Private Tutoring in English for Secondary School Students in Bangladesh

Private Tutoring in English for Secondary School Students in Bangladesh M OBAIDUL HAMID The University of Queensland Queensland, Australia ROLAND SUSSEX The University of Queensland Queensland, Australia ASADUZZAMAN KHAN The University of Queensland Queensland, Australia Private tutoring in English (PT-E), a special and important subclass of private tutoring (PT), is a common phenomenon in ESL/EFL education in many parts of the world Nevertheless, it has received little attention in TESOL, applied linguistics, or language education research This article investigates the nature and practice of PT-E in a disadvantaged rural area of Bangladesh, a context where the circumstances of ESL/EFL education give it a particularly acute role The study relates PT-E to scholastic achievement in English, investigates student attitudes and motivations in PT-E, and establishes a core profile of PT-E in relation to the school system, parent and student expectations, attitudes and motivations, and outcomes The study follows a mixed-methods approach Quantitative data analysis demonstrates some positive links between PT-E and English achievement, which is elaborated through a broader qualitative analysis, showing that the students had clear and structured views about PT-E, which they saw as imperative for successful learning achievement A set of social, psychological, and institutional factors are identified which contribute to the popularity of PT-E in a less affluent society like rural Bangladesh There are also implications for educational policy and planning, if English language education in the mainstream school system is to hold its own in the face of competition from PT-E in terms of quality and image A s English continues to spread across the globe, governments in “low proficiency” English countries (Graddol, 2006, p 110) are reappraising its importance and responding to the changing global order of English by updating their language and language-in-education policies (Tsui & Tollefson, 2007) It often happens that such responses TESOL QUARTERLY Vol 43, No 2, June 2009 281 result in English gaining more space in the national curriculum: English may be made a compulsory subject, where before it was only an elective; or it may be introduced in earlier grades, following the principle of “the earlier, the better” (Medgyes, 2005, p 276) The limited space in the curriculum (Kaplan, 2000) is thus forced to make room for more English, and more resources are reallocated to promote its teaching and learning, at the potential expense of other components of the curriculum It is not yet known whether extending the space for English in the curriculum and increasing budgetary allocations for English teaching actually deliver the desired effects Parents in many countries have preempted this question by investing in private tutoring in English (PT-E) for their children Whether this private investment in children’s English learning pays off, and whatever the attitudes and perceptions of those who participate in PT-E, the scale of its popularity worldwide suggests that it is either successful or considered to be so (Greaney & Kellaghan, 1995, p 12) PRIVATE TUTORING IN THE LITERATURE PT-E is a special and important subclass of private tutoring (PT) PT, or after-hour supplementary schooling, is a macro-phenomenon of modern education Recently, it has grown dramatically in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America (Baker, Akiba, LeTendre, & Wiseman, 2001; Bray, 2003, 2006; Ireson, 2004) This “shadow education” (Bray, 2003, p 21) sits at the interface between education and commerce and has become a multibillion-dollar industry (Aurini, 2004; Davies, 2004; Mischo & Haag, 2002; Stevenson & Baker, 1992) Family investment in private tutoring in wealthier East Asian countries like Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan amounts to billions of dollars annually (Bray, 1999; Lee, 2005; Stevenson & Baker, 1992) Research suggests that in the Anglophone and European countries PT tends to be principally remedial and supplementary in nature (Mischo & Haag, 2002; Davies, 2004) In parts of East Asia, however, it has established a position as an essential part of education, culture, and society (Foondun, 2002; Kwok, 2004) This trend is evidenced by the strong presence of juku, or private after-hour classes, in Japan (Harnisch, 1994; Roesgaard, 2006; Rohlen, 1980) Private tutoring is also embedded in South Korean society, where it is known as hagwuan, or cram schools; US$12.4 billion was spent on this form of education in 2003, equivalent to 56% of the country’s national education budget (Lee, 2005) Private tutoring is an integral part of education in Hong Kong, which also consumes substantial family resources (Bray & Kwok, 2003) Research shows that a complex set of factors—including the value of education in the Confucian tradition, the parental role in 282 TESOL QUARTERLY educating children, the system of high-stakes examinations for admission to higher education, the role of education in the job market, economic prosperity, and the high priority given to these factors in the overwhelming majority of middle class families—account for the popularity of PT in East Asia Not all these factors hold equally in less affluent societies; nevertheless, PT is popular and well-subscribed in these societies as well (Bray, 2006; Buchmann, 2002; Greaney & Kellaghan, 1995; Tansel & Bircan, 2006) Despite some progress in research on PT, this phenomenon still “remains very firmly in the shadows” (Ireson, 2004, p 110) Moreover, the existing research on PT mostly addresses issues related to its nature, scope, scale, and motivation Only a few studies have been directed at its evaluation or effectiveness, and they have reported only inconclusive findings (Bray, 2006) Furthermore, the small body of PT research has largely concentrated on relatively affluent societies We know much less about the nature, practice, impact on achievement, and socioeducational implications of PT in less affluent societies This article responds to this need in investigating the nature and practice of PT, and specifically PT-E, in a region, a country, and a context at the opposite end of the affluent scale: a disadvantaged rural area in Bangladesh Research that exclusively focuses on PT-E, which is of substantial interest to TESOL, applied linguistics, and language education, is apparently restricted to only two studies The first, by Mischo and Haag (2002), evaluates the effectiveness of PT in Germany in a pre– and post–controlgroup design The study involved 122 students in a PT group and the same number in a control group Both groups’ school marks in English, French, Latin, and mathematics in the pretest and the posttest were recorded and compared