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An insight into curriculum policy and classroom practice of teaching listening: problems and possibilities
Abstract
The teaching of listening has significant importance in a language classroom. Therefore, the policymakers in Bangladesh have designed curricula and English textbooks following the English education policy focusing more on English language practice in the classroom through listening. The findings of this study may help Bangladeshi teachers at the secondary level to deal with the difficulties of teaching listening. The findings may also help learners develop their listening skills because language learning begins with listening (Schmidt, 2016). The data in this study was derived from interviews with both urban and rural secondary English teachers and policymakers. The data was then analysed qualitatively using the thematic analysis method. The data explore the policy and practice-related barriers to listening practice in classrooms. To overcome these barriers, the article proposes a conceptual framework as an enabler of teaching listening at the secondary level. The conceptual framework may also help other similar EFL contexts where listening skill is taught as a part of English language learning.
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The development of curriculum, textbooks and assessment is a continuous process for better teaching and learning outcomes. The National Curriculum & Textbook Board (NCTB) revised its secondary curriculum in 2012 for English education considering the 2010 National Education policy. The only textbook for the whole country for secondary level, English for Today has been developed accordingly in 2013 for grades 6 to 10, to help students attain competency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews and content analysis of pertinent policy documents. The semi-structured interview data includes a set of English curriculum policy implementation stakeholders including teacher trainers, school principals and English teachers. This paper aims to explore the reasons for the existing disconnections coherently through the analytical lens of the Constructive Alignment (CA) Model for curriculum design to achieve the intended learning outcomes for secondary English education in Bangladesh. The findings support the argument that if the coherence of secondary curriculum, classroom teaching and learning activities and assessment system is not aligned, the aspirations of the National Education Policy 2010 may not be achieved.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an overall influence on educational systems in countriesthroughout the world, and Bangladesh is no exception, in which all of the academicinstitutions in that country have been closed since March 18, 2020. The pandemic compelledthe secondary schools in Bangladesh to shift from face-to-face learning to online modes ofeducation. This abrupt change created huge challenges (e.g., class participation or use ofonline tools) in relation to teaching students online who were previously taught face to face.The aim of this study was to provide some expert insights into online teaching with the goalof helping secondary school teachers in Bangladesh navigate through their online teachingchallenges during this pandemic and in the post-pandemic era. In-depth interviews with sixexpert secondary school teachers were qualitatively analyzed to gain reflections on thevariety of individual teaching paths taken during this educational change and to identifypotential relations between teachers' learning paths, motivation, teaching experience, andconceptions of online teaching through educational technology. Online teaching requirescertain technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) along with technologicalliteracy. The combination of these three primary forms of knowledge requires context-specific and goal-oriented adaptation. Therefore, it needs to be demonstrated according to the needof the context. The article ends with a reflection on how the TPACK framework can helpsecondary school teachers deal with online teaching practices in the context of Bangladeshduring this COVID-19 pandemic as well as in the post-pandemic era. The findings anddiscussion in the article about online teaching practices can be helpful for teachers withinother similar contexts.
Education is one of the main keys to economic development and improvements in human welfare. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has turned out to be an effective educational technology which promotes some dramatic changes in teaching and learning process. ICT may change the way of livelihood and education system of a country. This study is to focus the ICT used by the teachers and their attitude towards using ICT in the classroom. Though the education sectors of Bangladesh are suffering hundreds of problems, ICT can change the present scenario. This research is to identify the current ICT status on higher education specially a government college in Bangladesh.
