An evaluation of linguistic transition among the tertiary level students of private universities in Bangladesh

Abstract

This study was an attempt to explore the difficulties of students at tertiary level in our country for linguistic transition (Bengali to English). Rauf (2012) says Linguistic transition is now a reality in the higher education scenario of Bangladesh (p. 13). This research was conducted at 5 private universities in Bangladesh. 150 students and 12 teachers participated in this research. The questionnaires have been both qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Most of the students in Bangladesh learn every subject in Bangla in their 12 years education life because Bangla is our mother tongue and up to H.S.C the government set the policy of Bangla medium instruction. The medium of instruction change when the students admit in private universities and this sudden change of language of instruction make a tremendous effect on the new students. The university authority set the English medium instruction for several reasons. The purpose of the study is to find out the main causes and effects of this linguistic transition on the freahers. From the findings result it shows that plagiarism is one of the main effects for linguistic transition. The effects are mainly affected the beginners academic result which actually demotivate the learners at initial stage of tertiary level. There are also many effects like they become psychologically weak and it creates a gap between the students and the teachers. So finally some recommendations are uncover for helping the students and make this transition smooth.