scholarly journals EFL Teaching and Learning in the Rural Areas of Bangladesh: Addressing Obstacles to Teaching L2

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Khondaker Omer Faisal ◽  
Yeakub Ali

English as a language is an essential tool in the negotiation of power and relationship at the interpersonal, social and the global level as well. The importance of learning English has increased significantly as a useful communication tool in the age of globalization. In the existing scenario, English language learning and teaching in the rural areas of Bangladesh has become a prime concern. This study aims to present the current English language education policy, language learning and teaching obstacles pertaining to the poorly equipped classroom, lack of trained language teachers, and inadequate use of technology and non-availability of learning materials in Bangladesh. To analyze and to find the solution to the language teaching and learning obstacles, the researcher employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The research was carried out in ten rural colleges far from the capital city Dhaka. The population of this study was higher secondary level students in the academic year 2019-2020. The number of populations was 25 students from intermediate class and 10 teachers from same school and colleges, and data were collected through a questionnaire. The findings show that though CLT based English language curriculum has been operating at the higher secondary level in Bangladesh, most of the teachers are not familiar with CLT guidelines and CLT related activities. Besides this, there are some crucial factors which demand great attention to change the current scenario. As a result, there are inconsistencies between the stated objectives of Teaching English and the actual teaching techniques.

Author(s):  
Pham Huy Cuong

Despite various challenges confronting teachers, learners and other stakeholders, English language education in rural settings remained relatively underexplored. This study reviews contemporary research on the global and local constraints confronting language teaching and learning in rural areas with a view to proposing measures for boosting the quality of education specifically for the context of Vietnam. The findings uncover a number of limitations in facilities and funding for language education, shortages of teaching staff and the deployment of English curricula. The study also reveals that such learning conditions impact significantly on students’ motivation as well as the associations they develop with language learning. These problems are attributable to inequities in educational policy, financial support and endeavors to account for the discrepancies existing in different learning settings. Such insights provide important implications for policy makers, school administrators, teachers and parents in formulating approaches to tackling such issues and the complexities resulting from contextual elements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Farzana Sharmin Pamela Islam

As 21st century is the era of modern technologies with different aspects, it offers us to make the best use of them. After tape recorder and overhead projector (OHP), multimedia has become an important part of language classroom facilities for its unique and effective application in delivering and learning lesson. Although in many parts of Bangladesh, a South Asian developing country, where English enjoys the status of a foreign language, the use of multimedia in teaching and learning is viewed as a matter of luxury. However, nowadays the usefulness and the necessity of it are well recognized by the academics as well as the government. The study aims to focus on the difference between a traditional classroom void of multimedia and multimedia equipped classrooms at university level by explaining how multimedia support the students with enhanced opportunity to interact with diverse texts that give them more in-depth comprehension of the subject. It also focuses on audio-visual advantage of multimedia on the students’ English language learning. The study has followed a qualitative method to get an in-depth understanding of the impact of using multimedia in an English language classroom at tertiary level. For this purpose, the data have been collected from two different sources. Firstly, from students’ written response to  an open ended question as to their comparative experience of learning  lessons with and without multimedia facilities; and secondly, through  observation of English language classes at a private university of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The discussion of the study is limited to  the use of multimedia in English language classroom using cartoons, images and music with a view to enhance students’ skills in academic writing, critical analysis of image and critical appreciation of music. For this purpose, cartoons in English language, images from Google and music from You Tube have got focused discussion in this paper.


Author(s):  
Jenny Ang Lu

This chapter aims to investigate how podcasts can be made to fit into the repertoire of resources utilized by teachers, especially in language education. It focuses on arming the language teacher with a fundamental knowledge of podcasting, centering on its potential applications in the classroom. Podcasts are ideal resources for language teachers, especially English language teachers, because almost all topics imaginable are now being treated in podcasts and the bulk of podcasts are recorded in English. Aside from making use of language-teaching podcasts, language teachers can also incorporate English language podcasts dealing with a wide range of issues to cater to the varying preferences of students. In addition to discussing these points, this chapter also provides suggestions for the practical incorporation of podcasts in language learning and teaching, both inside and outside the classroom. Two case studies demonstrating possible ways to use podcasts in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context are presented.


Author(s):  
Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali

This paper discusses three main projects and their related activities that students do in a Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) classroom at English Language Education Study Program, Dunia University Indonesia. The practical discussions in this paper will be an interest of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Indonesia who look for practical ideas to teach the use of CALL in EFL classrooms, feel interested in integrating CALL into their classroom practices, and wish to explore ideas about how their students can benefit from technology. At the end of the paper, I address voices to support the use of CALL in teaching and learning in Indonesia.  


