Speaking in ELT Pedagogy in the Context of Bangladesh: An Overview of Problems and Recommendations

Abstract

In this paper, I have endeavoured to review some issues and strategies encompassed within the speaking pedagogy in ELT and consider their application in the context of classroom teaching of speaking skill in Bangladesh, where some pitfalls are frequently encountered such as learner’s shyness to speak in English, his ineluctable mental habit of thinking in Bangla and translating them in English, insufficiency of need-based English courses, a felt absence of an enhancing environment for the promotion of this particular skill both inside and outside the classroom. Keeping these issues in perspective, the theoretical review is followed by an analysis of the prevalent scenario in Bangladesh, some problems inherent in the psychological and institutional dimensions that make the implementation of the skill difficult. The essay is concluded with contemplation on some new points of departure from the already established practices of the day with some suggestion for new measures that hopefully will impart to the teaching of the speaking skill far greater scope and success.