T-tests showed that the posttest scores of the PT group in all four subject areas were significantly higher than the pretest scores (p < 0.001), though whether this should be attributed to their participation in PT is not certain The other study on PT-E is Khuwaileh and Al-Shoumali (2001), which explores the reasons and conditions which contribute to the success of PT-E in Jordan Fifty students from two Jordanian universities participated in a questionnaire survey These students and a sample of 10 parents were subsequently interviewed The study records positive attitudes on the part of parents and students toward PT-E It also shows that the prevalence of PT-E was mainly due to such factors as the poor teaching of English at the school level, the students’ desire for good grades in their tertiary courses, the importance of English, family affordability, and family social class and prestige This paucity of research on PT-E does not match the scale of its popularity English is one of the key subjects in juku, which is an integral part of the high-stakes tests in Japan (Locastro, 1990) In Hong Kong, “English PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 283 typically has the greatest demand [in private tutoring] because it is important not only as a subject but also as a medium of instruction for other subjects” (Bray & Kwok, 2003, p 614) English is also one of the most commonly taught PT subjects in Korea (Lee, Kim, & Yoon, 2004) In short, English constitutes an essential component of the national curriculum in many countries, and thus it has a major position in the PT market Poor EFL results in these countries (Baldauf et al., 2008) provide an additional motivation for PT-E In the current study we focus on PT-E as a substantial area of English language teaching and learning We describe the phenomenon of PT-E in Bangladesh; relate PT-E to scholastic achievement in English; investigate student attitudes and motivations in PT-E; and start to build an overall profile of PT-E in relation to the school system, parent and student expectations, attitudes and motivations, and outcomes These objectives are important for TESOL and language education researchers and practitioners worldwide, because they draw attention to the question of how TESOL pedagogy is implemented, accommodated, and supplemented by PT-E in less affluent societies BANGLADESH Bangladesh is a medium-sized country in South Asia with a substantial population of 140 million The annual per capita income is US$411; the literacy rate of the population aged and over is 45.3% (Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics [BANBEIS], 2004) Bangla (Bengali) is spoken by 98% of the population in Bangladesh English was introduced during British rule and still enjoys a position of dominance and prestige (Banu & Sussex, 2001; Kachru, 2005) English is taught as a compulsory subject from the 1st to the 12th grade and also at the tertiary level PRIVATE TUTORING IN BANGLADESH PT is a common phenomenon in Bangladeshi education It is widely spread in urban as well as rural areas, and shows some complex characteristics which are to some extent different from its implementation in East Asia, Europe, or North America Private tutoring in Bangladesh is delivered by mainstream teachers, teachers from other institutions, or even nonteachers Lessons occur oneto-one, in small groups (5–10 students), or in large groups (20 students or more) The venue of the teaching can be the tutor’s place of residence (one-to-one or small groups), the tutee’s place of residence (usually oneto-one), or special teaching centres (large groups) known as coaching 284 TESOL QUARTERLY centres These coaching centres are comparable to Japanese juku, or private after-school classes Finally, in our study the focus of PT is on schoolbased examinations or school-leaving national examinations rather than college or university entrance examinations, although PT is equally prominent for these latter goals in higher education in Bangladesh PT is widely implemented at all stages of pretertiary education in Bangladesh Education Watch 2006 (Campaign for Popular Education [CAMPE], 2007) reported that PT participation rate at the primary level averaged 37% However, at 86.5% it was predictably much higher at the secondary level The PT participation rate at the secondary level in our study is somewhat lower (75%), consistent with the location of the study in a rural disadvantaged area One crucial factor for the popularity of PT in Bangladesh is inadequate public investment in education Education Watch 2006 shows that the public investment per student per month is US$2.05 at the primary level and US$4.50 at the secondary level This investment accounts for 41% and 29% of the total education expenditure at the two levels, respectively The low investment accounts for poor infrastructure and logistics, which in turn, contribute to the poor quality of teaching and learning (Hamid & Baldauf, 2008) Poor teacher salaries are another reason why school teachers offer private after-hour lessons to their own students for extra income Although ethical issues are involved here (Nuland, Khandelwal, Biswal, Dewan, & Bajracharya, 2006), PT is a common practice all over Bangladesh Mainly teachers of English, mathematics, and sciences have the opportunity to earn this extra income through PT There are tensions between these teachers and those whose subjects are not in demand for PT (e.g., Bangla and the social sciences) The cost of PT is hard to calculate, because it depends on the frequency of lessons taken, the duration of the lessons, the subjects taught, teacher quality and reputation, the mode of lessons (one-to-one/groups), and the geographic location (urban/rural) of teachers and students Education Watch 2006 (CAMPE, 2007) shows that the annual average cost for PT per student was US$49 at the secondary level Importantly, the PT cost constitutes a significant proportion (42% for government schools; 29% for nongovernment schools) of the total education cost borne by families, which is substantially higher than the cost of any other items (Table 1) On average, the proportion (35.5%) is higher than the total contribution of public expenditure per student at the secondary level, which is 29% The wide popularity of PT in Bangladesh prompts questions about its quality and societal perceptions Although there have been no objective studies exploring these issues, such perceptions appear to be complex and mixed Negative evaluations of PT prevail in the literature, but it is PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 285 TABLE Item-Wise Average Annual Expenditure Per Secondary Student (Rural-Urban and Male-Female Combined) by Type of Institution (in Taka and in Percent of Total Cost) Government schools Nongovernment schools Types of institutions Taka % Taka % Private tuition Books Stationery Fuel Tiffin Health service School dress Transport Others Total 4,700 796 1,099 461 804 591 515 833 1405 1,1204 42 5 13 100 2,210 686 992 709 751 471 410 315 1030 7,574 29 13 10 6 14 100 Source: Campaign for Popular Education (2007, p 51); reprinted with permission Note US$1 = 70 Taka approximately; Government secondary schools are fully funded by the government Nongovernment schools are not private schools because they are substantially funded by the government in the form of teacher salaries and school infrastructure; tiffin is a snack taken by students as a substitute for lunch at school widely believed that PT participation influences student performance in school and school-leaving examinations For example, Deabnath (2007) analyzes the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC)1 examination in 2007, and observes: This year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam results warn of the country’s secondary school education system becoming dependent on private tuition as they show students of the urban areas who can afford private tutors fared well while students in the rural areas suffered dearly (n p.) However, PT, particularly in its institutional form (i.e., coaching centres), is questioned on the grounds of poor quality of teaching and its business orientation (Chakroborty, 2002) One-to-one or small-group PT, on the other hand, has the potential to offer quality remedial lessons because the teaching conditions in this case differ clearly from those of formal schooling In formal Bangladeshi schools, class sizes are commonly larger than 50, which compromises individualized instruction and even 286 The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination is the first public examination in the Bangladeshi education system Students have to sit this examination at the end of Year 10 Successful performance in this examination allows students to study at the higher secondary level for years before they can undertake undergraduate studies TESOL QUARTERLY interactions with and feedback from the teacher Resources are poor in terms of books, study aids, and other support, whereas the conditions of individual or even group PT are qualitatively and quantitatively distinctly more favourable The Current Study The current study is based on PT-E data from Hamid (2009), a widerranging investigation of English language teaching and learning in a rural context in Bangladesh, specifically the relationships between secondary school students’ family economic, cultural, social capital, and their scholastic achievement in English The main study was conducted in a disadvantaged area—a medium-sized subdistrict in Bangladesh Located about 500 kilometres from the capital city of Dhaka, Nadiranga (a pseudonym adopted for ethical reasons and anonymity) is a rural agriculture-based subdistrict with a small town at its centre The total land area of the subdistrict is 224.97 square kilometers, and its population is 114,350 (56,506 males, 57,844 females; BBS, 2005) It is one of the poorest subdistricts in Bangladesh (Rahman, Asaduzzaman, & Rahman, 2005) The literacy rate of the population aged and over is 33.47% (cf the national rate of 45.3%) There are 12 secondary schools in the subdistrict, from which around 700 tenth graders participate in the Secondary School Certificate examination every year English constitutes of the 11 papers which all examinees must sit in this national examination Although English is emphasized in the curriculum, its teaching and learning in rural areas like Nadiranga are supported by only very limited resources English is not required in everyday communication Students not have access to self-study resources such as print or electronic materials other than the set textbooks Computers and the Internet, which could potentially introduce learners to virtual communities, are yet to be available in schools or homes in Nadiranga THE MAIN STUDY: PARTICIPANTS AND INSTRUMENTS The sample for the quantitative phase of the parent study consisted of 228 tenth-grade students (15–16 year olds) who were selected from eight schools in Nadiranga Fourteen of these 228 students were later selected for one-to-one interviews in its qualitative phase There were three instruments used for collecting numerical data: (1) a student survey questionnaire, (2) an English proficiency test which had been designed by an English Teaching Task Force (BEERI, 1976) commissioned by the Ministry of Education of the Bangladesh Government, and (3) school records of PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 287 students’ grades in English in the school test2 as well as the SSC examination in 2007 Survey Questionnaire The questionnaire (see Hamid, 2009) collected data on students’ family economic, cultural and social capital, and attitudinal and motivational characteristics and dispositions (habitus) It was administered, together with the English test, to students in the schools in October– November 2006 Appointments were made with the head teachers of the schools On the appointed days the first author met the 10th-grade students in their class, briefed them about the study, and requested their participation They were then given the proficiency test, followed by the questionnaire English Proficiency Test This 60-point test is a national test designed in Bangladesh, and has been widely tested there in different schools for reliability and validity (Zaman, 1999) Divided into three parts, the test content focuses on grammar items in scripted dialogues (30 points), vocabulary items (20 points), and reading comprehension questions (10 points) Student Interview After the proficiency test and the questionnaire survey, 14 students were interviewed at their homes in December 2006 The interviewees were selected on the basis of their performance in the English proficiency test and in the English papers of the school test Our aim was to interview both the best performing and the lowest performing students in both tests in order to determine whether the two types of students differed in terms of their habitus (i.e., a set of attitudes, motivations, values, career goals and expectations, and academic self-concepts) and family background factors (e.g., parental education, occupation, income, and parental involvement in their education) The interviews were semistructured, and most of the questions focused on aspects of family social and cultural capital and the students’ attitudes, motivations, English-learning experiences, future education plans, and career goals, and their perceptions of 288 The school test is the SSC-qualifying test arranged by secondary schools The schools nominate candidates for the SSC examination based on their performance on this test TESOL QUARTERLY the influence of their family situations on their academic performance (for interview questions, see Hamid, 2009), with participation in PT-E a prominent topic The interviews were conducted by the first author, and took place in the homes of the students, lasting between 40 and 60 minutes All interviews were audio-tape recorded with the students’ and their parents’ permission The interviewer also took notes in case there were technical problems in retrieving the recorded interviews All interviews were conducted in Bangla, the L1 of the interviewer and the interviewees PT-E DATA FOR THE CURRENT STUDY In the main study (Hamid, 2009), private tutoring was shown to be one source of cultural capital (Buchmann, 2002) that families exploit to enhance their children’s achievements in English Over 75% of the 10th graders who participated in the study took private lessons in English outside mainstream schooling This high rate of participation in PT-E, particularly in a disadvantaged area, obliges us to investigate the relationship of PT-E to academic achievement in English and to ask why so many students are attracted to it In addition, PT-E emerged as a dominant issue in interviews with students selected from the survey sample The students had clear and patterned views about PT-E, issues which are, so far, unresearched in the literature We therefore isolated all PT-E data–both quantitative and qualitative—from the main study in order to carry out a separate, in-depth analysis in this article This analysis has a dual focus: on the possible links between private tutoring and academic achievement, and student perceptions of PT-E, which is designed to reveal whether PT-E does indeed deliver clear benefits, and to probe what other factors might explain the large-scale participation in PT-E Methodology and Data Analysis The dual focus of the paper involves a mixed-methods approach (Bryman, 2006; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007; Greene, 2008; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003) This methodology calls for the collection, analysis, and mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data at different stages of the research process This research design is based on the “premise that the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone” (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p 5) The growing field of mixed methodology suggests various rationales, objectives, and strategies for mixing quantitative and qualitative data in a single study (Greene, 2008; Greene, PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 289 Caracelli, & Graham, 1989; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) The literature also includes a number of typologies for mixed-methods research design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2006) Our approach to integrating quantitative and qualitative data in the present paper benefited from the set of mixed methods designs presented in Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) They discuss four types of mixed-methods designs—triangulation, embedded, explanatory, and exploratory The design types include three dimensions: (a) time of mixing the qualitative and quantitative phases (concurrent or sequential), (b) weighting (equal or unequal weight of the phases), and (c) type of mixing (merging, embedding, and connecting) Our methodological integration was mainly based on their fourth design type (exploratory), with explanation and complementation as two objectives or principles for the mixing Our design was guided by the belief that different aspects of a single phenomenon require different methods of inquiry, and the findings complement each other to yield a broader and deeper understanding of the phenomena under investigation (Greene, 2008) Our data analysis and results are presented in two distinct phases—a quantitative phase, followed by a qualitative phase, and are “integrated during the interpretation of the findings” (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p 20) Thus, among the three models of mixing suggested by Creswell and Plano Clark (2007)—merging, connecting, and embedding—we follow the second method: we connect the two data sets, and the connection is sequential, because the two phases are chronologically ordered in the research process In terms of the relative weight of the two phases, we depart from much customary practice in that our notation is quan→QUAL: We place more weight on the second, qualitative phase In our view, the qualitative phase, which investigates students’ attitudes, motivations, and perceptions of PT-E, yields more and richer information than the quantitative phase, which associates students’ participation in PT-E with English achievement data The two phases of our study are “broadly complementary, providing different kinds of insights into the different aspects” (Brannen, 2005, p 180) of the social phenomenon of PT-E QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The students’ participation in PT-E was assessed using a dichotomous yes or no response in the questionnaire The participation rate for girls (80%) was higher than that for boys (71%), although the difference was not statistically significant on a χ2 test Table presents percentage distributions of the students’ (n = 228) parental occupation, education, and family income levels The monthly income of almost half of the families (47%) was below Taka 2000, and 290 TESOL QUARTERLY 10% of the total variability, which limits the validity of the findings We therefore analyzed the qualitative data, in order to explore possible linkages between factors operating in PT-E in a more fine-grained manner from the students’ subjective perspective QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The interpretive phase of the study aimed to construct, describe, and analyze the interviewees’ perceptions of PT-E We drew on Potter’s (1996) template for qualitative data analysis, supplemented by the data management and analysis methods outlined in Huberman and Miles (1998), Miles and Huberman (1994), and interpretive or qualitative content analysis (Ahuvia, 2001; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) In particular, we followed Hsieh and Shannon’s (2005) “conventional approach” (p 1279) to qualitative content analysis Instead of applying predetermined categories, this approach generates categories from the data and is thus described as inductive category development We first present a summary of the interviewees’ participation in PT-E and the different measures of their English achievement in Table The table serves as a quick reference to individual interviewees, their family capital profiles,4 the extent to which they took private lessons in English, and the different measures of their performance in English The information about PT-E presented in a descriptive form both verifies and extends the yes/no