Professional Development, Needs and Challenges, Japanese Language Teachers, In-country Teachers’ Training
Current Issue
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Number - The Centennial Speci
1-287, ( Jul-2023 )-
Editor's Note
Since foreign language teaching and learning context in Bangladesh presents a unique setting, and it has received inadequate scholarship, the Special Issue expects to become a seminal reference for foreign language research, teaching, and learning. The Special Issue is a unique collection of researc... Read More...
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A1 Submission Date: 2021-02-01 Acceptance Date:Professional Development of the Japanese -Language Teachers in Bangladesh: Present Situation and Challenges
- Mohammed Ansarul Alam
- Md. Ahmedul Azam
Even though teachers’ professional development has become a significant issue in the educational system around the world, it is not yet reflected among the foreign language teachers in Bangladesh. In this research, challenges of the Japanese language teachers in professional development have been investigated. Data derived from the teachers’ interviews and secondary resources are used for the research. It has been found that the concept of professional development is not known to most teachers and both the teachers and the institutions are struggling to develop in this field. A greater part of the teachers is not well equipped with academic knowledge as well as very few have the administrative capacity and network with relevant stakeholders. The research proposed some concrete recommendations for both the Japanese language teachers and policymakers. Particularly, conducting in-country teachers' training is highly recommended. The Institute of Modern Languages, the University of Dhaka and the Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of Bangladesh may take the lead in the professional development of the Bangladeshi Japanese language teachers. In-depth further research should be carried out covering more institutes that offer Japanese Language programmes in this particular field for the development of the Japanese language education as well as all other foreign language education.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A2 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:An Ethnographic Exploration of the Presence of English and Its Roles in the Socio-Economic Development in the Rural Context in Bangladesh
- Saleh Ahmad
- Sayeedur Rahman
EFL, English language skills, socio-economic development, ethnography
It is one of the very few ethnographic studies on the English language in Bangladesh that was carried out to explore the usage of the English language in the rural context of the country. It is hard to design life-oriented and suitable materials and practicaloutcome- based English curricula to support an effective national education policy to develop the economic capacity of the rural people without in-depth studies about the usage and necessity of the English language and skills. A remote rural area of Bangladesh was explored through qualitative ethnographic methods and tools, such as ethnographic participant observation, individual and group interviews, open discussions, photography, audio and video recording, etc. The interviews with fifty-seven research participants were transcribed and thematically analysed to explore the major themes regarding the presence and roles of English in the research site. Based on the findings, the major themes and patterns about the necessity and prospect of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) as well as a tool of socio-economic development and the present domains of usage of English have been presented in this paper. The findings have suggested specific directions for modifications of the English textbooks to make English education and learning at the primary and secondary levels more productive in real life in rural settings.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A3 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:Exploring Bangladeshi learners’ lived experiences of studying French in a foreign language context: A phenomenological study
- Mizanur Rahman
French as a foreign language, lived experiences,foreign language at tertiary level
The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore learners’ experiences of studying in the newly introduced Bachelor in French Language and Culture (BFLC) programme at the Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka to determine both positive aspects and shortcomings of the programme. The identification of the existing challenges will play a significant role in overcoming them and thus ensuring the quality of teaching/learning of the BFLC programme. A semistructured interview guide was used to collect data from a purposeful sample of 7 participants. The findings were analysed following a qualitative data analysis method to identify the emergent themes. The findings demonstrate that the merits of the course are agreeable class size, the prospect of employment opportunities at the end of successful completion of the programme, engaging in co-curricular activities, and easy access to friendly and cooperative teachers. On the other hand, major challenges of the programme identified through the analysis of the qualitative data are lack of properly developed syllabus and curriculum, lack of proper use of educational technology, teacher’s irregularity in teaching a class, use of poor methods and approaches of teaching.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A4 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:Challenges of Students with Speech-Language and Communication Needs in Classroom Interactions at Bilingual Schools
- Tazin Aziz
- Chaudhury
- Sayma Arju
challenge. SLCN, bi-lingual mainstream school, classroom interaction
An ideal classroom must ensure active students' participation, participative teaching methodologies, the use of technological resources, and teachers’ positive attitudes towards disability. The National Education Policy 2010 attempted to address inclusive education and the implementation strategies of inclusion into the country’s existing education system. Children with specific speech-language and communication needs (SLCN) are frequently placed in mainstream schools with varying degrees of support yet little or almost no attention is paid to the children’s actual problems and their personal educational needs. Bangladesh is still considered a country where speech-language pathology services are not provided within schools, and many of the children's needs are not deemed to be severe enough to access other educational funding or support services. In this study, the authors explored some of the difficulties children with speechlanguage and communication needs face when learning language and interacting with peers in a classroom setting. The research applied a qualitative research method to investigate the learning and schooling experiences of the sample of children. Interviews were conducted with 36 participants including 10 selected children, their parents, and teachers to highlight the challenges of these children in school and the challenges and frustrations the families and teachers faced. An inductive reflective thematic analysis of the data identified sympathetic attitudes of the teachers and peers, equal opportunities for performance in the classroom discussions, guidance from trained teachers and language therapists, and most importantly the introduction of a personal improvement plan are all needed to create a positive environment for students with SLCN to participate in classroom interaction.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A5 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:Developing English Writing Skills through Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL)
- Ranjit Podder
- Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman
English writing skill, CTL (contextual teaching and learning), Teachers Training College, undergraduate students
The current study tried to explore how the teacher educators at Teachers’ Training College, Dhaka utilised the contexts in developing their undergraduate students’ English writing skills; how Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) helped improve students’ writing skills; and what challenges teachers and students faced in implementing CTL. This qualitative study employed semi-structured interview and observation methods to collect data from two teacher participants, and FGD (Focus Group Discussion) to collect data from five students selected by the two teacher participants. They selected five students based on their improved performances during the implementation of CTL. The interview and FGD data were transcribed and the observation data were developed after recurrent reading and edits. The data were then coded and categorised based on the similarity of themes. The major findings of the study were that the teachers were expert enough to utilise contexts; CTL was found beneficial in developing students’ English writing skills. However, the teachers as well as the students, faced challenges such as the college authority’s rigidity not allowing the teachers and the students to go beyond the syllabus and the classroom, a large class with around 100 students, and students’ shortage of stock of vocabulary.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A6 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:Studying clinical linguistics as an independent discipline in Bangladesh: A post-hoc needs analysis from the perspectives of learners
- Fatima Alam
Linguistics, Clinical Linguistics, Communication Disorders, Speech-language Pathology
Clinical linguistics is the application of linguistic theories and methods to the study of causes, nature and treatment processes of different types of speech and language disorders. In this study, the importance of studying clinical linguistics in the higher academic institutions of Bangladesh was analysed as it deals with a severe problem existing in our society. This study was conducted following a qualitative approach to collect relevant data that would justify the objectives accordingly. The participants of this study were 16 students, studying at the master's level in the Department of Linguistics, University of Dhaka, who studied clinical linguistics as a full compulsory course at their undergraduate level. The participants were interviewed individually and an open-ended questionnaire was used to extract data from them. The findings of this research suggest that society needs graduates of clinical linguistics to serve the nation by combating speech and language disorders. The majority of the participants (75%) were in favour of developing a new associated department named ‘Communication Disorders’ or ‘Clinical Linguistics’ as an extension of the study of the applied field of linguistics. They explained that the new department would produce skilled graduates or expert in speech and language therapists to serve the nation properly in the context of communication health of the masses. Like any other linguistic community throughout the world, our society is also sensitive to speech as well as language disorders. Therefore, the universities of Bangladesh must take immediate initiatives to introduce clinical linguistics either as a full course under linguistics or in a separate department to produce skilled graduates.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A7 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:The Effect of Metacognitive Instruction on Asynchronous L2 Listening during the Pandemic on EFL Learners
- Azran Azmee Kafia
Metacognitive instruction, MALQ, metacognitive awareness, asynchronous, listening, online
Metacognitive Instruction (MI) is an instructional procedure that increases the learners’ awareness of the listening processes by developing their personal knowledge, task knowledge and strategy knowledge and orchestrating available listening strategies for effective listening in independent settings (Vandergrift & Goh, 2012). This study was carried out during the pandemic to determine if there was any relationship between metacognitive instruction and listening comprehension in increasing Bangladeshi EFL undergraduate learners’ L2 listening performance by manipulating metacognitive strategies; planning, monitoring and evaluation in aligning with metacognitive knowledge, task knowledge and strategy use while listening. It also investigated if metacognitive instruction affected high and low achievers’ performance. For this experimental study, one hundred twenty-four Bangladeshi undergraduate EFL learners in the experimental group (n = 62) and control group (n = 62) received asynchronously metacognitive instruction and traditional instruction based on the product approach, respectively, for five weeks using five transactional listening texts. To gauge any possible changes in listening comprehension, pretest, post-test and metacognitive awareness listening questionnaires (MALQ) were administered. The findings showed that metacognitive instruction and listening comprehension had significant positive relation, and low successful achievers’ level of comprehension improved exponentially.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A8 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:Role of Classroom Interaction in English Language Learning: A Study on Tertiary Level Teachers and Students in Dhaka Md. Jahid Hasan
- Md. Jahid Hasan
interaction, classroom, English language, participation, observation, mixed methods.
Classroom interaction has always been a significant concern in language learning. It also involves the use of the target language by both the facilitator and the learners as interlocutors. Following Ellis (1990, as cited in 2017), interaction focuses on the meaning and is conducted to ease the transmission of information and prevent communication failures. This study investigates the role of classroom interaction in English language learning where teachers and students participate in discussions and collaborative practices. This study is mainly focused on four researchable questions, and the target populations are the English language teachers and students of two private universities which are prominent for classroom communication in Dhaka. This is a mixed-method research study where qualitative data from openended questions for the teachers, teachers’ interviews, focus group discussion (FGD), and quantitative data from students’ questionnaires were used to get effective results. The researcher has followed the Likert scale format to design the students’ questionnaire. The questionnaire survey was completed by 50 students, 6 students participated in a focus group discussion (FGD) and 3 teachers were interviewed for this study. For questionnaire analysis, the researcher used SPSS and descriptive analysis, and for qualitative data analysis (interview and FGD session), the researcher used thematic analysis. The findings of this research have pointed to a variety of additional requirements that can only be achieved to have an effective and productive classroom interaction. The results elucidate the significant role of interaction in the English language classroom for the learners and suggest further steps to accelerate this interaction process in the English language classroom by increasing access of the students to the teachers.
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.59191/JIMLV32A9 Submission Date: Acceptance Date:Motivational Role of Teachers on EFL Learners for Developing English Oral Presentation Performance: A Study on Tertiary Level Learners in Bangladesh
- Laila Noor
Motivation, teachers’ motivational role, oral presentation skill, academic performance, EFL learners
The study investigated the motivational role of teachers for developing English oral Presentation performance of the tertiarylevel ESL learners in Bangladesh. The data was obtained from forty-six learners from the departments of English in three Bangladeshi private and public universities. The quantitative research was based on an independent t-test, and the survey of a self-developed five-point Likert scale questionnaire. The results were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The independent t-test was statistically significant. Therefore, we rejected the null hypothesis. The independent t-test and the survey results demonstrated a significant positive effect of teachers’ motivational role for developing their English oral presentation performance of the tertiary-level ESL learners in Bangladesh. The findings advocated for further research regarding what motivational methods and techniques can be used to develop English oral presentation performance of the tertiarylevel ESL learners in Bangladesh.
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