Browsing by Author "Shahidullah, M."

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    Analysis of English Language Needs for Higher Education in Bangladesh
    (University of Rajshahi, 2006) Haque, Md. Aminul; Islam, Md. Jahurul; Shahidullah, M.
    The present study is an attempt to analyze English language needs at the tertiary level of education in Bangladesh. The main purpose of this study is to find out the amount and level of listening, reading, speaking and writing skills of English needed for a meaningful tertiary education in Bangladesh and also students' present level of proficiency when they are admitted into a programme of study at a university. The study seeks to find out if there is a lack or gap between students' required level and their present level of proficiency in English. After identifying the lack or gap between students' required level and their present level of proficiency of any, a communicative Needs-based curriculum is recommended to fill up the gaps for a meaningful higher education in Bangladesh. Now it is necessary to point out what each chapter of the study deals with in a pedagogical way. Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and establishes the topic focus through primary literature survey. It mentions the objectives, significance of the study, scope of the study, and the methodology to be used in the study. Limitations of the study and definitions of the key terms used in the thesis are also presented in this chapter. Chapter II defines higher education and discusses its dimensions and characteristics, and the concepts of different types of higher educational institutions of the country as conceived in this study. The status of knowledge of higher education, different fields, strengths and weaknesses, goals, and needs of English in higher education have also been discussed in this chapter. The chapter gives an overall picture of higher education and the needs of English for it in Bangladesh. In Chapter III, the concepts of needs analysis, its theoretical and historical backgrounds, types of needs analysis, purposes and functions, goals and objectives and different approaches to and ways of needs analysis research have been discussed in some detail. This theoretical framework provides the basis for the empirical survey in this study. Chapter IV discusses the methodology employed for this particular study. The methods employed for empirical investigation in this study were: (1) students' questionnaire survey, (2) students' interview, (3) teachers' questionnaire survey, (4) teachers' interview, (5) librarians' questionnaire survey (6) seminar librarians' questionnaire survey, (7) classroom observation, (8) examining answer-scripts of admission tests (9) syllabus analysis (of different subjects), and (10) analysis of text/ reference books and journals used at the tertiary level of education. This chapter mentions the basic principles followed for processing and analyzing data. The chapter also discusses the design of the instruments, sampling design for the study and administration of the study. Chapter V presents the results after a systematic analysis of the data obtained by all the methods of data collection discussed in chapter four. Some of the results are presented in terms of Means and Standard Deviations, some others, like document/ text analysis, have been analyzed in terms of range and complexity of vocabulary, sentence construction, and concepts, and according to the level of the complexity of English, levels of English in textbooks have been classified into elementary, lower intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced. Chapter VI discusses the results, presented in chapter V. The skills have been graded into three different categories i.e. (a) high priority, (b) medium priority, and (c) low Priority according to the students' lacks. The higher the lack, the higher is the priority of the needs. So, the ranks of lack were considered important areas to be addressed in the course recommended. Chapter VII discusses different kinds of syllabuses i.e. product-oriented syllabuses and process-oriented syllabuses, and their sub categories such as analytic and synthetic, grammatical or structural, functional-notional, procedural, task-based, content, situational, topic, skills and so on. The chapter also examines the present English curriculum from classes I to XII to find out its strengths and weaknesses with special references to lacks, if any. This chapter shows that though the curricula up to class XII have been based on the communicative approach, there lie some drawbacks. Finally, the chapter recommends a Needs-based curriculum to cater for the lacks in the four skills as found in this study. Chapter VIII is 'summary and conclusions'. It includes a summary of the findings, implications of the findings, and recommendations for a change in materials, methods and testing for an effective higher education in the country. Finally, the study also recommends further research of this type to constantly monitor the changes of language needs and adjust curriculum materials, and tests of English to suit the needs of the country with the passage of time.
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    Developing English Language Teaching Materials to Promote Intercultural Communicative Competence of Learners in Bangladesh
    (University of Rajshahi, 2014) Snigdha, Shayla Sharmin; Shahidullah, M.
