Repositioning of CLT from Curriculum to Classroom: A Review of the English Language Instructions at Bangladeshi Secondary Schools

This paper attempts a study of the present state of teaching and learning English at the secondary schools in Bangladesh. It offers an analysis of the current English curriculum and textbooks for the secondary grades and explores the current classroom practices through classroom observation and teachers’ interview. The classroom observations were conducted to identify the features of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach prescribed by the curriculum and syllabus document of National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) as the desired approach for teaching English at secondary level schools in Bangladesh. The paper also attempts to identify connections between the curriculum objectives and the classroom realities faced by the teachers and seeks suggestions for achieving the stated objectives. Some of the key recommendations include - strengthening of the teacher development initiatives, redefining the entry and exit levels of the learners, providing alternative and supplementary instructional materials and reforming the assessment system.