Investigating English speaking problems among Bangla-medium secondary school students and their pedagogical implications

Abstract

English learning has become vital in Bangladesh for its impact on education, career and communication in the international arena. Despite being taught English for twelve years as a compulsory subject, many Bangla medium secondary school students have problems speaking English fluently. The purpose of this study is to find the main causes why Bangla medium secondary school students suffer in English speaking and to offer some pedagogic solutions regarding this problem. In the literature review chapter, related existing studies to this research are attempted for guiding this research. This is basically a qualitative study as it suits best for the research topic. The data collection procedure involves a questionnaire that is designed to collect students’ perceptions, interview of two teachers and three English language classroom observations. The collected data from three different sources are coded and analyzed through triangulation. The findings of this study reveal various factors that are responsible for students' speaking difficulties, like- limited speaking opportunity, education system, dominance of GTM and improper implementation of CLT, syllabus design, teacher centered classroom etc. Moreover, the results are interpreted in the discussion section by relating them to earlier research and beliefs on the development of speaking and learning English. Furthermore, the interpretations of the sections also suggest what changes may be brought in the pedagogy. The study concludes with highlighting the barriers of the students' English speaking problems and recommending policy changes regarding this problem.