Special Issue, Number 01, Fall 2010

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10361/5151

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Now showing 1 - 17 of 17

Facebook: utopia, dystopia or heterotopia
(BRAC University, 2010) Zaman, Tabassum; Department of English and Humanities
Social networking sites (SNSs) like Facebook, Friendster, Orkut, Hi5, and MySpace have accelerated and changed the meaning of communication for millions of computer users around the world. The growing number of people joining these SNSs and the ascending rate of their usage hours make this rather somatically taxing experience qualify semiotically as quite a potent field of research. This paper investigates the time-space defying locus provided by one particular SNS, Facebook and its multilateral usage pattern with all its complex dynamics, to bring to light the mechanisms that are vital for its successful functioning. Over the years, the space provided by the SNS or the Internet in general has been considered under different hypothetical frames – as a public sphere, democratic space, private space, virtual community, discursive space, transformative site, or even a non-space. The paper, however, posits that it is not one particular frame, but a fusion of all these frames, forming one alternative space, heterotopic in nature, which can explain why SNSs, particularly Facebook have such escalating popularity among its members from all age groups.
From "Now-here" to "Nowhere" : the spatial aesthetics of postmodernism
(BRAC University, 2010) Islam, Syed Manzoorul; Department of English and Humanities
With the waning of the age of modernism, time has ceased to have a primary role in shaping people’s psychological and cultural expressions. Time has given way to space and a new understanding of spatiality, which has been described as the “spatial turn.” Space is now seen as fluid and shifting without any locational coordinates just as time is viewed as fragmented, misaligned and imaginary. This new realization of space rejects the modernist concern for rationality and order, which has allowed various power groups to have domination and control over space. The opposing modernist and postmodernist views of space can be summarized under the categories of “now-here” and “nowhere.” These two categories clash over questions of order, control, identity, subjectivity and representation but there is an eventual rejection of hierarchical and gendered spaces, and other historically determined attributes of space. While “now-here” is considered predominantly male, white and rooted in history and time, “nowhere” is seen to be supportive of women and ethnic groups. “Nowhere” is characterized by a postmodern ambivalence, playfulness and virtuality; it is also the hyperreal cyberspace. However, in spite of the predominance of postmodern “nowhere” in our time, the paper posits that “now-here” is not a spent or inactive site either, but that it makes and remakes itself according to historical or political exigencies.
Between garrulity and utility - the impact of talk shows
(BRAC University, 2010) Huda, Roohi Andalib; Department of English and Humanities
This paper seeks to highlight the increasingly meaningful role that the television talk shows have acquired over the last few decades. In the West where the talk show featured first, it created a profound effect on the empowerment of women, amongst others. The shows provided women the opportunity to talk about their lives and their problems in public view. Another significant development of the process worth noting was the globalization of social issues like women and child rights, breast cancer, abortion, ill effects of narcotic drugs, human trafficking etc. This was possible on account of the highly presentational format of the talk shows that were telecast in several countries across many continents. Though not intended deliberately, such globalization helped facilitate networking of rights and advocacy groups of different cultures and countries. In order to delve into the different dimensions of the subject, two very popular media personalities and a top media executive of Bangladesh were interviewed. Their observations have facilitated the understanding of the progression of talk shows over the years. The talk shows are believed to provide what has been described as “infotainment” in the media lexicon. Efforts have been made in this article to gain insights by studying the different dimensions of such “infotainment” both locally and globally.
Different strokes for little folks - the need for a different methodology for primary English education in Bangladesh
(BRAC University, 2010) Ara, Shaheen; Department of English and Humanities
Bangladesh‟s need to be a part of the global community has manifested itself in the government‟s implementing compulsory English learning at various levels of education. However, writing samples of tertiary level Bangladeshi students show that even after twelve years of English learning, students‟ proficiency of English is far below the required standards to study abroad or in English medium universities in the country. Local experts believe that the main reason for the students‟ low proficiency lies in the wrong method of teaching English at the primary level. The fact is, although theoretically, children learn a language quicker than adults, wrong methods of teaching can bring in an opposite result. In Bangladesh, students are not getting benefited from compulsory primary English education as the effects of wrong learning at this level are preventing their English language development even at the later stages. Therefore, it is high time to change the existing methodology for teaching English at the primary level. This paper focuses on the problems in the existing method of teaching English at the primary level, shows some effective ways of teaching English at this level and finally suggests some policy level changes to make English education really fruitful in Bangladesh.
Problems Bangladeshi learners face in pronouncing certain English phonemes
(BRAC University, 2010) Mostafa, Tamanna; Department of English and Humanities
Bangladeshi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners, very naturally, are expected to face problems in pronouncing certain phonemes of English since English is a stress-timed language as opposed to Bangla which is a syllable-timed language. Besides these, there are plenty of factors that are responsible for causing difficulties for Bangladeshi EFL learners in pronouncing specific phonemes of English like fricatives, affricates, diphthongs etc. The objective of this paper is to find out Bangladeshi EFL learners‘ pronunciation difficulties so that we can devise some strategies to teach them the correct pronunciations. The characteristic differences between the sound patterns of Bangla and English language cause further difficulties for Bangladeshi EFL learners. Some hypotheses are formulated stating the difficulties that Bangladeshi EFL learners might face in pronouncing complex phonemes of English. This study is divided into two parts: segmental elements and supra segmental features. Bangladeshi learners have most problems in pronouncing the fricatives, affricates, diphthongs and vowels. They cannot speak English with proper accent and many aspects of connected speech are also absent in their speech. To reduce these problems, some solutions are suggested here: teachers can devise some tongue twisters, mnemonics, minimal pairs, rhymes to minimize the pronunciation difficulties faced by Bangladeshi EFL learners.
English for today, for classes 9-10 : an empirical study
(BRAC University, 2010) Hossain, Mohammad Elius; Department of English and Humanities
This study is concerned with the evaluation of the English textbook currently used for classes 9-10 of secondary schools in Bangladesh. Our students‘ level of English proficiency in all the four skills – reading, writing, listening, and speaking, even after the completion of SSC, is very inadequate. One of the major reasons for this may be the absence of effective textbook/materials. It is, therefore, necessary to examine the effectiveness of the textbook/materials in light of the recent theoretical developments in the field. The purpose of the study is to examine: (a) layout and design of the book, (b) activities and tasks in the book, (c) skills covered and balance of skills, (d) language type provided, (e) grading and sequencing of the items, and (f) subject and content used. For empirical research, the study used teachers‘ and students‘ questionnaires survey and for the researcher‘s own evaluation of the book, the teacher‘s questionnaire in the form of a checklist was used. The results show that the textbook in question has a number of strengths, but at the same time it has several weaknesses too. Finally, the study suggests measures to overcome the weaknesses of the book.
Teaching English at the primary level in Bangladesh : present status, issues and challenges
(BRAC University, 2010) Sultana, Dilruba; Department of English and Humanities
Communicative English was introduced in Bangladesh in 1996. Communicative English is a modern approach in which a way of spontaneous learning is implied. In this method students are encouraged to practice four basic skills of language: reading, writing, speaking and listening. But with students having little opportunity to use English in their social and classroom environment and without a sufficient number of qualified English teachers, it is quite a challenge for them to acquire English language skills. In the existing situation, teaching and learning of English at the primary level in Bangladesh has a very low standard. Most of the students face difficulties to communicate in English and even competency level of most English teachers is not up to the mark. Besides, classrooms have very poor facilities. Classroom practices emphasize rote learning rather than understanding and use of English in real life situations. Keeping this in mind this study explores the present status of English teaching at the primary level in Bangladesh and identifies the major issues and challenges of teaching English at the primary level in Bangladesh and their probable solutions. The study shows that each teacher in both government and registered non-government schools has to take 7-8 classes everyday. The findings of the study also show that most of the students are weak in speaking (rural 52% & urban 60%) and listening (rural 26% & urban 24%) skills. The study strongly recommends providing training to the English teachers and more communicative and participatory classroom facilities for implementing communicative English language teaching methodology and assessment system.
