Teacher Talk (TT) in EFL classrooms in Bengali medium schools of Bangladesh

Abstract

The study attempts to find out how Bengali medium English language teachers utilize their talk in classroom settings. To fulfill that purpose, the research was conducted in four Bengali medium secondary level schools of Dhaka city. It tried to identify the features of teacher talk (TT), the types of questions teachers use and ways in giving feedback. In the study, 162 students and 6 English language teachers participated. For conducting the survey, three part questionnaire was used to get information from both students and English language teachers. The first part contained some general information about the participants. 16 multiple choice questions were in second part and the last part of the questionnaire consisted of only 2 open-ended questions. Classroom observation was also done for collecting research data. The findings of the survey show that Bengali medium English language classrooms are dominated by teachers. Almost all the talk or discussion is initiated by them. Teachers mostly ask display or close ended questions to students. Teachers provide both positive and negative feedback to students. Key words: Teacher talk (TT), Bengali medium, language classrooms, teachers, utilize