Teaching EFL Speaking to the Students at the Tertiary Level: A study at the Private Universities in Bangladesh

Abstract

Primarily, communication takes place through speech. Hence, in the teaching-learning process of English language, teaching speaking skill has attracted the greatest level of interest. Teaching speaking English has been established as a professional and academic field at all levels, especially at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. However, the nature of teaching speaking has undergone some considerable changes in recent years. The study tried to focus on the effectiveness of the methods followed by the English language teachers and the appropriateness of the materials used by the teachers while teaching EFL speaking to the students at the tertiary level in the private universities of Bangladesh. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 English teachers teaching English at the private universities located in Dhaka city. The study shows that teaching speaking to the students studying at the tertiary level is really a challenging task. Challenges mainly lie in inappropriate curriculums, unavailability of teaching materials, lack of research, traditional classroom environment and so on.