Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh

The prevailing discourses of the print media in Bangladesh critique the way younger generations use English in their everyday Bangla conversations and show an increased concern about the purity of the Bangla language. It is assumed that the younger generations are in the verge of destroying the sove...

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Main Author:	Shaila Sultana
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2012
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/1/1684-3178-1-SM.pdf

id	ukm-5755
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-57552016-12-14T06:39:25Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/ Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh Shaila Sultana, The prevailing discourses of the print media in Bangladesh critique the way younger generations use English in their everyday Bangla conversations and show an increased concern about the purity of the Bangla language. It is assumed that the younger generations are in the verge of destroying the sovereignty of Bangla with their indiscriminate insertion of English words in Bangla sentences. It is also presumed that the younger generations are subjugated by the colonial legacy of English and consumed by the Western culture, and hence, they fail to maintain the sanctity of Bangladeshi culture and identity. However, acknowledging the political, ideological, and hegemonic role of English and globalisation, this paper problematises these simplistic assumptions. It demonstrates that any view that represents English as a tool of colonisation and neocolonisation or younger generations as responsible for the ‘language pollution’, somewhat understates the underlying complexities in these discourses. Hence, the paper has two distinct focuses. First, the paper discusses the role of English as a language of colonisation and globalisation in the context of Bangladesh. Second, it analyses the historical, political, ideological, and socio-cultural significance of Bangla in relation to its different regional varieties and indigenous languages. Based on these discussions, the paper finally indicates that the younger generations deserve a deeper understanding of the multifaceted factors that influence their language practices and their locatedness within the local and global linguistic and cultural flows. Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2012 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/1/1684-3178-1-SM.pdf Shaila Sultana, (2012) Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 18 (4). pp. 49-63. ISSN 0128-5157 http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/3L/3LHome.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	The prevailing discourses of the print media in Bangladesh critique the way younger generations use English in their everyday Bangla conversations and show an increased concern about the purity of the Bangla language. It is assumed that the younger generations are in the verge of destroying the sovereignty of Bangla with their indiscriminate insertion of English words in Bangla sentences. It is also presumed that the younger generations are subjugated by the colonial legacy of English and consumed by the Western culture, and hence, they fail to maintain the sanctity of Bangladeshi culture and identity. However, acknowledging the political, ideological, and hegemonic role of English and globalisation, this paper problematises these simplistic assumptions. It demonstrates that any view that represents English as a tool of colonisation and neocolonisation or younger generations as responsible for the ‘language pollution’, somewhat understates the underlying complexities in these discourses. Hence, the paper has two distinct focuses. First, the paper discusses the role of English as a language of colonisation and globalisation in the context of Bangladesh. Second, it analyses the historical, political, ideological, and socio-cultural significance of Bangla in relation to its different regional varieties and indigenous languages. Based on these discussions, the paper finally indicates that the younger generations deserve a deeper understanding of the multifaceted factors that influence their language practices and their locatedness within the local and global linguistic and cultural flows.
format	Article
author	Shaila Sultana,
spellingShingle	Shaila Sultana, Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh
author_facet	Shaila Sultana,
author_sort	Shaila Sultana,
title	Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh
title_short	Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh
title_full	Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh
title_fullStr	Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed	Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh
title_sort	problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in bangladesh
publisher	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM
publishDate	2012
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5755/1/1684-3178-1-SM.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:45:03Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:45:03Z
_version_	1777405844012400640

Problematising the popular discourses about language and identity of young adults in Bangladesh

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