Language Teaching Methods

English Language Teaching (ELT) Versus English Language Education (ELE): The Perspective of Bangladesh

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Sheikh Saifullah Ahmed
Student Id-141410
Language, Education and Development - 3109
English Language Teaching (ELT) Versus English Language Education (ELE): The
Perspective of Bangladesh
10 November 2016
INTRODUCTION:
The role of the English language as a lingua franca makes it a unique language
throughout the world. This distinctiveness does not only refer to the language itself, but also
to the ways it is taught as a foreign language or as a second language. Learning a foreign
language (English) takes place step by step that evaluates the level of students’ performance
in their four basic skills of the language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (LSRW).
Different researchers suggest different remedial measures to overcome the problems lying in
the process of teaching-learning activities. The investigation is directly related to ELT and
ELE methods: textbooks and materials, syllabi and curricula, teaching methods and
approaches, the status of teachers, teaching aids and equipment, perception of needs
of English, preference of learning strategies, testing and assessment, pedagogical and
andragogical processes, product and process approaches etc.
My assignment finds correlations between the teachers and the students.
Contradictions are also found between them on some points relating t o English language
teaching and learning. Cooperative learning (Balancing between pedagogical and
andragogical processes) helps significantly to enhance the learners’ communicative
competence and their motivation towards English language learning in Bangladesh.

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PEDAGOGY VERSUS ANDRAGOGY: ELT VERSUS ELE:
The present research finds that teachers talk more in the class and remain busy while
students sit idle as inactive learners. Problems are also found in textbook materials and
contents. Students feel bored in the class and show disinterest in the lesson and the method of
teaching. Sometimes, in the English language class students are taught textbook contents
rather than practising English language skills. For all these reasons, a large number of
students in Bangladesh face problems to learn English as a foreign or second language.
In the pedagogical approach, the learner is dependent upon the instructor for all
learning. The teacher/instructor assumes full responsibility for what is taught and how it is
learned. The teacher/instructor evaluates the learning process. The learner comes to the
activity with little experience and the experience of the instructor is most influential to the
learners and the learners are told what they have to learn in order to advance to the next level
of mastery and primarily motivated by external pressures, competition for grades, and the
consequences of failure or achievement.
In andragogical approach, the learner is self-directed and responsible for his/her own
learning. Self-evaluation is the main characteristic of this approach and the learner brings a
greater level of experience. Adults are the rich resource for one another and different
experiences assure diversity in their groups. The experience becomes the source of self-
identity. Learning must have relevance to real-life tasks and situations. The learners are
motivated by internal motivations, self-esteem, recognition, the better quality of life, self-
confidence and self -actualization.
In this paper (assignment) I have tried to show the differences between English
language teaching and English language learning in Bangladesh relating to the pedagogical
and andragogical approaches.

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Since the research on English language teaching and learning is a global phenomenon,
a prominent number of studies have been conducted around the world. A good number of
studies on ELT and ELE have also been carried out under different public universities in
Bangladesh. The increasing importance of English as a foreign language and as a global
lingua franca has made English language teaching- learning a research subject all over the
world. The term ‘acquisition’ is used to describe language being absorbed without conscious
effort; i.e. the way children pick up their mother tongue. Language acquisition is often
contrasted with language learning. For some researchers, 'acquisition' is subconscious and
spontaneous, and 'learning' is conscious, developing through formal study and knowing the
rules and grammars of the target language.
MOTIVATION: INSTRUMENTAL AND INTEGR ATIVE:
Motivation is an important factor in English language teaching and learning. This can be
defined in terms of the learner's overall goal or orientation.' Instrumental' motivation occurs
when the learner's goal is functional (e.g. to get a job or pass an examination), and
'integrative' motivation occurs when the learner wishes to identify with the culture of the L2
group. Aids and Equipment for instrumental motivation are required to learn the target
language effectively. Blackboard, whiteboard, o verhead projector, posters, wall charts,
flipcharts, maps, plans, flashcards, word cards, puppets, tape recorder, TV or video player,
computer, CD Rom, language laboratory, etc. are teaching aids and equipment . These
are used to help and accelerate learning the target language. It covers the syllabus, curriculum
design, materials development, testing system etc. necessary for teaching English to the
speakers of other languages (Shahidullah, 2002; Maniruzzaman, 1998).
METHODS TO TEACH AND LEARN A LANGUAGE:

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The principle of learning a language is actually to practise it. This practice is carried
out through the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, usually in an
interactive mode, underlies the communicative approach (CLT) to language learning. As the
focus is on the communicative functions of language, the main aim of the textbook is to
provide ample opportunities for students to use English for a variety of purposes in their daily
activities.
The emphasis on the communicative approach, however, does not disregard the role
of grammar. Instead of treating grammar as a set of rules to be memorized in isolation, the
book has integrated grammar items into the lesson activities allowing grammar to assume a
more meaningful role in the learning of English. Thus students develop their language skills
by practising language activities and not merely by knowing the rules of the language.
According to Holliday (1994) in the Communicative Approach, the learner is no longer an
empty receptacle who must learn a language by means of a new set of stimulus-response
behaviour traits, but an intelligent, problem-solving person, with an existing communicative
competence in a first, or perhaps second or third language.
In Bangladesh, the textbook follows the communicative approach to the teaching and
learning of English language . The book provides learners with a variety of materials such as
reading texts, dialogues, pictures, diagrams, tasks and activities. Learners can practice
language skills using these materials. They can actively participate in pairs or group or
individual work. EFL textbooks can play an important role in the success of language
programs. Sheldon (1988) suggests that "Textbooks represent the visible heart of any ELT
program"
Teaching effectiveness includes the teacher's ability to prepare a lesson plan focusing
on the teaching aim, administration and the management of the class, and to work towards the

