Multilingual Teaching of English Language in Higher Education in Bangladesh: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

Drawing on Teng's model of agency (in Autonomy, agency, and identity in teaching and learning English as a foreign language, Springer, Teng, Springer, 2019) and qualitative case studies of 5 teachers and 10 students of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing courses at a Bangladeshi private university, this chapter provides an empirical justification of bi-/multilingual Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in higher education classes of English language teaching in Bangladesh. The overall aim of the chapter is to shed light on the significance of the agencies of individual local actors to opt for or reject bilingual practices in the enactment of the institutional language policy in a particular sociocultural context of English language learning. The chapter shows how teachers and English as a foreign language (EFL) learners struggle to enact an English-only policy in EAP writing courses at a private university in Bangladesh and how they achieve their intended course learning outcomes through their bilingual practices in classrooms. Hence, a balanced bilingual policy is proposed for English language teaching in higher education in Bangladesh.