The communicative needs of Bangladeshi economic migrants: the functional values of host country languages versus English as a lingua franca

Philip Seargeant; Elizabeth J. Erling; Mike Solly; Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury

doi:10.1515/jelf-2017-0008

Article

The communicative needs of Bangladeshi economic migrants: the functional values of host country languages versus English as a lingua franca

Philip Seargeant
Philip Seargeant Philip Seargeant is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Open University. He is author of The Idea of English in Japan (2009), Exploring World Englishes (2012), and From Language to Creative Writing (with Bill Greenwell, 2013), and editor of English in Japan in the Era of Globalization (2011), English in the World (with Joan Swann, 2012), English and Development (with Elizabeth J. Erling, 2013), The Language of Social Media (with Caroline Tagg, 2014) and Creativity in Language (with Zsófia Demjén, 2016).
, Elizabeth J. Erling
Elizabeth Erling Elizabeth Erling is Senior Lecturer in English Language Teaching and International Teacher Education at the Open University UK, and also teaches applied linguistics at the University of Vienna. She has been involved in many English language teaching and research projects internationally, including Bangladesh. Her research investigates the relationship between English language learning and various aspects of human development. In 2013, she edited, with Philip Seargeant, English and Development: Policy, Practice and Globalization (Multilingual Matters). She is currently editing English across the Fracture Lines: The Contribution and Relevance of English to Security, Safety and Stability in the World (British Council).
, Mike Solly
Mike Solly Mike Solly, now Senior Advisor in English for Education Systems at the British Council, has worked in English language teaching for many years in a variety of roles both in the United Kingdom and overseas. He was formerly Senior Lecturer in Education at the Open University, where he was central to the highly acclaimed English in Action project in Bangladesh. His research interests are informed by his work on these projects, having published in the areas of attitudes to English language in development contexts and the use of video in teacher education projects.
and Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka. He is currently doing a PhD in the Department of Education and Professional Studies at King’s College London. His research interests include language and development and language and identity. He has authored chapters in the book Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity(2016).

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From the journal Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Volume 6 Issue 1

Abstract

This article investigates the language skills and the nature of language provision required by economic migrants from Bangladesh working in the Middle East. It focuses in particular on the perceived values of the host country language (Arabic) versus English as a language franca (ELF). While there have been a number of explorations of the value of learning the host country language for migrants in terms of both labour market outcomes and wellbeing, there is a paucity of, and pressing need for, studies investigating the value of ELF for economic migrants, particularly those from developing country contexts. This article presents the findings from an ethnographic study which explores the experiences, perceptions and specific language-related issues of a diverse cohort of returnee migrants from rural Bangladesh where, despite significant migration from the area, little is known about this population’s language use and communicative needs. Our findings suggest that both the host country language (Arabic) and ELF have important functional values, but that these vary depending on interlocutors, domains of work and contexts of situation, as well as on the relative statuses (within an ecology of global linguistic value) of the two languages in different contexts. The analysis thus provides fresh and significant evidence regarding the role of language in economic migration and development for low-skilled migrants, both to and from contexts in which English has no official status. The article concludes by considering the implications for the types of language education which might be most suitable for these and other economic migrants in comparable contexts.

সারসংক্ষেপ:

এই গবেষণা প্রবন্ধটি মধ্যপ্রাচ্যে কর্মরত বাংলাদেশী অর্থনৈতিক অভিবাসীদের প্রয়োজনীয় ভাষাগত দক্ষতা এবং ভাষাগত সংস্থানের প্রকৃতি অনুসন্ধান করে। এটি বিশেষত স্বাগতিক দেশের ভাষা (আরবি) বনাম লিঙ্গুয়া ফ্রাঙ্কা হিসেবে ইংরেজি ভাষার উপলব্ধিত মূল্য জানার চেষ্টা করে। অর্থনৈতিক অভিবাসীদের স্বাগতিক দেশের ভাষা শিক্ষার ফলে শ্রম বাজারে এর প্রভাব এবং অভিবাসীদের কল্যাণের ক্ষেত্রে এর অবদান নিয়ে এর মধ্যে কিছু গবেষণা হয়ে থাকলেও, অর্থনৈতিক অভিবাসীরা, বিশেষত যারা উন্নয়নশীল দেশ থেকে আগত, তাদের জন্য লিঙ্গুয়া ফ্রাঙ্কা হিসেবে ইংরেজি ভাষার গুরত্ব অনুসন্ধান করে এরকম গবেষণার অভাব এবং প্রয়োজনীয়তা উভয়ই রয়েছে। এ প্রবন্ধটি গ্রামীণ বাংলাদেশে একটি এথনোগ্রাফিক গবেষণার ফলাফল উপস্থাপন করে, যেখান থেকে যথেষ্ট অভিবাসন হওয়া সত্বেও, অভিবাসী জনগোষ্ঠির ভাষা ব্যবহার এবং যোগাযোগের প্রয়োজন সম্পর্কে খুব কমই জানা যায়। এ গবেষণায় গ্রামীণ বাংলাদেশে প্রত্যাগমনকারী অভিবাসীদের বিচিত্র এক দলের অভিজ্ঞতা, উপলব্ধি এবং ভাষা সম্পর্কিত বিভিন্ন বিষয় অনুসন্ধান করা হয়। আমাদের ফলাফলে দেখা যায় স্বাগতিক দেশের ভাষা (আরবি) এবং লিঙ্গুয়া ফ্রাঙ্কা হিসেবে ইংরেজি উভয়েরই তাৎপর্যময় প্রায়োগিক মূল্য রয়েছে, তবে তা কথোপকথনকারী, কাজের ক্ষেত্র, পরিস্থিতির প্রাসঙ্গিকতা এবং বিভিন্ন প্রেক্ষাপটে এ দুটো ভাষার আপেক্ষিক অবস্থার (বৈশ্বিক ভাষাগত মূল্যের বাস্তুসংস্থানের মধ্যে) উপর নির্ভরশীল। এই গবেষণাটি স্বল্প-দক্ষ অভিবাসীরা, যারা একই সঙ্গে ইংরেজির কোনো আনুষ্ঠানিক অবস্থান নেই এমন দেশ থেকে আগত এবং এমন দেশেই অভিবাসী, তাদের অর্থনৈতিক অভিবাসনে এবং উন্নয়নে ভাষার গুরত্ব বিষয়ে অভিনব এবং অর্থপূর্ণ প্রমাণাদি উপস্থাপন করে। পরিশেষে, কি ধরনের ভাষাশিক্ষা ব্যবস্থা এই অর্থনৈতিক অভিবাসীদের, বা তুলনাযোগ্য পরিস্থিতিতে অন্যান্য অভিবাসীদের ক্ষেত্রে সবচেয়ে উপযুক্ত হতে পারে তা বিবেচনায় এনে এই গবেষণা প্রবন্ধটি তার উপসংহারে উপনীত হয়।

Keywords: economic migration; Bangladesh; Arabic; host country languages

মূল শব্দাবলি:: অর্থনৈতিক অভিবাসন; বাংলাদেশ; আরবি; স্বাগতিক দেশের ভাষাসমূহ

About the authors

Philip Seargeant

Philip Seargeant Philip Seargeant is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Open University. He is author of The Idea of English in Japan (2009), Exploring World Englishes (2012), and From Language to Creative Writing (with Bill Greenwell, 2013), and editor of English in Japan in the Era of Globalization (2011), English in the World (with Joan Swann, 2012), English and Development (with Elizabeth J. Erling, 2013), The Language of Social Media (with Caroline Tagg, 2014) and Creativity in Language (with Zsófia Demjén, 2016).

Elizabeth J. Erling

Elizabeth Erling Elizabeth Erling is Senior Lecturer in English Language Teaching and International Teacher Education at the Open University UK, and also teaches applied linguistics at the University of Vienna. She has been involved in many English language teaching and research projects internationally, including Bangladesh. Her research investigates the relationship between English language learning and various aspects of human development. In 2013, she edited, with Philip Seargeant, English and Development: Policy, Practice and Globalization (Multilingual Matters). She is currently editing English across the Fracture Lines: The Contribution and Relevance of English to Security, Safety and Stability in the World (British Council).

Mike Solly

Mike Solly Mike Solly, now Senior Advisor in English for Education Systems at the British Council, has worked in English language teaching for many years in a variety of roles both in the United Kingdom and overseas. He was formerly Senior Lecturer in Education at the Open University, where he was central to the highly acclaimed English in Action project in Bangladesh. His research interests are informed by his work on these projects, having published in the areas of attitudes to English language in development contexts and the use of video in teacher education projects.

Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury

Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka. He is currently doing a PhD in the Department of Education and Professional Studies at King’s College London. His research interests include language and development and language and identity. He has authored chapters in the book Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity(2016).

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the British Council for funding the project in which the data for this article was collected, “English for economic development: A case study of migrant workers from Bangladesh.”We also thank The Open University, the Institute of Modern Languages (IML), University of Dhaka and members of the English in Action project team, who all supported this research and facilitated its undertaking. Our heart-filled gratitude goes to the research participants who generously shared with us their life stories, time and insights, often revealing stories of pain and hardship. We owe a particular debt of thanks to the people who provided us with links into the community and guided us through our field visits. Finally, we are grateful to Sayeedur Rahman, Jessica Street and Manzoorul Abedin for their research assistance.

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2017-0008

Keywords for this article

economic migration; Bangladesh; Arabic; host country languages