An exploratory study of imperialism and English language in Bangladesh

Abstract

This research explored the existence of linguistic imperialism, intentionally or unintentionally, in different sectors of Bangladesh. This study discussed how majority of the sectors of our country are invaded linguistically by English, and it is ultimately encouraging intrusion of foreign or western culture in our culture. Therefore, by mingling to our culture it is deteriorating our cultural traditions and values. The study also explored the reasons that are triggering this linguistic imperialism by showing different aspects of the education system of English Medium Schools and how it is affecting the Bengali Medium Schools’ students as well. Moreover, it also explored various experiences of the professional people who stated that this invasion of English creates difficulty for a huge number of people. Qualitative research design was chosen for this research as it allowed me to investigate the phenomena in detail. Data for this research came from various sources and collected through interviews, observations and documents analysis and some of them are reported in storied form. This study is significant as it portrayed a rich picture of the nature of linguistic imperialism in Bangladesh but the phenomena is hardly noticed.