A new technique for teaching English to school students

English is taught in Bangladesh in schools, colleges and universities at primary, secondary, higher secondary and degree levels. Thus, a holder of a four- year bachelor degree is exposed to English for approximately 16 years.  After formally studying English continuously for so many years one should be able to communicate with others in English without any problem.  But unfortunately, this is not happening in Bangladesh today.  
It seems that most students in schools, colleges and universities in Bangladesh study English because it is a compulsory subject for their qualification.  They do not study to learn to read, write, speak and understand English, but study it because they have to, and many, at university level, just aim for pass marks in the exams.   
Because of this we find that majority of university students and graduates in Bangladesh are unable to speak English fluently.  This is a serious situation particularly in today's world of globalisation where English serves as a lingua franca, a language used for communicating with people outside the country for business and commerce, travel and tourism, education, immigration and resettling in a new country, attending professional seminars and conferences, taking part in political, diplomatic and international gatherings, meetings etc.
Let us assume that English will continue to be taught starting from grade one in school up to the university degree level.  Then the responsibility of improving this current situation, i.e., making learners learn English, should rest not only with the national policy makers but also with each and every English teacher in the country.  
English teachers in Bangladesh should try to make the teaching of English "learner-oriented". Currently, teachers are busy completing a prescribed syllabus, not caring about  what students want.  They should try to make learners want to learn English, accept English as their second language, not Hindi/Urdu, as it is now, so that they can use English to communicate with others and thus ensure bright future for the learners.
To achieve that teachers have to make every effort to get to know their students and find out what they really like and want.   Do the learners like taking part in particular activities like playing cricket, table tennis,  soccer, guli danda, lattu, marbles,  flying kites, broadcasting, giving public speeches,  debating, seeing films and plays, creative writing, singing, playing a musical instrument,  dancing, acting, working in the fields,  planting trees, fishing, travelling, cooking and eating, spending times with friends and relatives (adda), climbing trees and eating fruits or just chatting on the mobile, playing with computers, socializing on the Internet or what?
Learners of different age groups have different interests and goals. Teachers may try to find that out and, in the process, get to know their learners.  They may introduce English to their learners by using innovative teaching techniques.  This may involve augmenting their present teaching techniques and developing and using techniques which are focused towards the learners.  They should be able to motivate young learners and teach them the four components of the language through activities, which learners enjoy.
One such technique, which is very simple and inexpensive, is employed in schools in Australia, starting from kindergarten classes. It is called SHOW AND TELL (SAT).  To use this technique in teaching English a teacher does not need any special training.  I give below a brief description of how this technique can be used in schools in Bangladesh.
The first 5 to 10 minutes in each language class may be reserved for SAT sessions.  In these sessions students have to tell the class, in English (or Bangla in the beginning), something interesting (s)he did or saw in the past week or before.
For a SAT session a student may choose any topic of his/her choice.  By rotation, each and every student in a class should get a turn.  A periodic SAT roster may be prepared and displayed in the class room.
In one  academic year every student should get multiple SAT turns.  By going through these sessions students will overcome their shyness in speaking in English and also get over the fear of speaking in front of others.    At the end of the year the teacher will get to know their students better and learn what type of interests and talents the students have.  In a large class where students normally know only the top performers or their own group of friends, they will also learn about the interests and strengths about all their class fellows.
In large classes, it may also be worthwhile dividing the students into smaller groups and run parallel SAT sessions.  Again, by rotation, students may be encouraged to conduct  different parallel sessions, and the teacher may go round and check that everything is progressing well.
The technique is simple, requires no books, costs nothing and teachers require no special training.
To assure all English teachers that the technique will work in Bangladesh, I will share my following experience.  
During November 2012, I used this technique while teaching English for two weeks at Janata Jute Mills Bidyapath in Ghorashal. I found that the students of lower classes in a rural school in Bangladesh were as smart and creative as their Australian counterparts. They had no inhibitions and were not afraid to ask questions, raise their hands to answer a question and happily went to the front to face the entire class and tell them whatever they had to say.  
As students grow, i.e., students from grade V onwards, they start becoming shy, possibly becoming self conscious that they may say something "wrong".  
When I first started, I observed that in senior classes most students, other than those who were used to public speaking, sat with expressionless faces.  I managed to change that by constantly asking them to come to the front and say something to the class or do something at other times. I taught them English songs, told jokes and, by rotation, gave students tasks like (a) audio recording, (b) video recording, (c) listing all new English words they came across, (d) downloading lyrics of songs they learned from the Internet (e) collecting money from those who wanted photocopy of the lyrics of a song, (f) looking up the meaning and pronunciation of an English word in the dictionary, (g) helping me to collect all my belongings before leaving etc.   There was always something to do for everyone.
After two weeks all the senior students attending my class got used to being picked by me at random.  When chosen, a student  did not hesitate to come to the teacher's platform and do anything I asked him/her  to do before the rest of the class like reading their daily diary written in English, reading aloud,  using rhythm and intonation, a passage from an English story book, which was not in their curriculum, giving an impromptu speech on any subject, telling a story or joke in English,  or even singing an English song.
To know more about the performance of the students, readers may visit ozmaint.wix.com/zamosc   and for watching  videos  they may visit http://ozmaint.wix.com/zamosc#!videos/c22gt.
So my advice to all teachers is that SAT  will work in Bangladesh. It worked in one rural school. It should also work other rural and urban schools.  If students go through this process continuously during their schooling from grade 1 to 10, when they leave the school  they  will become members of a new breed of youths, different from the school leavers of today.  They will be confident, with well developed communicating skills, both in Bangla and English, and will be able to work harmoniously within a team. They will also be able to lead a team, the skill they will acquire while conducting parallel SAT sessions.  They will be ready to take up challenges ahead of them.
The writer, a 1966 BUET graduate,  has a working background in Demography, ICT and Management.  He retired in 2003 and since 2010, has been researching independently in Applied Linguistics from Melbourne in Australia where he lives, email: aminrahman43@gmail.com