Teachers’ classroom practices and their impact on student’s English writing skills: a qualitative study of three schools in a small town in Bangladesh

Abstract

Writing is one of the skills to judge a person’s language competence. English is now the global language and also it is a medium to get success in various fields; such as in job market, higher education, communication, research and trade. At the high stake examination in Bangladesh, students are judged by their exam scripts and as a result students’ writing skills are very important for their future study and career. This study, qualitative in nature, explored English teachers’ preference for teaching methodology and its impact on students’ writing achievement in three schools. Data for this research collected through interviews, classroom observation, examining students’ exam scripts and a surprise writing test. Participants are from three selected schools from a small town in Bangladesh. Results show that teachers’ preference for teaching methods impacted students’ writing attainment. Apart from teaching methods there are other factors, for example exam questions also impacted students’ writing skills. When writing topics in the exam are easily predictable, students prefer to memorize than writing from their own imagination. Finally this study suggested some recommendation that may help developing students’ writing skills in rural and sub- urban areas in Bangladesh.