Learning English at the tertiary level: coping with the shift after secondary level

Abstract

In Bangladesh, students start to learn English from class one, and most continue to learn it as part of their curriculum until the secondary level. At the tertiary level, the students experience a shift as they start a more specified type of study. During this journey, many of them have to learn English again. This paper deals with the experience of that learning at the tertiary level. It works upon three objectives: the learners’ experiences of learning English at the tertiary level, the coping strategies of the learners in case of difficulties, and their opinion regarding tertiary-level English learning experience. For conducting this research, two research methods were used: semi-structured interviewing and structured interviewing. This paper’s central insight is that this transition from the secondary to the tertiary level needs to be handled with more care because the nature of learning, teaching, and discussions change over time— and that, too, very swiftly.