ENGLISH IS A 2ND LANGUAGE OF BANHLADESH
Prime University
Student Name: Monzurul Haque
ID: 172010102006 Program: MA in English Batch: 51st Phone: 01715135599
Course Code: BED- 124
Name of the teacher: Sujit Sir
Name of the Subject: English Teaching Method
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3) "English is a foreign language in Bangladesh" explaining.
Introduction: Bengali is the sole official and national language of Bangladesh, but English is often used secondarily in the higher tier of the judiciary. There are 10 English language newspapers in Bangladesh. English medium schools are also operated in English. Mainly, the people of Bangladeshi descent residing in the UK.
English is the second language of Bangladesh
If we look at the definition of second language then we can easily say that English is the second language of Bangladesh. It is widely used in many parts of our national life. Many people watch English television channels and also use Internet. The students have to study it for twelve years and those who want to join civil service by attending BCS exam also have to sit for English examination. The only thing that is missing from the above definition is the fact that except for formal occasions no one speaks in English in Bangladesh. It is not the language used in home among family members and among friends in informal conversation.
Foreign language:
From the above definition, it is seen that foreign language refers to a language that is not native to a person. From this point of view English can be considered as a foreign language in Bangladesh since it is not native in our country. Hardly any Bangladeshi person speaks in English although many of them use it in education and business.
Official language:
An official language is something that is given a unique status in the countries, states, and other territories. It is typically the language used in a nation's legislative bodies, though the law in many nations requires that government documents be produced in other languages as well. Officially recognized minority languages are often mistaken for official languages.
English is allowed in our parliament: our constitution English can not be termed as the official language of Bangladesh since it has no status in our constitution. The only language that is mentioned in our constitution is Bangla. But English is allowed in our parliament and many government events.
Constitution:
About the language of the country the Bangladeshi constitution clearly states:
"The state language.
The state language of the Republic is [Bangla]."In the constitution nothing is mentioned about the status of English. English is not mentioned as a second language or official language. So if we take the status of English in our constitution then we cannot claim that English is a Second language or Official Language in Bangladesh.
English in Law court in Bangladesh:
After Independence the government took the initiative to implement Bangla language in law court. As a result, now the lower courts carry out their activities in Bangla but English is yet very influential in High Court and Supreme Court. If a lawyer wants to practice in Supreme court then he must have a good command over English language.
English in Education sector in Bangladesh:
I can clearly see that the difference in education system in Bangladesh is solely based on the difference in the medium of education. Although Bangla is the National-Official language of Bangladesh it is the English medium education institutes who get more money.
In our education system English is really the Second language as all the students have to study it as a compulsory subject for twelve years.
English and Administration: After Bangladesh became independent the government of Awami League decided to replace English with Bangla in administrative works but after the death of Sheikh Mujib this process came to a halt and English continued to remain as the dominant language
English in Economic activities:
The economy of Bangladesh is dependent on foreign aids and export of some common items like ready made garments, jute, tea, fish etc and also we import a lot of things. Bangladesh is not self sufficient economically. Trading is more popular than production. Some of these companies produce a Bangla version of their annual report but the emphasis is always on English. So it is clear that English is the dominant language in our economic activities.
Comparison of English with Arabic, Sanskrit, and Pali in Bangladesh:
Arabic, Sanskrit and Pali are the religious languages of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists respectively. Even the uneducated people try to learn these languages as they are considered to be holy. If we compare the learning of English with these languages then we can see that English is given more importance.
Comparison of English foreign languages like French, German, and Farsi:
French and German have become very popular for economic reasons in our country. Learning these languages help us to increase our possibility to get a UN job. Learning French is also helpful for getting immigration to Canada. On the other hand, hundreds of students each year appear for TOEFL and IELTS exams in English language.
From the above picture it is clear that the status of English is much higher than foreign languages like German, French, and Farsi.
Recommendations:
From the discussion so far there is no doubt that English is the second language of Bangladesh but this reality is not reflected in our constitution. Officially Bangladesh is not known as an ESL country to the outside world. So Bangladesh should be declared as an ESL country by the government without any delay. We learn English not because we like Shakespeare or Dickens. We learn English from out of every day necessity.
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