English Language Pedagogy in Bangladeshi Madrasahs: Findings from Classroom Observation

Abstract

Classroom observation as a data elicitation tool is used in educational research to capture real pedagogical practices in which teachers and learners are interactively involved in the process of curriculum implementation. The process entails application of mainly three components, such as methodology, materials and assessment on which effective language pedagogy largely depends. The paper reports the findings of classroom observations conducted in ten madrasahs in Chittagong, one of the important administrative divisions of Bangladesh. The objective was to observe how the teachers would adopt the CLT principles, use instructional materials and provide feedback to learners. A carefully developed checklist with 40 criteria under seven categories was used to record the classroom practices. Brief pre-observation and post-observation interviews were conducted with the teachers in order to understand how they planned ahead for class and how they could have performed better. The researcher, a non-participant observer, observed 10 classes”five in the city and five in different villages. The data were analysed qualitatively, and the findings showed evidence of limited application of the communicative principles, highly controlled use of the textbook and inappropriate instructional feedback. Findings of the study will have profound implications for future researcher aspiring work on madrasah education particularly in the areas of teaching methodology, developing materials and undertaking assessment reforms.