to consider certain variable as a cause for the
other, it should fulfill different requirements suggested by Cook and Campbell as cited
in Cohen (1983). The first criterion to classify the first variable as a cause of the
second variable, the first should proceed the second in time even if both may be
measured at the same time.
2.8.2. The Effect of Attitude and Motivation on Achievement
As to Nunan and Lamb (1996), the majority of researches explain a high correlation
between motivation and achievement, and this relationship is considered, as
confirmation that highly motivated students will perform well in school. Yet, they did
not veil the reciprocal effect of achievement on motivation, but the former relationship
is strongly supported by many researchers as indicated above.
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The relationship or role of attitude and motivation towards mother tongue instruction
and their effect on achievement was scarcely studied. Where, the effect of attitude
and motivation on second language learning was highly researched. That is, as
research demonstrated many times, attitude and motivation measures could be used
to predict achievement in second language (Gardner, 1985: 207).
2.9. Gender and Motivation on Second Language Learning
As reviewed by Bacon (1992), Gardner and Lambert found that female language
learners were more motivated than male language learners. Females were also found
to have more positive attitudes toward speakers of the target language than males.
Bacon also reviewed the research report of Muchnick and Wolfe, which shows gender
difference in language attitude and motivation. Similarly, as to Bacon, Ludwig found
out significant difference between male and female university students; however,
males tended to be more instrumentally oriented.
2.10. Gender Difference in Achievement
Many authors consistently mention two areas that males and females vary. However,
the variation is very low. These gender differences are on verbal and quantitative
tasks. That is, " Girls typically perform better than boys on verbal tasks, whereas boys
perform better than girls on quantitative tasks; these difference however, are quite
small " (Eccles, 1984: 26).
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CHAPTER THREE
METHOD
3.1 . Subjects
The study considered pupils of grades 7 and 8 in selected upper primary schools in
the Sidama Zone. According to the formula or Table of determining sample size used
by Krejcie and Morgan (1970), out of the total population of students in grades 7 and
8, nearly 410 students participated in the study. After rejecting 19 questionnaires for
some kinds of incompleteness, 391 respondents were neatly included in the study.
Out of 69 junior schools in the Zone, 14 of them were in the urban areas (i.e. the
regional town Awassa and woreda towns of Yirgalem and Aleta-wondo). The
remaining 55 schools were in the rural part of the Zone. From these schools, the
study included 7 schools. 3 schools were included from towns that were purposely
selected (Awassa, Yirgalem and Aleta-wondo). These towns were relatively big
compared to the remaining woreda towns and perhaps fulfill the characteristics of an
urban setting.
Since the number of students was not equal in each grade level and in each sex
category, the stratified random sampling was employed to select the participants. But
the stratification was based on grade level only. Regarding the sex almost equal
number was considered. Since 1994 E.C. statistical data of students' enrollment was
not ready (available) at that time, grades 6 and 7 data of 1993 E.C. (i.e. 39,350
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students) were used to estimate grades 7 and 8 enrollment of 1994 E.C. Therefore,
proportionally 190 and 201 students are allocated for grades 7 and 8 respectively.
