Abstract:
Pronunciation, despite being an obviously important component of speech and
anticipated communication, seems to enjoy little or no room in the policy and practice
in Bangladesh. This study, therefore, aimed at exploring the issues of teaching oral
proficiency especially pronunciation at the HSC level in Bangladesh. The purpose of
the present study is to determine whether students at college level encounter problems
in English pronunciation. The present study also aims to unearth reasons working
behind the negligence toward pronunciation. To do so, students were interviewed with
the Students Interview Questionnaire focusing on problematic utterance in terms of
sound and orthography for Bangladeshi learners as suggested by some previous studies
(Banu, 2004; Akter, 2007; and Maniruzzaman, 2008). Teachers were interviewed with
a semi-structured questionnaire focusing on the reasons of students’ difficulty in
pronunciation, their own attitude toward pronunciation and finally their suggestion for
the beneficial implication in this regard. The current study also analyzed the syllabi
and curricula and EFT for classes XI-XII for further support. The findings show that
pronunciation teaching is inadequate in policy and practice. Finally possible remedial
measure for integrating pronunciation with other skills with the help of a Balanced
Approach to teaching pronunciation and same inquiries in other setting were
recommended.
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language Teaching of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh