LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:7 July 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Language Shift and Bilingualism Among
the Non-Sylheti Bangladeshi Immigrants Living in London

Murshida Rahman
M.A. in English Language and Linguistics, University of Westminster, London

Abstract

This research is intended to determine the diverse factors accelerating the process of language shift among the Bangladeshi community living in London. There are numerous social, economic, demographic factors that lead the community to shift from their heritage language Bangla to English, which is widely recognized as a prestigious language. This study integrates qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyse language shift factors. The data of this study were collected through a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. The study provides an insight into the language shift and maintenance among non-Sylheti Bangladeshi immigrants. The findings and results illustrate that among second-generation non-Sylheti Bangladeshi immigrants, the language shift from Bangla to English can be termed as ‘partial shift’ rather than complete shift. They shift their language from Bangla to English for some specific purposes. This study also shows that the participants want to maintain the Bangla language as their heritage or native language and express positive attitudes to maintain this language. This study's findings will also be adding value in the sociolinguistic area for further research about this community’s language shift and maintenance.

Keywords: Language Shift, Language Maintenance, Bilingualism, Community, Bangla.

Introduction

Language is a powerful medium of communication in any speech community and plays an indispensable role in exchanging among people. Language is a part of any culture and reflects any nation's identity as well. People who speak in their mother tongue or native language feel relaxed or comfortable. Although numerous speech communities have shifted from their native languages to another due to various reasons.

Language is not constant; rather it is always changing, and language shift is a social phenomenon where one language replaces another. The purpose of this study is to examine the prevailing language shift among the Bangladeshi community living in London. Usually, when language shift occurs, it moves towards a dominant or powerful group because the dominant language is associated with status, prestige and social success (Holmes, 2001). In this context, it can be elaborated that as an English country English is widely used in the United Kingdom (UK) as a common Lingua Franca for communication and is regarded as a highly prestigious international language and also English is spoken as a second or foreign language by an estimated 950 million people worldwide (Saville-Troike, 2006).

Generally, in bilingual and multilingual societies language shift is a usual scenario when a group of the same speech community progressively abandons their heritage language and adopts the language of the socially or economically dominant group (Fishman, 1971; Baker-Jones, 1998). The Bangladeshi communities are among the significant multicultural population living in London for a long time ago. With the changes of their homeland, their language also changes, and as a result, they shift from Bangla to English. If any linguistic group shifts from using its native language to a dominant, powerful language, there must be various factors or reasons behind this. Research on language shift has a long tradition but no previous research has investigated the language shift among the non-Sylheti immigrants living in London. So this paper attempts to provide a more detailed investigation on this particular area.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Murshida Rahman
M.A. in English Language and Linguistics, University of Westminster, London
Lecturer, Hamdard University Bangladesh
murshida_rahman@yahoo.com
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