Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics

Multilingualism, modern metropolis and youth: a sociolinguistic profile of a section of students of Calcutta University

Aditi Ghosh, Bula Bhadra, Mina Dan

Kolkata has been a multilingual city for several hundred
years and like all modern metropolis it is home to diverse linguistic communities. Such multilingual metropolis almost always impacts the lives, the culture and languages of inhabitants. This is even more interesting when the communities in question are not a ‘native' community but are migrated. This paper tries to investigate the nature of its impact on the language use of a section of Calcutta University students whose native language is not Bengali. Through a questionnaire-based survey, we try to explore the pattern of language use of these students. Through this study we would like to show the model of language dynamics as exists among a section of youth in Kolkata, who are not speakers of the principle regional language, and indicate its effect on languages, individuals and communities concerned.

Developing Listening Skills for Tertiary Level Learners

Zerin Alam

Although ELT in Bangladesh is moving away from the traditional grammar translation approach towards a CLT framework, we still do not give emphasis to all four skills which is recommended in the communicative approach. As listening remains a neglected skill the writers argue for the need to incorporate this skill at the tertiary level in order to improve communicative competence and in particular proficiency in Academic English. The article first discusses the theoretical overview for teaching listening including listening for academic purposes. Then it presents practical and effective tasks and materials that are appropriate for the Bangladeshi university context and will develop students' proficiency in Academic English.

Bengali language situation in the judicial system in Bangladesh

Nahid Ferdouci

Bengali language has been declared as the state language of the Republic in Article 3 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Bengali is our mother tongue and we have achieved this at the cost of much blood. Moreover Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain (Bengali Language Implementation Act) was made in 1987 for ensuring compulsory use of Bengali in courts and offices of Bangladesh. In spite of these provisions, English is still used in the judicial system (Higher Courts) in Bangladesh. Often delivering of judgments in English creates various problems for poor and illiterate person. People in our country speak in Bengali. Language of courts should follow the language of the common people. An attempt has been made in this article to assess the status and the enforceability of Bengali language with historical background, limitations of bringing into practice and some necessary measures for effective use of Bengali language in the courts.

Listening Skill At Tertiary Level: A Reflection

Md Minhajul Abedin, Saiful Hassan Khan Majlish, Shorna Akter

This study focuses on the real scenario of listening skill of learners at the tertiary level in private universities in our country and through this attempt we have tried to find out the reasons of poor listening skills of the learners. At secondary and higher secondary level, where Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is in practice, writing and speaking are given maximum importance. Since learners' listening skill is not assessed like other skills, it remains unattended through out their academic career. The scenario of poor listening skill of the learners continues with the same negligence even at the tertiary level. Giving importance to the development of this skill, the study has been done throughout questionnaire survey both from students' and teachers' point of view. The survey result has been analyzed and some suggestions are given regarding the matter.

Orchestrating Cultural Differences in Pedagogy: A Transformational Experience

Zakir Hossain Majumder

In this world of plurality and polivocality, it has become a challenge for both educators and learners to negotiate their voices and opinions on a number of things the way that they should move forward and hence give the pedagogy a go, keeping the tunnel open for any sort of heightened understanding between parties concerned. I, like others, in the same boat, feel the exigency of this orchestration, as I encounter the problems of differences in opinions between my students and me both inside and outside the classroom. Negotiating these differences between students and their teachers and also among themselves bring forth a practical challenge for both parties. The study in progress has actually grown out of my personal observations and interactions with my students inside and outside the classrooms. It also zooms in on my continual effort to find the middle ground to deal with these practical concerns. It also takes how my interactions with students have transformed the way I have been teaching for a long time. By the way, it would be apposite to mention that my purpose is here just to exploit the parameter of contact zone to show how it heleds me to resolve the crisis I experienced while teaching and interacting with my students. It does in no way encompass the whole process of learning and teaching in its entirety in view of the concepts of them having emerged in keeping with recent developments in the field.

