Private Tutoring in English for Secondary School Students in Bangladesh

Private tutoring in English (PT‐E), a special and important subclass of private tutoring (PT), is a common phenomenon in ESL/EFL education in many parts of the world. Nevertheless, it has received little attention in TESOL, applied linguistics, or language education research. This article investigates the nature and practice of PT‐E in a disadvantaged rural area of Bangladesh, a context where the circumstances of ESL/EFL education give it a particularly acute role. The study relates PT‐E to scholastic achievement in English, investigates student attitudes and motivations in PT‐E, and establishes a core profile of PT‐E in relation to the school system, parent and student expectations, attitudes and motivations, and outcomes. The study follows a mixed‐methods approach. Quantitative data analysis demonstrates some…