English Language Teaching (ELT) in the South Asia

ABSTRACT The prime objective of this study is to see whether the curricula of ELT programmes used by South Asian universities (SAUs) are at par with the curricula of the UK-based Russel Group universities (RAUs) or not. As for the methodology, this study has used mixed research design under which online-document-analysis was used as a primary data gathering tool and descriptive statistics coupled with analytic induction was used to analyze the collected data based on the study parameters. Using purposive sampling technique, a sample of 25 South Asian and 15 Russel Group universities specialized in ELT education was selected. As for findings, 15 major findings were reported with an emphasis on the fact that ELT curricula of South Asian countries comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are not at par with the ELT curricula of Russel Group universities. The study also reveals that a vast majority of ELT practitioners in South Asia remain deprived of entering ELT profession for lack of ideal ELT qualifications and training. From remedial perspectives, the study forwards 12 corrective measures to standardize South Asian ELT curricula so that ELT programmes and ELT practitioners of South Asia could also set their feet with due recognition in the ELT profession globally.