The Use of Viber in Enhancing the Vocabulary Skills of Ethiopian Undergraduate Students: The Case of St. Mary’s University

This paper was presented at the 10th Edition of the Innovation in Language Learning conference, held November 9-10, 2017, in Florence, Italy.In this era of technology, it is believed that English language learning has been made more accessible and easier for those who are interested to learn it. Part of utilizing today’s technology includes using a smart phone, not only for social communication purposes but also for learning. One of the applications used for learning in this regard is Viber which can be installed on cell phones for people to communicate not only individually but in group. This may be considered as an important tool for language learning, as a cell phone opens a gate for downloading, uploading and storing learning materials and information files. This study attempts to explore the use of Viber in developing vocabulary skills during group chat among university learners at St. Mary’s University in Ethiopia. Twenty undergraduate students taking ‘Sophomore English Course’ at the University were selected using simple random sampling. Interview and focus group discussion were used to find out if Viber helped them to enhance their vocabulary skills. The findings show that the use of Viber can enable students to develop their vocabulary skills through a lifelong and informal activity, though some words may be spelt incorrectly and the communication could be full of abbreviations and acronyms. The study revealed that university teachers can use this application, in a controlled manner, to help their students improve their vocabulary skills

The Quest for Refugee Higher Education in Ethiopia: The Case of Self-financing Eritreans

The definitive,peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning Volume 21, Number 2, May 2019, pp. 120-140. https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.21.2.120This study examines the challenges of Eritrean refugees attending their tertiary education in selected private medical colleges in Ethiopia, and the support schemes available to help them cope with their problems. The research involves a sample of 40 randomly selected refugee students and uses focus group discussion and interview as principal methods of data collection. The findings reveal that Eritrean refugee students in Ethiopia face a variety of challenges identified as academic, linguistic, emotional/psychological and sociocultural. Although there are some forms of support offered at governmental level, the institutional level of support is found to be deficient in many respects. Hence, further improvements in facilitating refugee higher education in Ethiopia are posited