An Investigation Into The Research Culture Of Addis Ababa University The Case Of Teaching English As A Foreign Language (tefl) Phd Program

This study aimed at investigating the research culture of the TeachingrnEnglish as a Foreign Language (TEFL) PhD program of Addis AbabarnUniversity. It also aimed at identifying factors contributing to this culture.rnMixed methods approach was employed for the study, which is mainlyrnqualitative, but also uses quantitative techniques for triangulation purposes.rnThe study participants were 40 TEFL PhD students of the university selectedrnusing stratified random sampling technique and 16 EFL educators of thernuniversity selected using comprehensive sampling technique. The qualitativerndata was collected using interviews held with five EFL Educators and fivernTEFL PhD candidates; focus group discussions with 12 PhD candidates; andrndocument review of relevant policy documents and research guidelines ofrnthe University. The quantitative data was drawn using two types ofrnquestionnaires-one type administered to 16 EFL educators of the universityrnand the other to 40 TEFL PhD candidates; and a content analysis of titles ofrnongoing TEFL PhD researches and of dissertations done at the departmentrn• in the years 1993-2010 and available at the library. While a thematicrncontent analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data, percentages werernused to analyze the quantitative data.rnThe study found out that even though official documents of the university,rnTEFL PhD candidates and their guides state that EFL research, includingrnPhD researches should serve problem-solving purposes, little or no resultrngets into actual use. And PhD students' knowing of this reality is found tornbe discouraging that many feel also their dissertations will remain on shelf,rnand thus they feel they do the research mainly for fulfillment. Selection ofrntitles for a PhD research was found to focus on what can be done just forrnfulfillment rather than what pressing problems can be solved. Most of thernPhD researches from 1993-2010 and also the ongoing ones concentraternaround certain themes, contexts, and employed almost similar methods.rnMixed results were found regarding supervision of PhD researches, whilern• advisors claim that they give critical feedback and allot adequate time forrndiscussion with their advisees, advisees reflected a range of concerns inrnrelation to the quality and process of supervision, i.e. the feedback andrnoverall coaching was found to be unsatisfactory in terms of depth andrnbreadth, and the advisor-advisee relationships were characterized quiternunfriendly, and thus affecting advisees commitments and the quality of theirrnresearches. It was also found that seminar and defense sessions arernbecoming venues just for evaluative reflections from the side of examiners or

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