The Effectiveness of Grade One English Interactive Radio Instruction Programs in Ethiopia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out whether Interactive Radio
Instruction (IRI) English Programs in Grade One were effective in Ethiopia.
The primary objective of the study was to measure student learning gains in
English Listening Comprehension. A secondary objective was to determine
if IRI programs had differential impact on girls and boys, and on urban/rural
schools. A basic experimental design was used to compare the learning
gains of children in classes using the IRI English programs and children in
traditional English classes. Participants in this study constituted control and
experimental groups and they were randomly selected and assigned to their
respective groups. The sample size was 1466 children for both groups. The
dependent variable, student scholastic achievement score was measured at
two occasions: pre-test and post-test. For the pre-test both control and
experimental students were given a listening comprehension test, which
was recorded on a cassette. After an interval of seven months, which
constituted a treatment period, the same test was given to the same
students in their respective groups. The treatment consisted of 5 fifteenminute interactive radio lessons every week in experimental schools.
Traditional instruction was given in the control schools and there was no
exposure of the students to IRI in these schools. Results indicate that
students exposed to IRI gained significantly more than students in non-IRI
or traditional instruction. In addition, in the IRI classes, female students
gained more than male students. From this it was recommended that the
use of interactive radio programs has to be expanded to benefit all students
in Ethiopian primary schools.