Voices from National University of Bangladesh: Students’ perception of the value of linguistics and ELT courses in providing pre-service EFL teacher education

The purpose of this study was to provide an insight into student-cum-supposed teachers’ perceptions about the value of linguistics and ELT courses (LELTC) in imparting pre-service teacher education (PTE) for the undergraduate English students of National University (NU) affiliated colleges in Bangladesh. This is based on the postulation that students’ perception has a critical function in executing the goals and objectives of particular course(s). Through a self-explorative semi-structured questionnaire this study piloted a survey on one hundred five English students studying in their final year of Honours at three higher education colleges purposively selected from a divisional metropolitan city of Bangladesh. Findings revealed varied perceptions in students regarding value of the LELTC. Three separate perceptions of the students participating in the survey could be noticed regarding the value issue: positive, negative and ambivalent. Positive perceptions were perceptible among one-third of students; yet again almost the same quantity of students exhibited negative perceptions. Furthermore, the ambivalent perceptions exposed by a large number of students might designate their lack of awareness and their irresolution about the importance of the said courses in developing student-cum-prospective teachers’ teaching expertise. Lastly, this study offered a few recommendations for exterminating the prevailing wrong perceptions of students about the significance of the discussed courses in cultivating students’ teaching expertise. Thus, this study will deepen our understanding of students’ internal thought processes regarding the value of the LELTC as a part of a typical pre-service teacher education programme, and thus help us remove the challenges of misconceptions about the necessity of the courses from student psyche which can ultimately contribute to the effectiveness of the said courses in the NU context.