Thesis 2011
Browse
13 results
Search Results
Item Teaching English Pronunciation at the Tertiary Level in Bangladesh(East West University, 8/14/2011) Mumeneen, Md. AmirulPronunciation no doubt is one of the most significant and inevitable parts of teaching English in particular and any other languages in general (Hayati, 2008). Notwithstanding, pronunciation hardly receives sufficient importance in teaching as well as learning English at any level in Bangladesh (Maniruzzaman, 2008). As a consequence, students get little opportunity to practice English pronunciation, and hence have problems with it. The purpose of this study was to take account of the extent to which English pronunciation is taught, and while teaching/learning pronunciation what types of problems teachers and learners face at the undergraduate level of English departments in private and public universities in Bangladesh. The data was collected from 30 teachers and 160 students through interviews and questionnaire from two public and eight private universities. Dalton and Sheildhofer’s (1994) Bottom-up and Top-down approaches were used to analyze the data. Findings suggest that there is no specific course on English pronunciation offered at the tertiary level in the English departments at the universities in Bangladesh. Based on the findings it seems that most of the English departments offer courses in ‘English Phonetics & Phonology’, which usually cover the theoretical aspects of pronunciation. As a result, students do not get sufficient opportunities to practice English pronunciation. Besides, the teachers suffer from lack of materials, courses and infrastructural facilities for teaching English pronunciation. Similarly, the students also suffer from the same problems to practice this skill.Item Teaching English to Young Learners in Rural and Urban Areas of Bangladesh(East West University, 8/13/2011) Bhuiyan, Abdullah Al MamunSince the education system in Bangladesh has been changing for last couple of years, there is some reflection of this change in primary education also. Government’s, ministry of education and concerned authorities are trying to bring change in curriculum, materials, activities, techniques of teaching, quality of teachers etc. This change is essential in English language teaching since it is taught as a compulsory subject. Therefore, in this research paper, the researcher has focused on English language teaching of young learners in primary schools of rural and urban areas of Bangladesh. In order to do this, this study addresses two central research objectives: to examine the condition of English language teaching of rural and urban areas of Bangladesh and the factors which are creating gap between rural and urban young learners. He uses Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory and Piaget’s theory on the child for this research work. He uses questionnaire and informal interview for data collection. Data has been analyzed through qualitative and quantitative research studies. The respondents from rural areas expressed that they face problem of shortage of teachers and work load. Teachers from urban areas expressed the same opinion about work load. Both teachers say that children like English subject. Young learners show curiosity when they see and get something interesting in their classroom. This research locates only few factors which are creating gap between rural and urban young learners regarding English language teaching. He has found that government and different stakeholders are taking some steps which are helping to minimize this gap in terms of English language teaching.Item Effectiveness of Communicative Language Teaching Approach at HSC Level(East West University, 8/16/2011) Ferdous, Sukriti SohiniBecause of its international demand and recognition as a world language, English has always been a part of our education system from Class 1-12. After getting independence, the use of English language has been increasing in administration, education and other sectors in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi government has always been active to undertake various ventures to improve the learners’ competence in English. In 2001, the Government adopted CLT approach to develop the learners’ English at HSC level. CLT is very effective to teach communicative and functional English because it gives importance to four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in English. After 10 years of its launch, it has been noticed that the learners’ proficiency in English is not up to the mark as was expected. They have developed only reading and writing skills and other two skills (listening and speaking) are neglected. They can not interact properly in different circumstances. Also many teachers of HSC level are still confused about this approach. They do not know how to apply this approach in classroom. This research attempts to focus on the results of practicing English language teaching-learning through CLT approach by interviewing teachers and students, observing classes in some selective colleges of urban, semi-urban and rural areas in Dhaka. Also this research tries to provide some ways to get the maximum result by using this approach.Item Methodological Pitfalls Of ELT At The Secondary Level(East West University, 8/21/2011) Sharif, RabeyaEnglish is a compulsory subject in the primary and secondary education of Bangladesh. Although English Language Teaching ( ELT ) has always been an important issue in the country yet it has not reached any satisfactory level of success. Teachers tend to follow the traditional Grammar Translation Method (GTM) in the class. Classroom is teacher centered. Students are not encouraged for creative answers. Considering the necessity of the students, the policymakers introduced CLT in 1990s to improve their (students’) language skills (Barman, Sultana and Basu, 2006 ). The study looked at eleven schools in Dhaka to observe the ongoing scenario of CLT to identify which approach or method is being used at the secondary level, to find out the problems of English language teaching at the secondary level and to look into the conditions (academic knowledge, training etc ) of the teachers at the secondary level. The data was collected from 290 students and 24 teachers of these 11 schools. The findings suggest that GTM is still dominant in the classrooms and till now most of the teachers prefer to speak Bangla in English classes. The positive thing is the situation is changing. The teachers want to follow both GTM and CLT method in the class and it is a very positive sign.Item The Importance of ESP in Bangladesh(East West University, 8/25/2011) Khan, BushraKeeping up in mind the concept of various uses of English language, the purpose of the current paper the researcher has initially aimed to examine how the use of English Language does vary at different occupations or levels. It also meant to identify whether there is necessity to have distinct pedagogical variation for various occupations or levels and if there is any distinct