Teaching Languages
By Bipul K Debnath
Hello, I am Farhana Orange. I am eight years old. I am a student of Class 3. I study at Maniknagar Government Primary School. Thus, Farhana Talukdar, whose nickname is Orange, introduced herself in English to this correspondent. She added that her English teacher is very friendly and teaches using modern methods. So, she never wants to miss her class. This is one example of teaching of English, a second language in our country.
But the recent high rate of failure in English in this years HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate) and equivalent examinations has our education experts and policymakers worried. More than 217,000 (2.17 lakh) students, out of the 361,659 who failed to pass the HSC exams, failed in English, according to the exam results published on July 23. A total of 1,163,370 students took the HSC exams this year. In some school textbooks issued by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board earlier this year, grave errors in English translation and spellings were also noticeable.
When a student sits for the HSC exams, he or she already has 12 years of learning experience. There are four stages of education in our country _ primary, secondary, higher secondary and tertiary _ and English and Bangla is taught at all levels. But why do our students and graduates still remain weak in English, even Bangla, our national language? The Weekend Independent talked to some students, teachers, guardians, education experts and government officials about teaching of languages, like Bangla and English, to find out where the problem lies.
Some students complained that they cannot devote sufficient time to learning languages. Though I am busy with my science subjects, I cannot spend enough time on Bangla and English. I am lucky that my teachers teach these subjects well. So, the syllabus of Bangla and English is known to me. But I must do better in these subjects, shared Atik Islam, a second-year student (science group) at Dhaka Imperial College.
Purna Roy, a commerce student at Motijheel Government Girls High School, said: The syllabuses for Bangla and English are not difficult in that sense. But we need more practice for English. Our teachers are helping to improve our knowledge by using multimedia.
Her father, Nirmal Roy, a private job-holder, added: From the start of my daughters schooling, I have been trying to improve her skills both in Bangla and English. For that, I always try to provide good teachers for her. I think the quality of the teachers needs to improve to improve language skills among the students.
Regarding English teaching at higher level, Abu Zafor, chairperson of the Department of English at Jagannath University, explained: Students who enrol in our BA Honours programme are supposed to have good English language skills so they can study English literature. Despite that, in the first semester of the first year, students are taught two language courses for strengthening their English language skills. Of the two courses, one is for developing proficiency in listening and speaking, and the other is for developing reading and writing skills.
The department has no language lab, so the teachers have some difficulty teaching language courses. However, the teachers use multimedia in their classrooms. In the listening and speaking course, teachers engage students in comprehending and speaking the language intensively. Students are encouraged to listen to British and American English (accents) and maintain international standard when speaking. But as there are more than 60 students in a class, it becomes difficult for the teachers to give adequate attention to each and every student. The same shortfall applies to reading and writing courses.
For improving English language teaching, Farah Chowdhury, an associate professor of English at Government Titumir College, suggested: English should be taught in an English atmosphere. But our teaching system is doing the opposite. Students are being taught English through translation. The (English) grammar books are written in Bangla. English and Bangla are two different language systems. So, if a student learns English grammar written in Bangla, there is no way to improve their thinking skills in English. But thinking in English is a prerequisite for learning English. We were students in the 1980s. At that time, our grammar books were written in English. We always studied grammar in English.
Like us, others who are teaching English are facing similar problems in the classroom. Our students are used to listening to Bangla words in their English class. If we start giving our lecture in English, most of them request us to translate it into Bangla so they can understand better. I feel sad when I see their faces. It is not their fault. The education system is forcing them to be so. Time has come to overhaul our education system, to improve quality, added Chowdhury, who has been teaching English for 21 years.
From the point of view of linguistics, language teaching is considered a part of applied linguistics. In this sense, the methods and procedures used in language teaching include grammar, translation, and audio-lingual and oral approach. Language teaching methods have developed over the years.
Salma Nasrin, an associate professor at the Department of Linguistics, University of Dhaka, said: Nowadays, modern techniques such as CALL (computer assisted language teaching), multimedia, developing listening and speaking skills, and electronic boards are used in language teaching.
Earlier in Bangladesh, the grammar-translation (GT) method was widely used to teach languages. But since this method had some limitations, for which learners of a specific language did not achieve the expected goal. Over time, some modern teaching methods, like communicative language, were developed. This method is learner friendly and interactive. So, in Bangladesh most of the English classrooms are using the communicative language method, Nasrin added.
