The following are the specific objectives required to achieve through this study: (note these would be finalised in an inception workshop with British Council and the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh):
• This study will investigate the current practice of teaching speaking and listening skills and how these skills are integrated with other two skills: reading and writing in teaching. It will provide a basis to decide the types of improvement needed in pedagogical practice and what kind of professional development support teachers need to prepare students for speaking and listening assessment
• Though these two skills are not formally assessed currently, this study will also explore if there is any practice of assessing these skills in school level informally and how teachers provide feedback to pupils and communicate their progress to parents.
• As teachers will play a key role, it is important to know their current level of English and understanding and skills in the area of assessment. This baseline will obtain information to establish teacher practice in the above areas and make recommendations as to what kind of capacity building measures are required to empower teachers so that they can assess speaking and listening skills as per international norms and standard.
• There is a set of speaking and listening competences for each grade in the national curriculum which are expected to be achieved by learners. This study will critically analyse each competence and map them with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). It will assist to set-up a national standard of speaking and listening in secondary schools and colleges with a reference of an international benchmark. Setting a National Standard will involve the sample testing of current levels of students listening and speaking competencies and linking this to a benchmark standard as reflected in the National Curriculum.
• It is important to understand parents’ and pupils’ perception regarding any change in assessment as they are the key stakeholders. This study will explore their views of the inclusion of speaking and listening assessment.
Interested institutions should send a short covering letter tailored to the above requirements, CVs of key experts, a short 2 page proposal of how they would undertake this assignment proposal and a detailed budget showing costs of staff time to Gaynor.Evans@britishcouncil.org by 5pm local time on 22 November 2015. (Bangladesh is currently BST +5).
Please note: we can only accept applications from educational institutions, not consortia of experts.
Unfortunately we will not be able to respond to every application and will only contact those who meet the required standards by the deadline for CV submission.