pedagogical variation how does it help or can help at different levels or occupations. Generally, in Bangladesh the learners learning purposes are not judged accurately. It highly affects learners, learning purposes or needs for the language. As a result, the learners can not perform accurately or contextually according to their purposes or needs for learning. Since the learning needs of doctors is distinctly different from lawyer. Similarly the learning needs of BBA students are different from the learning needs of FTDM (Film, TV & Media) students.Item The Impact of EFL Teacher Training in Bangladesh(East West University, 2/22/2011) RAIHAN, MD. JAMILTeacher training is one of the important factors to implement a new syllabus (Curriculum and Syllabus Report, 1995). In Bangladesh, a new syllabus has been introduced for teaching English using CLT method since 1995 (ibid). To reach the goal of that syllabus, the government is running some projects to provide training to the secondary English teachers, among them TQI-SEP (Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project) is the largest project at present (Islam, 2009). But it seems that the quality of the training provided by TQI-SEP is questionable and whatever the teachers are learning from the training may have little impact on teaching. This study is an attempt to find out the lackings of the training provided by TQI-SEP and to what extent the training is effective. To find out the lackings of the training the trainee teachers of 31st batch of TQI-SEP at Government Teacher’s Training College have been interviewed. The teachers were 40 in number. When they went back to their school after completing the training one class of each teacher was observed and surveyed to see the effectiveness of the training. From the data it is found that the training is quiet good but it needs to be developed. And whatever the teachers learned from the training has very little impact on teaching due to some obstacles.Item Dissertation on: Free writing in English at the Secondary level in Bangladesh.(East West University, 12/18/2011) Haque, SuroviThis research focuses on free writing in English at the secondary level in Bangladesh. It attempts to give a clear view with data to understand the real situation of teaching of English writing in the classroom. The study also tries to identify some strengths and weaknesses of free writing practice. After completing S.S.C some of our students are not able to write English properly. One of the major reasons for this may be the lack of free writing practice. For empirical research, the study used teachers’ and students’ questionnaire survey and interview. Most of the teachers and some of the student gave their opinions in favor of free writing practice but in reality the picture is different. Finally, the study provides some suggestions to overcome the existing problem.Item Interaction of Identity, Self, and English Language Learning in Bangladesh: A Case Study(East West University, 11/12/2011) Haque, Sayeda TonimaInteraction of identity, self, and English language learning is significant in linguistic anthropology. The role of identity and self in English language learning needs to be examined to unearth the reasons of students’ success and failure in language learning. In other words, understanding of learners’ identity can lead to the discovery of learning problems. Specifically, this study aims to explore the interconnection and interaction between identity and English language learning in Bangladesh. In addition, it traces the operation of identity in language learning in Bangladeshi EFL classroom. The data collected for this study shows that different aspects of identity affect language learning in distinctive ways.Item Students interests to practice listening and speaking in relation to the testing system in secondary level.(East West University, 8/10/2011) Mondal, Nayan KishurThe topic for this study is “Students interests to practice listening and speaking in relation to the testing system in secondary level.” It is well known that learning language means the use of four language skillsreading, writing, speaking and listening. The primary skill of language is speaking and listening. When English plays as important role in the age of globalization, the aural-oral skills of English have not got that much importance in English teaching and learning in schools and colleges. In our county, Secondary level is considered as the base of education. But in this level, there is lack of students motivation in using the two skills- speaking and listening. English is considered as a subject instead of a language. In order to change this situation the government introduced Communicative English into class six in 1996 and then into other classes of secondary level on an incremental basis.As listening and speaking is not tested in the SSC examinations, most teachers or school authorities do not take any initiative to introduce aural- oral practices and to assess students. students, too, are, less interested to practice speaking and listening as these two skills are not tested.Item Pedagogical Obstacle of Teachers in Teaching Oral Skills at Secondary Level in Bangladesh(East West University, 8/1/2011) Habib, TasmiraOral skills have an important place in language programme. Because of its’ prominence, Ministry of Education in Bangladesh introduced CLT approach in 1996 at secondary level for developing students’ four basic skills. So, speaking and listening skills (in English language) have got the priority in curriculum and policy. Otherwise, only reading and writing skills were emphasized previously. But one of the major a problem in this context is that Bangladesh is monolingual. English is considered as a foreign language in this country. As a result, it becomes really difficult for the teacher to motivate the students to use English outside the classroom for practice. Moreover, the curriculum and syllabus has emphasized on four skills in written, the oral skills are still not in practice even in the classroom. That’s why the researcher has tried to explore the pedagogical obstacles of the teachers who are teaching English focusing on speaking and listening skills at secondary level in Bangladesh. The findings have showed that majority of the teachers follow CLT approach and GTM method simultaneously to conduct English classes. Teachers who take the English classes did not complete their graduation in English rather they are graduate on other subjects. As the oral skills are not included in examination; students, teachers and institutions are reluctant to emphasize on these two skills. Majority of Teachers said that the education policy has to include the oral skills in the examination for developing students’ four skills. The authorities of their institutions have to be strict to the teachers’ lecture on English and emphasize on speaking and listening in English throughout the English classes. So, it will develop the students’ oral skills and students will become competent in oral skills as well.