My research asks how teachers can help learners take charge of their own learning. My doctoral study at Bahir Dar University tested whether teacher educators' mediation helps first-year pre-service teachers develop the cognitive and metacognitive strategies that make them autonomous EFL readers. In a quasi-experimental study with 80 students at Kotebe University of Education, mediation clearly improved strategy use, reading autonomy and reading performance. The findings were published in PLOS ONE in 2026.
I also study how technology is used in teacher education, including a study of computer-assisted language learning in six Ethiopian colleges of teacher education, and I bring research methods to programme work: desk reviews, instrument design, field data collection and analysis for curriculum and materials reviews.
My earlier MEd research explored learner autonomy in the EFL speaking classroom in Catholic secondary schools in Addis Ababa. Across this work the goal is practical: evidence that teachers, teacher educators and programme designers can act on.
Reading, speaking and strategy instruction in English as a foreign language, with a focus on mediation and learner autonomy.
Pre-service and in-service teacher education, training of trainers, mentoring and reflective practice.
Syllabi, scope and sequence, textbooks, teacher guides and training modules aligned with national standards.
Sector planning, programme management, monitoring and evaluation, accreditation and quality assurance.
Computer-assisted language learning, ICT in teaching and digital skills for teachers.
Principal investigator (doctoral researcher)
Quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study showing that teacher educators' mediation improved first-year students' cognitive and metacognitive reading…
Bahir Dar University; Kotebe University of Education
Co-researcher
Questionnaire and interview study of how English teacher educators at six Ethiopian colleges of teacher education use computer-assisted language…