The Efficacy of Syllabi of General English Courses at Undergraduate Level in Bangladesh: An Evaluation

A good syllabus contributes to achieving better learning outcomes. Academic institutions often invest huge amounts in preparing the so-called 'panacea' of a syllabus hoping they could meet the demand of the highly competitive world. Now, however, educationists often get divided on what is instrumental to gaining a higher level of learning outcomes: Is it the quality of syllabus, or the kind of teaching approaches, or quality of teachers and learners, or good academic environment with a proper support system or a combination of all the above? While the academic process around the globe continues amidst these unresolved questions, teaching and learning English in Bangladeshi tertiary institutions for undergraduate students is no exception. Although almost all the students at undergraduate level take some sort of English language course like general English Language (GEL), or foundation English (FE) course, they fail to function when it comes to using the language in a real-life situation. This paper strives to trace out why the students cannot communicate in English properly even after 10 plus years of exposure to the language – 1/2 years at the tertiary level and 8 to 10 years at the primary and secondary levels. The research has adopted both quantitative and qualitative research methods and used two different questionnaires to collect data for the study. Delving into a thorough analysis of the existing syllabuses, the study contends that the syllabus cannot quite prepare the students to be able to function in English in a real-world scenario and, therefore, recommends a revamping of the syllabuses is necessary to produce pragmatic and pedagogical efficacy.