The purpose of this descriptive research study is to find out the perceptions of students and teachers about the problems and challenges in learning and teaching of English language in Madrassas located in urban area of District Mardan. The main objectives of the study are to assess the attitude of both the students and teachers towards English language; to find out the required facilities for the teaching and learning of English and to put forward the recommendations of the students and teachers for the eradication of the problems and challenges to English language learning and teaching in Madrassas. The population of the research study consist of all Madrassas and all male students and teachers in Urban Madrassas in District Mardan. The researchers use convenient sample for the selection of Madrassas. Selection of students is based on thirty percent proportionate sample; while teachers are selected on the basis of hundred percent proportionate samples accordingly. Two separate questionnaires are the instrument for data collection. The questionnaires comprised on both closed and open ended items. The collected data were analyzed using percentage and thematic analysis. Findings of the study revealed that there are no proper facilities for the teaching of English language. The results of this research study may be helpful for the policy makers to emphasize more on the importance of English language learning in Madrassas across Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 179-193
Author(s):  
Emad Alsoufi ◽  
Ali AbuSeileek

This study aimed to identify the general trends, description and focus of research about the effectiveness of using games strategy in English language teaching and learning. That is, it investigated the strategies used, instrument, year of publication, publication type, participant, design of the study, skills and areas analyzed in the study, and length of text in studies about the effectiveness of games method. The study used a meta-analysis research design in data collection and analysis. The sample of the study consisted of 70 journal articles, conference proceedings, and graduate theses and dissertations published between 2000-2018. The instrument of the study was a meta-analysis checklist. The descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages were used to find differences between the different features. The findings revealed that strategies used in this study and, the feature games (regular) method had the highest frequency. Moreover, the test instrument had the highest frequency in the sample studies analyzed. However, the year 2016 obtained the highest frequency for the year of the study. The type of publication got the next highest frequency in favour of conference proceedings. This was followed by the participant type and level features (EFL learners, school, and 16 participants and more) in the study sample. The experimental design of studies about games strategies received a high frequency. There was also the frequency for skills and areas in studies about games strategies in favour of reading.  The feature games are more effective than other methods and the text length of 11 to 20 pages (2,645-4,729 words) category had the highest frequency. Finally, several related recommendations were introduced to the researchers, curricula designers, supervisors, and English teachers.  


2021 ◽  
pp. 335-362
Author(s):  
Mateusz Bogdanowicz

The article calls for a thorough revision of the cultural and historical content of English language curricula at all levels of the Polish educational system. The benefits of coordinated and well-managed language education based on cultural and historical content are outlined. The article is based on the author’s research into part-time university students who are English language teachers, as well as the cultural and historical background knowledge imparted during English classes. The study was conducted at the Department of English Studies of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in 2010–2019. The article expounds the reasons behind students’ and teachers’ reluctance towards incorporating cultural and historical content into English language curricula. The benefits stemming from cultural and historical background knowledge for teachers, students and foreign language teaching in general are discusses. Based on these observations, the last part of the article explores the most effective methods for promoting, introducing, implementing and developing teaching modules that incorporate cultural and historical knowledge. Culture and history-related content would undoubtedly increase the attractiveness and efficacy of language programs, promote competence development (linguistic, extra-linguistic, and general) among students and teachers, increase motivation in the learning and teaching process, and deliver tangible benefits for schools.


Author(s):  
Oleg Tarnopolsky

The growing use of English as the language of global communication leads to the growing demand for learning it among adult population of non-English-speaking countries. If such people did not have a chance of acquiring English during their school or university years but urgently need it for professional or personal purposes, they learn it in courses offered by numerous commercial language schools and centers. This article deals with the experience of teaching English at such schools and centers in Ukraine. The way of teaching and learning suggested in the article was developed to meet students’ expectations and, at the same time, to be in full accordance with the most cutting edge achievements in today’s approaches to organizing adult students’ successful language acquisition. The developed method of teaching/learning was called the communicative-analytic one since, on the one hand, it makes use of the best in communicative language learning required for optimal attainment of the final goal of language education for adults – developing their English communicative competence. On the other hand, the communicative approach is combined with learners’ analysis, practicing, and consciousness-raising as to separate language forms that students believe to be indispensable for language acquisition. Experiential learning activities and cultural orientation of the method are discussed, as well as some peculiarities of using it in courses of different levels within a commercial English language program.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Van Anh Phan

<p>Vietnam has experienced many changes in education and in teaching and learning English as a foreign language since 1986 (Hoang, 2010). There are ongoing concerns about how to best develop English proficiency in EFL classes, especially how to promote students’ English communicative competency in this context. Questioning is an essential tool to help EFL teachers fulfil instructional goals (Boyd, 2015). Questioning particularly plays an important role in creating interactions to promote student’s English language proficiency in EFL classroom (Tuan & Nhu, 2010). Therefore, my study investigated how teachers and students perceived and used questioning to promote English teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in Vietnam. This also shed light on the implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT) in Vietnam. My study uses a sociocultural lens, with a qualitative multiple case design (Creswell, 2015; Johnson & Christensen, 2014). The two cases investigate questioning in classes where English was taught as a non-major subject, and questioning in classes where English was taught as a major. Data were triangulated through semi-structured and stimulated recall interviews with eight teachers, focus groups with eight groups of students, and observations of eight EFL classes. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyse data to find out the themes, the “important idea that occurs multiple times” in the data (Johnson & Christensen, 2014, p. 600) Three themes about questioning arose from studying these Vietnamese EFL classes. Firstly, questioning involved communicative interaction, which created opportunities for participants to communicate in the target language. This interaction also empowered students to engage in the lesson. Secondly, using questioning teachers orchestrated learning, diagnosed learning needs, and facilitated classroom relationships. The third theme, “My home, my rules” indicates that questioning was contextually situated. Questioning within these EFL classrooms in Vietnam reflected cultural features, such as the traditional roles of teacher and student, the concern for face or status, and the use of Vietnamese in English classes.  My data show that both teachers and students can use questioning to promote language learning through critical thinking and collaborative learning. These are central interactive and communicative skills in tertiary EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam. The effectiveness of questioning in my study depended on teachers’ skills. It was a commonly used technique to develop English language learning.  This study proposes an adapted model of learning and teaching to capture EFL learning. The model captures how teachers apply CLT and teach English for different purposes. It also emphasises the contextual features influencing questioning and therefore teaching and learning the target language. In this model, questioning is at the centre, promoting learning relationships among the teacher and students. The study contributes to an understanding of using questioning to promote language learning in EFL classroom in an Asian context, and may be relevant to CLT application for language learning classrooms in a wider international context.</p>


Author(s):  
Susi Andriani Simanjuntak ◽  
◽  
Hsi-Nancy Lien

This study investigated the potentials and obstacles to learn and teach English as an international language (EIL) approach in one of senior high schools, in Tebing Tinggi. Indonesia. EIL is embracing the language variations among nations included native and nonnative English language. In our increasingly diverse communities, this approach is a talkback to the monolingual focus in ELT pedagogy and pay much attention to multilingual in the local and global communities and also situated English language education in global/local multilingualism. There were 6 English teachers and two classes (grade 1 and grade 2 which were approximately 60 students) in senior high school were interviewed designed to gain an understanding of both English teachers and students’ perspectives on English as international language (EIL) to get deep information about their tensions, conflicts, struggle, and challenges EIL teachers and students may experience before and after teaching and learning of EIL approach in five meetings. From this result, we could see there were some fertilities and infertilities that we got from implementing and acknowledging this approach. The fertilities that we cultivated were the students learned these topics as knowledge, embracing bright future of learning English, getting to know foreigners and countries, good experience with international friends, learn about their own country (transforming, reflecting themselves as Indonesia, proud to be Indonesia), well understanding the function of English, and fulfil the students’ needs. The other side, the infertilities of implementing EIL approach were they had deficit perspective toward themselves; they did not know about Englishes since it was never taught by their English teachers, bad environment from their community, their preferences and saw Englishes as an error and wrong perception about Englishes, and facilitation and resources as well. From the teachers’ perspective, there were also controversial and possibilities of teaching EIL in this school. They welcomed to the nature of English and getting to know EIL approach, well understanding of English as a tool for students’ future, and willing to pursue English teaching effectively. But, they concerned to the students’ problems, teaching beliefs, preferences, lack of understanding of English variation diversity, curriculum and textbooks. Those problems made them afraid to make any risk, little faith to apply EIL, and created two different worlds of English standard and nonstandard English. By seeing those results bear fruitful pedagogical implications for learning and teaching English, they are meta-awareness; broaden exposure of English learning and teaching, and open English pedagogy.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document