Learning EFL by Bengali speaking learners: Major linguistic problems and possible solutions

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: A, Jahangirnagar University (Department of English), language: English, abstract: Abstract The second/foreign language learner usually confronts diverse linguistic problems evidently handicapping and hampering his/her learning and eventually negatively affecting his/her general proficiency in the target language. Both as a learner and a teacher-researcher of English as a foreign language (EFL), I have had first-hand experience and the opportunity to observe that the Bengali speaking learner confronts difficulty in learning English pronunciation, vocabulary items, word formation, sentence construction, and conveying meanings through and/or receiving meanings of words, phrases, clauses, sentences/utterances, discourse, and the like. And such problems obviously seriously retard his/her learning of EFL. Hence, the present writer feels justified in identifying the major linguistic problems the Bengali speaking EFL learner encounters as well as in discovering the causes of the problems. Finally, the writer has made a number of recommendations with a view to addressing and lessening the problems, on the one hand, and ensuring the smooth and optimal learning of EFL on the other. Keywords Bengali speaking EFL learners, linguistic problems, causes & solutions

M. Maniruzzaman, former Chairman of and current Professor in the Department of English at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, Vice President of English Teachers' Association of Bangladesh (ETAB), Global Professional Member of TESOL International Association, and Associate Member of IATEFL, obtained MA in English Language and PhD in Applied Linguistics & ELT from the University of Dhaka, completed e-Teacher Methodology for TESOL at the University of Maryland BC, e-Teacher Assessment at the University of Oregon, e-Teacher Educational Technology at Iowa State University and ELT-LMCP offered by TESOL International Association, and attended PDW-2013 at the University of Oregon, USA. His core interests cover TESOL methodology, curriculum and syllabus design, materials development, assessment and testing, educational technology, L2 teacher education, ELT leadership and management, and literatures in English. He has 30 years teaching and research experience and a large number of indexed and international publications including research papers, translations, book reviews, book chapters and books. His recent publications are 'The postmethod pedagogy: Critical reviews and contextual reflections', The Postmethod Pedagogy: Issues of Learning and Teaching, 1.1, 2020; 'English Phonetics and Phonology: A Blended Learning Design Plan', Academia Letters, Article 1313, 2021; 'Technology in Teaching ESL/EFL: Integration, Application, Tools and Resources', in Arvind Nawale, M. Maniruzzaman, Amar Singh and Saumya Priya (Eds.), New Trends and Digital Adoption: A Paradigm Shift in Higher Education, New Delhi: Authors Press, 2022; and 'Teachers' narratives from initial virtual classrooms and professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing Bangladesh' (co-author), Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 23 (3), 2022.