Australian Journal of Teacher Education - Volume 39 - Issue 2 - Article 1 - Crises in EFL Proficiency and Teacher Development in the Context of International Donation and Transformation Discourses

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine

Since 2000, Ethiopia has pursued social recovery, modernization, and the Millennium Development Goals despite receiving billions in support from Western donors and international agents. Observable change remains limited, with crises continuing—especially within education. The study analyzes a central paradox: the crisis in teachers’ EFL proficiency alongside discourses of international aid and transformation of the education system. Participants include 25 randomly selected EFL teachers and teacher educators, with qualitative data gathered via questionnaires and participant observation and analyzed through a reflective constant-comparative method.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Study context and programs

Data collection and analysis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 39 | Issue 2 | Article 1 | | --- | --- | 2014 Crises in EFL Proficiency and Teacher Development in the Context of International Donation and Transformation Discourses Dereje Tadesse Birbirso Haramaya University, Ethiopia, [dttadesse@yahoo.com](dttadesse@yahoo.com) Recommended Citation Birbirso, D. T. (2014). Crises in EFL Proficiency and Teacher Development in the Context of International Donation and Transformation Discourses. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39 (2). Retrieved from [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss2/1](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss2/1) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss2/1](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss2/1) Australian Journal of Teacher Education Crises in EFL Proficiency and Teacher Development in the Context of International Donation and Transformation Discourses Dereje Tadesse Birbirso Haramaya University Ethiopia Abstract: Since 2000, Ethiopia has been working to come out of social crises, modernise itself and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Although provided with billions of dollars by the West and their international agents, little has been changed and the crises seem never to abate, especially in the educational system. This study, thus, critically analysed a paradox of Ethiopia’s educational problems: the crisis in teachers’ EFL proficiency, on the one hand, and the discourses of international aids and transformation of her educational system, on the other. The main participants are 25 randomly selected EFL teachers and teacher educators from all corners of the country. Qualitative data were collected through questionnaire and participant observation. Reflective constant-comparative method of data analysis was employed. The results show that the problem of ‘poor’ English proficiency is the effect of poor living and working conditions arising from dictatorial policy-practices spearheaded by agents of the local state and, partly, of the donor states themselves. Background Quite (perhaps over-) ambitiously, Ethiopia has been working hard since 2000 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 with the help from international donors, which an Ethiopian government document calls ‘Pooled Fund Partners’ (PFP) (MOE, 2008) . The first and second stages of the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) were phased out over 2000-2005 and 2005-2009. Consequently, since 2010, what is called the‘Growth and Transformation Plan’(GTP) was set by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED, 2010a) to guide the country’s Five-Year Plan (2010-2015) for‘extricating itself from poverty and [becoming] a middle-income economy’ and ‘a country where democratic rule, good-governance and social justice reigns [sic]’ but also achieving the Millennium Development Goal which one? (MOFED, 2010a, 4-7) . Central to the GTP objectives is to ‘expand and ensure the qualities [sic]of education’(MOFED, 2010a, 7; 2010b, 18-20) . The Ethiopian government regularly expresses, on the state controlled media, its full confidence that the country is one of the few in Africa that will achieve the Millennium Goal. The role of international aid and intervention in supporting Ethiopia’s educational‘transformation plans’ has been considerably significant. In 2002, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MOE), pointed to weaknesses in teacher performance as a principal factor, and the Teacher Development Program (TDP) was developed in response, at a cost of €60 million (FDRE, 2008, 15; MOE, 2002). The TDP was funded by PFPs like Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Vol 39, 2, February 2014 1 Australian Journal of Teacher Education the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 2010, 2) . The TDP consisted of three main programs: the Teacher Education System Overhaul included the professio

FAQs

What paradox does the study focus on in Ethiopia’s education system?

The study focuses on the coexistence of a crisis in teachers’ EFL proficiency and the discourses promoted through international aid and educational transformation plans.

Who participated in the research?

The study involved 25 randomly selected EFL teachers and teacher educators from across Ethiopia.

How were the qualitative data collected and analyzed?

Qualitative data were collected through questionnaires and participant observation, then analyzed using a reflective constant-comparative method.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine