Running head: English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 1 English Language Education Research in Bangladesh, 1995-2013: The State of the Art by Adilur Rahaman A dissertation submitted to the Department of English, East West University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MA in ELT English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 2 East West University The Undersigned Faculty Approves the Dissertation of Adilur Rahaman (ID: 2011-3-92-002) English Language Education Research in Bangladesh, 1995-2013: The State of the Art Bijoy Lal Basu, Supervisor Associate Professor, University of Dhaka & Adjunct Faculty, East West University English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 3 Copyright 2014, Adilur Rahaman English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 4 ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to offer a symptomatic reading of 326 journal articles produced in the field of ELE from 1995 to 2013 in Bangladesh. In the first reading of symptomatic reading, I tried to discover presences/absences or sightings/oversights of the ELE research establishment of Bangladesh. In the second reading, I tried to detect the problematic/unconscious of the journal articles. Precisely, the first reading reveals that ELE research in Bangladesh revolves around technical-mechanical issues—which signifies the presence of reification in the field. The second reading indicates that the unconscious/problematic of the ELE research establishment of Bangladesh is positive, eurocentric, and dehumanized. In addition, research activities of Bangladesh are not immune to professional fallacies and mechanical reproduction. In short, ELE research establishment of Bangladesh is suffering from—what I have termed—creative impotency. In this study, I have proposed a South Asian Paradigm which can democratize and humanize ELE research. In particular, the South Asian Paradigm contains the following components: dialectic materialism, anti-colonial struggle, and peoples‘ humanism. Precisely, a paradigm shift can cure the creative impotency of this discipline. English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 5 Acknowledgements I am grateful to my supervisor Bijoy Lal Basu who allowed me to work on a large canvas. I would like to thank Ahmed Javed (Editor, Pathshala (A multidisciplinary journal based in Bangladesh)) who not only inspired me to philosophically read ELE research productions, but also kindly agreed to be interviewed for this study. I am extremely grateful to Hillol Sarker who passionately accompanied me in my journey to data collection. Finally, I would like to thank Md. Abdul Qayum, Md. Akramuzzaman, Shuvo Saha, Tuli, and Fuadul Arman for their cooperation. English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 6 Table of Contents Abstract 4 Acknowledgements 5 Table of Contents 6 List of Tables 7 I. Introduction 8 II. Politics of (English Language Education) Research 13 III. English Language Education Research in Asia 37 IV. Method 72 V. Documentation 96 VI. Critique 605 VII. Toward a Paradigm Shift 661 VIII. Limitations of the Study 672 IX. Conclusion 673 References 678 English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 7 List of Tables Table 3.1. Research Themes in Asian Countries 69 Table 4.1. List of Journals 93 Table 5.1 List of documented journal articles 564 Table 6.1 English-Intrinsic Arguments 607 Table 6.2 English-Functional Arguments 609 Table 6.3 Linguicism 611 Table 6.4 Orientalism 621 Table 6.5 Native Speakerism 628 Table 6.6 Early Start Fallacy 633 Table 6.7 Anti-Multilingual Ideology 634 Table 6.8 Discursive Violence 636 Table 6.9 Linguistic Consciousness 637 Table 6.10 CLT as a Totality 640 Table 6.11 Coercive Testing Ideology 647 Table 9.1 Research Themes in Asia (including Bangladesh) 675 English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 8 Chapter One Introduction ―But as there is no such thing as an innocent reading, we must say what reading we are guilty of‖ (Althusser, 1968, p. 14). I The objective of this study is not to offer a meta-analysis of ELE research articles of Bangladesh. The study does not offer any critical appreciation of ELE research articles either. In addition, the objective of this work is not to find out a solution to the ELT problems of Bangladesh. Further, this article does not merely seek to identify the issues and themes of ELE research in Bangladesh. This work does not even intend to offer a wholesale criticism of ELE journal articles of Bangladesh. The objective, then, is to offer a symptomatic reading (Althusser, 1968) of ELE research produced in the Bangladeshi academia. In particular, symptomatic reading enables a reader to (a) detect the absences and oversights in texts, and (b) to