Testing System and Communicative Competence in English Language: a Study

at Secondary Level in Bangladesh

By
Mohammad Al Amin

A dissertation submitted to
Department of English
Bangladesh University of Business & Technology (BUBT)
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in English

January, 2010

1
Testing System and communicative Competence in English Language: a Study

at Secondary Level in Bangladesh

A dissertation submitted
By
Mohammad Al Amin
Student Id. 06071102001
Department of English
Bangladesh University of Business & Technology (BUBT)

Supervised By

Ms. Bipasha Binte Haque

Assistant Professor
Department of English
Bangladesh University of Business & Technology (BUBT)

2
 Acknowledgements

First of all, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my creator, Almighty Allah, for giving

me enough intellectual ability to carry out such a study and keeping me safe and sound

throughout the period of the study.

I would also like to extend my special thanks to my friends and family members whose love

and best wishes were a source of inspiration, encouragement and motivation for me as I was

successfully completing this study.

I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Ms. Bipasha Binte Haque, who read my draft copies,

listened to my anxieties and cordially suggested me the ways to overcome difficulties. .

Finally, I am extremely thankful to all the participants who provided me rich and

Detail data for the study and lent breadth and value to the research findings.

3
 Abstract

This study aims at investigating the inconsistency between present English language

curriculum and prevailing English language testing system in the Secondary level in the

expectation of revealing an uninvestigated relationship between testing system and students’

low communicative competence in English language learning. The study involves a critical

analysis of the current SSC English test. The findings of this study reveal that the SSC

examination is not an effective test of communicative English and the existing question

pattern demotivates the majority of the students leading to proficiency oriented learning. The

study concludes that the SSC English tests as a whole are deficient in both validity and

reliability. The findings have raised important issues which concern the test designers and

markers, the test takers and other stakeholders of SSC. Some specific areas of improvements

have been identified and recommendations have been made for improving assessment of

communicative English at the SSC level.

4
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction…………………………… ……..….1

Chapter Two: Background of the Study .......................……….....3

Chapter Three: Literature Review...……….……………………..5

Chapter Four: Methodology ………………………………….…12

Chapter five: Findings and discussions………………………….14

Chapter Six: Recommendations and conclusion ………………..20

References……………………………………………………….21

Appendices………………………………………………………23

5
 Chapter-1

Introduction

The present age is marked by a new phenomenon called globalization which aims at

treating the whole world as a unit and English has already got the status of being lingua

franca. As a result, there is a growing demand of learning and using English as a foreign

language in Bangladesh. As a former colony of British imperialism, English language

teaching in Bangladesh has passed a long way. The government is also very much

concerned about the necessity of English and it made English language learning compulsory

from the primary level to the higher secondary level in 1991( Hamid and Baldauf, 2008).

For this purpose government also changed the teaching method in 1997 and decided to

follow CLT approach (ibid). At present nearly a decade has been passed since

communicative language teaching (CLT) was introduced in Bangladesh. Yet, the

communicative competence level of the students in English language in Bangladesh is very

low. “It is indeed bitter to notice that even though serious efforts have been made by the

government and educationists for improving the state of affairs of English language teaching

for the past few decades in Bangladesh, a bad situation is still found to exist in the

achievement of English among the students at all levels, especially among the Secondary

students” ( Hoque,2008). “A huge part of the educated population at present is almost

incapable of writing, reading, and speaking English” (Islam, 2004). But most of them

showed good performance in the courses of their formal education which is measured by

achievement tests based directly on those courses. “Many of our students, who obtained

6
GPA 5 in SSC, even in all subjects, are failing to manifest the expected level of proficiency

in English at HSC level.” (Islam and Ahsan, 2005). This is a clear indication that our

students are very much examination oriented rather than proficiency oriented in case of

English language learning. At the same time it also indicates that our language testing

system is measuring something else rather than communicative competence. According to

Haider (2008) “the aims and objectives of the communicative curriculum can never be

achieved without a testing system that assesses the communicative ability of learners”. This

study aims at investigating the inconsistency between present English language curriculum

and prevailing English language testing system in the Secondary level in the expectation of

revealing the still uninvestigated relationship between testing system and students’ low

communicative competence in English language learning.

7
 Chapter 2

Background of this study

English language teaching (ELT) in Bangladesh has a long history. The beginning of ELT in

Bangladesh can be traced back to the colonial era. ( Haider, 2008). At that time language

studies were based on literature and grammar and the means of studies was the grammar-

translation method. The spoken component of the language was not practiced. The emphasis

was given on accuracy and full sentence. ( Hasan,2004). However, the British models of

teaching English continued to influence the ELT scenario of post-colonial Bengal even after

the colonial rule was over in 1947. ( Haider,2008). After the independent of Bangladesh in

1971 the same method was followed in Bangladesh up to 1997. After that, the Government

of Bangladesh started making changes in ELT policies to improve English language

teaching in the country since it was clearly evident that students’ English language skill

could not be improved with the existing ELT policies. In 1997 the government of

Bangladesh introduced Communicative Language teaching (CLT) method. (Hamid and

Baldauf, 2008). “It was envisaged that CLT would develop learners’ ‘communicative

competence’” (ibid). “The changes were brought about through several means. The National

Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) designed a communicative syllabus for the

secondary level, published the guidelines to produce textbooks, and encouraged the teachers

to carry out the teaching according to the syllabus. It has also produced communicative

textbooks for classes 6 to 12. The new curriculum stressed the need for students to learn to

8
communicate in English rather than to just master the structure of the language.

Furthermore, it has revised the evaluation policy and developed several assessment tools and

examination formats to help measure students' ability to use English in communication.”

(Hasan, 2004). Since then, CLT approach is being followed for ELT in Bangladesh. It has

been almost thirteen years since CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) was introduced

in Bangladesh in replacement of the long-standing GT (Grammar-Translation) Method. But

the focus of teaching and learning, however, has changed little. While GT Method was

preoccupied with reading and writing skills only leaving listening and speaking almost

neglected, CLT was supposed to emphasize on a balanced development of all the four basic

skills. But, the pictures of English language classrooms still reflect the traditional teaching

style. Teachers still stress the development of reading and writing skills for the purpose of

getting good results in examinations (Hasan, 2004). The teaching and learning process has

again centered on the concrete and easily tangible end products, for example, the

grammatical items and score in the final exams, gradually making the score obtained in the

final examination of SSC and HSC potentially unreliable.

Therefore, it is a matter worth considering how far our existing English language teaching

and testing systems are effective.

9
 Chapter 3

Literature Review

Testing System

Testing system can be defined as “any procedure for measuring for measuring ability,

knowledge or performance” (Jack et al 1983, cited in Akter, 1999). In the arena of Language

Testing different kinds of tests are used based on purposes, such as placement test,

Diagnostic test, Achievement test and proficiency test. “Naturally in the class and course

final examinations achievement test is used” (ibid). So, the test of English language in SSC

final examinations in Bangladesh which is the central focus of this study is an achievement

test. An achievement test in Andrew Harrison’s words (1983, P.7) “looks back over a

longer period of learning for example, a year’s work, or a whole course, or even a variety of

different courses- it is intended to show the standard which the students have now reached in

relation to other students at the same stage” (cited in ibid). Again, as CLT prevails in the

ELT situation in Bangladesh, the English language test in SSC final examinations is a

communicative language test. Davies et al. ( 1999: 26), ( cited in Haider,2008) gives the

definition of communicative language tests “Communicative tests are tests of

communicative skills, typically used in contradistinction to tests of grammatical knowledge.

Such tests often claim to operationalise theories of communicative competence, although the

form they take will depend on which dimension they choose to emphasis, be it specificity to

context, authenticity of materials or the simulation of real life performance.

10
Communicative Competence:

The prominent applied linguist Dell Hymes coined this term. In Hymes’s view, (cited in

Richards and Rodgers, 2002) a person who acquires ‘Communicative Competence’ acquires

both knowledge and ability for language use with respect to –

1. whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible;

2. whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means of

implementation available;

3. whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate. Adequate, happy, successful in

relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated;

4. whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed, and what its

doing entails.

(Hymes1972:281)

Since Hymes’s introduction of ‘Communicative Competence’ the term has widely been

elaborated and explained. Widdowson notes (1989 P.135, cited in Akter, 1999) “ it is much

more a matter of partially pre-assembled patterns, formulaic frame works, and a kit of rules

so to speak, and being able to apply these rules to make whatever adjustments are necessary

according to contextual demands”. Cannale and Swain (1980), on the other hand, have

identified four dimensions of “Communicative Competence” namely Grammatical

Competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence.

(cited in Richards and Rodgers, 2002). More specifically, ‘Communicative Competence’

includes:

11
 (a) knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the language

(b) knowledge of rules of speaking

(c) Knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts, such as

requests, apologies, thanks and invitations.” ( Akter,1999)

Relationship between Testing System and Communicative Competence:

There is, no doubt, a close relationship between language testing system and the learners’

communicative competence in the target language as the first variable is designed to

measure the second one. There are a lot of empirical opinions that ensure this relationship,

but very few come from systematic research. Akter (1999), Hasan(2004), and Haider(2008)

conducted systematic researches in the context of Bangladesh and showed that our existing

language testing system ( testing items, question patterns etc.) can not measure the actual

level of communicative competence of our students. On the other hand, Islam and Ahsan

(2005), Islam (2004), Hoque (2005) suggested from their personal teaching experiences that

our language testing system must be changed to improve the communicative competence

level of our students.

Akter(1999) made an analysis of question pattern and test items set in the Higher Secondary

level. He found that in our testing system in the HSC level, two basic skills speaking and

listening are quite dropped. The selection of the test items confines to a number of limited

topics for ages. From the high frequency of repetition, it is perhaps not hard to predict the

probable questions resulting memorization. He also comments that “our testing system is far

12
away from being able to reflect communicative competence and more regretfully still, the

score of the testee is not the true reflection of his/her performance. He concludes that if we

want ‘communicative competence’ to be the goal of our learners, our testing system must be

in the line and not just a caricature of a test.

Hasan(2004) conducted his research in a large scale on the English language curriculum at

the secondary level in Bangladesh. In the sixth chapter of his research paper he made a

thorough analysis of the existing testing system and evaluation policy of ELT in secondary

level of Bangladesh and found that The general education boards and the schools affiliated

under these boards adopted an examination format that matches the one provided in the

NCTB curriculum guidelines. But examination questions were mostly set from the set

textbooks. So, the students always had a chance to memorise the answers to questions

before. As a result, these examinations failed to evaluate students' ability to use English in

communication. Then he made some recommendation regarding examination question. To

him, In examinations:

1. Questions should not be set from any notebooks or guidebooks available in the market.

Rather, they should be new. Students will answer them using their knowledge of

English.

2. Question format should go on changes each year so as to encourage students to read to

learn instead of memorising the textbook-content, presently, which they are tended to do.

13
Haider(2008) made an evaluation of the SSC English examination. The findings have raised

important issues which concern the test designers and markers, the test takers and other

stakeholders of SSC. Some specific areas of improvements have been identified and

recommendations have been made for improving assessment of communicative English at

the SSC level. The key findings of the analysis of the SSC test format are: the test is based

on reading and writing skills only, the writing tasks do not often offer suitable

communicative purposes, there is little consistency between the curriculum goals and the

test format, and there is no analytic marking scheme to mark the subjective items. Many of

the objective tasks such as true/false, multiple choice questions and gap-filling with clues do

not serve any communicative purpose. He also found typicality in selecting topics for

writing test for which there is a chance that students may well predict the topics beforehand

and might memorize the essays or paragraphs and reproduce them in examination halls.

Then he has made the following recommendation:

1. It must be ensured that the test items test what they are intended to test. An item intended

to test candidates' communicative ability should not test something else such as

memorization, guessing etc. The current SSC examination partially tests communicative

language skills; there should be items on testing listening and speaking.

2. The curriculum should be more specific about the purpose and objectives for English

language use in Bangladesh.

3. A set of test specifications for SSC English can be developed in accordance with the

curriculum goals.

4. The writing tasks in the SSC English papers should have meaningful context, purpose and

audience. The test takers must be given some ideas about the situation in which the target

14
language is going to be used.

5. Test takers should be informed about what genres of writing they are expected to produce

and what aspects of their writing would be assessed.

6. There should be a marking scheme, both for the objective as well as subjective writing

items.

7. The SSC test format should be consistent with the sample questions given in the Teachers

guides for English for Today textbooks.

Teachers' knowledge and skills:

8. Secondary school English teachers should have a basic understanding of the

communicative needs of their learners. Teachers and markers should be trained on

language testing issues

9. Teachers should use the newly written English for Today textbooks more extensively in

the classroom to enhance students' communicative writing skills.

Apart from these systematic researches, Islam and Ahsan (2005), from their professional

experience of English language teaching, found that many of their students, who obtained

GPA 5 in SSC, even in all subjects, are failing to manifest the expected level of proficiency

in English at HSC level. Disappointedly, they fail to produce correct phrases or sentences of

their own without reproducing something, which had been, memorized by them earlier.

According to them, “There can be various reasons behind this failure of the SSC and HSC

marks scored to achieve reliability and to become the successful indicators of proficiency in

English. Firstly, our education system still has not so far been successful in effectively

encouraging proficiency-oriented education in opposition to result-oriented education.

15
Secondly, since scoring higher GPA in SSC and HSC increases and/or ensures admittance to

reputed colleges and universities, our learners get naturally obsessed with obtaining it and

they look for some shortcut to get that magic score without being concerned about the

proficiency achieved. Thirdly, guardians of the learners also possess the same outlook.

Fourthly, our testing system at secondary and higher secondary level education itself

encourages little to change the outlook of the learners and guardians. To score well, students

follow the ready made guidebooks competitively available in the market, ignoring the

NCTB prescribed material. They can manage fairly will even without consulting the NCTB

textbook. Fifthly, there is a wide gap between the objectives of the curriculum and the

assessment system. It instructs to teach many things (e.g. speaking, listening items, etcetera)

that never appear in the final assessment and, as a result, not only students but also the

teachers become interested in teaching items that directly resemble question items in SSC

and HSC.

According to Islam (2004), “The students of Bangladesh generally memorize everything

including grammar, composition, letters, applications, paragraphs, essays, and so on, and

reproduce them in the examination. They never learn the language.” As a teacher in a

university, he experienced that many students who are otherwise good in their subject,

cannot write a single sentence in English correctly. Even the students who obtain good

marks in English in their public examinations cannot write compositions independently.

Most of the good books at the university level are written in English, but the students cannot

read them. The condition of spoken English is worse still. This naturally gives scope to raise

question what do our language examination test?

16
 Chapter 4

Methodology

Research Hypotheses

To carry out this study, the following hypotheses were formulated for testing.

1. The English test (part 1) of SSC examination is not designed in a communicative

test. Two skills (reading and writing) out of four (reading, writing, listening and

speaking) are tested in this test and the topics of the questions can not measure what

these are supposed to measure.

2. The testing system and the topics of the questions discourage the students leading to

proficiency oriented learning.

Instruments

To conduct this research a questionnaire containing 12 questions was administered for

collecting retrospective data. The questions were close ended and the answer to each

question had three options (no, neutral, and yes). Besides, to test the first hypothesis, 35

English(part-1) question papers of SSC final examination prepared by 7 general education

boards in the last five years were analyzed. The boards were Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi,

17
Jessore, Comilla, Barisal, and Sylhet. Five question papers were taken from each board and

the question papers were of S.S.C. final examination of five consecutive years (2005-2009).

Participants

For the study, 40 students were selected who completed their secondary education within

last five years. The students were chosen from a private university named Bangladesh

University of Business & Technology (BUBT). Among the participants there were 22

female and 18 male. The participants completed their secondary education from 13 different

education institutions and all of them were enrolled in B.B.A. program of their university.

The questionnaire was conducted among them in a class.

18
 Chapter-6

Findings and discussions

To test the first hypothesis, 35 S.S.C. English (part-1) question papers were analyzed and it

was found that each question paper was prepared in three sections. The first one section was

titled as ‘Reading Test’ which carries 40 marks out of total 100 marks. The second section

was titled as ‘Vocabulary Test’ which contains 20 marks, and the third section was titled as

‘Writing Test’ which carries 40 marks. Out of 100 marks, there was no provision for

listening or speaking skill. Then the passages of the reading test were scrutinized and it was

found that all the passages were copied from the text book for class 9-10 titled ‘English for

Today’ published by National Curriculum & Textbook Board ( NCTB). But it was

suggested in the syllabus of class 9-10 prepared by NCTB that the passages of the reading

test will be reproduced on the S.S.C. question paper. The following table (Table-1) shows

from which unit and lesson the passages were copied in the last five year’s S.S.C. English

question papers of seven education board.

Board 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Dhaka Unit-11, Unit-11, Unit-18, Unit-15, Unit-22,
Lesson-3 Lesson-5 Lesson-5 Lesson-7 Lesson-6
Rajshahi Unit-15, Unit-22, Unit-18, Unit-14, Unit-18,
Lesson-7 Lesson-6 Lesson-2 Lesson-1 Lesson-5
Comilla Unit-10, Unit-14, Unit-22, Unit-14, Unit-15,
Lesson-7 Lesson-1 lesson-6 Lesson-1 Lesson-7
Chittagong Unit-8, Unit-14, Unit-10, Unit-7, Unit-11,
Lesson-3 Lesson-1 Lesson-7 Lesson-3 Lesson-5
Jessore Unit-18, Unit-11, Unit-10, Unit-11, Unit-11,
Lesson-5 Lesson-5 Lesson-4 Lesson-5 Lesson-1
Barisal Unit-11, Unit-15, Unit-19, Unit-14, Unit-10,

19
 Lesson-5 Lesson-7 Lesson-4 Lesson-2 Lesson-4
Sylhet Unit-17, Unit-15, Unit-11, Unit-15, Unit-14,
Lesson-1 Lesson-7 Lesson-5 Lesson-7 Lesson-1

Table-1

From the table it is seen that some passages were in repeated in the questions of other year.

For better understanding table -2 contains a list of repeated passages with frequencies.

Units and lessons Frequency of Repetition

Unit-10, Lesson-4 2
Unit-10, Lesson-7 2
Unit-11, Lesson-5 6
Unit-14, Lesson-1 5
Unit-15, Lesson-7 6
Unit-18, Lesson-5 3
Unit-22, Lesson-6 3

Table-2

The above table shows that out of 35 question papers, 27 question papers were prepares

based on only 7 passages. Such repetition tendency may encourage the learners going for

memorization. It also questions the validity of the reading test. It can reasonably be

questioned that how far a student’s reading ability can be measured by these question

papers.

Such forms of repetition are also found in the writing test sections. The following three

tables (Table-3, Table-4, and Table-5) show the repeated topics of paragraphs, letters, and

compositions set in the English test of S.S.C. final examinations in the last five years’

questions ( 2005-09) in the above discussed seven boards.

Topics of Paragraph Frequency of Repetition

A book Fair 2

20
 A bus Stand 2
A School Library 3
A School Magazine 3
A Tea Stall 3
Traffic Jam 5
Tree Plantation 2
Water pollution 2

Table-3

Issues of writing Letters Frequency of Repetition

A letter to your friend congratulating her on 6

her brilliant success in the S.S.C. examination.

A letter to your friend describing what you 5

intend to do after your S.S.C. examination.

A letter to your pen-friend describing the foods 4

and food-habits of the people of Bangladesh.

A letter to your friend telling about how to 3

improve English

Table-4

Topics of composition Frequency of Repetition

A Prize Giving Day at Your School 3
Tree Plantation 3
Your Childhood Memories 4
Your Hobby 4
A journey by Boat 2
Your Visit to a Place of Historical Interest 2

Table-5

From the high frequency of repetition in the writing section, it is not impossible for the

students to predict the probable questions which may result in memorization.

21
To know how far it is possible to guess the probable questions, the participants were asked

in the question no. 11 and 12 of the questionnaire (See appendix). The result has been shown

in the following Table.

Question No. No. % Neutral % Yes %

11 7 17.5 4 10 29 72.5
12 6 15 2 5 32 80

Table-6

The table shows that 72.5% students think that it is possible to guess which passage is going

to be set for reading comprehension in the SSC final examination while 10% can neither

support nor deny the possibility and 17.5% think that it is not possible. On the other hand,

80% students think that it is possible to guess the possible topics of writing for the SSC final

examination.

In these circumstances, it can be supposed that such repetition tendency in preparing

question paper destroys the validity of the tests which accepts the first hypothesis of this

study.

To test the second hypothesis, a questionnaire (see appendix) of 13 questions were

administered whose first ii questions relevant. Among these questions, affirmative answers

to first 6 questions and negative answers to next 4 questions indicate the students’

examination oriented learning which will favor the hypothesis. The following table (Table-

7) shows the participants response to the questions no. 1-6 and the table-8 shows the

participants response to the questions no. 7-10.

Question No. No % Neutral % Yes %

22
 1 9 22.5 2 5 29 72.5
2 6 15 3 7.5 31 77.5
3 6 15 3 7.5 31 77.5
4 5 12.5 2 5 33 82.5
5 3 7.5 3 7.5 34 85
6 11 27.5 1 2.5 28 70
Mean 6.67 16.67 2.33 5.83 31 77.5
Table-7

Question No. No % Neutral % Yes %

7 27 67.5 4 10 9 22.5
8 24 60 2 5 14 35
9 38 95 0 0 2 5
10 35 87.5 3 7.5 2 5
Mean 31 77.5 2.25 5.63 6.75 16.88

Table-8

Table-7 shows that 72.5% students read only their text book to prepare themselves for

reading test in the S.S.C. examination while 77.5% students prepare themselves for writing

test by memorization and 82.5% students take preparation for writing test on some selected

topics. Again 85% students follow suggestions for examination while 70% students admit

that they learn English to do well in the examination. In fact, all the students who confine

their studies to a limited area like following only text book and memorizing writing items on

some selected topics are somehow demotivated. As a matter of fact these students are

demotivated due to the testing system and question patterns with repetition tendency as

shown earlier. Regarding these two skills, on an average 77.5% students are found

examination oriented learners. On the other hand, if other two skills – listening and

speaking, are considered, it is also found that 77.5% students are not interested to develop

their these two skills. It is a clear indication that majority of the secondary level learners do

23
not go for proficiency oriented learning rather they devote themselves to examination

oriented learning.

Chapter-7

Recommendations and conclusion

The findings of the study give some scopes for the following recommendations.

1. Passages for the reading test should not be copied from the text. The theme may be

same but the language must change. In a word, the passages should be reproduced as

prescribed in the syllabus. At the same time repetition tendency must be ceased.

2. In selecting topics for paragraphs, letters, or compositions, real life happenings

should be given preference.

3. There must have some provisions for testing the students listening and speaking

skills. For these purpose, a portion of total marks may be allotted for these skills so

that students become compelled to develop these two skills.

In conclusion it can be said that this study has successfully been able to investigate the cause

effect relationship between testing system and students low communicative competence

though the study has not investigated all the related aspects of students’ low communicative

competence due to testing system. In this regard there leaves a scope for studying the

teachers teaching behavior due to such an invalid testing system. Besides, there is a scope to

carry out this study in the higher secondary level.

24
References

Richards J. C. & Rodgers T S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Oxford

University Press

Hamid & Baldauf (2008). Will CLT bail out the bogged down ELT in Bangladesh?

Hasan(2004).A linguistic study of English language curriculum at the secondary level in

Bangladesh - a communicative approach to curriculum development. Language in India,

Volume 4: 8 August 2004

Islam & Ahsan (2005). Proficiency oriented learning. The Daily Independent Bangladesh.

Internet Edition.html

Islam M. A.(2004). English: Looking for the lost language. The Daily Star Web Edition Vol.

5 Num 110.htm. 5 Num 110

Akter, Z. (1999).English Language Testing System in Bangladesh and Communicative

Competence: An Investigation. Published in Collected Papers by British council and NCTB,

Dhaka.

25
Hoque M S.(2005). Suggestions on improving English language teaching: Primary and

secondary level. The Independent, Internet Edition.( 04-01-2005)

Haider, M. Z. (2008). Assessing "Communicative" Writing Skills:

An Evaluation of the SSC English Examination. Bangladesh Education Journal, Vol. 7,

Number 2.

NCTB (2001). English For Today: For Class 9 –10 NCTB, Dhaka

Panjeree Publications(2009). Panjeree S.S.C. Test Papers.

26
 Appendix

Questionnaire

1. Did you follow only English for Today to get prepared for comprehension test for S. S.

C. final examination?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

2. Did you memorize letters and applications for the examination and write from your

memory?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

3. Did you memorize compositions and paragraphs for the examination and write from

your memory?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

4. Did you take preparation for composition and paragraph by memorizing on some

selected topics for the final examination?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

5. Did you follow any suggestion to prepare yourself for the English test in the SSC final

examination?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

27
6. Do you think that you learnt English Language in the secondary level only for doing

well in the examination?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

7. Did you make any effort to develop your listening skill?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

8. Did you make any effort to develop your speaking skill?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

9. Did you sit for any test on speaking skill in your secondary level?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

10. Did you sit for any test on listening skill in your secondary level?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

11. Do you think it is possible to guess which passage is going to be set for reading

comprehension in the SSC final examination?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

12. Do you think it is possible to guess the possible topics of writing for the SSC final

examination?

a) No b) Neutral c) Yes

28