Can Bengali Instructions Test English Skills of Primary Students?

Communication is one of the crucial parts of learning, involving students’ speaking and listening skills. Active listening helps learners speak and write accurately. But nowadays, many students, from young to adult, struggle with active listening because traditional classrooms often lack activities related to listening, speaking, reading and writing. Modern education implements different listening activities to bridge this gap and help students focus on comprehension and engagement. Of the four skills, listening is arguably the one we use most, yet it receives the least attention in formal assessment. Adults spend nearly 45% of their communication time listening, compared to 30% speaking and 16% reading. Despite this, listening has long been described as the “Cinderella skill” of language teaching--present in every classroom but rarely given its rightful place in assessment.
When a teacher speaks good English before students, it provides the greatest motivation for them to develop an interest in learning English, particularly speaking it. But most teachers advise students to develop their speaking skills in English while giving this advice entirely in Bengali. This does not necessarily have a positive impact, just as a smoker’s advice to others not to smoke may have little effect. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education wants to develop primary-level students’ English skills and has directed schools to conduct speaking tests before or after writing tests. Interestingly, the entire direction, developed by NCTB, is in Bengali. It seems that a teacher is smoking in the classroom while suggesting that students should not smoke.
If skill tests were conducted on the basis of prescribed texts, it would have been much better. This would reinforce students’ ideas and make their practice more effective. Now teachers are confused about what and how they should allow students to practise speaking. They may introduce different ideas and methods, further confusing students and breaking the uniformity of the test. Different teachers and commercial books promote different approaches, which may bring no tangible results. If speaking items were chosen from existing textbook lessons and related topics, students would give more importance to the texts and understand their messages better.
Now students read texts with the help of Bengali just to pass examinations, without learning English. Different publishing companies are vying with each other to provide translated materials. Several months ago, someone told me that the NCTB textbook contains no Bengali, causing serious difficulties for students in understanding the text. I was astonished and told him that an English textbook must contain English, not Bengali or translations. He further said that translated versions of primary-level texts had sold like hot cakes. This clearly tells us that nobody bothers about teaching English to students; they teach it just to make them pass. It also proves that translated textbooks are popular among guardians, students and even primary-level English teachers.

Many teachers complain that students do not understand when they speak English in class. Actually, they should use simple English so that students can understand. Otherwise, how will students develop their skills? Speaking English before slow learners and observing their responses is itself a form of learning and research. Teachers must remember that if they do not speak English, students will have very little scope to learn to speak English. Although teaching learners with different mother tongues presents challenges, every learner brings unique experiences to the classroom. Teachers should understand their needs, use flexible strategies and create a supportive environment to help everyone improve their language skills.
In continuous assessment, teachers are asked to evaluate students’ reading skills. According to their classes, students are given words, alphabets, sentences and passages to read, including reading with understanding, and answer questions orally. Listening involves decoding sounds, recognising words, inferring meaning and connecting information to prior knowledge. It is essential for communication and strongly predicts speaking proficiency, especially among language learners.
Teachers are also asked to award marks based on relevant lessons and sound- and listening-focused texts. Students will speak about themselves or familiar situations and topics with correct pronunciation. They may describe a picture or engage in a short conversation with the teacher. These points are good. However, assessing whether students can read a text and answer questions is not necessarily a proper test of reading skills. Such work should be done in class, not in an examination. A reading test should assess whether students understand the message conveyed in a written document. The manual’s description of reading and reading for understanding as reading skills may confuse teachers and those who develop supplementary books.
The most surprising aspect is that all NCTB instructions for practising listening, speaking, reading and writing are in Bengali. Teachers are asked to emphasise reading skills. What does this mean? Asking students to read a text or piece of writing to see whether they can read it does not necessarily establish their reading skills. All these instructions have been written entirely in Bengali.
Teachers are also asked to give feedback on students’ reading. Yet the word “feedback” does not appear even once; instead, its Bengali translation, “falabarton”, is used. Giving feedback is an art and an important tool for academic and professional development. Is it possible to provide effective feedback without understanding its principles? The manual should explain how teachers are expected to give feedback to students.
NCTB must avoid the so-called popular approaches used by commercial publishers to win the hearts of students, guardians and teachers. It must understand that English cannot be taught by using Bengali exclusively. To assess students’ English skills, instructions should not be entirely in Bengali. They should be in easy and simple English, which itself can motivate students.
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The writer is President, English Teachers’ Association of Bangladesh (ETAB).

He can be reached at [email protected]