Specific language impairment - when only language becomes difficult
(BRAC University, 2010) Sultana, Asifa; Department of English and Humanities
Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a language disorder that primarily affects oral language selectively. This impairment is not any sudden loss; rather some children are born with this disability. The impaired children exhibit this disorder by producing unusually faulty language, which the other children of their age have outgrown. Children with SLI are like the normally developing children in every other way except for some specific aspects of their L1. To identify this language difficulty, children have to be tested on their L1 through tests originally designed for their L1. Since this is a new phenomenon in a country like Bangladesh, we lack resources to identify and measure this. This paper is an attempt to present the case of SLI for a better understanding of the disorder. The paper illustrates the nature of the disorder and backs it up with the dominant theories that try to explain this. Also, considering the nature of difficulty and the exhibited problems, this paper suggests and explains some areas for testing in Bangla which may be able to identify the impaired children in our context.
Sexism in language
(BRAC University, 2010) Ahmad, Naufela Nafisa; Khan, Naira; Department of English and Humanities
This paper aims to examine the various forms of sexism that exist within languages. Over the years sexism has been weaved into the language system so subtly that people end up submitting to sexist views without even realizing it. Many a time have people laughed at jokes that are sexist and used proverbs reflecting attitudes that patriarchal systems have enforced over the years. Thus, considering a nurse to be only female and an astronaut to be male is something quite common. Even in social mixed sex conversations, women often fail to gain the floor. Thus this paper attempts to throw light on the obvious that people usually fail to see. It tries to show the different levels at which sexism exists in the language system (morphological, phrasal, and semantic). The paper focuses on Bengali and English: two languages from different parent groups. English is a Germanic language and Bengali an Indo-Aryan language which is a branch of the Indo- Iranian languages. Examples of these two different languages show how sexism has spread its domains and infiltrated all languages; whether they belong to the same parent language or not.
Undoing the dimorphic paradigm : a gender perspective
(BRAC University, 2010) Anwaruddin, S. M.; Department of English and Humanities
By investigating two aspects of gender studies—the definition of gender and the denial of third-ness in the long-established gender dimorphic paradigms—the paper argues that binary gender categories need to be deconstructed. Section I examines how women have been and are being made subordinate to men. It also shows that belief systems, scientific and intellectual scholarships, and cultural norms are effective instruments for lowering women‘s status and roles. Section II, with a reader-response approach, explores how mainstream cultures have denied third-ness in a heterosexualized sex-gender dimorphism. It further claims that the reason why most cultures are firmly devoted to the binary gender categories is a fear of losing the privileges of heterosexuality. The notion of ‗self‘ and ‗other‘ which helps marginalize women in society fits conveniently into this binary system. Therefore, if the binary gender categories are deconstructed, several gender positions can become available which will eventually undo the dimorphic paradigm.
Context in communication : analysis of Bengali spoken discourse
(BRAC University, 2010) Banerjee, Sanjoy; Department of English and Humanities
This study intends to explore the pattern of discourse Bengali people use while conversing. The researcher hopes that analysis of spoken discourse would help develop materials to teach speaking skills to EFL (English as Foreign Language) learners. It is perceived that people use different kinds of gestures and postures in communication. Though we can not have nods, smile, pause and other ritual and system constraints in written language, they play a vital role in shaping the oral communication effective. Though some say that analysing spoken discourse might not be helpful in determining the content of a course, the researcher finds the recorded conversations really motivating in evaluating learners‟ speaking skills, developing materials, and designing tasks in English.
Thomas Chatterton and Barry MacSweeney : the influence of anxiety
(BRAC University, 2010) Mortuza, Shamsad; Department of English and Humanities
The influence of Thomas Chatterton on Barry MacSweeney is well documented. The Newcastle born ―underground‖ poet MacSweeney thought that his poetic career resembled the unsung genius of the late eighteenth century, Thomas Chatterton. According to MacSweeney, Chatterton‘s untimely death was due to the rejection and deception that he faced from his patron-publisher. Chatterton famously impersonated a medieval monk and claimed that his Rowley Poems were found manuscripts from the thirteenth century. His abortive attempt to prove himself a genius and consequent suicide inculcate a sense of melancholy in MacSweeney, which evidently permeates into his ―Brother Wolf‖. However, the influence is more than a Bloomian anxiety of capturing or even caricaturing the predecessor. Instead, MacSweeney tries to simulate the life of his alter ego — his ―brother wolf‖, and participate in a ritualistic death. The death depicted in MacSweeney‘s poem manifests a lyrical dispersal of the material body of a poetic figure as if to guarantee poetic geniuses an immaterial niche beyond the reach of selfish critics and patron-publishers.
Fantasy and the Jonsonian Masque
(BRAC University, 2010) Jabeen, Farrah; Department of English and Humanities
This paper highlights Jonson's portrayal of contemporary psychology of fantasy where absurd ideas vanish and the positive aspects of reality and beauty exist. To portray this “paradoxical” approach to fantasy, Jonson took the help of “masques”, which were a popular literary form of Elizabethan period. Apparently, the masque proper was seen to represent fantasy while the anti-masque took the side of reality. However, these roles change as we go deep into the text of The Masque of Queens and The Vision of Delight. Also, the historical background of writing the masques as a way to praise the 'country order' of King James helps the masques to reside beyond the grip of only amusement and fantasy. The word 'fantasy' has a profound positive place in Jonson's masques: it is by no means a vague or derailed flow of wild dreams. The paper examines The Masque of Queens is an expression of 'grotesque' rather than “fearsome”. It also explores how the allegorical and historical figures of Heroic Virtue and Fame in masque proper highlight the constructive part of fantasy as well as the fantastic images of The Vision of Delight that are funny, entertaining and benevolent. The paper makes a comparative study of Jonson and Shakespeare and shows how Jonson creates anti-masque as „wayward fantasy‟, which only threatens the nobler fantasy represented by the stability and order of reason, whereas in Shakespeare anti-masque takes the place of main masque. If fantasy is the storehouse of sensory images then needs reason to distinguish between the merely empty and valid impressions.
An elusive home : Rachel Calof, indoors and out
(BRAC University, 2010) Peleg, Kristine; Department of English and Humanities
Rachel Calof’s Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains (Ed. J. Sanford Rikoon, Indiana University Press, 1995) is a first-person memoir of farming in North Dakota from 1894-1917, based on Rachel Calof‟s Yiddish manuscript. I traced this text from inception to publication, especially the translation and editing process, comparing a new translation of the Yiddish manuscript with the English publication. This article focuses primarily on the issues of space and the transition to a new environment. Rachel Kahn Calof immigrated alone to the United States and married into the Calof family. Resources were extremely limited and the families were forced to live in close proximity, often sharing shanties with extended family members and even the animals, during the winter. Examples of her adjustments to the environment, transitions and the rhetoric of frontier settlement are developed in the context of other pioneering narratives and theories from literary studies, history and geography.
Denaturalizing shakespeare : a feminist appraisal of Antony and Cleopatra and taming of the shrew
(BRAC University, 2010) Chowdhury, Rukhsana Rahim; Department of English and Humanities
This article argues that despite reflecting the age-old man-made ideas about race, gender, female sexuality and power, Shakespeare‟s plays suggest themselves to be at odds with patriarchal gender assumptions. The chosen protagonists, Cleopatra and Katherine do not exhibit the traditionally expected code of female behaviour. Both of them are strong women who dare to defy the existing norms and stand out prominently in their own spheres. As a result they have to suffer a reputation and are called names by the male characters. But despite all this, it is to Shakespeare‟s credit that he shows their intellectual superiority and position of power in the plays. This paper aims to explore the extent to which Shakespeare shared the gender assumptions of his own times and the ways in which his plays give a different perspective to these values and principles. An attempt will be made to examine how gender based societal norms and values have been denaturalized by a proto-feminist Shakespeare.
Reading Shakespeare in the context of his own time
(BRAC University, 2010) Alam, Zerin; Department of English and Humanities
This paper is an attempt to study Shakespeare in the context of his own age. Drawing on critical research in New Historicism and Cultural Materialism, I have attempted to show how the social practices of Elizabethan Age influence the plays. The prevalence of themes relating to politics and finances in the plays are a reflection of the contemporary social issues. I discuss how power and money are represented in Shakespeare‘s plays as well as the way the playwright himself dealt with these two forces. Shakespeare had to negotiate between the rules imposed upon him, by political power and economic necessity, and his desire for artistic autonomy, and this position is inscribed in his plays.
Reading Shakespeare today : or, sixty years after
(BRAC University, 2010) Zaman, Niaz; Department of English and Humanities

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