CLT in Theory and Practice

Abstract

English is taught as a compulsory subject in our country from class I to XII but after twelve years of learning, English remains a fearful subject among the students. Still most of the students fail in English in SSC and HSC examinations. Our teachers used to follow Grammar Translation Method (GTM) to teach English in the classroom but it failed to develop the communicative competence of the students. So, with the hope of developing all four language skills, CLT was introduced in our ELT context. Since the introduction of CLT, it has raised many contradictions on its effectiveness because the implementation of CLT is not same as it is in theory. The study focused on three schools in three different districts to observe the current scenario of CLT and to answer the central research questions. The data was collected from 100 students and ten teachers through questionnaire and interview. The findings seem to suggest that our teachers still follow Grammar Translation Method (GTM) in the classroom. Bangla is preferred over English as a medium of instruction in the classroom. Students still memorize their answers and teachers encourage them to memorize. Our teachers do not have necessary academic background to teach English but still they are teaching due to the lack of English teachers. The study also found that as students are very weak in English they cannot speak properly in English. Teachers are not properly trained to follow CLT in the classroom and some of the trained teachers are reluctant to follow CLT in the classroom. Teachers’ authority is absolute in the classroom but some teachers are being friendly with the students. We have large classes but in some schools they are divided in a number of sections to have small class. These factors suggest that the situation is changing but it is very slow.