From grade 7, 100 male and 90 female students were selected. From grade 8, 105
male and 96 female students were selected. That is, 186 females and 205 males
were involved in the study. The tables for cross tabulation of sex by grade and place
of residence are very important for further clarification. So the tables are presented as
follows:
Table 3.1. Sex by Grade Cross Tabulation
Grade
7 8
Total Percent
Female 90 96 186 47.57%Sex
Male 100 105 205 52.43%
Total 190 201 391
Percent 48.59% 51.41%
Table 3.2. Sex by Place of Residence Cross Tabulation
Place of Residence
Urban Rural
Total Percent
Female 124 62 186 47.57%Sex
Male 97 108 205 52.43%
Total 221 170 391Percent 56.52% 43.48%
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3.2. Instruments
A Likert type 5-point attitude scale rating of "strongly agree", "agree", "undecided",
"disagree", and "strongly disagree" was used to test students' attitude towards
Sidama language as medium of instruction. The scale was adapted from Taylor's
Language Attitude Scale, Gardner Attitude/Motivation Scale and other scales. The
scale consisted of 36 items. Secondly a close-ended questionnaire of multiple-choice
form was used to measure students' motivation to perform Sidama language in the
classroom. It was adapted from Gardner Attitude/Motivation Scale and consisted of
20 items. The items were constructed in simple language and translated into the
Sidama language and Amharic so as to be understandable for the level. The students'
achievement scores of one year (of 1993 E.C.) were collected from the record offices
and transformed into standardized scores (z-scores) in order to make comparison
possible. The internal consistency of the items of both questionnaires was determined
during the pilot study by using split-half (Gronlund, 1981) and Kuder-Richardson
methods. In the case of split-half method, the items in each instrument were divided
into two halves by using odd and even numbers; then the two halves were correlated
to give the reliability coefficient of the half tests. These coefficients later were
upgraded into full-length test by Spearman Brown formula (Best and Kahn, 1989). In
the mean time, regarding Kuder-Richardson, the other version of formula 20 (cited in
Ebel, 1979) that is usually used for estimating reliability of essay test scores or of
multiple ratings of the same performance was used. The formula called 'the other
version of Kuder-Richardson formula 20' by Ebel (1979) more reasonably preferred to
be called Cronbach alpha or alpha coefficient because it considers variances of each
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item unlike Kuder-Richardson formula 20 which considers variances of subsections in
the total test (Ebel 1991). In addition, item discrimination power for each item was
determined in order to select good items for the main study and/or to modify bad
items accordingly. Moreover, during the pilot study, some of the results like zero-order
correlation, attitudinal and motivational differences by sex, place of residence and
mother tongue had been computed (by using t-test).
On the cover page of the attitude scale and motivation questionnaire, about 11 items
were prepared and presented to gather some information about the students'
personal background. Out of this personal information, two of the variables other than
attitude and motivation, sex and place of residence were collected from this part of
the data. That is, the sex and place of residence of the respondents are coded 0 and
1 since they were dummy variables.
Before implementing the major study, a pilot study was conducted in other schools,
which were not part of the main study. The pilot study helped to examine the
instrument of the study and thereby to improve the items according to the feedback.
For the pilot study 43 students from grade 7 and 30 students from grade 8, or in terms
of sex, 34 female and 39 male students were involved (i.e. 73 students for the whole
pilot study).
3.3. Data Analysis
As major statistical technique, linear multiple regression analysis was conducted. To
carry out this technique, the linearity and normality of the distribution was analyzed by
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using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) computer program. That is, by
using SPSS program the scatter plot of predicted values against residuals was drawn
to see the trend of linearity and absence of curvilinearity, the existence of outliers,
heteroscedasticity and the like. Students' two semesters average scores of Sidama
language of grades 6 and 7 was considered as a dependent variable. And students'
attitude scores, motivation scores, sex, and place of residence were employed as
independent variables. This method was used to investigate the joint effect of the
predictor variables on criterion variable, that is, to determine the strength of estimate
of all independent variables on dependent variable. In addition, stepwise (forward)
multiple regression analysis was employed to examine the independent contribution
of each variable. In other words, it was used to determine how much of each
independent variable adds to the estimation of dependent variable. In the mean time,
F-test was carried out to find out the significance of the contribution of each
independent variable. It also helped to learn the significance of the combination effect
of all independent variables.
Mean differences by sex, across the variables (attitude, motivation, and achievement)
were examined by using t-test to investigate attitudinal, motivational and achievement
differences between boys and girls.
Similarly, mean differences by place of residence across the variables (attitude,
motivation and achievement) were examined by using t-test so as to identify
differences between students who dwell in urban and rural areas.
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The t-test was computed to test achievement difference with respect to high and low
attitude towards mother tongue instruction. In this case, the upper and the lower 25%
attitude scores were taken into account. That is, the mean and variance of the
achievement scores corresponding to the upper and lower group of the attitude
scores were separately computed. To carry out the analysis, the SPSS program was
employed.
Furthermore, causal relationship model was hypothesized and path analysis was
carried out in order to determine direct and indirect effects. Meanwhile, the
consistency of the model with the sample data was confirmed on the basis of path
analysis technique. On the basis of path analysis technique (by using path
coefficients), the causal model was reconstructed. The paths with significantly low
coefficient identified by broken lines while the paths with strong coefficients were
identified by hard lines. And magnitude of direct and indirect relationships was
indicated on the new causal model. The coefficients of determination were calculated
to show the extent of effects of extraneous or unmeasured variables on the
endogenous dependent and independent variables. In view of path analysis, spurious
relationship of each variable with the criterion variable was computed. This helped to
depict the deceiving nature of zero-order relationship due to redundancy of
intercorrelations among independent variables so that it would clear the cloud of the
effects of independent variables.
