Colin McCord, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Mortality has improved dramatically in most of South Asia as a consequence of modest economic improvement, better nutrition and a combination of health education, immunization, family planning and home treatment of certain common diseases, especially diarrhea and respiratory infections. However, dea...
Elizabeth J. Erling, Philip Seargeant, Michael Solly, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury et al.
The high status of English within a global economy of languages has meant that English-language education is increasingly being promoted in international development initiatives. This is despite the fact that it may seem more valuable for the estimated 1.4 billion people living in poverty in the wor...
Philip Seargeant, Elizabeth J. Erling, Mike Solly, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
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). Whil...
Philip Seargeant, Elizabeth J. Erling, Mike Solly, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury et al.
ABSTRACT Drawing on research analysing perceptions of English in rural Bangladesh, the paper explores the ideological and practical issues involved in the promotion of English in this context, with respect to the language's former and current associations with colonial and imperialist agendas, and t...
Elizabeth J. Erling, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury, Mike Solly, Philip Seargeant
Abstract Migration has become a vital element of the Bangladeshi economy, which has led to an increasing focus on providing Bangladeshis with the skills needed on the international labour market. English is often cited as one of these skills, and previous research has shown that a primary reason why...
Elizabeth J. Erling, Philip Seargeant, Michael Solly, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury et al.
This report investigates the relationship between English language learning and economic development among workers from rural Bangladesh who emigrated to the Middle East in search of employment. It provides first-hand accounts of language and other needs of those living and working in contexts of th...
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Abstract Because of its global status, donors and states promote English for economic development of countries in the global South such as Bangladesh. Governments, donors, and western leaders propose that people in madrasas (Islamic educational institutes) should learn English for development and se...
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury, Elizabeth J. Erling
This chapter, based on a research in rural Bangladesh, investigates the value of grassroots English for the Bangladeshi migrant workers in the Middle East, and sheds light on some of the methodological and ethical issues relevant to the findings. The chapter draws insights from the narratives of thr...
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury, Elizabeth J. Erling
The global status of English has meant that English language education policy and development projects often promote the idea that an important role of English language teaching in Bangladesh is to support the economic development of the country. In this chapter, we draw on findings from two researc...
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Little is known how madrasa-educated speakers experience English in relation to the wider society, particularly analysed through the lens of Unequal Englishes (UE). This chapter addresses this gap by doing a critical appraisal of madrasa discourses through which the inequality of Englishes - in fact...
Nevin Farida, Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury, Begum Shahnaz Sinha, Ahmed Bashir et al.
As the Department of English, University of Dhaka celebrates its centenary in the year 2021, it is vital to look back and take stock of its achievements as well as the challenges it has faced over the years on the way to becoming a premier department for English studies and for English language educ...
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Sociolinguistic ecology, affirmed by the values of inclusion and social justice, is consequential for Global South countries, including Bangladesh, to realise the sustainable development agenda of the United Nations. This makes it important that the voices of peripheralised sections of society are h...
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury
Abstract External donors increasingly promote English as a notionally value‐neutral language of socioeconomic advancements in the Muslim South, overlooking local ideological diversities. Furthermore, national and Western forces deploy English as a tool to de‐Islamize madrasas (Islamic educational in...