discover the problematic i.e. (philosophical framework) of the texts by examining the system of presence/absence in a text. In other words, the presence/absence in a text is not an abrupt quality of the text; presence/absence or sight/oversight reveals the composition of the unconscious of the text. However, symptomatic reading requires an Informed Gaze. In other words, symptomatic reading is a philosophically informed reading. In this study, my understanding of philosophy and critical theory constituted an informed gaze for me. I am interested in a philosophical (or symptomatic) reading of ELT journal articles for the following reasons. First, an English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 9 unsystematic reading deals with surface and facts of texts whereas a symptomatic reading exposes the mechanism of knowledge production. Second, symptomatic reading reveals the ontological dimension of research product. Thus, symptomatic reading unearths the paradigm of an academic establishment. In this study, I tried to discover the mechanism and ontological composition of ELE research articles. This discovery led me to a critical examination of the existing ELE research paradigm. II There are two layers in the method of symptomatic reading: first reading and second reading (Althusser, 1968). The first reading of symptomatic reading reveals absences/oversights in a text. The second reading of symptomatic reading constitutes the problematic (philosophical framework) of the text. In addition, symptomatic reading detects the mechanism of knowledge production. Further, it identifies the system of the production of knowledge effect in a paradigm. Precisely, ―knowledge effect‖ refers to the cognitive appropriation of the real world. A conception of knowledge (i.e. what constitutes knowledge) and a historical condition (e.g. politics, religion) produces knowledge effect. On the other hand, mechanism of knowledge production means order of appearance of forms/concepts or arrangement of concepts. In other words, a combination of ‗real order‘ and ‗logical order‘ produces knowledge. The movement of these concepts confirms the validity of knowledge. In this study, by employing the technique of first reading, I tried to discover sightings and oversights in the ELE research establishment of Bangladesh. The first reading discloses that ELE research of Bangladesh sights methods/techniques in ELT, skill development (lower order mechanical skills), perceptions/attitude of teachers/students etc. On the other hand, the ELE research oversights multilingualism, anti-colonial struggle of the people, anthropological specificity, agency of the people, creativity of the people etc. The second English Language Education Research in Bangladesh 10 reading indicates that the ELE research establishment of Bangladesh is Positive, Orientalist, and mechanically reproductive. In this study, I have employed symptomatic reading for the following reasons: (a) symptomatic reading is an apparatus to discover the mechanism of knowledge production, (b) symptomatic reading reveals the politico-philosophical tendency of a discipline, (c) symptomatic reading reveals the meaning of silence, (d) symptomatic reading reveals the unconscious of a discipline, (e) symptomatic reading destabilizes the Logos (i.e. authority of a discipline, and (f) symptomatic reading can lead to an epistemological break in a discipline. III In chapter 2, I have tried to explain the politics of research. In particular, in my discussion of the politics of research I have analyzed the process of knowledge production in the existing world order. In this chapter, I have used an undocumented concept of Ahmed Javed (Editor, Pathshala, A multidisciplinary journal based in Bangladesh). In a personal dialog, Ahmed explained his concept of Proletarization of Knowledge to me. This concept adequately explains the poverty of knowledge in the post-colonial world. In chapter 3, I have discussed the themes of ELE research in Asia. The objective of this discussion was to situate ELE research issues of Bangladesh in the global context. This discussion reveals the epistemological structure of the post-colonial countries. In chapter 4, I have elaborately described Althusser‘s method of symptomatic reading. In addition, I have recorded the research questions of this study in this chapter. In chapter 5, I have documented the collected journal articles. I have generated 24 categories to record these articles. The table of this chapter contains category, source, title, and method of the articles. In chapter 6, I have discussed sights (e.g. Methods and Techniques, Curriculum/Syllabus and Material Design) oversights (e.g. higher order thinking skills, EIL issues, Cognitive Linguistics) of ELE
Description: