The Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences and Language Studies (EJSSLS)

A Quest for Evidence-based, Interactive, and Context-fit Grade 12 National Examination Management Approach in Ethiopia

2024-05-13T20:49:21+00:00

The grade 12 national examination management approach is visibly a top national agenda of high school
students, their parents and teachers, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Educational
Assessment and Examinations Service (EAES), public universities, regional and city administration
education bureaus, and the public and government at large.

The English Language Needs Analysis of Samara University Health Science Students

2024-05-15T07:48:43+00:00

The purpose of this study was to investigate the English language needs of health science college students at
Samara University to design a specific English language course material that fits their needs. The study is
crucial because it helps to develop appropriate English course that fits the needs of the students for the target
use. As a result, 15 students from the fourth year of Health Science College in the academic year 2021/2022
were chosen using a purposive sampling technique. The study included six subject-area instructors from
Samara University and six health workers from Dubt Hospital (through purposeful sampling). The data was
gathered using a qualitative research approach. This study's data was gathered through observations, document
analysis, and interviews. The data analysis was made based on procedures to descriptive and themes. The
findings revealed that highly technical medical English terms were used in academic fields of study and
professional settings. The findings also showed that throughout their internship program, health science
students require translation skills, reporting skills, grammatical skills, and the ability to describe the patient,
condition, location, and pathology of internal organs, which will aid them in their future professional careers.
The study also discovered that students‟ failure to report their internship outcomes during their internship
program was caused in part by a lack of English language abilities. As a result, for health science students in
Samara University, Ethiopia, ESP should be designed throughout the undergraduate program taking into
accounts both students' academic field of study and future profession.

The Portrayal of Women in Stickers Displayed in Taxis in Ethiopia

2024-05-29T12:25:59+00:00

The main purpose of this study was to explore the portrayal of women in textual stickers that are communicated
among drivers, conductors, commuters, and the public who travel by taxis and bajaj in Ethiopia. The stickers
were collected from taxis and the three-wheeled vehicles (widely called bajaj) that are used for the same
purpose working in purposively selected towns (Adama, Bahir Dar, Hawassa, and Jimma) located in Oromia,
Amhara, and Sidama Regional States, and from the two City Administrations (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa),
Ethiopia. Discourse analysis (critical and textual) and interpretative phenomenological analysis were used as
theories and analysis methods. The findings reveal stickers that superficially seem entertaining via the content
they carry and their language, which is rich in metaphors, label women either positively or negatively. When
portrayed positively, women are merely positioned as loving and caring mothers and partners. Contrarily,
negative portrayals of women depict them as if they were worried about their looks, wealth, and sex. By doing
so, vehicle stickers promote, inculcate, and communicate gender stereotypes among the
commuting community through taxis and bajaj, the main urban road transport service providers.
Subsequently, a significant uncritical group of the larger public could further share such a portrayal of women.
Accordingly, using stickers for acceptable ends has been suggested, among others, as a means of promoting
social goods endowed with women, and as an avenue for promoting the health and well-being of society.

The Motifs of Demonizing and Feminizing Nature in King Solomon’s Mines and Heart of Darkness

2024-06-23T10:39:40+00:00

This study examines the portrayal of nature in two colonial novels set in Africa, specifically analyzing the
recurring motifs of demonization and feminization. Drawing on ecocriticism attuned to postcolonial and
ecofeminist perspectives, it examines how King Solomon's Mines and Heart of Darkness depict the African
landscape. The study collected data from the novels through close reading, focusing on how the characters and
narrators interact with nature. Using the theoretical framework of ecocriticism, the study analyzed the use of
literary devices such as metaphors and metonymy to understand the symbolic representation of the human-nature
relationship in the novel. The study reveals how the African landscape is depicted as a labyrinthine,
savage, and feminine space that white male protagonists must conquer. This demonization and feminization, the
study argues, are rooted in the ideological justifications for imperialism and Victorian anxieties about the
unknown and the feminine. By revealing these narrative strategies and considering the specific historical
context of their production, the study contends that the narratives in these novels aimed to legitimize the
colonization of Africa and the subjugation of its people. By deconstructing these literary portrayals, the study
opens doors to exploring the environmental consciousness of counter-discourses offered by earlier African
novelists, potentially challenging the colonial gaze and its lasting effects.

Reinvigorating Pan-Africanism to Tackle the Challenges of Political Commitment in African Economic Integration

2024-06-24T07:47:42+00:00

Policy studies in Africa indicate that Pan-Africanism has been assumed to lay the foundations for regional
integration in Africa. The regional economic communities have been tasked with transitioning African
countries to the continental single economic community. The African Union endorsed eight regional
economic communities. East African Community is one of the eight regional economic communities. This
study investigated the challenges related to the political commitment of leaders and technocrats in the case
of the East African Community. The paper used a scoping desk review (for secondary data), key informant
interviews and focus group discussions (for primary) as data collection methods. A thematic analysis was
conducted based on the checklist of variables. The study revealed that the EAC‟s Pan-African continental
integration agenda struggles with leaders and technocrats‟ lack of political commitment. This weak political
commitment led to a weak implementation of the Pan-African initiatives. The technocrats are highly
obsessed with the neoliberal agenda, and this did not give adequate expertise and support for the
implementation of the Pan-African projects. The study documented policy evidence on the results of the
implementation of initiatives on the one hand and the implied weakness of the political commitment from
leaders and technocrats at the EAC. Thus, interventions geared towards improving the political commitment
of leaders and technocrats are required to implement the agenda of Pan-African regional integration in the
EAC and the other regional economic communities.

A Pragmatic Analysis of Maccaa Oromo Marriage Proverbs

2024-06-25T10:25:09+00:00

This study analyses marriage proverbs of the Maccaa Oromo in Horro Guduru using John R. Searle's (1979)
Speech Act Theory to understand the speakers' intentions. The research aims to identify the illocutionary acts,
their forces, and explore their effects on the audience. Data gathered through interviews and observations were
analyzed using a descriptive qualitative method. Sixteen proverbs were analyzed and categorized into
contextual themes like faith, omens, upbringing, morals, advice, wisdom, kinship, and status. The findings
reveal five types of illocutionary acts—assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarative— essential
for grasping pragmatic functions and intentions. The study illustrates how these proverbs facilitate
communication, strengthen social bonds, provide cultural insights, offer guidance, issue warnings, and explain
Oromo societal values that affect marital relationships. As revealed by the study, with explicit and implied
meanings, proverbs convey various illocutionary forces like asserting, informing, criticizing, advising, warning,
hoping, marrying, praising, regretting, validating, and complimenting, each triggering various perlocutionary
effects on the audience‘s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. The effects include persuading, convincing,
invoking, reminding, frightening, inspiring, pleasing, and humiliating. The fusion of implicatures with
illocutionary forces and perlocutionary effects enriches communication, enhancing interpretive comprehension.
The study underscores how these proverbs reflect and perpetuate the community‘s cultural values, beliefs,
norms, and communication dynamics, emphasizing the importance of considering cultural context and
pragmatic implications to reveal profound wisdom. It suggests further exploration of Oromo proverbs from
diverse pragmatic lenses like politeness strategies, and philosophical, sociological, and anthropological
perspectives to unveil additional knowledge systems.