English Language at Secondary Level in Bangladesh: (Dis)connections Between Policy and Practice of Oral Skills

Abstract

The development of curriculum, textbooks and assessment is a continuous process for better teaching and learning outcomes. The National Curriculum & Textbook Board (NCTB) revised its secondary curriculum in 2012 for English education considering the 2010 National Education policy. The only textbook for the whole country for secondary level, English for Today has been developed accordingly in 2013 for grades 6 to 10, to help students attain competency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews and content analysis of pertinent policy documents. The semi-structured interview data includes a set of English curriculum policy implementation stakeholders including teacher trainers, school principals and English teachers. This paper aims to explore the reasons for the existing disconnections coherently through the analytical lens of the Constructive Alignment (CA) Model for curriculum design to achieve the intended learning outcomes for secondary English education in Bangladesh. The findings support the argument that if the coherence of secondary curriculum, classroom teaching and learning activities and assessment system is not aligned, the aspirations of the National Education Policy 2010 may not be achieved.