The communicative needs of Bangladeshi economic migrants: the functional values of host country languages versus English as a lingua franca

Abstract

This article investigates the language skills and the nature of language provision required by economic migrants from Bangladesh working in the Middle East. It focuses in particular on the perceived values of the host country language (Arabic) versus English as a language franca (ELF). While there have been a number of explorations of the value of learning the host country language for migrants in terms of both labour market outcomes and wellbeing, there is a paucity of, and pressing need for, studies investigating the value of ELF for economic migrants, particularly those from developing country contexts. This article presents the findings from an ethnographic study which explores the experiences, perceptions and specific language-related issues of a diverse cohort of returnee migrants from rural Bangladesh where, despite significant migration from the area, little is known about this population’s language use and communicative needs. Our findings suggest that both the host country language (Arabic) and ELF have important functional values, but that these vary depending on interlocutors, domains of work and contexts of situation, as well as on the relative statuses (within an ecology of global linguistic value) of the two languages in different contexts. The analysis thus provides fresh and significant evidence regarding the role of language in economic migration and development for low-skilled migrants, both to and from contexts in which English has no official status. The article concludes by considering the implications for the types of language education which might be most suitable for these and other economic migrants in comparable contexts.

The world of English language teaching: Creating equity or inequity?

“…In Anglophone countries there has been an abundance of research that has demonstrated the advantages of knowing English, such as, economic and health benefits (Seargeant, Erling, Solly, & Hasan Chowdhury, 2017 provide an overview of this research). While this is often the case, because English is a social practice, immigrant advancement depends on multiple socio-economic factors, especially the attitudes of the host community to the immigrants’ language and culture, which in turn can affect learners’ investment in learning English (Norton, 2017; Piller, 2016).…”

“Successful” migration, (English) language skills and global inequality: The case of Bangladeshi migrants to the Middle East

“…English (a global lingua franca) were the languages mentioned by participants as being most important, but Hindi, Urdu, and (in the case of Singapore) Chinese, Tamil and Malay were also seen as valuable assets for daily communication and rapport building. In a related study (Seargeant et al, 2017), we found that both Arabic and English had important functional values for the participants, but that these varied depending on interlocutors, domains of work and contexts of situation. For example, the participants who viewed English as being integral to success tended to work in businesses staffed by employees from different language backgrounds who often relied on English as the lingua franca.…”

“…Heller 2010) that contribute to economic gain. Few studies investigate the value of English qualitatively, or its perceived value as a lingua franca for migrants to countries with other dominant national languages (but see Guido, 2008;Seargeant et al 2017).…”

A study on students' needs in learning English for pharmacy (A starting point to design innovative syllabus)

“…(Chovancová, 2014), in this case, teacher's task to assist students to engage with their professional communities by providing the linguistic needs and they can be such as valuable feedbacks for syllabus design and improvements. Research investigating about this roles are many, for example (Cabinda, 2013;Chostelidou, 2010;Hu, 2017;Menggo, Suastra, Budiarsa, & Padmadewi, 2019;Moslemi, Moinzadeh, & Dabaghi, 2011;Seargeant, Erling, Solly, & Chowdhury, 2017) The innovation was implemented in order to improve the current syllabus and more effectively to accomplish the goals of English language teaching in this Institute. Although the current syllabus is relatively sufficient, according to the lecturers involved, it is not entirely practical in terms of topic arrangement and is apparently difficult to implement in classroom teaching.…”