Status of English and its impact on overall English Language Teaching (ELT)

[aliarawshan]

Status of English and its impact on overall English Language Teaching (ELT)

Bangla has been given precedence in all spheres of society since Bangladesh gained its independence in 1971, which has led to a dearth of English ability among the student community. Moreover, English was demoted from a second language to a foreign language as a result of it. Moreover, there is still a disconnect in Bangladesh between legislation and linguistic usage. The decision-makers lack a defined and well-thought-out language policy. The old Grammar-Translation Method (GTM)-based language education was replaced in the middle of the 1990s by curriculum reform based on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), first in secondary schools and then in all other levels. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has instructed instructors to adopt the CLT curriculum without doing a carefully thought-out contextual analysis on the potential challenges. In Bangladeshi classrooms, for instance, the teacher-centered environment is essential, and students are not motivated to interact or speak in English. Also, teachers are not accustomed to communicating with or interacting with students in English. The CLT curriculum is not well understood by English teachers, who have conflicting views on how to implement it. Their practices and beliefs do not align with CLT, and as a result, they have a different understanding of the curriculum.
Grammar and vocabulary choices are prioritized over communicative activities in Bangladesh's basic and secondary English textbooks. The speaking and listening exercises in the English for Today textbook are seldom ever covered. Also, assessment tests and evaluations are incompatible with the national English curricula's and policy's aim of fostering students' communicative proficiency in English. It is therefore clear that the test developers are forced to carry out the directives of the decision-makers.
Nobody can dispute English's importance in Bangladesh. English language proficiency is a requirement in order to handle the problems of the twenty-first century. Nonetheless, a special monitoring and contribution can be made to the adaptation and implementation of policy in the context of ELT in Bangladesh in order to achieve English language competency. Bangladesh has not yet achieved self-reliance in English Language Teaching, despite the fact that authorities are frequently unwilling to acknowledge the issue.