This paper aims to provide insights into the challenges of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) practice at higher secondary level in Bangladeshi rural settings. Employing qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 rural English language teachers to explore the problems they face in CLT implementation. The interview data were scrutinized using thematic analysis. Three major themes emerge from the analysis which are: (i) pedagogical factors; (ii) contextual factors; and (iii) personal factors that obstruct CLT implementation to reach at its expected outcome. The paper reveals the gap between the objectives of the present ELT curriculum and teachers’ practices. The teachers are optimistic with CLT approach for improving students’ English skill, but they need viable support to overcome the factors working as the barriers of its proper implementation. Based on the teachers’ suggestion, the study recommends the aligning of curriculum and test format, and also the training and logistic support for the teachers to overcome the issues surrounding the CLT implementation in the rural context of Bangladesh.

This study provides a comprehensive investigation into the implementation of CLT in higher secondary level in rural Bangladesh. It reveals that CLT has been espoused minimally by the rural teachers in their English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom. An ethnographic approach was employed to investigate how the rural teachers utilize CLT in their classroom. A total of 46 teaching sessions of two participant teachers from two different schools were observed for six months, from April 2018 to October 2018. Every teaching session lasted for 45 minutes. In total, 34 hours and 50 minutes were spent for classroom observation. Thematic approach was employed to scrutinize the collected data. The research findings revealed lack of exposure to target language, teacher-centred classroom practices, exam-oriented classroom instead of communication-oriented and logistic limitation as the factors affecting the implementation of CLT. Finally, to address these factors for a successful implementation of CLT in rural Bangladesh, this study calls for improved teacher training, examination system with the incorporation of listening and speaking tests, and better classroom facility with technological support.