responses in the quantitative phase of the study Eleven out of 14 interviewees participated in PT-E to varying degrees This participation rate (78%) is close to that (75%) for the survey sample Table shows that male and female students were from a range of family capital backgrounds, from high to low; both groups of students participated in PT-E to varying degrees, and were high as well as low achievers In other words, none of these categories showed gendered patterns Thus, although we had anticipated that gender might influence the students’ participation in PT-E and consequently their academic achievement, this was not actually the case The student interview data also showed that gender was not an issue to this sample of 10th graders The process of our data analysis was divided into three subprocesses, as described by Huberman and Miles (1998): data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions First, all 14 interviews were transcribed verbatim, following the transcription conventions suggested by Richards 294 The family capital profiles (see Table 4) were based on information from student interviews, student responses to the survey questionnaire, and the first author’s notes of the students’ home visits See Hamid (2009) for the constituents of the family capital profile categories TESOL QUARTERLY PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 295 High High Above average Above average Above average Below average Below average Below average Below average low low low low low Moumi F Tuhin M Kazal M Samira F Silan M Afrin F Neeman M Shathi F Tania F Konka F Mitun F Monir M Rajib M Sophia F Description of PT-E Has had a home tutor since 4th grade Takes lessons everyday Attended coaching, but has stopped recently for time constraints Has taken lessons at tutor’s house throughout the year Goes to a coaching centre Has gone to a tutor for months Takes lessons everyday Has gone to a coaching centre for a year Took private lessons previously but has stopped now Started coaching a few months ago Started taking private lessons month ago Took infrequent lessons previously No private lessons now Took lessons for a month in grade Never took private lessons Started private lessons with a tutor month ago Took private lessons for month in grade 10 No private lessons now Took months’ lessons in grade 10 Started private lessons at tutor’s house months ago Took lessons previously, but not regularly Never took private lessons Never took private lessons Note SSC = Secondary School Certificate Family capital profile Name and gender A− B C C F F C D A− D A+ C A A+ English grade (school test) 27 (C) 14 (F) 19 (F) 14 (F) 13 (F) 17 (F) 25 (C) 14 (F) 40 (A−) 28 (C) 37 (A−) 17 (F) 48 (A+) 52 (A+) Proficiency test score (out of 60) A− B A A+ N/A B A+ A A+ B A+ A A+ A+ Grade expected in SSC TABLE Interviewees’ Participation in Private Tutoring in English (PT-E) and Performance in English B absent D C absent F C F A− absent A− C A− A Actual grade in SSC 5.00 N/A 3.50 F N/A F 3.31 F 4.81 N/A 4.50 3.88 4.75 5.00 SSC GPA (2003) Student responses to questions about PT-E were then located and highlighted in the interview transcripts The next steps were reading the data, making senses, summarizing, and entering them in English on a word processor We broadly followed the tactics suggested by Huberman and Miles (1998) for generating meaning such as noting patterns and themes, clustering themes, counting, making contrasts and comparisons, subsuming particular categories into general categories, and factoring These techniques generated a small number of key themes/strands in the interviewees’ perceptions of PT-E Private Tutoring and Affordability The analysis and interpretation of the interview data showed that participating in PT-E was common for students in the community However, the quantity and quality of this participation were mediated by family affordability Table shows that the students from the high and above average levels of family capital took more private lessons in English than the students from the below average and low levels of family capital The three students who did not take such lessons cited financial reasons; as Sophia noted, “Most students take private lessons Only a few don’t because they don’t have money.” Konka also emphasized financial problems due to which she could not continue private lessons after month: R: K: R: K: R: K: R: K: R: K: R: K: R: K: R: K: Ok Have you taken any private lessons in English this year? Yes, Sir You did? Yes [nods] Ok For how long? One month One month! Why did you stop after one month? I had financial problems so I had to stop I see Do you think you were benefitted by one month’s lessons? Yes, Sir So you see you took private lessons for a month and you are also taught English at school Which one is better in your opinion? Sir, the private lessons are better Alright Did you take those lessons from your school teacher, or a different teacher? A different teacher Ok, why are the private lessons better? Sir, we are only five or four girls at the private lessons [The private tutor] explains lessons more and clearly But at school we are a large number of boys and girls In addition, she mentioned the quality and effectiveness of PT-E in relation to school English teaching, which we discuss later as a separate 296 TESOL QUARTERLY theme Moumi and Tuhin both took more lessons in English than the other students They belonged to relatively affluent families, unlike the other students Poorer families also did their best to arrange private lessons for their children For instance, Sophia’s mother was present during the interview with Sophia The mother intruded in the interview on several occasions, and on one such occasion she said: If I had some poultry, I could sell eggs and give her the money She could then pay an English teacher and get some private lessons Even if the mother could manage some money by selling eggs, Sophia’s PT-E lessons would not be able to match Moumi and Tuhin’s in quantity Imperative of Private Tutoring The students’ responses show that they regarded PT-E as imperative Tuhin stressed the need for PT-E: “Definitely, one can’t well just depending on schools, without private lessons or coaching.” Likewise, Samira and Silan pointed out that if a student went only to school, he or she could never well in the examination Tuhin pointed this out unambiguously: R: Are you satisfied with the lessons given by him [private tutor]? T: Yes, satisfied R: Do you go to any coaching centre as well? T: Yes R: Now […] you think you could or would well in your studies without the private lessons in English from your tutor and the coaching centre? T: You mean without private lessons or coaching, just depending on school [English]? Certainly not The imperative for PT-E was described by the students in several ways The students who did well