Is the Communicative Language Teaching Situation at a Satisfactory Level?: An Investigation Into the Secondary Level in Bangladesh

Abstract

In the 1970s, a new approach to teaching languages called "Communicative Language Teaching" was established. Since then, it has been a universal practice in many countries of the world. Even in our country, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) created curricula using this approach. But still students are not performing as expected. Also, secondary school English language teaching methods barely conform to CLT tenets. The current situation of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method at the secondary level is the main topic of this study. The students and English teachers of five schools participated in this study. Data have been gathered using research tools such as focus group discussions, interviews, and classroom observations in order to identify the issues. The survey's results demonstrate that when instructors attempt to implement CLT ideas in our classrooms, they come across certain challenges. The analysis shows that some teachers are willing to close this gap between CLT theory and classroom practices but they are unable to do so due to large classroom, time constraints and students’ effort only to do well in the exam. Keywords: Classroom, Teaching method.