Place-name of Brahmonbaria District: An introductory linguistic study

Gulshan Ara

Although place-names are strictly defined as geographical names but they may be derived from diverse linguistic roots and they form part of the cultural and linguistic history of the country. Hence, Bengali place-name has been an interesting area of Bengali Linguistics explored by different language researchers and linguists at different times. In this present study, `the place names of Brahmanbaria: linguistic perspectives' aims at achieving the diverse linguistic analysis of morphemic structures as well as phonetic changes in the regional or dialectal utterances of the collected place-names. The study also aims at creating new interest in the field of place-name analysis to the new researchers as well.

Semiotic Interpretation of Bangla Ligatures: An Introduction

Sanjida Afrin

Semiotics is the study of sign processes emphasizing signification and communication, signs and symbols of different social phenomena. In the late 19th and early 20th century the works of Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce led to the emergence of semiotics as a separate discipline as well as method for examining phenomena in different fields, including aesthetics, anthropology, communications, psychology, and semantics. Saussure's interpretation of linguistic sign from a semiotic perspective has, better or worse, affected much of subsequent discussions about language. But according to Peirce, meaning is not directly attached to the sign; instead, it is mediated through the interaction between the representamen, interpretant, and object. This paper initiates a brief semiotic interpretation of Bengali ligature-an essential component of Bengali writing system, since semiotics considers ligature, like other linguistic components, a potential sign-unit.

Gaining proficiency in the reading module in IELTS: A study on the efforts of Bangladeshi students

Sabrina Ahmed Chowdhury

As the name implies, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test for ascertaining an examinee's English language proficiency. This test is very important for students who want to get admitted to universities or training programmes in English speaking countries. IELTS has four modules including a module on reading. This module gives rise to a number of specific problems for Bangladeshi candidates. The present article attempts to identify the nature and extent of these problems with emphasis on why the examinees find reading module a tough one. The ways and means used by the trainers and teachers to assist Bangladeshi students to overcome these problems have been examined. The article concludes that even with limited resources, the teachers and trainers can follow a number of simple procedures to substantially improve readings skills of students leading to better scores.

Morphosyntactic Analysis of Mro Language

Md Mostafa Rashel

In this article, I have used many examples to build up a concept about the relationship between Mro morphology and syntax, especially the different case markers to find out the relationship among them. During the research my goal was to provide a description of the constituent order; grammatical categories like tense; comparative marker -la'e (then), -leplep la'e (most); pronominal system (determiners used with first and second person but 3rd person is independent); demonstratives, adverbs, clause combination like conditional markers, reasons, time, motion; structures of question like y/n question, informal, exclamatory; case markers like noun, pronoun (relative), numeral relation to conjunction, suffix, clause/sentence level; grammatical relation (GR) as well as text analysis of Mro language.

Use of Songs, Rhymes and Games in Teaching English to Young Learners in Bangladesh

Shaheen Ara

Although children learn a language faster than adults, they do not learn through traditional language teaching methods. Through fun activities children can learn a language better as learning becomes natural for them since these activities do not make them conscious that they are learning a language. In Bangladesh, since a proper learning atmosphere has not been ensured in children's English classes according to children's interest and psychological characteristics, benefit is yet to come from the compulsory English education at the primary level. In order to appeal to young learners' learning styles, songs, rhymes and games can be very effective tools for teaching children a foreign language. These tools can be used in children's classes to utilize their natural ability to learn a language. This paper introduces the benefits of some interesting tools in teaching children English and also suggests incorporating them at the primary level English curriculum in Bangladesh.

FOXP 2: A gene for language and speech

Hakim Arif

Establishing the nature of relationship between Linguistics and bio-sciences, especially Genetic Studies is nether an imagination today, nor an ambitious project at all, as psychologists, linguists and genetic scientists started to put there keen interest in this endeavour at the beginning of the twentieth-first century. The study of FOXP2-a potential human gene responsible for the degeneration of half of the members of famous KE family's speech and language performances, starts an epoch-making initiative in this regard. This paper provides a brief description of the research projects dedicated to explore POXP2 gene, including identifying speech and language behaviour of human beings with particular reference to this gene.