LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 23:11 November 2023
ISSN 1930-2940

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         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
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         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
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Exploring Educational Priorities in Post-Pandemic Era:
Tertiary Level EFL Context of Bangladesh
Masters Dissertation
Brac Institute of Languages, Brac University, Bangladesh

Shaikat Das

Abstract

An educational priority in a curricular approach to education is an idealistic assertion that defines what students will learn due to participating in educational opportunities provided by an institution or division at a particular college or university (What Is Educational Priority | IGI Global, n.d.). There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has created the necessity of many educational priorities (beyond traditional teaching-learning practices) at different levels of education, which can play a significant role in ELT pedagogy in the present time. Therefore, this study follows a qualitative approach where I conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 tertiary-level EFL teachers from 5 private universities and 4 TESOL students from 2 private universities in Bangladesh, to determine the extent those institutions have incorporated the post-pandemic educational priorities, mainly digital resources, empathy, mental well-being, blended classrooms, alternative assessments, 21st-century education and skills, SDG (Sustainable Development Goals), and benignant usage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in ELT. I analyzed the interview data through a thematic analysis while considering the participants' beliefs, attitudes, insights, and experiences. Finally, this research has explored all these priorities and provided pertinent recommendations on incorporating such priorities for further development of the Bangladeshi EFL context.

Keywords: EFL context; blended learning; empathy and mental well-being; alternative assessments; 21st-century skills; SDG; AI; CPD.

Chapter One: Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world at the end of 2019, affecting almost every nation's essential sectors. The education sector of Bangladesh was affected by the hit in March 2020, and all the educational institutions were closed.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Government and UGC (University Grants Commission) took the initiative of distance online teaching-learning at every level of education. As a result, online Educators have been extensively used for teaching and learning the English language. Until now, blended learning has become the standard teaching method at all academic levels, including higher education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Menggo & Darong, 2022). According to Aktar et al. (2022), online education is pre-planned, organized, and methodically created over time to address particular needs that offline or in-person education does not provide. However, many people have questioned the benefits of using virtual instruction and testing. Mainly how to teach and evaluate the four English language skills— listening, reading, writing, and speaking through online sessions when most educators and learners are essentially devoid of the necessary technical means and internet access (Hossain, 2021). According to Khan (2021), despite confronting enormous challenges, EFL teachers have continued the teaching-learning process during the dire situation of COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Some of the primary challenges in education in the Bangladeshi context have been identified in a study by the World Bank in 2020, such as the lack of access to TV-based learning programs for a large number of students, the digital divide between wealthy and poverty-stricken students, the tendency of doing more household chores than studying and significant gender discrimination ("Keeping Bangladesh's Students'', 2021). Several language educationalists have previously brought up the subject of inequality and student empowerment in foreign language classrooms (Benesch, 1999; Pennycook, 2001), as cited in (Al-Nofaie, 2023).

This is only the beginning part of the Dissertation. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Shaikat Das
Brac Institute of Languages
Brac University, Bangladesh
shaikat.das@g.bracu.ac.bd
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