Since spoken language is the most important channel of communication, it is supposed to be the first skill to master when learning a language. However, in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, learners encounter various problems limiting their abilities. One of the remarkable phenomena in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning is the inability of most students to utter English correctly and fluently. The present study investigates the difficulties that hamper high school students from pronouncing English vocabulary and simple sentences correctly and fluently. This research was carried out in an attempt to assess the English course outcomes that were reflected in learners disabilities of correct and fluent English pronunciation. The data were collected through surveying second-year high school students’ responses to two instruments. A questionnaire was addressed to a sample of 100 Saudi male students from 4 secondary schools, and semi-structured interviews with 5 students from the population were conducted to provide deeper diagnosis regarding problems of English pronunciation. In order to provide further details about the subject studied, analyses of the syllabi are presented. The study recommends remedial pronunciation activities, practice of confusing words, and phonics practices throughout the course.
While it is common to assume that our current undergraduates are digital native who are naturally proficient and expect the use of technology, the research base that supports those assumptions is limited. This is especially true of students in foreign language classes. Much of the national research that has been conducted has not focused on specific subsets of students. It is important to address this paucity of research, as instructors, textbook publishers, and other stakeholders must make informed decisions regarding the design and development of curriculum and instructional materials. This article reports a study conducted in exploration of the ownership and use of mobile devices by students in foreign language courses. The study used survey methodology and focus group protocols to investigate what technological devices students have and use for personal and academic activities. Salient findings include the reaffirmation of the need to maintain appropriate pedagogy in light of the latest and greatest technological developments, distinctions between the use of technology for content consumption versus content production, and a distinct preference for a separation between personal and academic activities among digital natives. IALLT Journal for Language Learning Technologies..................Full text available online: http://ialltjournal.org/index.php/ialltjournal/article/view/250
This study focuses on the selected factors affecting teachers' implementation of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum in secondary schools in Bangladesh. The study is explorative, interpretivist, and qualitative in nature. A phenomenology approach, under qualitative method, was adopted to explore how teachers experience the phenomenon of CLT based curriculum change. Four schools were chosen, two from Dhaka (Urban), the capital of the country, and two from the villages in Chandpur (Rural). Eight selected participants were chosen from these schools based on a purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis of curriculum, assessment, and teaching materials were the instruments of data collection. The finding of the study suggests that the shift from traditional Grammar Translation Method (GTM) to CLT was needed a positive outlook from all the selected factors in the context of change; however, this did not happen. Numerous factors such as, needs of classroom teachers, complexities regarding the mismatch of teaching syllabus and material with assessment, unequipped classrooms, and quality of teacher development facilities have challenged teachers to implement CLT as it was intended in the curriculum. The study suggests some recommendations to ensure the effective implementation of CLT curriculum. Future research is also recommended based on other factors and stakeholders.
English in Action (EIA) is an ongoing teacher education project which places
mobile technology at the centre of its action. Most of the studies carried out
focused on the changes EIA brought in teachers’ classroom actions. Along with
this, they also explored the classroom to observe whether the input given during
training program is implemented in real life. No study has been conducted that
compares and contrasts the components of mobile learning in general and the
components EIA is using. This study, particularly, drew a comparative analysis
between the mobile learning and EIA initiated mobile learning to reveal the extent
it matched or mismatched to the components of mobile learning. It also scrutinized
teachers’ behavior in the classroom after participating in EIA. It also penetrated to
find the contents to be reviewed. Qualitative method was used to conduct this
study. The result revealed that the components of EIA match to the mobile learning
ones to the extent that EIA entails those suiting the context. Few elements were
seemed absent as they are less suitable in such context. Besides, teachers were
found bringing changes in their classrooms. The introduction of action research
and reflective teaching were suggested to add to EIA’s program.