And finally, the major factors affecting attitude towards mother tongue instruction was
analyzed with percentage and point-biserial correlation to assist the weakness of
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percentage. According to Ebel (1991) the point-biserial coefficients are used as
discrimination indices between two variables like score on test item and score on the
total test. That is why point-biserial correlation is also called item-test correlation. The
factors that were considered as major causes for the development of negative attitude
towards the use of vernaculars as medium of instruction were incorporated in the
attitude questionnaire as independent items. So to differentiate the significance of
contribution of each item to the total test score, item-test correlation is suitable index.
3.4. Variables
3.4.1. Dependent variable: The dependent variable used in the study was
Sidama language achievement score. The Sidama language exam
results or the cumulative averages of one year (of 1993 E.C.) were
collected from the record offices of the schools.
3.4.2. Independent variables: The independent variables instituted in this
study were two types: namely, sex and place of residences, which were
those variables that were collected from biographical data of the
respondent; and attitude and motivation scores, which were gathered
through students' self-response to the attitude scale and motivation
questionnaire.
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The linear regression equation that was employed in the study is presented as
follows:
Y' = + 1X1 + 2X2 + 3X3 + 4X4
Where: Y' = criterion variable (Sidama language achievement score)
X1 = attitude towards Sidama language as medium of instruction
X2 = place of residence (dichotomized as rural/urban and coded as
rural = 0, and urban = 1)
X3 = sex (coded as male = 1, and female = 0)
X4 = motivation to learn Sidama language and/or use it as a medium of
instruction
3.5. The Hypothesized Causal Model
Fig.3.1. Hypothetical Causal Relationship among Sex, Place of Residence, Attitude,
Motivation and Achievement
Sidamalanguage
achievement
Attitudetowardsmothertongue
Sex
Place ofresidence
Motivation
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Where: Sex
Place of residence
Attitude
Motivation
Achievement
Exogenous variables
Endogenous independent variables
Endogenous dependent variable
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
In this chapter the pilot and main study findings will be presented.
4.1. Results of the Pilot Study
The pilot study was conducted on 73 students (34 females and 39 males) of grades 7
and 8 at Awassa Hayk Elementary and Junior Secondary School. The school is one
of the junior schools at Awassa town. The main purpose of the study was to identify
and test the psychometric qualities of the research instruments. That is, to determine
the reliability coefficients of the instruments and to find out item discrimination power.
Secondly, the pilot study was aimed at identifying any construction problems and
thereby sharpening the instruments for the study.
4.1.1. Reliability and Validity of the Instruments
The reliability of the instrument was determined by the split half and Kuder-
Richardson methods. As the split-half method indicates the reliability coefficients of
the attitude questionnaire was 0.88 and that of the motivation questionnaire was 0.87.
Similarly, as to Kuder-Richardson method depicted, the reliability coefficient of both
attitude and motivation questionnaire was 0.87, which means almost the same result
with that of split-half method. That is, the reliability coefficients of both instruments
were very high (see Appendix 1, Tables 1 and 2). Regarding validity of the
instruments, one can comment only about content validity. This kind of validity is not
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statistical but experts could judge it. Therefore to keep the content validity of the
instruments, the items of each instrument were adopted from relevant standardized
tests and from some other questionnaires developed by investigators. The motivation
questionnaire was adopted from R. C. Gardner's "The Attitude/Motivation Test
Battery: Technical Report (1985)," which was requested by the researcher and used
by the permission of the author. In addition, the attitude questionnaire was adopted
from Taylor's (1973) Language Attitude Scale, Hofman and Cais's (1984) Language
maintenance and shift questionnaire, Fasold's (1984) and Bull's (1964) comment on
Unesco's committee report, and Zughoul and Taminian's (1984) language attitude
questionnaire.
4.1.2. The Discrimination Power of the Items
Regarding attitude questionnaire, out of 36-attitude items, item numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 10,
12, 23, 24, and 32 were with low discrimination power (see Appendix 1, Table 3).
Especially item number 12 discriminated negatively. Therefore, item numbers 1 and
12 were discarded and item numbers 2, 3, 5, 10, 23, 24, and 32 were discarded or
modified. But for high reliability coefficient of the instrument as we have seen above
(0.88), all the items with low discrimination indices were modified and the final
questionnaire of the main study also contains 36 items.
Regarding motivation questionnaire, item numbers 11, 12, 18 and 19 were with low
discrimination power (see Appendix 1, Table 4). Item number 12 would be discarded
due to zero discrimination indexes. Whereas item numbers 11, 18 and 19 were
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modified; however, all the items were retained with the necessary modifications
because of high reliability coefficient of the instrument.
4.1.3. The Relationship between Attitude and Motivation of Students towards
Mother Tongue Instruction
The zero order correlation coefficient of attitude and motivation scores was 0.69. That
is, the relationship between attitude and motivation of students towards mother
tongue instruction was moderate. This shows that those students who had positive
attitude towards Sidama language as medium of instruction were motivated to learn in
Sidama language.
4.1.4. Attitudinal and Motivational Differences by Sex, Place of Residence, and
Mother Tongue
There was no significant difference between rural and urban dwellers regarding
attitude and motivation towards mother tongue instruction (t(0.05/2, 71) = 1.83, p>0.05)
and (t(0.05/2, 71) = 1.19, p>0.05) respectively (see Appendix 1, Tables 5 and 6).
There was no significant difference between male and female students' attitudes and
motivation towards mother tongue instruction (t(0.05/2, 71) = -0.69, p>0.05) and (t(0.05/2, 71)
= 0.51, p>0.05) respectively (see Appendix 1, Tables 7 and 8).
There was significant difference between students whose mother tongue is Sidama
and non-Sidama with respect to attitude towards mother tongue instruction (t(0.05/2, 71)
= -2.54, p
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4.2.1. The Frequency Histogram and the Scatter Plot that Shows the Test
for Adequacy of the Regression Model Used in the Analysis
Fig.4.1. Frequency Histogram Showing Residual Distribution
Regression Standardized Residual
2.75
2.25
1.75
1.25
.75.25
-.25
-.75
-1
.25
-1
.75
-2
.25
-2
.75
Frequency
50
40
30
20
10
0
Std. Dev = .99
Mean = 0.00
N = 391.00
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4.2.2. Descriptive Statistics
Table 4.1. The Descriptive Statistics of the Variables Considered in the Study (N =
391)
Statistics
Range of scores
Variables Mean SD Minimum Maximum
Sex - - - -
POR - - - -
Att. 116.08 19.28 65.00 168.00
Mot. 40.53 4.84 21.00 48.00
Ach. 0.293 0.998 -2.46 3.03
Note: POR = The respondents' place of residence
Att. = Students' attitude towards mother tongue instruction
Mot. = Students' motivation towards mother tongue instruction
Ach. = Students' achievement scores on Sidama language in terms of z-score
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4.2.3. Sex Differences on Attitude, Motivation and Achievement
Table 4.2. Means, Standard Deviations and t-values for Boys and Girls on Attitude,
Motivation and Achievement
Male (n = 205) Female (n = 186)
Variables M SD M SD t p
Att. 117.68 20.45 114.21 17.78 -1.784 0.075
Mot. 40.60 4.87 40.46 4.82 -0.281 0.779
Ach. .483 10.04 .082 .951 -4.046 0.000
Note: Att. = Attitude Mot. = Motivation Ach. = Achievement
As we can see from Table 4.2 the mean scores of male and female students of
grades 7 and 8 on attitude and motivation were not significantly different at t(/2, 389) = -
1.784, p>.075 and t ((/2, 389) = -0.281, p>.779 respectively. Where as the mean scores
of male and female students of grades 7 and 8 on achievement were significantly
different at (t((/2, 389) = -4.046, p
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4.2.4. Attitudinal Orientation of Students towards Sidama Language as Medium
of Instruction
Table 4.3. Chi-square Test between Students Grouped under Positive (above the
Neutral Score) and Negative (below the Neutral Score) with Regard to
Attitude towards Sidama Language as Media of Instruction
Positive (above theneutral score)
Negative (below theneutral score)
2 Sig.
Observed 265 126Expected 195.5 195.5
49.414 .000
Note: The neutral scores (108) added to the negative side since the score was low
The result indicates that the number of students in the upper group (those students
who had been considered to had positive attitude) significantly different from the
number of students in the lower group (those students who had been considered to
had negative attitude) at 2 = 49.414, p < .000. This indicates that those students who
had positive attitude were more than those who had negative attitude towards Sidama
language as medium of instruction. Furthermore, more significant result would be
achieved if we use the method of liquidating neutral scores (Babbie, 1995: 381-384)
into both positive and negative sides instead of adding them to negative side only
(see Appendix 2, Table 2).
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4.2.5. Place of Residence and Differences on Attitude, Motivation and
Achievement
Table 4.4. Means, Standard Deviations and t-values for Boys and Girls on Attitude,
Motivation and Achievement.
Urban (n = 221) Rural (n = 170)Variables M SD M SD t p
Att. 112.40 19.36 120.76 18.17 4.344 .000Mot. 39.74 5.27 41.56 4.00 3.754 .000
Ach. 0.056 0.975 0.598 0.946 5.518 .000
Note: Att. = Attitude Mot. = Motivation Ach. = Achievement
As Table 4.4 indicates the mean scores of urban and rural students of grades 7 and 8
on attitude, motivation and achievement were significantly different at t ( /2, 389) =
4.344, 3.754, 5.518, p < .000 respectively. This shows that those students who dwell
in the rural part scored higher in attitude, motivation and achievement than those who
dwell in urban areas.
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4.2.6. Achievement Differences of Students with Low/High Attitude and with
Low/High Motivation
Table 4.5. Means, Standard Deviations and t-values of Achievement for Students with
Low/High Attitude and Motivation towards Mother Tongue Instruction with
Respect to Upper and Lower 25%
AchievementVariables Group No. M SD t p
Lower 98* 0.003 0.901Att.Upper 98* 0.788 0.931 -5.997 .000
Lower 98* -0.078 0.861Mot.
Upper 98* 0.501 1.045 -4.236 .000
* The lower and upper 25% of the 391 respondents who scored low and high on
attitude and motivation with respect to achievement are equal (98 persons)
From Table 4.5, the mean score of achievement of students who scored high and low
on attitude scale differ to a statistically significant extent at t( /2, 194) = -5.997, p
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To strengthen this result, comparison of means were undertaken to test achievement
differences of students with low and high attitude and motivation with consideration of
the median score (i.e. with respect to the upper and lower 50%). The result was
exactly similar with Table 4.5 above (see Appendix 2, Table 1).
4.2.7. Mother Tongue and other Language Differences on Attitude, Motivation
and Achievement
Table 4.6. Means, Standard Deviations and t-values for Sidama and other Language
Speakers as Mother Tongue on Attitude, Motivation and Achievement
Sidama mothertongue (n = 251)
Others (n = 140)
Variables M SD M SDt p
Att. 122.04 17.83 105.26 17.01 -9.065 .000Mot. 41.82 3.86 38.24 5.53 -7.497 .000Ach. .6156 .9269 -.2889 .8491 -9.529 .000
As Table 4.6 indicates the mean scores of Sidama mother tongue speakers and other
language speakers of grades 7 and 8 students were significantly different with regard
to attitude, motivation and achievement in favor of Sidama language speakers (t (/2,
389) = -9.065, -7.497, -9.529, p < .000 respectively). This shows that Sidama language
speakers had favorable attitude towards Sidama language as medium of instruction
than other language speakers. This in turn perhaps helped them to be more
motivated to use and learn Sidama in classroom situation.
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4.2.8. Correlation Analysis of Variables in the Study for the Pooled Subjects
Table 4.7. Means, Standard Deviations and the Zero-Order Correlation Matrix of the
Variables in the Study for the Pooled Subjects
Variables M SD 1 2 3 41. Sex - -2. POR - - -.195**3. Att. 116.08 19.28 .090 -.215**
4. Mot. 40.53 4.84 .014 -.187** .363**
5. Ach. 52.92 9.98 .201** -.269** .290** .241**
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Correlation is not significant
As Table 4.7 shows attitude was positively and significantly related with Sidama
language achievement (r = .290, p
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positive and not statistically significant (r = 0.090, p>0.01 and r = .014, p>0.01
respectively).
In contrast, place of residence was negatively and significantly related with attitude,
motivation and achievement (r = -0.215, p
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4.2.9. Correlation Analysis of the Variables in the Study for Sex Subgroups
Table 4.8. Correlation Matrix of the Variables Treated for Sex Subgroup
Variables 1 2 3 41. POR -.297** -.318** -.255**2. Att. -.076 .484** .354**3. Mot. -.034 .210** .194**4. Ach. -.221** .178* .301**
Note: The correlation coefficients above the main diagonal are for males and below
the diagonal are for females.
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Correlation is not significant
As Table 4.8 indicates achievement was positively and significantly related with
attitude for both boys and girls (r = 0.354, p
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Secondly, the relationship between attitude and motivation for both males and
females was positive and significant (r = .484, p
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4.2.10. Causal Relationship of the Variables Treated in the Study for the Pooled
Subjects
Fig.4.3. A Path Model Portraying Causal Relationships among Sex, Place of
Residence, Attitude, Motivation and Achievement for Pooled Samples (N =
391)
Note: Path coefficients are standardized betas ('s);
Dotted lines indicate path coefficients not statistically significant.
POR(X2)
Sex
(X1)
Att. (X3)R2 = 0.049
Mot. (X4)R2 = 0.146
Ach. (X5)
R2
= 0.165
0.148
-0.174
0.05
-0.122
0.138
0.189
0.340-0.040
-0.205
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Table 4.9. Decomposition of Effects from the Path Analysis
Effect Standardized coefficients
(Betas)
R2 t p
On Achievement - 0.165 .000Sex 0.148 3.114 .002POR -0.174 -3.568 .000Att. 0.189 3.729 .000Mot. 0.138 2.740 .006
On Attitude - 0.049 .000Sex 0.050 - 0.992 .322POR -0.205 - -4.067 .000
On Motivation - 0.146 .000
Sex -0.040 - -0.837 .403POR -0.122 - -2.486 .013Attitude 0.340 - 7.062 .000
Note:
Table 4.9 shows what is presented on Fig. 4.3 except t-value and its
significance correspondingly
N = 391
As we can observe from Fig. 4.3 and Table 4.9, the effect of sex on achievement ( =
0.148, t = 3.114, p
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negative statistically significant coefficients predict that the predictor variable has
negative relationship with the criterion variable. That is, in the case of coded
variables, if those variables that were given code "1" correlate with high scores, the
coefficients will be positive and if those variables coded "0" associated with high
scores the coeficients will be negative. This means that place of residence also is
indicator of Sidama language achievement. Meanwhile the effect of place of
residence on attitude ( = -0.205, t = -4.067, p0.322) was positive and not statistically significant. The effect of place of residence
on motivation ( = -0.122, t = -2.486, p
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4.2.11. Combined and Independent Contributions of Predictor Variables
Table 4.10. ANOVA Summary Table for Multiple Regression Analysis
Model SS df MS F Sig.1 Regression 3262.805 1 3262.805 35.663 .000
Residual 35589.503 389 91.490Total 38852.308 390
2 Regression 5010.144 2 2505.072 28.721 .000
Residual 33842.164 388 87.222Total 38852.308 3903 Regression 5767.193 3 1922.398 22.486 .000
Residual 33085.115 387 85.491Total 38852.308
4 Regression 6398.288 4 1599.572 19.025 .000Residual 32454.020 386 84.078
Total 38852.308 390
Notes:
Model 1. Attitude scores
2. Attitude scores, Place of residence
3. Attitude scores, Place of residence, Sex
4. Attitude scores, Place of residence, Sex, Motivation scores
Dependent Variable: Achievement
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Table 4.11. Model Summary Table for Multiple Regression Analysis
Combined effect Independentcontribution
Change Statistics
R R2 df1 df2 FChange
Sig. FChange
Model R R2 R2 FChange
df1 df2 Sig. FChange
.406 .165 4 386 19.025 .000 1 .290 .084 .084 35.663 1 389 .0002 .359 .129 .045 20.033 1 388 .0003 .385 .148 .019 8.855 1 387 .0034 .406 .165 .016 7.506 1 386 .006
Notes:
Model 1. Attitude scores
2. Attitude scores, Place of residence
3. Attitude scores, Place of residence, Sex
4. Attitude scores, Place of residence, Sex, Motivation scores
Dependent Variable: Achievement
The combined effect of sex, place of residence, attitude and motivation explained
16.5% of the total variability in Sidama language achievement (F (4, 386) = 19.025,
p
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4.2.12. Summary of Direct, Indirect, and Spurious Effects on Achievement
Table 4.12. Direct, Indirect, and Spurious Effects on Achievement
Zero-
order ()
Spurious Direct Indirect Total
