Bilingual Mode of Teaching and Learning ESL Skills in Rural Bengal: A Psycholinguistic Study

Abstract

Teaching and Learning English as a Second Language has always been a challenging affair for the students of Bengali- medium Government and Government-aided schools in Bengal especially in rural areas. It has been a very problematic and difficult enterprise from the elementary level to the secondary level due to poor infrastructure and lack of adequately trained teachers and above all due to their insufficient amount of exposure to the target language. The kind of methods and techniques employed by the teachers are not in harmony with the requirements and needs of the students. The four basic skills of language (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) have always been affected on account of unavailability of trained teachers and absence of suitable methods and techniques. This study is going to highlight the problems of ESL learners related to inadequate exposure to L2 and the impact of their L1 in acquiring and learning the target language in a bilingual context.