THE USE OF BENGALI IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CLASSES: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

In Bangladesh students learn English for about twelve years, but the proficiency level they reach is very low. For this reason, we tried to investigate whether the use of first language – the Bengali, is helpful in teaching English in English Language Teaching (ELT) classes in Bengali Medium Schools and Colleges of Bangladesh. This study was conducted among the teachers and students of 10 schools and colleges in Dhaka city through questionnaire survey. It revealed that that Bengali plays an important role in ELT classes and most of the teachers and students consider it helpful in learning English.