Research Article

Ethiopian Early Grade English Teachers’ Preparedness to Teach Basic Reading Skills

Table 3

Teachers’ response on their feelings of preparedness.

No.ItemsMean scores

1Teaching children how to identify, isolate, separate, blend, and manipulate sounds in spoken words2.23
2Teaching children to use phonics skills to figure out how to pronounce unfamiliar words2.00
3Teaching children to monitor how well they understand what they read and correct the problems as they occur2.03
4Using a variety of methods to teach children the meaning of words, including direct and indirect instruction, multiple exposures, and repetition1.93
5Identifying the words in a text that children do not know and using their background knowledge to help them figure out word meanings1.93
6Making instructional decisions based on assessments of children’s oral reading fluency1.66
7Teaching children a variety of strategies for understanding the text they read, such as using graphic organizers, making predictions, asking questions, and identifying the main ideas2.16
8Teaching phonics to children in a systematic way, with a series of skills and activities1.63
9Teaching children to recognize letters and name them2.13
10Having children repeatedly read the same text aloud to improve their speed, accuracy, and expression1.86
11Using textbooks, teacher’s guide, and other age appropriate supplementary readers1.70
12Assessing children’s progress in acquiring reading skills1.60
13Using a variety of teaching strategies to teach early reading1.86
14Preparing teaching aids and creating literacy rich environment with locally available materials1.96
Overall mean1.90

0 = not at all prepared; 1 = somewhat prepared; 2 = mostly prepared; 3 = adequately prepared.