A Critical Investigation of English Language Teaching in Bangladesh

Abstract

The 2016 World Bank report on worldwide per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) identified Bangladesh as a lower middle-income country based on its consistent GDP growth throughout last decade (World Bank, 2016). To maintain this growth rate and meet the radical demand for human resources in increasingly globalised world markets, the country needs to communicate more effectively with the outside world. Inevitably, this means improving the quality of English teaching and learning. The significance of English, as the global lingua franca, to Bangladeshi learners is at its zenith. In this developing country, however, economic constraints mean that funds allocated to education are limited compared to many other Southeast Asian countries (Habib & Adhikary, 2016). Even given the generally low level of educational standards in Bangladesh (Islam, 2015), the standard of English language teaching and learning has decreased alarmingly in recent years (Hamid, 2011). English language education in Bangladesh has always been problematic, despite various attempts to initiate curriculum reform. As Hamid & Baldauf (2008) point out, the first of these major shifts in the ELT curriculum took place in the mid-1990s, when the traditional Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) was replaced with a curriculum based on a Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) model. The principal objective of this article is to review the major problems associated with ELT in Bangladesh that have hindered the implementation of the new CLT curriculum from the perspective of teachers, and eventually to make recommendations for more effective ELT curriculum reform.

Language assessment literacy: an uncharted area for the English language teachers in Bangladesh

“…English language teaching (ELT) always has been an area of challenge in Bangladesh regardless of various attempts at curriculum reform (Rahman & Pandian, 2018). Replacing the grammar translation method (GTM), communicative language teaching (CLT) was introduced in the 1990s for teaching the English language in Bangladesh with the goal of improving English teaching and learning.…”

English language teaching in Bangladesh today: Issues, outcomes and implications

“…The success of language policy and implementation of the curriculum depends mostly on the quality of assessment and testing (Das et al, 2014). According to Quader (2001), the new CLT assessment approach is facing resistance in implementation from different stakeholders including teachers. However, not many empirical studies have devotedly investigated the issues related to CLT assessment and testing (Ali et al, 2018).…”

Test review of the English public examination at the secondary level in Bangladesh

“…However, in Bangladesh, apparently, it did not happen. English language teaching always has been a challenging area in Bangladesh regardless of various attempts of curriculum reforms (Rahman and Pandian, 2018). Even if CLT-based English education being in operation in the country for nearly two decades, Hamid (2011) pointed out a recent frightening decrease of the standard of the teaching of English.…”