In this age of globalization, learning English is very
important for young learners, so English is a compulsory subject in the schools
and colleges as well as in higher studies in Bangladesh. For learning English,
students in Bangladesh
spend almost 12 years compulsorily in their academic life, so they are supposed
to be proficient in the target language. However, in reality, most students cannot
even use English satisfactorily as the four basic language skills--reading,
writing, listening, and speaking are not practiced, taught and learned
adequately in most of the schools in Bangladesh even though the English
textbook has been adapted and modified recently.
Earlier, the traditional Grammar Translation Method (GTM) was
used in teaching English but due to the huge success of the Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) Method at the secondary level of education in Bangladesh, CLT
was adapted in 1995 and first introduced in Classes 9 - 10 in years 2000 - 2001.
In Grammar Translation Method, the focus was on the knowledge about the
language, its grammar and rules, but the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Method focused more on the communication or the ability to perform. Emphasizing
on this idea, the new English for Today textbook was written and
introduced for Classes 9 – 10.
The new English for Today text book for Classes 9 – 10 contains
the reading materials that are graded according to the linguistic difficulty
that was less literary in character because the previous English for today textbook
was more literature related and could not meet the demands of the students. The
current book of English for Today for classes 9-10 is a decent one
containing 14 units in 234 pages including contemporary topics and passages about
climate change, world heritage, festivals, renewable energy, media and
communications, iconic people etc. They contain exercises on questions, true/false,
choosing the correct answer, completing chart, cloze tests, matching, fill in
the blanks and writing from imagination etc. The enormous size syllabus and lessons
are based on good themes and can provide scopes for learning English
communicatively.
Physical Appearance
The cover and back cover of the textbook are attractive and
colorful with quotation of Prime Minister about education and the academic year
is mentioned. The printing quality and the quality of the paper are good
compared to previous editions. The layout and presentation looks neat, the font
size is appropriate and the lessons are presented in an organized way according
to the Table of contents with proper images, graphs, charts, maps and posters.
Overall, the illustrations used in the textbook are interesting, clear and related
to the text to exemplify the meaning of the text. For example, in the lesson
“Events and Festivals” images of national and internationals events and
festivals are given.
Content
The subject matter and units in English for Today textbook
are organized topically and the smaller lessons under each unit are presented situationally
or functionally. The materials of the textbook are not culturally biased rather
cultures are presented in a related way. For example, in the unit “World
Heritage” several archaeological constructions from different cultures are
presented in lessons throughout the whole unit such as The Shat Gambuj Mosque,
Somapura Mahavihara, The Statue of Liberty, Lake
Baikal describing heritages from Asia,
America
and Russia etc.
The topics of the lesson are also related to the needs, age
and interests of the learners. For example, in the unit “Renewable Energy”,
topics such as electricity production in Bangladesh, hydro – carbon energy
resources, solar panels etc. most contemporary topics are introduced.
Even though the functional or communicative syllabus has been
designed for Classes 9 - 10 by the NCTB, the examination syllabus or questions
designed by the examination board seems to be different from what is needed to
test the communicative competence of the learners.
Vocabulary and Grammar
The grammatical items are presented in an increasing order of
difficulty such as starting from completing the chart, matching, multiple
choice questions, short questions and then writing paragraph etc. For example, in the lesson “International
Mother Language Day”, the new vocabularies related with the topic are presented
at an appropriate rate in both the text and exercises. If matching provides new
words with meanings, then the next exercises on questions and paragraph writing
can be done using those related word meanings from the word meaning list.
Skills Development
The secondary level English for Today for classes 9-10
is actually competency based syllabus which means that students are expected to
attain a list of competencies at the end of the secondary level. Even though
the textbook aims at making learners attain communicative competence in the
target language, it is not fully accomplished because pair or group works
cannot be conducted and this prevents participatory learning. For example, in
most of the lessons, there are sections for group works and pair discussions
which are part of the exercises but they are never done due to scarcity of time
and classroom space. Therefore, pair or groups works cannot be done in the
classroom using the textbook.
The English for Today textbook follows a proper
syllabus where the items are selected, organized and sequenced according to
skills for the secondary level Class 9 – 10 learners. An ideal textbook must
ensure adequate coverage of syllabus with supplementary materials i.e. audio
and video resources. This textbook only serves as the basis for language input
and practice, however, only reading and writing are emphasized and listening
and speaking remain omitted for the lack of audio materials and teachers’
guide. Reading text are supported by a number of related exercises and writing
activities help students develop abilities to write freely such as writing a
paragraph, making predictions, report writing etc.
Even though there are detailed instructions on pedagogy and
testing in the teachers’ handbook, the objectives cannot be entirely fulfilled
for the lack of testing listening and speaking exercises in the textbook.
Similarly, teachers are not provided with the teaching tools and guides for
testing listening and speaking, so there is an incomplete paradigm shift. For
example, in the unit “Are We Aware”, there is a section in listening where
students will listen to the teacher/CD that will give them idea about the population
of Bangladesh, however, if this topic is not played through CD or teacher does
not read out the topic, then there is no way in which students could complete
the questions, charts and gap filling activities related to it. This means that
omitting the listening topic or text will leave out students from knowing about
the topic as no additional text is given about the topic but only exercises in
the book.
In most cases, teachers may avoid listening text or speaking
topics that includes group and pair discussions which would mean that students
will not be using the Communicative Language Teaching method which requires
them to speak English in class but rather use the GTM method where the teachers
talks more and students only focus on reading the writing omitting listening
and speaking. Overall, the four skills are not taught in an integrated way.
Exercises and Activities
The exercises are mainly task – based activities which are
organized in a way to promote fluency and accuracy of learners. For example,
the unit on “Media and E – Communications” has been arranged in a way so that
students explore and enjoy reading the topics which motivates them to know more
about the email, social networking sites, digital education program, learning
management system (LMS) etc.
There are different types of exercises and activities with
examples illustrated in images, charts and tables to clarify ideas about the
text. The exercise types are questions; fill in the blanks, multiple choice
questions, comparison tables, completing dialogues etc. Most of the tasks have instructions which are clearly
stated in one or two sentences for both the learners and the teacher.
Interesting exercises such as use of email and social networking sites may help
students to advance in their thinking and communication in the classroom.
Conclusion
The English
for Today textbook has a wide range of lesson to be covered, so due to
scarcity of time, the teachers have to plan on organizing the lessons of the
book taking consideration of the students' interest and level and the duration
of the class hours should also be extended for pair and group works,
presentation etc.
The less
important or non-important lessons may be omitted from the text in order to
remove the students' fear of huge syllabus in English and to provide them more
interest in reading. The lessons should be designed in such a way that each
lesson should contain a variety of activities and skills with maximum
student-involvement.
Even though the new English for Today aims at applying
the CLT method for achieving the target language competence in English, this
goal has not been fulfilled yet due to the lack of sufficient trained teachers,
teaching-learning materials, lack of teacher-student interaction, lack of
students' motivation, poor performance of the students, students' fear in using
English etc. While the government is willing to give teacher training and
provide textbooks, they are unwilling to change the examination system which is
the biggest challenge in any education reform. So, step by step planning is
needed to facilitate change in language teaching and language learning.
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