An insight into curriculum policy and classroom practice of teaching listening: problems and possibilities

The teaching of listening has significant importance in a language classroom. Therefore, the policymakers in Bangladesh have designed curricula and English textbooks following the English education policy focusing more on English language practice in the classroom through listening. The findings of this study may help Bangladeshi teachers at the secondary level to deal with the difficulties of teaching listening. The findings may also help learners develop their listening skills because language learning begins with listening (Schmidt, 2016). The data in this study was derived from interviews with both urban and rural secondary English teachers and policymakers. The data was then analysed qualitatively using the thematic analysis method. The data explore the policy and practice-related barriers to listening practice in classrooms. To overcome these barriers, the article proposes a conceptual framework as an enabler of teaching listening at the secondary level. The conceptual framework may also help other similar EFL contexts where listening skill is taught as a part of English language learning.