SexVia Mot. (-0.040 X 0.138) -0.006Via Att. [(0.05 X
.189)+(0.05 X 0.34X 0.138)]
0.011
0.201 0.048 0.148 0.005 0.153
PORVia Mot. (-0.122 X 0.138) -0.017Via Att. [(-0.205 X
0.189)+(-0.205 X0.34 X 0.138)
-0.049
-0.269 0.029 -0.174 -0.066 -0.240
AttVia Mot. (0.34 X 0.138) 0.047
0.290 0.054 0.189 0.047 0.236
Mot. 0.241 0.103 0.138 - 0.138
As Table 4.12 indicates the direct effect of attitude was stronger on achievement than
that of other variables. The next strong direct effect that we see on achievement was
by place of residence. The direct effect of sex and motivation on achievement follows
the subsequent order respectively. On the other hand in the case of total effect place
of residence takes the leading position and then attitude, sex and motivation follow
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succeeding order respectively. Even though the direct effect of sex, place of
residence, attitude and motivation on achievement are statistically significant, as we
have seen on Fig. 4.3 above, each independent variable was spuriously related with
the criterion variable due to common causes. That is, firstly in the case of sex, out of
the total effect (0.153), 0.148 or about 96.73% was direct and the rest 3.27% was
indirect. In respect to zero-order relationship with achievement, about 23.88% was
spurious due to significant correlation with place of residence (r = -0.195, p
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Table 4.13. Decomposition of Effects from the Path Analysis for Sex Subgroups
Effect Standardized
coefficients(s)
R2 t p
On Achievement 0.146[0.150]POR -0.204[-0.166] -2.966[-2.267] .003[.018]Att. 0.105[0.309] 1.502[4.092] .135[.000]Mot. 0.272[-0.008] 3.888[-0.111] .000[.912]On Attitude 0.006[0.088]POR -0.076[-0.297] -1.033[-4.424] .303[.000]On Motivation 0.044[0.268]POR -0.018[-0.192] -0.251[-3.042] .802[.003]Attitude 0.208[0.427] 2.876[6.775] .005[.000]
Notes: The numbers in the parentheses are for boys and out side the parentheses are
for girls
Table 4.13 shows what is presented on Fig. 4.4 except t-value and its
significance correspondingly
As indicated on Fig. 4.4 above, the direct effect of place of residence on achievement
for both boys and girls were = -0.204, t = -2.966, p
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4.2.14. Impediments Affecting the Attitude towards Mother Tongue Instruction
Table 4.14. Point-Biserial Coefficient Indices and Agreement and Disagreement
Response Distribution on Some Selected Items That Show the Major
Causes for Negative Attitude towards Mother Tongue Instruction
Item
No.
Negative factors affecting individuals'
attitude in using vernacular language as
medium of instruction
Item-test
correlation
coefficients
Agree Disagree
28 Lack of textbooks and other educationalmaterials
0.33 55% 45%
29 Lack of general reading materials 0.31 58.15% 41.85%
30 A shortage of trained teachers 0.26 59% 41%
31 Inadequacy of vocabulary 0.44 52% 48%
34 The writing system of many languagesdoes not agree with the pressing needof the modern world
0.55 52% 48%
As we can see from Table 4.14, "A shortages of trained teachers" (r = 0.26 or 59%)
and "Lack of general reading materials" (r = 0.31 or 58.15%) were the most important
factors that lead students towards negative attitude. "Lack of textbooks and other
educational materials" (r = 0.33 or 55%) was a bit lesser cause for negative attitude.
The third and fourth crucial factors that affect the students' attitude towards Sidama
language as medium of instruction negatively were "Inadequacy of vocabulary" (r =
0.44 or 52%) and "The problem of disagreement of writing system with the modern
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than those who had negative attitude (t(194) = -5.997, p < .000). Likewise the
comparison of means on the basis of above and below the median score showed
similar result that students with positive attitude towards Sidama language as medium
of instruction scored high on Sidama language (t(388) = -5.929, p < .000). The zero-
order correlation also indicated that attitude related positively and significantly with
achievement (r = 0.290, p < .01).
