Challenges of Communicative English Teaching at Secondary Level in Bangladesh: A Study on Narsingdi District

Abstract

The present research is an attempt to study the status and challenges of communicative English teaching at the secondary level of education in Bangladesh and to suggest some ways out. Though the study is based on the status and challenges of communicative English teaching in Bangladesh, in the course of the study the researcher has tried to identify needs of practicing English teachers as well as of schools. The first chapter clarifies the issues of the research and its background, and formulates research questions and objectives. Scope, limitations and utility of the present research have been stated here. Available literature has been reviewed here to identify research questions and to rationalize the study. Different language learning theories and comments by linguists about CL T have been placed here with a view to making a basis for the present study. This study deals with the introduction and use of CL T at the secondary level of education in Bangladesh. So the emergence of CL T and its background have been discussed briefly in chapter two. CL T was introduced in Bangladesh in the mid nineties of the last century. Almost all the language teaching methods and approaches - old and modem - have been briefly discussed here to make the background and idea of CL T clear to readers. Nature of CL T, expected teacherstudent roles in communicative English classes, and their behaviours have been discussed here. The third chapter discusses the research methods and the data sources required for this study. Primary data have been collected from respondents through Questionnaire Survey, face-to-face Interview, and Observations. And secondary data have been collected through document analysis from different books, journals, websites and so on. Sample size was 228 (Students: 200, English teachers: 20, Head and Assistant Head teachers: 08) and random sampling procedure is used to select study respondents from students, and all English teachers, head teachers and assistant head teachers are selected from each study school. Considerations for designing students' and teachers' questionnaires, constructions of checklists for observation of classroom facilities and classroom interactions, administering the questionnaire surveys and interviews, observing classroom facilities and classroom teaching are discussed in this chapter. The data obtained from the primary sources have been analyzed and presented in the fourth chapter. Collected data have been presented in three ways. Some have been put into tables, and some have been presented in bar-diagrams and pie charts. Qualitative data have been described in view of the set objectives. Chapter five discusses the challenges of implementing CL T curriculum at the secondary level of education in Bangladesh. Teacher education ( degree/diploma in education), training of English teachers, their dedication, motivation, use of teaching materials and teaching aids, before-class preparation, classroom practices, language speaking environment and so on have been discussed in this chapter. Students' motivation and flaws in assessment system have also been discussed here. Conclusions have been drawn in chapter six on the basis of the findings of the study. In the light of the challenges found in the study, suggestions have been made for practicing English teachers as well as policy makers. Some hints for further study have been added for future researchers of this field.