in the English proficiency test as well as the school test ( e.g., Moumi, Tuhin, and Samira) said that they could not have done well if they had not taken private lessons in English This evaluation was also reflected by the other students who did not as well in these tests When asked to explain their relatively less satisfactory performance, they explicitly attributed it to their inability to take private lessons Afrin, Mitun, Neeman, and Shathi observed that compared with other students they did not well because they could not take private lessons or attend coaching classes Rajib, who never participated in PT-E but did relatively well in English, also claimed that PT-E was essential for students: R: Is there anything that you consider very important for your studies but you haven’t got from your family? Is there any such thing? Your family has not given you but it is essential for your studies? PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 297 Rajib: For instance, private lessons, which is R: [right] Rajib: Essential, but my family has been unable to arrange for me However, Rajib’s case does not challenge the value of PT-E Rajib was a high-achieving student who had higher expectations in the SSC examination He made it clear during the interview that he was confident of obtaining higher grades in all subjects except English He pointed out that he could manage other subjects on his own, even if they were not taught adequately, in his view, at school But he could not manage English on his own and so he needed PT-E His performance in the SSC examination reflects an accurate self-assessment of his self-concept and academic expectations Although his GPA5 of 5.00 in the SSC examination was the same as Moumi’s, his grade in English was B (see Table 4) He was thus far behind Moumi, Tuhin, and Silan, who took PT-E and obtained A or A− in English The interviewees reinforced the imperative for PT-E when they were placed in hypothetical situations during the interview When asked what she thought could happen to her studies if their family situations were not as favourable as they were now, Moumi explained: Probably I couldn’t [do well] because I wouldn’t learn much at school And if I were born in a farmer’s family, my parents could not arrange private tutoring or coaching for me which I have access to now (emphasis added) The hypothetical situation for the interviewees from low-income families was reversed: If money were not a concern, what measures would you take to improve your studies in English? Interestingly, the measure that was common to the majority of the students’ responses was PT-E: For example, [I could] take private lessons and I could go to coaching centres Then, I could buy the things that I need for my studies I could thus sustain my interest in my studies because I didn’t have to worry about money (Shathi) Schools and Schooling in English The poor quality of English teaching at schools, as repeatedly emphasized by the students, was behind the imperative need for PT-E, as represented by the interviewees: Private tutoring is needed because of the failure of school in English teaching If English was taught properly at school, there would not be any need to take private lessons (Monir) 298 Grade point average (GPA) marks the overall performance of students in the SSC examination GPA is the highest achievable grade point TESOL QUARTERLY Critiquing school English teaching was a recurrent theme in the data, where the students consistently expressed dissatisfaction and complaints Their critiques also pointed out the causes of poor English teaching These causes were both administrative and pedagogical A common complaint was that classes were not held regularly However, it was not clear whether lessons were unavailable due to teacher absenteeism or student absenteeism More serious causes of school failure in English teaching, as the students explained, were teacher incompetence and lack of experience, sincerity, and commitment The interviewees reacted to the poor quality of school English in various ways To some extent, their responses were influenced by their family socioeconomic conditions Moumi, Samira, and Tuhin were more critical of school teaching than the other interviewees, and it is likely that their more favourable family situations lent force and confidence to their critique To them school was “a waste of time,” because in their view, they could use their time more efficiently if they stayed at home and took private lessons from tutors Their ability to take private lessons all year round freed them from the need to attend lessons at school; they admitted that they attended school infrequently However, it was not clear how they could stay away from school for an extended period because students of their age are obliged to attend school regularly The other students, whose families were disadvantaged or less affluent, were also critical of school English, but less so than Moumi, Samira, and Tuhin Self-withdrawal from school, for them, was out of the question Schools did not fulfill their academic needs in English, but they could not stop attending school, which they saw as an unhappy necessity: Now, what else we can So, whatever is taught at school, we have to [be happy with that] If we had the financial capability, we could take lessons from other teachers (Rajib) It is significant that the students identified poor quality of teaching as a sufficient reason for not attending school In their view, the role of the school is to teach the curriculum and prepare them for the school-leaving examinations This is a very functionalist, pragmatic approach Their perceptions suggest little role for the school in socialization in a sense common in contemporary educational thinking—in introducing students to the values and practices of the literate world Expectations of Private Tutoring in English The students, then, expected that PT-E would help them to learn the language as well as to obtain higher grades in English in the SSC examination They stressed that English was required for their future education PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 299 and careers, and showed strong motivation for learning the language However, it was mainly the expectation of good grades—the highest for the more capable and ambitious students and average for the struggling ones—that drove them to PT-E This explanation is confirmed by several factors First, it is a commonplace in Bangladeshi society that students are as good as their grades; it is also their grades which are valued above all in higher education and the job market Second, PT-E, which is examination-oriented, tends to teach within the curriculum of the school-leaving tests This social expectation of good grades provided the students with a framework where they viewed the schools as