Translingual practices in the Department of Humanities EMI classrooms in Bangladesh: Ideologies of the stakeholders

Abstract

English medium instruction (EMI) has been taking over the education system of Bangladesh for a while now. It is being normalized to overlook the use and significance of the use of L1 in EMI classrooms when the MOI is English. As a monolingual country, the use of Bangla in the knowledge learning and construction process in the EMI classrooms is being neglected. While translanguaging (operating between two languages) can be very useful in the context of the education system of Bangladesh, we see a reluctance of using L1 in the learning process from our stakeholders and also the policymakers. Major englishlization has set the notion of language hierarchy, where it is believed that quality education can only be ensured in a particular language. This study will focus on the ideologies of the stakeholders, e.g. teachers and students, concerning translingual practices in the classroom. The setting for this research will be the Department of Humanities of Bangladeshi universities, and the practice of translingualism in the classrooms will be observed. This will be a qualitative study, as it will largely be based on the opinions of appearances of the stakeholders. In depth interviews will be conducted with teachers and students and also the classroom environment will be observed to identify the ideologies and perceptions of them towards translingual practice. This study will also take other factors like EMI and MOI policy, preconception and environmental influences into account to reach the conclusion of the extension of translingual practices in Humanities classrooms.