Revisiting the Factors Affecting CLT Curriculum Implementation at the SSC level

Abstract

This study sets out to revisit and find the factors that are hindering Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum implementation at the SSC level of the Bangladeshi Education system from the teachers' perspective. This study is qualitative in nature and a phenomenological approach has been set to investigate how teachers perceive, feel and experience the paradigm shift from the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Semi-structured interviews were taken of four SSC level teachers from two different schools situated in a Bangladeshi suburb area. Data from class observation and interviews have gone through purposive sampling. Document analysis includes SSC Curriculum provided by NCTB, teaching materials and textbooks were the instruments of data collection. The finding of the research reveals that even after two decades of the paradigm shift, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is not implemented properly due to many factors including a gap between theory and practical application, problems with the assessment system, issues with training programs, scarcity of classroom materials, teacher-centered classrooms, exam-oriented teaching and more. The paper proposed some implicatures for successful Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum implementation. Future direction for research is also provided regarding different factors including coverage of area and the stakeholders of the curriculum.