syllabus-teaching, examination-preparing institutions This framework also helps to explain the students’ comparative evaluation of mainstream schooling in English and PT-E, which we illustrate in the next section Effectiveness of Private Tutoring Did PT-E-participation fulfill students’ expectations of good grades in English? As previously noted, the interviewees gave high priority to PT-E, which they found interesting and helpful for learning English as well as for examinations PT-E lessons were both individualized and examinationfocused, which assessed their progress toward examination preparation every week However, their strong support for PT-E, and its effectiveness as understood from their perceptions, were not fully corroborated in their test performance Although there were positive links between PT-E participation and measures of English achievement, these links were not very strong (see Table 3) Moreover, despite their participation in PT-E to varying degrees, there were consistent gaps between the grades that they had expected and the grades that they actually obtained in the high-stakes examination (Table 4) For instance, although six students had expected A+, none of them obtained this grade in the SSC examination There can be several explanations for this gap First, it points to the fact that although higher grades are highly valued in society and are thus socially desirable, rural schools (and PT-E in rural areas) simply not have the required standards or resources to prepare students adequately for their expected grades in the national school-leaving examinations Second, the business orientation of PT-E, particularly in its institutional form, might have led students to expect higher grades than their real potential suggested Private Tutoring Versus Mainstream Schooling It is this perceived or experiential evaluation of PT-E on the one hand, and their narrow view of schooling on the other, that provides key insights 300 TESOL QUARTERLY into the interviewees’ comparative evaluation of mainstream schooling and PT-E This comparison is a recurrent theme in the data Like Konka, Silan also illustrates this theme: R: So how you like the lessons there [at the coaching centre you go to]? S: I really like them there Better than at school R: Ok, but why you like it more than school teaching? S: I like it there because the Director [of the coaching centre] has appointed reasonably good teachers They are good teachers Teaching is done by highly educated teachers R: Highly educated means— S: They are actually college teachers R: That means, you are saying that college teachers are more efficient than your school teachers? S: Yes, I think so The students noted that PT-E was more effective than school English, and given their perceived low evaluation of the latter, in an either/or choice they would prefer PT-E to mainstream schooling This preference was turned into action, as exemplified by Moumi, Samira, and Tuhin, who relied more on private tutoring than on school-delivered instruction Their example, however desirable in terms of examination results, could not be followed by other students because they could not afford PT-E throughout the year, and thus they had to keep attending school, willingly or unwillingly DISCUSSION The quantitative analysis shows that there was a positive association between the students’ participation in PT-E and their academic achievement in English, as measured by their scores on the proficiency test and their grades in the SSC examination However, each regression model explained a smaller proportion of variability, which limits the validity of the findings concerning the links between PT-E and academic achievement The qualitative phase of the study, on the other hand, shows unambiguous and consistent patterns in students’ perceptions of PT-E What is particularly important to note from our interview data is that PT-E has become a common—even a default—socioeducational phenomenon, which was desired by secondary students irrespective of gender, family socioeconomic conditions, and parental characteristics Our data thus corroborate the positive attitudes of students toward PT-E in Khuwaileh and Al-Shoumali (2001) in Jordan In both studies, grades are strong motivators for student participation in PT-E The participants in the current study saw PT-E as not only imperative, family circumstances allowing, but also preferable to school English PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 301 teaching This was particularly the case with students from more affluent families who could afford PT-E all year round Thus PT-E in the present context can be argued to overshadow the formal system in quality and in terms of the returns for investment of resources and energy, at least in the perceptions of these students Interestingly, not a single interviewee was critical of PT-E Even those students who did not participate in PT-E were positive about its effectiveness Integrating the findings from the two phases of the study suggests some useful insights First, it is the students’ perception of the effectiveness of PT-E—which may or may not be related to its actual effectiveness—that most of all motivates them to undertake PT-E By default, they place their faith in PT-E because they consider that school English teaching is inadequate Our data also suggest that there is a social chain effect which reinforces the popularity of PT-E The interviewees frequently referred to other students in their cohort who had been taking PT-E; other students’ participation in PT-E exerted social/peer pressure on them to believe that PT-E was necessary for enhanced learning and achievement; if it were not, then their classmates would not participate in it Finally, it is the social expectation of good grades, as previously argued, which coloured their perceptions of PT-E and schooling Based on these perceptions, we can conclude that the students gave an enhanced assessment of the value or effectiveness of PT-E on the one hand, and gave a lower assessment of the role of school in learning English and passing examinations on the other The popularity of PT-E in the present context, then, can be attributed to these socioeducational and psychological issues, in which the actual effectiveness of PT-E remains relatively less prominent Even though our interviewees emphasized that PT-E was superior to mainstream schooling in English, their evaluation was subjective, attitudinal, or experiential, or derived from second-hand reports In some cases, this reflected the real effect of PT-E on learning or achievement; in others it clearly did not Khuwaileh and Al-Shoumali (2001) found that among other reasons, the Jordanian university students took private lessons in English to display their social class and prestige Our students’ perceptions of private tutoring did not suggest such