ATTITUDES, INVOLVEMENT AND CHALLENGES OF CLASSROOM INTERACTION: INVESTIGATING THE PERCEPTIONS OF THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Abstract

The current study examined the perceptions of classroom interaction of 40 final-year undergraduate students studying in the Department of English at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. The study aimed to investigate their attitudes towards classroom interaction, the extent to which they participated in it and the challenges they faced during classroom interaction. The study used a five-point Likert Scale questionnaire survey, which included 27 close-ended and an open-ended item. The data on the close-ended items were analyzed using Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets (version 16.0.16924.20064.) and Google Forms (version 4.0.2). Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations and percentages) were calculated for each variable of the close-ended items. The open-ended data were analyzed thematically. The results revealed that the students had positive attitudes towards classroom interaction. They tended to participate more in student-to-student interaction than teacher-to-student interaction; however, the percentage of their participation in classroom interaction was not satisfactory. Inappropriate seating arrangement, limited time, dominance of a particular group of students, the teachers’ preference of delivering lectures to communicative activities, overcrowded classrooms and affective constraints (e.g., lack of confidence, shyness and anxiety) were the major challenges that the students faced during classroom interaction. Recommendations were offered to teachers, students and institutional administrations to increase students’ participation in classroom interaction. In addition, it acknowledged its limitations.