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aim with certain teaching strategies. As the English teachers in Bangladesh would follow the
Grammar Translation Method of Teaching, they were not fully aware of and efficient in
teaching the communicative approach. They could hardly use the target language in the class.
Though the teaching process has been changed, the total scenario of the language classroom
has not been changed yet.
A teacher must follow teaching methods and approaches while teaching in the class.
Any good teaching-learning method must take into consideration by the teachers and the
students in the language learning situation . The teachers who have been teaching English at
the different levels of the education system in Bangladesh are trained up through the
instructions of mother tongue Bengali. They are not educated and trained up in the
communicative approach of learning. M ost common methods and approaches that are used in
the classes are; Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, Audio- Lingual Method,
Communicative approach, etc.
AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD:
Audio- Lingual Method considers listening and speaking the first tasks in language
learning, followed by reading and writing. There is considerable emphasis on learning
sentence patterns, memorization of dialogues and extensive use of drills(the way of learning
something by means of the repeated exercises ).
C
OMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT):
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) aims at helping l earners to develop
communicative competence in a particular language (i.e. the ability to use the language
effectively). Communicative Approach emphasizes that the goal of language learning is
communicative competence. It is used for Communicative Language Teaching. It aims at

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developing the communicative competence of the learner in the target language (Larser-
Freeman, 2000). This is concerned with the needs of students to communicate outside the
classroom; teaching techniques reflect this in the choice of language content and materials,
with emphasis on role play, pair and group work etc.
D
IRECT METHOD:
Direct Method is one of the most common methods in TEFL, where the language is
taught through listening and speaking. There may be little or no explicit explanation
of grammatical rules or translation into the mother tongue of the student. It introduces
inductive learning rather than deductive.
G
RAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD (GT):
Grammar Translation Method (GT) is based upon memorizing the rules and logic of a
language and the practice of translation focusing on reading and writing skills. In the age of
Communicative Approach, the teachers in Bangladesh follow the Grammar Translation
Method in teaching English in the class. The present study reveals that the teachers do not
explain the text in English, rather they prefer to stay in Bengali, the mother tongue; they are
found reluctant in practis ing the teaching vocabulary items through explanation of the text.
Though the textbook (English For Today, For classes 11-12) is written on the basis of the
communicative view of teaching and learning, and the syllabus is made with communicative
language teaching items, but the language teachers are still found reluctant in following the
guidelines of the book; it is because, this approach is new to them on the one hand, and they
do not have experience and training in communicative language teaching on the other hand.
They hardly speak English with the students inside and outside of the class; the study finds
that the maximum percentage of teachers do not encourage their students to speak English
with their classmates. It is painfully observed that after twelve years of learning English, most

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of the learners are unable to use it for communication; they cannot speak English with
necessary fluency, the correctness of grammar and pronunciation. Even, learning English as a
foreign language (EFL) for twelve years in the g rammar-translation method, the students fail
in large numbers in Dhaka University Admission examination (The Daily Star, 3 Oct. 2016 ).
The study discloses that teachers are usually busy and talk more in the class, while the
students sit idle as inactive listeners only. The class is teacher-centred rather than students
oriented, these all prove that the teachers follow the Grammar Translation Method in the
class for teaching English.
There are many studies carried out in the field of ELE and ELT around t he world.
Some of the important works related to the present study are reviewed here. Hasan (2005)
conducts a linguistic study on the “English Language Curriculum at the Secondary Level in
Bangladesh - A Communicative Approach to Curriculum Development” which reveals that
students are aware of the importance of learning the English language. He finds that 59% of
students have a disinterest in speaking English because they like their mother tongue. He also
discovers that the syllabus and the 99 % curriculum of education are examination oriented,
which prevent them from acquiring language competence. He discovers that English is not
sufficiently used in the class; on an average 68% of teachers admit that they do not arrange
the practice of four skills of English language in the class. Since the study (Hasan, 2005)
deals with, use of English in the class, the practice of language skill, needs of English,
textbook materials, etc., it is directly relevant to my assignment’s topic . Johnson (2001) in his
study finds that trained teachers are more efficient than non-trained teachers in handling
English classes. Teachers who have a very good English medium background are the best for
teaching the students to acquire a language.
Learning a second/foreign language includes developing communicative competence
in the basic skills-listening, speaking, reading, and writing of the language. Listening and

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speaking are dependent upon each other are different from reading and writing since the
formers are used in face to face and direct communication, whereas the la tters are used in
indirect communication. Hence, pronunciation appears to be unavoidable in case of listening
and speaking as reception and production of information heavily depend on intelligible
pronunciation (Maniruzzaman, 2002). In this connection, Hancock (2003) maintains that
pronunciation is inextricably tied with listening and speaking. Nonetheless, pronunciation
hardly receives sufficient importance in teaching as well as learning English at the primary,
secondary and tertiary levels in Bangladesh (Maniruzzaman, 2008).
CONCLUSION:
At the tertiary level in both public and private universities in Bangladesh, the English
departments offer courses in English language, ELT (English Language Teaching), English
literature, discourse analysis, media studies, business English, and so on. Besides, one or two
courses in English speaking and listening are taught. But English pronunciation practice
appears to have inadequate attention in both teaching and learning (Maniruzzaman, 2008).
Therefore, a study is needed to determine the significance of teaching pronunciation
in an EFL country like Bangladesh, especially at the tertiary level. Such a study would reveal
problems associated with teaching and learning this skill and put forward constructive
suggestions.
My assignment is directly related to ELT and ELE approaches which are prepared in
teaching-learning method sand approaches, status of teachers and students, teaching aids and
equipment, testing and assessment, pedagogical and andra gogical processes, product and
process approaches to compare and contrast between English Language Teaching (ELT) and
English Language Education (ELE).

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