Bridging the Gap: A Comparative Analysis of Prevailing English Teaching Practices and a Proposed Integrated Model for Management Students in Bihar
Keywords:
English language teaching, management education, communicative competence, task-based learning, English for specific purposes, pedagogical model, language proficiency, BiharAbstract
English language proficiency among management students in the Indian state of Bihar has remained a persistent pedagogical challenge, shaped by longstanding reliance on grammar-translation methods, limited exposure to communicative contexts, and an acute shortage of trained instructors. This paper presents a comparative study of prevailing English teaching practices in management institutions across Bihar and proposes an integrated teaching model designed to address the specific linguistic needs of this learner population. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining classroom observations at twelve management colleges, structured interviews with thirty-eight faculty members, diagnostic proficiency assessments of 420 undergraduate management students, and a twelve-week quasi-experimental intervention. The diagnostic assessment revealed that the mean English proficiency score of the sampled students stood at 43.9 per cent, with listening and speaking skills lagging considerably behind reading and writing. The proposed Integrated Communicative-Professional English (ICPE) model, which synthesizes elements from Communicative Language Teaching, Task-Based Learning, and English for Specific Purposes, was implemented with an experimental group of 210 students over twelve weeks. Results indicate that the experimental group achieved a mean post-intervention score of 72.6 per cent, representing a net improvement of 28.7 percentage points, compared to a net improvement of 9.4 percentage points in the control group that continued with conventional instruction. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) ranged from 0.64 for reading to 1.02 for presentation skills. Learner satisfaction ratings on a five-point Likert scale averaged 4.42 for the ICPE model, against 2.78 for traditional methods. The findings suggest that the proposed model offers a viable, context-sensitive framework for enhancing workplace-oriented English proficiency among management students in similar educational settings
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