We know that, curriculum content is a body of facts, ideas,
concepts and skills that are presented, discussed and involved in the course.
The content or materials selected for the course should reflect the pre-determined
curriculum objectives which are intended for the learner. Therefore, while
selecting the contents of the curriculum, the curriculum designer should give
attention to the fact that the materials to be selected for the curriculum must
be of established value and they should be able to meet the needs and interests
of the learners.
In our
country, the effectiveness of the curriculum is measured by the process of continuous
assessment throughout the course through quizzes and terminal examinations, as
well as final examination at the end of the course in classes 9 and 10. The higher
secondary education (Classes 9 –10) is designed to prepare the students to
enter into the higher secondary stage. The academic program terminates at the
end of class 10 when students prepare themselves to appear at the public
examination called S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate).
In today’s world, the approach and style of learning English
is changing gradually and relentlessly, so various attempts have been taken
into concern in this regard consequently to serve this demand in course of
time. In the past, the English learning was content-based and was also Grammar
Translation Method based. Then English learning mainly focused on literature
and emphasized on the grammar, however, now-a-days, it emphasizes on the Communication
Language Teaching Method in learning English, which is considered to be an
effective method in learning English. Since, the Communication Language
Teaching Method has become a popular method in the developed countries; it has
also been included in our English curriculum too. From this perspective we can
say that, the present English curriculum in our country has been designed based
on the Communication Language Teaching Method (CLT).
Curriculum or syllabus design has always been an important
issue in our education system, because only an effective syllabus can ensure
language learning successfully. With this view, educationists and curriculum
planners in Bangladesh
and abroad have worked on the English curriculum designing at the secondary or
higher secondary level and they have given their valuable opinions regarding
the imbalance between the present syllabus and its successful implementation.
They have suggested that an appropriate graded syllabus should be introduced at
each level and text books related to the needs and abilities of the learners
should be prepared. They emphasized that, there is a deficiency in learning
English on our country which has been accelerated by the lack of efficient
English teachers. The present Class 9 – 10 English syllabuses emphasizes on
learning the language through interactive and communicative process, which is
the Communicative Language Teaching Method or CLT.
By following the Communicative Language Teaching Method,
learners are expected to use the language effectively in real life situations
outside the classroom through constant and regular practice with the teachers
and the fellow students and they are expected to acquire competency in the
concerned language. This present communicative syllabus is introduced from the
failure of the past syllabus which was grammar and content-based and emphasized
on rote learning or memorization, but not on comprehension and oral practice of
the learners. Therefore, consequently, learners memorized English without
understanding and as a result they could not become creative, imaginative and
competent in communication in terms of learning English.
For this reason, the Communicative Language Teaching Method was
introduced to emphasize on the learners’ ability to internalize a second
language, to be creative and imaginative in real-life situations and to be competent
on oral practice. So, after the introduction of the CLT approach based curriculum
at classes 9 - 10, learners were expected to acquire competency in English and
to use it effectively both inside and outside of the classroom. Since then,
learners’ tendency to memorize has been reduced. Some examples can be drawn to
explain this issues further.
For example, in the examination of English First Paper of
Class 9 - 10, learners have to comprehend a passage given in the question paper
and then answer the questions from No. 1 - 8 by reading and understanding the
passage. Again, they have to be creative in answering questions 9, 10, 11 and
12 which requires using their grammatical knowledge by linking it with the idea
of the passage or the text. Only question No. 13 and 14 (Paragraph and Letter writing
of 20 marks) depended on the free hand writing. So this curriculum or syllabus
does not force learners on their depth of knowledge but rather on their learning
to communicate through interaction in the target language.
In the case
of English Second Paper of Class 9 - 10, questions No. 1 to 8 (a total of 40
marks) needs to be answered on grammatical items which do not depend on the memorization
of learners but rather on their understanding of the items. Similarly, in
part B, in answering question in the paragraph, dialogue/ summary and
completing story learners have to use their imagination and writing skills
because they are not selected in the question paper conventionally. Likewise, a
composition of 15 marks and application of 10 marks also depends on learners’
free hand writing skills and experiences. Also, the exercises on the
transformation of sentences like affirmative-negative; simple-complex-compound,
changing degree and voice change etc. each have 5 marks which require learners to
apply their own knowledge in understanding and answering the questions in the
examination.
Therefore, it is observed that both the English First paper
and Second paper of Classes 9 - 10 require learners’ comprehension and
understanding capability in acquiring real competency in English language. They
not only require learners’ regular study, regular home work and regular
attending of classes but also their motivation in the class and their increase
of interaction with the teacher in class too. When there is an interaction of
learners with the teachers in class, the teachers can give emphasis on the four
basic skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening which makes learners
communicatively competent in English. In this regard, it can be said that learners'
understanding capability, vocabulary list and grammatical understanding have
increased for introducing CLT approach in the secondary level in Classes 9 – 10
and also their performance is better than the traditional learning students in
real life situations.
The present curriculum emphasizes on the comprehensive and imaginative
power of the learners and includes the necessary grammatical items that help
learners in learning English. However, the reasons for which learners in rural
schools are weak in English than learners in city schools are because of the
lack of teachers' responsibility, learners' fear of English and their lack of
motivation, backdated attitude of teachers especially in the rural areas,
untrained teachers, lack of teaching materials and most prominently the lack of
teacher-student interaction in the class.
As many teachers in the rural schools are not trained
properly, they do not have clear idea about Communicative Language Teaching
Method, so they teach in the traditional Grammar Translation Method which they
are mostly used to. They teach grammar through memorization most of the time
and deliver lecture using Bangla which does not benefit the learners. On the
other hand, many learners have fear about English from the early age and do not
respond in the classroom. Therefore, we can hope that the present English curriculum
which has been designed focusing on the CLT method can solve these problems of
the learners in the rural schools. Moreover, for the effective implementation
of the present English curriculum in Classes 9 - 10, the teachers and the learners
can emphasize on group discussions, presentations, English language clubs, additional
English teaching materials and library books and so on.
In addition,
teachers should be trained to make them familiar with the CLT approach based
English curriculum so that they can come out of their back-dated attitudes, can
make their class more lively and interactive and follow the four basic language
skills to benefit their learners. Also, enough teaching materials should be
provided for the teachers and learners and the teacher-student ratio should be
reduced, so that the teacher-student interaction is increased for language
learning and communication. Hence, the combination of a communicative English
curriculum and effective teaching method can successfully help learners in learning
English for communication in their real life.
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