Abstract

This study intends to investigate the status of research terms used in Afan Oromo in terms of their standardized level. From the researchers’ observation, it was found that students were using different terms when they write a proposal or the report of their thesis. Having this, the major objective of this research is to survey the research terms used in doing both action and basic research in Afan Oromo in Jimma, Haramaya, and Addis Ababa universities based on English research terms. However, the collected data were limited to the third year Afan Oromo and literature students who had taken research courses and teachers in the department. Moreover, samples of previous research works of graduated students from the department were analyzed. Thus, instruments like questionnaire, interview, focused group discussion and written document analysis were used to collect data from the primary and secondary sources. Then, the collected data were organized, analyzed and presented quantitatively and qualitatively. According to the interpretation made based on the data analyzed there is a significant variation in using research terms of Afan Oromo by the teachers and students of target universities. Terms or phrases are not used in standard forms. As a result, there are practical problems like communication gap in research dissemination, students’ confusions, teachers’ disagreement, and misunderstanding of ideas, low quality of research output and unreadable report, as well as inconsistent research format. Finally, the researchers proposed using standard research handouts and manuals as well as working together at central level as key solutions to overcome the problems.

Key words: Afan Oromo, research terms, standardization.