Representation of Literary Texts in English for Ethiopian Textbooks and Their Practice in the Classroom: Grade 9 and 10 in Focus

This study aimed to assess the representation of literary texts and their actual practice at Grades 9 and 10 in general secondary schools in Ethiopia. The study employed descriptive research design involving both qualitative and quantitative methods. Participants were selected purposively. Textbook analysis, classroom observation and focus group discussion were data sources. The textbook and classroom observation data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Whereas, the focus group discussion data were analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Findings showed that poems took the lion’s share in the literary texts. However, short stories, novel extracts, moral stories, fables and true stories were scarcely found in the textbooks. Besides, the findings revealed that language skills and language areas incorporated in the literary texts focused more on developing reading and speaking skills. Moreover, the findings obtained from focus group discussion and classroom observation showed that teachers were not regularly practising literary texts due to teachers’ lack of pedagogical skills, students’ lack of interest to learn literary texts and the difficulty nature of the literary texts