The finding is congruent with some available foreign studies. According to Fasold
(1984) even though there are no abundant studies on the area - attitude towards
mother tongue - there is some evidence that language attitude may influence
learning. However, studies were conducted mainly on attitude towards second
language, the learners' attitudes toward the language that they are learning affect
their academic progress. As to Fasold, not only students' attitude but also teachers'
attitudes toward language of instruction affect students' academic performance. On
the other hand, as for Nunan and Lamb (1996), in the condition of a learner's negative
attitude towards language, learning can be handicapped or even tend to be impotent.
From this result we can deduce some possible explanation about the relationship
between attitude and achievement. In the first place, as many social psychologists
agree, attitude is an internal state that affects any overt behavior; it can negotiate the
students' response toward learning by their own vernacular language. Secondly,
favoring native language is due to sentimentalism (Hofman & Cais, 1984; Zughoul &
Taminian, 1984; Baker, 1988; R. C. Gardner as cited by Berry, 1992). Such
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From this we can draw some possible explanation. In the first place, in our case the
study was conducted on mother tongue since it would have equal feelings for both
girls and boys. It is expected that attitude towards mother tongue develops from early
childhood and it gets deep rooted in course of development. It develops as strong
feeling with out sex variations as 'an important component of culture, and as
remarkable feature of the individual's social, cultural or ethnic identity' (Hamers &
Blanc, 2000).
Unlike sex similarities in attitude and motivation, there was achievement difference
between male and female students of grades 7 and 8 of the Zone in favor of males (M
= 0.483, t = -4.046, p < .000). This result is incompatible with that of many authorities
who consistently agreed on achievement differences of boys and girls with regard to
verbal and quantitative tasks. That is, as to Eccles (1984) though such kinds of
differences were very small, girls usually accomplish better than boys on verbal
duties, whereas boys accomplish better than girls on quantitative duties. But as to
Matlin (1996) boys can perform better than girls in verbal tasks if contents like science
and business that favor males are included. The research result which agreed with
Matlin's view, where male students of grades 7 and 8 of the Zone surpassed female
students might be due to the nature of contents included in tests rather than the true
inherent ability differences of boys and girls.
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5.3. Place of Residence Differences on Attitude towards Sidama Language as
Medium of Instruction
Unlike the pilot study result, comparison of means for the main study indicates that
rural dweller students of grades 7 and 8 of the Sidama Zone had more positive
attitude towards Sidama language as medium of instruction than that of urban
dwellers (M = 120.76, t = 4.344, p < .000). This result agreed with the study
conducted on Welsh language as reviewed by Baker (1988), which revealed that the
length of residence could affect language attitude (a less favorable attitude tends to
be held by immigrants). This was because of those immigrants who came from other
communities that speak different languages other than Welsh. Likewise in the case of
this study the reason that urban dwellers had less favorable attitude towards Sidama
language as instructional media might be due to the number of different languages
spoken in towns. Secondly the effect of globalization, TV, contact with diversified
ethnic groups, loss identification with their ethnic identity, mixed cultural exposure and
the like could have negative impact on urban students' attitude. On the other hand,
those students of rural parts had no other chance of speaking other languages widely
in community than Sidama language, except Amharic and English in the classroom
as medium of instruction. So students of the rural parts of the Zone prefer Sidama to
express themselves and use it as medium of instruction than urban students.
That might be the main reasons why those students of rural dwellers had more
favorable motivation to learn Sidama language in the classroom (M = 41.56, t =
3.754, p < .000) and achieve more in Sidama language (M = 0.598, t = 5.518, p
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.000) than those who dwell in urban areas. That is, as the study result indicates and
mentioned above, generally those students who had favorable attitude towards
Sidama language as medium of instruction scored higher grade in Sidama language
than those who had less favorable attitude.
5.4. The Combined and Independent Contribution of the Variables in the Study
for the Variance of Sidama Language Achievement
As multiple regression analysis reveals sex, place of residence, attitude and
motivation to use Sidama language as medium of instruction contributed statistically
significant portion of the variance of the Sidama language achievement (R2 = 0.165, p
< .000). In other words, as multiple regression ANOVA confirms, in general 16.5%
(F(4,386) = 19.025, p
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indirect effect (65.17% and 16.21% respectively) of attitude on achievement. And
finally, about 42.74% of the zero order relationship of motivation with achievement
was spurious. And the left over (57.26%) was genuine direct effect of motivation on
achievement.
In harmony with the results indicated above many scholars agree that especially
attitude and motivation are significant contributors of achievement. As to Ba