Different strokes for little folks - the need for a different methodology for primary English education in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh‟s need to be a part of the global community has manifested itself in the government‟s implementing compulsory English learning at various levels of education. However, writing samples of tertiary level Bangladeshi students show that even after twelve years of English learning, students‟ proficiency of English is far below the required standards to study abroad or in English medium universities in the country. Local experts believe that the main reason for the students‟ low proficiency lies in the wrong method of teaching English at the primary level. The fact is, although theoretically, children learn a language quicker than adults, wrong methods of teaching can bring in an opposite result. In Bangladesh, students are not getting benefited from compulsory primary English education as the effects of wrong learning at this level are preventing their English language development even at the later stages. Therefore, it is high time to change the existing methodology for teaching English at the primary level. This paper focuses on the problems in the existing method of teaching English at the primary level, shows some effective ways of teaching English at this level and finally suggests some policy level changes to make English education really fruitful in Bangladesh.