Abstract:
English Medium Schools (henceforth EMSs) do not help to practice Bangladeshi
culture when they teach English language and therefore seem to be culturally
imperialistic (Haque, 2009). English language is replacing or displacing other
languages (Phillipson, 1992: 27). A language is mingled with a culture (Ccnagarajah,
1999; Iredale in Phillipson 1992: 11). So, technically, it is replacing Bangladeshi
culture as well. The students of EMSs follow British curriculum and read books
written by foreigners based on foreign context (Haque, 2009). As a result, students,
studying in EMSs of Bangladesh learn about western tradition, geography, history,
political and cultural background, leaving out Bangladeshi resources( e. g. history,
geography, literature and so on). For the sake of teaching good English, the schools
follow some strategies which seem to hamper the practice of Bangla language and
culture. Students of the English Medium schools seem to have little knowledge of
Bangladeshi culture and history (Kamol, 2009). As a consequence of being detached
from Bangladeshi language and culture, these students are becoming half foreigners,
half Bangalees (Al-Qudarie, 2010). So, they seem to be guests in their own house.
Data was collected from ten EMSs from Dhaka. A questionnaire survey (having both
close and open ended questions) was carried out on 400 students and twenty English
teachers were interviewed. Theoretical framework was based on Phillipson’s (1992)
theory of linguistic and cultural imperialism. The explanation of the relation between
language and culture was taken from Canagarajah (1999) and Modiano( 2001).
From the findings of the study, it was revealed that the students of EMSs are much
more attracted to western culture than that of Bangladesh. They (the students) follow
the western way of life—from greetings to dressing, food habit to recreation, books to
movie and from sports to gesture. Everywhere the choices of the students seem to be
confined to western culture.
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
