Mäsob: Designing a new Amharic coursebook

Abstract

This article presents a project to design a new Amharic coursebook which draws upon current approaches to language teaching, and will provide stimulating learning materials for its users. The coursebook will target university students at A1 level, and in its content and structure will aim, for the first time in the history of Amharic language teaching, to conform to the spirit of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Topic-based and task-based syllabi will form the backbone of the coursebook. It will contain a range of activities in which students, while learning grammar, are engaged in using new language in a meaningful, communicative way. Apart from developing the usual four language skills, among which priority will be given to oral practice, the coursebook will help students to acquire cultural competence and support them in improving their language learning strategies.