social prestige issues One explanation is that most students belonged to low-income families in a disadvantaged locality A more plausible explanation, however, is that PT-E is viewed as a need rather than a luxury in the Bangladeshi context: as a necessary condition for academic success Students from affluent families participated more in PT-E than other students However, their higher rate of participation was motivated by expectations of higher returns which suited their class interests, and contributed to parental satisfaction that they were 302 TESOL QUARTERLY doing their best for their children’s education (see Lynch & Moran, 2006) That PT-E is a necessity and not luxury is also attested by the fact that our participants did not raise questions relating to English teachers’ professional ethics in relation to the teachers’ participation in delivering PT-E lessons The students accepted the reality that PT-E was indispensable for students as well as for teachers: for students because schools could not guarantee good grades in English, and for teachers because they needed the extra income Implications and Further Research As an investigation into the relatively underresearched area of PT-E, the current study measured student participation in PT-E in terms of binary yes/no responses in the quantitative phase Our results will make it possible for subsequent research to conduct quantitative research with more focused and discriminating categories of analysis, for instance to investigate the dimensions of type, quantity, intensity, and quality in PT-E Our strategy to access more detailed information about PT-E emerged in the qualitative and interpretative phase, which yielded clear patterns in the students’ perceptions of PT-E Overall, the insights generated by the two phases of the study imply that the policy and practice of mainstream English teaching and research on PT-E in Bangladesh are in need of substantial review PT-E is widespread; it is highly regarded by the students It is desired by educational consumers, and is seen as a default, family circumstances permitting, for secondary students The mainstream school system, on the other hand, is regarded as second best PT-E, by the mere fact of its existence, prestige, and success, is therefore exerting pressure on the school system, which will need to find a way of responding to its out-of-hours partner, and of establishing a viable role and profile in the context of overall English language education If the national policy is committed to equality of opportunity, then the balance between the school system and PT-E will need to be redressed That would require a substantial increase in investment in public education (Hamid & Baldauf, 2008), in order to provide an incentive for parents to place their resources for enhanced learning in the public, rather than the private, sphere, the better to enhance teaching, learning, facilities, and infrastructure The mainstream system would need to develop mechanisms for remedial teaching English teaching skills, as well as the status and morale of teachers in the school system, need to be reinforced if it is to reassert its position vis-à-vis the PT-E system It is highly unlikely that the popularity of PT-E will decline dramatically in the near future The middle class will continue to invest in their PRIVATE TUTORING IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN BANGALADESH 303 children’s education to help them secure a competitive advantage in education and in the job market Education experts and social policy makers need to think seriously about ways of supporting students from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds, so that they are less disadvantaged in the competition with their peers from more affluent families At the same time, there is a need to inform and educate students and parents about the realistic expectations of PT-E Insights from the current study highlight this gap between expectation and reality As Table suggests, despite their participation in PT-E, none of the students were able to obtain the grades in English in the SSC examination that their school examination would have led them to expect Neither the school system nor the PT-E system, either individually or in combination, was able to deliver this result The current study has shown how, in less affluent societies, the popularity of PT and PT-E can be attributed to a set of social, psychological, and institutional factors, among which the effectiveness or outcome of private tutoring is only one of several operational considerations It will now be possible for more extensive investigations, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, to verify these parameters of private tutoring on the one hand, including its learning outcomes, and its standing in the students’ and parents’ perceptions on the other Exploring the nature of PT-E and the factors contributing to its popularity in a disadvantaged context in Bangladesh is important for TESOL on pedagogical as well as contextual grounds Pedagogically, the learning of English in Bangladesh is shown to have a complex relationship with PT-E because of the demonstrably unsuccessful performance of the school system on the one hand, and the virtual absence of appropriate self-study resources on the other Contextually, it shows how English in a country with limited and not very satisfactory teaching performance outside the larger cities (e.g., Dhaka) places strains on curricula, family resources, parents, and school learners Less affluent areas, where the imperative of English not only encourages the practice of PT-E but also creates tensions between the formal system and the informal system, and makes parents and students find balances between them in the context of resource constraints, are highly relevant to an international perspective on TESOL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are grateful for the contribution of Richard Baldauf and Nanette Gottlieb, and for the comments and suggestions of three anonymous reviewers and the Editor’s feedback, which were invaluable in revising the article 304 TESOL QUARTERLY THE AUTHORS M Obaidul Hamid teaches English language and applied linguistics at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh He has submitted his PhD thesis at the University of Queensland, Australia He is interested in the sociology of English learning, cultural politics of English, and English language teaching in Bangladesh Roland (Roly) Sussex is professor of applied language studies at the University of Queensland His research is located in the triangle formed by language, society, and technology He has had a long involvement in issues of language teaching and learning, languages in contact, bilingualism, and language policy, especially 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