Legal and political intervention on language issues in Bangladesh: A sociolinguistic perspective

Abdul Awal(1*)
(1) University of Lodz
(*) Corresponding Author
DOI : 10.30659/ijsunissula.2.1.22-35

Abstract

The article outlined the legal and political intervention on language issues in Bangladesh from a historical sociolinguistic perspective. More specifically, it chronologically criticised the constitution and laws issued regarding language for the time being by state holders. In his article, the author tried to present the current issue and the question of language policy and planning in Bangladesh. Furthermore, it showed the drawbacks of previous language acts in Bangladesh. Consequently, the article illustrates the contextual interplay between language policy and linguistic rights in Bangladesh. This article used data from primary sources (constitution and government orders, ordinances, and circulations, etc.) to draw some preliminary conclusions about the challenges involved in the language controversy. One of its central themes was the linguistic rights of ethnic people, minor communities, and indigenous language speakers respectively. This article investigated how state politics and language historically affected each other. The analytical framework of the article is built on Language Education Policy (LEP) as a conceptual framework of Baldauf and Ingram (2003) which is one of the most widely researched theoretical perspectives in language policy and planning. The findings confirmed linguistic hegemony and dominance in Bangladesh by constitution and law. The most important contribution of the article was the sociolinguistic overview of the significant language laws of Bangladesh chronologically. It provided recommendations on the development of democratic language policy in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Language in the Mughal period; Language in the British period; Language in the Pakistan period; Language in the Bangladesh period; Language rights for indigenous people; Language debate; Linguistic rights.

References


Ahmed, A.M. (2013). Amar dekha rajnitir panchash bachhar [Fifty Years of Politics as I Saw It]. Khoshroz Kitab Mahal.

Ahmed, K.M. (2019). The language of the Supreme Court. The independent.

Ahmed, M.K. (2020). English as medium of instruction in tertiary education: A case study in the perspective of Bangladeshi private universities. North American Academic Research, 3(8),190-202.

Akteruzzaman, M. & Islam, R. (2017). English, education, and globalization: A Bangladesh perspective. IAFOR Journal of Education, 5(1), 185–206.

Babla, M. I. (2017). Matribhasa siksa ebang anyanna prasanga (Mother tongue and other topics). The Dainik Shiksha. https://www.dainikshiksha.com.

Baldauf Jr, R.B. and Ingram, D.E. (2003). Language in education planning. In W. Frawley (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Linguistics (2nd ed.,Vol 2, pp. 412-16). Oxford University Press.

Boslaugh, S. (2007). Secondary data sources for public health: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press.

Chakma, S. (2014). Chakma language: Survival from being extinct in Bangladesh. [BA thesis, BRAC University] BRAC University. http://hdl.handle.net/10361/3983

Chowdhury, O. R. (2017). BCS pariksha bangla-engreji bitorko [BCS Exam Bengali-English Debate]. Famous News 24. http://www.famousnews24.com.

Datta, P. (2016). Toward a bilingual medium of instruction in higher education: bangladesh perspective. Feni University Journal,1(1), 125-140.

Ferdousi, N. (2009). Bengali language situation in the judicial system in Bangladesh. Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics, 2(3), 53-68.

Ferdousi, N. (2017). How far the use of ‘Bangla’ in the court of Bangladesh? Daily Star Bangladesh. https://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/how-far-the-use-bangla-the-court-bangladesh-1364722.

Ferguson, C.A. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15, 325-340.

Fishman, J. (1967). Bilingualism with and without diglossia. Journal of Social Issues, 23(2), 29–38.

Hajong, S. (2019). Adivasi bhasha o Bangladesh [Indigenous languages and Bangladesh]. Daily Samakal. Retrieved from https://samakal.com/print/19081635/print

Hamid, M. O., Jahan, I. & Monjurul, M. (2013). Medium of instruction policies and language practices, ideologies and institutional divides: Voices of teachers and students in a private university in Bangladesh. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 144-163.

Harrison, K. (2013). LEP as a conceptual framework. In F. V. Tochon (Ed.), Language Education Policy Studies. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved from: http://www.languageeducationpolicy.org.

International Mother Language Day 2020: English is compulsory but Bengali is essential. (2020). Daily Anandabazar. https://www.anandabazar.com/editorial/international-mother-language-day-2020-english-is-compulsory-but-bengali-is-essential-1.1112951

Islam, M.M. (2013). English medium instruction in the private universities in Bangladesh. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics,3(No.1), 126-137.

Islam, M. M. (2019). The language of court and legal arena. Daily New Age. http://www.newagebd.net/article/72424/the-language-of-court-and-legal-arena.

Islam, S. (2017). sadhu-chalit vashay ekhono lekha hoy sarkari adesh, pragyapan o notice [Government orders, notifications, and notices are still written in saintly language]. Bangla Tribune Online Limited. http://www.banglatribune.com.

Khuda, Q. E. (2019). Bhasar neeti-durniti-rajniti o bangali unnayan [Language policy- corruption-politics and the development of Bengalis]. Daily Des Rupantor. https://www.deshrupantor.com/editorial-news/2019/04/01/133098.

Kyriakou, M. (2019). A critical review of the theory of diglossia: A call to action. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translatio, 334-340. https://doi: 10.32996/ijllt.2019.2.5.38.

Majumder, R. (1987). Bangla Desher Itihas (madhyajug)[History of Bangladesh (Middle Age)] (4 ed.) General Printers and Publication Private Limited.

Ministry of Public Affairs. (2011). Bangla implementation cell manual. Ministry of Public Affairs of Bangladesh.

Nodbi, A. S. (1958). Muslim Juge Hinduder Shikkha Babostha [Education of Hindu under Muslim rule]. (M.Khan, Trans.) Academy of Education, Research and Publication, All Pakistan Conference Office.

Rahman, M. M., Singh, M. K. & Karim, A. (2020). Distinctive medium of instruction ideologies in public and private universities in Bangladesh. Asian Englishes, 22(2), 125-142. http:/:doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2019.1666493.

Sikder, S. (2019). Sanrakshan kare kono vasha tiki rakha yay na [No language can be retained by preservation].http://www.dw.com.

Simanjuntak, F., Haidir, H., Junaidi, & Pujiono, M. (2019). Diglossia: phenomenon and language theory. European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies,3(2), 58-65. https://doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3365366.

Sofa, A. (1981). Bangali Musulmaner Mon [Mind of Bengali Muslims]. Bangla Academy. (Original work published 1977).

Stępkowska, A. (2012). Diglossia: A Critical Overview of the Swiss Example. Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 129.

Sujon, A. I. (2013). Adibasider bhasar adhikar : ain ache, proyog nei [Indigenous people's language rights: there are laws, there are no laws.]. bdnews24. https://opinion.bdnews24.com/bangla/archives/8258.


Article Statistic

Abstract view : 332 times
PDF views : 787 times

The PDF file you selected should load here if your Web browser has a PDF reader plug-in installed (for example, a recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader).

If you would like more information about how to print, save, and work with PDFs, Highwire Press provides a helpful Frequently Asked Questions about PDFs.

Alternatively, you can download the PDF file directly to your computer, from where it can be opened using a PDF reader. To download the PDF, click the Download link above.

Fullscreen Fullscreen Off

Full Text: PDF

How To Cite This :

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.