Transformation of Applied Linguistics in the Global South Context of Bangladesh: Researcher Agency, Imagination, and North-South Cooperation

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the transformation of applied linguistics knowledge production in the Global South taking postcolonial Bangladesh as a case. In the 1990s, one could not locate even a dozen applied linguistics articles in international journals authored by Bangladeshi researchers. However, in about two decades, Bangladeshi researchers can claim hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, monographs, and edited volumes. Drawing on bibliometric data and autoethnography, this article seeks to document a new dawn in applied linguistics research in Bangladesh complemented by researchers’ engagement in Southern epistemological thinking in a decolonial spirit. While demonstrating the role of researcher agency and imagination in this transformation, we also highlight the role of North-South interaction and collaboration. We argue that despite the hegemony of Eurocentric views underpinning language, epistemology and geopolitics of knowledge, there may be hope for Southern applied linguists to decolonize their research imagination and bring disciplinary changes in line with Southern perspectives to make the world a better place for the global community.