Los elementos ludoficcionales

After having reflected on the lesson they taught prior to the interview, the teachers were asked more general questions about their teaching of English listening and speaking skills. First, the interview specifically focused on listening: the type and frequency of listening activities the teachers use with their students (q6), how well these activities work (q7 & q8), and whether teachers face any challenges in conducting listening activities (q9).

6. Do you often do listening activities in your English classes? What are some of the typical ways you teach listening?

Almost 60% of the teachers (13) stated that they don’t often do listening activities in their classes. Remarkably, three of these teachers said that this was because listening is not included in the syllabus and one pointed out that the handbooks for Grades 11 & 12 do not include listening tasks. Two teachers also referred to the prevalence of skills other than listening in the final exam for English. Seven teachers, on the other hand, reported often doing listening activities, and two said they sometimes do. These findings can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Proportion of listening activities as reported by English teachers

The main examples of listening activities given by the teachers were: a) students listening to the teacher reading a text out loud (6 teachers), and b) students listening to questions asked by the teacher (8 teachers). Other examples teachers shared were listening to audio from the internet or a recording (4), listening to each other during pair work activities (2), songs/nursery rhymes (1), watching a documentary on a topic related to the textbook (1), and doing rote repetition of words/phrases/sentences spoken out loud by the teacher.

7. Which listening activities were most successful so far? Why do you think so?

Three teachers felt their most successful listening activities had been when they were able to use audio or video files. Two teachers thought question-answer activities worked well. Two teachers referred to a debating club at their respective schools which some students attended as an extra-curricular activity. Another teacher especially liked the pronunciation practice s/he had done in class.

No 59% Yes 32% Sometimes 9%

Do you often do listening

activities in your English classes?

English Listening and Speaking Assessment in Bangladesh Higher Secondary Schools: A Baseline Study Dr Tineke Brunfaut & Dr Rita Green ▪ Jan 2017 ▪ 41

In general, the teachers were not able to think of any reasons why that particular activity worked so well in their view, apart from one teacher who said that the use of authentic recordings helped students to “focus on the grammar that the native speakers have produced [in the recording]”.

8. How do these activities help develop students’ listening ability?

Five teachers felt that because students could get general practice in English listening by listening to the teacher and each other, their listening ability and attention was expected to improve in turn. One teacher also thought that hearing the teacher speak English gives the students an opportunity to “listen to correct pronunciation”, and another teacher thought that this allows students to gain insights into how English is used while being able to see the teacher and thus having the supporting role of the teacher’s body language. One teacher thought that using authentic recordings would particularly give students “practice listening to standard English”. One teacher emphasized, however, that the topics need to be interesting to engage students in the listening activities.

9. How easy is it to set up listening activities? What difficulties (if any) do you face?

Overall, the teachers held a positive attitude towards doing listening activities, in principle. Close to half thought it would be relatively easy and doable. However, the teachers identified two key challenges: a) the lack of equipment (e.g. audio, video) and materials for the teaching of listening (8 teachers), and b) the need for training in how to develop their learners’ English listening skills (8 teachers). Related to this second main difficulty, one teacher doubted his/her own English pronunciation abilities, and one pointed out teachers’ lack of practice in using English themselves – suggesting that the challenges may be a combination of teachers’ pedagogical and language skills. In addition, three teachers expected it would be a struggle to fit listening activities into their lessons because of a lack of time, and a further three teachers were particularly concerned about the practicality of organising listening activities given the size of their classes. One teacher also expected that the varied proficiency levels within a class group would pose challenges to the teaching of listening. Finally, two teachers suspected that students would not be eager to practise English listening skills “because it is not part of the final exam”.2

Despite these challenges, however, a few teachers explicitly indicated that they see teaching listening as “a new challenge” for their professional development and are “willing to do this and learn”, provided support and materials are supplied by the Government. To summarise, a significant number of teachers (60%) admitted never doing listening activities in their English classes. A couple of these were convinced that listening skills are not included in the English syllabus of the Higher Secondary level, despite being listed in the learning outcomes. Those who do offer listening activities gave as main examples: listening to written texts being read out loud, and question-answer exchanges. A couple of teachers reported using multimedia for the teaching of listening, which they felt worked really well, but the majority of teachers discussed not

2 _{Listening currently counts for 10% of the first exam paper of the final exam (English Curriculum For Eleven &}

English Listening and Speaking Assessment in Bangladesh Higher Secondary Schools: A Baseline Study Dr Tineke Brunfaut & Dr Rita Green ▪ Jan 2017 ▪ 42

having access to such equipment and that this was a major drawback for the teaching of listening. Other key challenges to developing students’ listening skills, as identified by the teachers, are the lack of pedagogic materials for teaching listening and the fact that teachers have not been (sufficiently) trained in this area. A couple of teachers also doubted their own English language skills or foresaw practical challenges due to limited class time and large numbers of students per class. Nevertheless, especially if support is provided to teachers, the teachers seemed willing to develop the teaching of listening skills.