    The idea of Intercultural Communicative Competence is a comparatively recent development in English teaching and learning, but it has already come to the centre­stage of English education. It has become important as communication among different nationals , both native and non­native has become a reality in today’s globalized world. For effective communication in international settings it has become very important to know and use whatever language and mode of communication is appropriate in which culture and context of the world. So, promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence has become very important in ELT of the time. For promoting it, it is important to develop materials with focus on it. With that end in view, this study attempts to design some English teaching learning materials for promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence of undergraduate level students of Bangladesh with focus on politeness norms, body language, space –keeping, norms of academic and personal writing, norms of behavior in public places, customs of oral and written communication among other nationals in culturally appropriate way. The general objective of the study has been to design and develop ELT Materials to promote intercultural communicative competence of the undergraduate students. The specific objectives have been : (1) to examine the arguments for intercultural materials;(2) to develop a checklist for selecting/adapting/ designing intercultural materials;(3) to select and design intercultural materials and (4) to examine the views of the ELT professionals about the developed intercultural materials. The research questions of the study have been: 1) What are the arguments for using intercultural materials in language learning and acquisition? 2) What will be the principles for developing/ selecting/designing materials for improving the learners’ intercultural communicative competence? 3) To what extent will the developed/designed/selected intercultural materials be effective in improving the learners’ intercultural communicative competence? This study reviews the literature on materials designing and development, with special emphasis on promoting intercultural communicative competence. The study then designs a pack of intercultural materials, conducts an empirical study for opinion surveys of teachers about the materials, and presents the results of the survey. It has also been found from the empirical survey that teachers are not satisfied with the materials presently used in Bangladesh and they are not good at all for developing intercultural communicative competence. For designing materials, two separate checklists have been consulted —one for materials design and evaluation in general and another for intercultural materials. Finally, a checklist has been prepared for designing intercultural materials for the present study synthesizing those two kinds of checklists. As the idea of intercultural materials is a recent development in the field, available checklists and materials are few in number. Fifty two lessons under seven units have been developed. Each of the units deals with a specific cultural aspect and the lessons under it elaborate the aspect focusing on different cultures and their different language practices. In each of the lessons, activities have been planned to ensure all the four basic language skills practices. The activities have been divided into three stages following the model of a reading lesson—(1) Pre­reading, (2) While­reading and (3) Post­ reading activities. Each of the lessons focuses not only on the appropriate modes of communication in different foreign cultures and also in the learners’ own culture with comparison of local and foreign cultures in every lesson. The empirical survey has been conducted by using — (1) questionnaire survey, and (2) interview with teachers. The data collected from the empirical survey have been used as primary data for this research work and the data shows that majority of the teachers feel that intercultural communicative competence is very important for learners in Bangladesh and the materials pack designed in this study for this purpose will prove useful. The developed materials have been reviewed by a few ELT practitioners, and their suggestions are incorporated to improve the materials in its present shape. They held that the designed materials reflect the life and social aspects of foreign cultures and countries, and the students will be able to develop an insight about the variation of cultures and subcultures that is required to build up intercultural awareness. The teachers also expressed the view that the materials are more interesting and effective than the existing materials in Bangladesh and they are good for promoting ICC. They think that the materials offer sufficient scope for comparison with a balanced mutual representation of images of various cultures and help learners accomplish cross cultural ability of speaking and writing. The teachers are positive about the usefulness of the materials in teaching linguistic means as well as the formal and informal styles of communication and in ensuring practice of basic language skills. They are sanguine about the success of the materials in developing cross cultural communication skills and in teaching appropriate intercultural manners of talking and behaving. Besides, the teachers have expressed their views about some issues related to the implementation of the designed materials and the importance of achieving ICC for the students, giving focus on intercultural communication in ELT course books, providing instruments as well as teachers’ personal initiatives for disseminating intercultural information in the class etc. The dissertation concludes with the hope that if used properly the materials will help learners develop their awareness and skills in using English appropriately in intercultural settings, which is an utmost need of the recent globalized world of increased international co­operation.
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    Epidemiologic pattern of diarrhoea caused by non-agglutinating vibrio (Nag) and EF-6 organisms in Dacca
    (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research Bangladesh:Dacca, 1981-06) Khan, Moslemuddin; Shahidullah, M.
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    Evaluation of the Existing English Language Curricula of the Training Institutes for BCS Administration Cadre in Bangladesh
    (2019) Gani, Md. Ataul; Shahidullah, M.
    At long last the dissertation has come to a completion. Actually, an academic research is a combined endeavour of many people and organisations. In this sense, a ‗research product‘ is a social property. No single researcher can claim its absolute credit. Throughout the long period of the research, I received cooperation from many people and organisations. Without their assistance and encouragement, the work would not have taken its present shape. I express my indebtedness to all of them. First of all, I admit my debt to the Institute of Bangladesh Studies (IBS), University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh for awarding me a University Grants Commission (UGC) scholarship to pursue the research. The distinguished faculty members of IBS, Professor Dr. M. Zainul Abedin, Professor Dr. Swarochish Sarker, Professor Dr. Jakir Hossain, Professor Dr. Mohammad Najimul Hoque, Dr. Mostafa Kamal, and Dr. Md. Kamruzzaman illuminated me with knowledge and skills of research methodology during the period of my course work and also throughout the period of my research. I humbly acknowledge the contributions of each and every faculty member of the institute. I express my special indebtedness to Professor Dr. Swarochish Sarker, immediate past director of the institute for focusing on Chicago style of referencing which is now mandatory style of referencing at IBS. Besides the faculty members, the support staff of the institute also helped me a lot in doing the research. I acknowledge their assistance.
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    Postmethod Pedagogy and English Language Teaching in Bangladesh: Challenges and Potentials
    (University of Rajshahi, 2020) Ahsan, Mohsina; Shahidullah, M.
    Postmethod pedagogy is a recent development in language teaching and learning that emerged after the failure of different methods tried from the classical times till the mid-90s.The idea was developed first by Kumaravadivelu in 1994. Different methods came in and went out of fashion without the desired learning outcome. In 1989 the very concept of method began to face serious criticisms for their “one-size-fits-all” type “Cookie-cutter” approach of language teaching which presents a preselected package of language teaching for all situations which fail to take into account the local knowledge and understanding of local culture and context (particularities). Postmethod pedagogy works through its three pedagogical Parameters: (i) The Parameter of Particularity, (ii) The Parameter of Practicality and the (iii) Parameter of Possibility. In other words, it advocates for devising a context-sensitive bottom-up pedagogy that is solely based on the local understanding of a particular context and connects language with the socio-political reality of teachers and learners. The research questions of the study have been: (i) What are the limitations of the concept of method and the methods Era and what factors lead to the emergence of the idea of Postmethod pedagogy? (ii) What are the key features and parameters of Postmethod pedagogy? (iii) What are the realities (“Particularities”) of English teaching-learning culture and context of Bangladesh? And (iv) What would be the pedagogic potentials of and challenges for implementing the parameter of “Practicality’’ and “Possibility” in Bangladesh? The study examines the idea of Postmethod condition and the theoretical underpinning of Postmethod condition and the key features of Postmethod pedagogy, with special emphasis on its three pedagogic parameters and the pedagogic tools (macrostrategies) through library research. The empirical research in this study focuses on the particularities of teachers and learners with reference to their experience, beliefs, expectations, learning style preferences, learning strategies, teaching-learning situation, testing and evaluation and so on. A brief theoretical discussion regarding the teaching learning situation, material evaluation and also testing and evaluation and their impact on learners have been done in the study.
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    State of English Teacher Education in Bangladesh
    (University of Rajshahi, 2015) Hossain, Md. Akhtar; Shahidullah, M.
    With the introduction of modern approaches to language teaching like CLT in the Bangladesh context it was expected that the learners in the country would be more proficient in English. With this view some modifications and innovations were introduced in the syllabuses, methods of teaching and some changes were also made in testing and evaluation at the Secondary and Higher Secondary levels, but still there is no visible sign of improvement as far as the learning outcomes of English learners are concerned. The reasons for the poor outcomes could be ascribed to many factors. One probable reason, as it is assumed, could be its implementation in the classroom. To implement any changes, or innovation, one of the most appropriate factors is changing the teachers’ attitudes and roles which is a precondition for implementing change/innovation. Changes were introduced in Bangladesh, but if the teachers were not sufficiently prepared for the changes, the proposed changes are doomed to fail. This may be one of the major reasons for not successfully implementing CLT in the Bangladesh classrooms. It is, therefore, important to examine the English teachers education programmes in the country. This is what the study proposes to do. Under this reality this research was done on English teacher education programmes for the Secondary English teachers of Bangladesh to examine the strengths and the weaknesses and to explore the possible reasons that hinders their desired achievement. The study has three major objectives: (i) to present an overview of the teacher training programme for the English teachers in Bangladesh, (ii) to highlight the strength and weakness of the teacher training programme for the English teachers of Bangladesh, and (iii) to analyze the course content of the teacher training programme with reference to CLT objectives. The study tries to find to three research questions: (i) What are the trainees’ and trainers’ views of the training programmes?, (ii) Is there sufficient training on implementing the different activities of CLT, e.g. classroom management, lesson planning, group or pair works, learner’s autonomy, participatory class feedback etc?, (iii) Is the content of the present syllabus good enough for implementation of CLT? Two training institutions such as Teachers’ Training College of Rajshahi and National Academy for Educational Management of Dhaka were randomly selected to conduct the study. The subjects of the study were the trainees and trainers of the training programmes. 10 trainers and 74 trainees were the samples randomly selected for the study. Data for this research were collected through questionnaire survey, observation and document analysis. Findings illustrate the fact that the trainers’ and trainees’ perceptions of the training programmes are positive. However, the training programmes do not seem to take effect in reality after the teachers go back to the classroom. Findings of this study also indicate that the training was not provided by experts. So it is expected that if this training is provided by the well-trained professional trainers it may have better outcomes. Another important finding of the study is that the transmissive model of teaching is still following in the training programmes. The study recommends that if instead of a one way transmissive model of in-service training, a comprehensive reflective model is used for both pre-service and in-service training, the teacher education in Bangladesh will produce better results.
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