Technology, as everybody will agree, is increasingly getting involved in language education. In teaching English as an International Language (EIL), as a matter of fact, there is an apparent need for integrating technology into English Language Teaching (ELT) education. This need has eventually brought about a new scope for ELT in the form of a new genre: ‘Computer Assisted Language Learning’ (CALL). Following a Mixed Method Approach, this study investigates some of the issues relating to the use of CALL in the Department of English Language and Literature (ELL) at International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC). The findings indicate some barriers that seem to impede the integration and the implementation of CALL in the department.IIUC Studies Vol.10 & 11 December 2014: 145-156
Current English-as-a-second and foreign-language (ESL/EFL) research has encouraged to treat each communicative macroskill separately due to space constraint, but the interrelationship among these skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is not paid due attention. This study attempts to examine first the existing relationship among the four dominant skills, second the potential impact of reading background on the overall language proficiency, and finally the relationship between listening and overall language proficiency as listening is considered an overlooked/passive skill in the pedagogy of the second/foreign language classroom. However, the literature in language learning has revealed that listening skill has salient importance in both first and second language learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of each of four skills in EFL learning and their existing interrelationships in an EFL setting. The outcome of 701 Iranian applicants undertaking International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Tehran demonstrates that all communicative macroskills have varied correlations from moderate (reading and writing) to high (listening and reading). The findings also show that the applicants’ reading history assisted them in better performing at high stakes tests, and what is more, listening skill was strongly correlated with the overall language proficiency.
Many elements of qualitative research are shared between the variety of approaches, and often the overlap of epistemology, ethics and procedures encourages a generic and flexible view of this type of inquiry. This article argues that there is an essential tension between flexibility on the one hand, and consistency and coherence on the other. Such tension may encourage qualitative researchers to consider the intentions and philosophical underpinnings of the different approaches in greater depth in order to arrive at an epistemological position that can coherently underpin its empirical claims. This article is intended to encourage a more thoughtful engagement with different qualitative approaches by highlighting distinctive elements of three of the most common approaches. We suggest that the researcher be contextsensitive and flexible as well as considerate of the inner consistency and coherence that is needed when engaged in qualitative research.
This study of 87 Saudi female university students aimed to discover whether they experience difficulties learning to listen to spoken English. Acknowledging that listening is an important part not just of learning a new language but also of day-to-day communication, data was collected using an online questionnaire. Participants were asked to respond to a series of statements designed to test four constructs relating to their attitudes to learning English language skills in general (a); learning listening skills specifically (b); their attitudes towards listening activities (c); and (d) their attitudes towards improving their listening skills. The results showed that most of participants felt that speaking and listening were the most important skills to learn, but listening was also the most challenging. Reading was felt to be the most effortless skill to learn, as well as the most commonly used, suggesting that frequency of use contributes to students’ perceptions of the ease of learning a skill. Participants’ difficulties with learning to listen to English were associated with speech rate, pronunciation, nervousness, limited vocabulary, and lack of background information. However, students also expressed positive attitudes towards improving their listening skills. Understanding students’ attitudes to listening skills and their problems with listening may help teachers improve the way they teach these skills. This may in turn improve students’ listening comprehension not only in universities but also in schools.
Background
The one-to-one interview is a commonly used data collection method in health and social research. Increasing attention has been given in the literature to the process of conducting an interview, particularly with respect to the role of the interviewer and the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee. The individual interview is a valuable method of gaining insight into people's perceptions, understandings and experiences of a given phenomenon and can contribute to in-depth data collection. However, the interview is more than a conversational interaction between two people and requires considerable knowledge and skill on behalf of the interviewer.
Content
Interviews vary in type and structure depending on their philosophical orientation. This article examines the process of conducting the interview from a generic point of view, while making reference to different approaches. Considerations are also raised regarding interviewing in challenging situations.
Conclusions
Several important stages need to be followed when conducting an interview. The nature of the questions, questioning techniques, listening and the interviewer-interviewee interactions are crucial to obtaining a successful outcome. Similarly, ethical considerations and the protection of participants are fundamental aspects of interviewing. Although interview data may be used as evidence about people's perceptions and understanding, it is pertinent to remember that responses may be shaped by variables such as if and how the interviewer has influenced the interviewee, and the level of trust and rapport between the two people. Hence, it is essential that interviewers are cognisant of the various techniques underpinning the interview process to maximize results.
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