Effectiveness of In-service Training Courses on the Secondary School English Teachers in Bangladesh

Abstract

In-service training (INSET) is essential for teachers to be professional, to be updated with modern curricula, new approaches or syllabuses etc. The Bangladesh government has been spending a huge amount of money since 1990s to train secondary English teachers through different INSETs. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of socio cultural factors that affect teaching English through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the context of Bangladesh and to find out the effectiveness of INSET courses offered to them. Mixed Method approach were used in the research whereby findings were triangulated through interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), observations, and questionnaires. The sample for this study was selected from two training centres that offer two different INSETs and twenty secondary schools. The findings revealed that the participants of the both INSETs i.e., CPD and CEC exposed a high level of satisfaction with all aspects. Moreover this study identifies a number of socio cultural factors that hinder in implementing CLT. Since most of the teachers are not proficient in English so recommendations have been made to develop teachers’ basic English and that must be given at the beginning of the INSET. Follow up or refreshers’ training need to be organised after each INSET on regular basis.