Firdous Azim, chairperson of the Department of English and Humanities at BRAC University, said: The Department of English and Humanities teaches two composition courses, namely ENG 102 (Composition I), and ENG 201 (Composition II). As the titles of the courses suggest, they focus on various sub-skills of academic writing, starting from writing on a topic to developing a research paper on an assigned topic. In addition, the courses teach selected literary and non-literary texts to consolidate students foundation in critical reading skills, without which it is virtually impossible to develop the writing skills needed for subsequent courses in literature, applied linguistics, and media. Employing the state-of-the-art yet context-sensitive methodological practices, the courses not only require that students make presentations and write a good number of papers, but they also become independent readers. Moreover, students are actively engaged through an online learning platform, namely LMS (learning management system), before and after class to turn learning into a broad enterprise, as opposed to confining it to classrooms only.
As for course materials, and tasks, the courses draw on a wide variety of sources for authentic materials, for example, movie clips, songs, advertisements, etc, and introduce the students to meaningful pedagogic tasks. These tasks help the students make a connection between the classroom and the outside professional world. Therefore, at the end of the course, students are equipped with necessary academic as well as professional communication skills which not only help them succeed academically, but also prove their worth in the competitive job market, Azim added.
Regarding training of language teachers, Robiul Alam, assistant professor of English at Eden College, said: Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world where teachers can start teaching without any formal training. In addition to this, very limited in-service training programmes are offered to teachers. As a result, most of the teachers lack skills in teaching languages. For example, students of English under the National University are introduced to linguistics and ELT (English language teaching) methodology in the third year and fourth year respectively. But surprisingly, in most of the government colleges, there are very few teachers who are skilled and trained in linguistics and ELT methodology. Most of the teachers have done their graduation and masters in literature. Consequently, it becomes tough for them to give effective lectures on language.
As barriers to effective and fruitful language teaching, Alam identified inefficiency of ELT practitioners, large class sizes, lack of multimedia, economic constraints, infrastructural limitations, administrative setup, cultural conflicts, and scarcity of training programmes for teachers.
In order for ELT to become really successful, some misconceptions must be clarified. Efforts on the part of teachers and central educational authorities should be devoted to the implementation and research of ELT in classrooms, he added.
When it comes to our national language, most Bangla departments do not concentrate on teaching language, as foreign language departments do.
As the Bangla department activities _courses and curricula _ are based on our mother tongue and its literature, we suppose that all students who get admission here are already good in language communication. So, our prime objective is to concentrate on reading and criticism of Bangla literature from all ages. Language application, of course, is an important issue in this context, so that they can express themselves correctly. We make them aware of proper language usage through classroom lectures, presentations, tutorials, assignments and other practical sessions. Besides these activities, we have some courses on linguistics, said Abu Dayen, an associate professor at the Department of Bangla, Jahangirnagar University.
Sabrin Nahar, an assistant professor at the Bangla department of Jagannath University, said: I have observed from my four years teaching experience that most of the students have basic knowledge about Bangla language. But functional Bangla is new to them. Through our course, we try to teach our students proper usage of the language. Mostly, they become good in language as well as literature. We give importance on phonology and phonetics. There is no difference between present and traditional teaching methods in our department. Our students are improving their knowledge and taking good preparation for competitive examinations after graduation.
Shapan Kumar Nath, sub-director of research and planning, National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM), a centre working for enhancing teaching quality, told The Weekend Independnent: At the end of English courses, we assess our learners skills in four areas. There is a language lab for English with modern equipment. There is 21-day CEC (communicative English course) round the year. Spoken English is mandatory. Each student has to submit a report in English. For this, the ability of writing English is improving. For Bangla, we give importance on spelling, pronunciation, present trends, newspaper language, sentence building, language of novel and dramas, etc. There is also book criticism. We hire resource persons from Dhaka University, British Council and other reputed institutions. Through our course, our learners develop their teaching quality and educational management skills.
M Moshiuzzaman, member (curriculum) of National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), said: Four skills _ speaking, listening, writing, and reading _ are required for learning a language. In our new curriculum, prepared in 2012, we have added these four skills. In our traditional method of learning, there were writing and reading only. But speaking and listening were absent. Because of that, those of us who learned languages before have great knowledge, but we dont have good listening or speaking skills. In Bangladesh, English is being taught as a foreign language. Proficiency in a language mainly depends on practising. The scope of learning and teaching English in our country is relatively low. English in Action has been added to our new curriculum to develop listening skills. The audio of the programme is available on our website. Anyone can use it. It is not possible to teach only through textbooks. Other materials are needed and that is up to the teachers (to provide). It is very sad that our education system has become result-oriented. Students are learning a language for getting good marks, without applying the knowledge in communication.
A social movement is needed to ensure the real objective of education. Besides teachers, students and guardians must realise the main objective of learning. Language is not for memorising, but for using as a medium of communication, the NCTB member added.
Photos: File, Internet
