Rebuilding English Language Foundations for Low-Proficiency Bangladeshi College Students

Abstract

Many Bangladeshi college students, despite years of studying English, fail to use the language correctly in writing and conversation; they often make mistakes in basic grammatical aspects such as simple, compound and complex sentence structures, sentence transformations and prepositions, punctuation or narration, and do not improve even with private lessons due to lack of regular practice and accountability. This qualitative article explores the learning problems of weak Bangladeshi college students in English and proposes a practical foundation-based learning model for them based on teacher-led motivation, classroom observation, student writing samples and interviews with stakeholders. The study identifies students’ weak foundation at the sentence level, fear of English, ineffective grammar-based teaching, and lack of accountability as the main problems and proposes a ‘Foundation English Accountability Model’ which includes diagnostic testing, sentence-first teaching, controlled conversations, homework monitoring, and weekly exams. The article shows that struggling college students need to master basic sentence rules before they try to learn advanced grammar. These findings are very important for English teachers, lesson planners, and parents in Bangladesh.