Pleas for formal national language policy

Language is a part of the culture, heritage, history, society, and national integrity of a nation. Language holds the past, present, and future of a community whether expressed through prayers, myths, spiritual beliefs, ceremonies, law, poetry, oratory, or through everyday greetings, humor, or through values of the community (ILO, 2008). "The fundamental human rights regarding education through mother tongue, regardless of status, race, ethnicity, culture or social position of any particular group and also to raise awareness against language extinction. An organized and well-planned national language policy is considered highly beneficial for a nation from socio-cultural and economic perspectives.

The international mother language day is being celebrated throughout the world as announced by UN in respect to sacrifice of our nation on the Shahid Dibosh i. e. on 21st February 1952. UNESCO announce a theme foreach year. The theme for International Mother Language Day 2024 is "To set goals for preserving endangered languages, promoting multilingualism, and sustaining linguistic heritage".Bangladesh hardly refer to the theme of the year in the national programs but observed as National Mourning Day. One of the major national activities is the month-long book fair at Bangla Academy.

Throughout human history, diversity has created the wisdom of the world which we live in.Diversity also leads to hope for a brighter future. Linguistic diversity is an essential part of a culturally diverse world because it is through languagethat people build, understand and express their emotions, intentions, values and concept ofthe world.
Globalization has progressed in all fields of politics, economy, and society. We frequently communicate with the cross-cultural people with any common language particularly in English. For example, in the economic sector, business activities that cross borders and freely access markets around the world are significantly affecting the global economy. Mutual exchange of culture and values beyond borders has heightened interest in countries with different languages, societies, cultures, and religions. This has opened the door to gaining even more new knowledge and experience.

Bangladesh is a monolingual country and is considered the only monolingual country in South Asia. Bangla plays a central role in Bangladesh as well as English is considered as the second language. 98% of peopleof this country speak in the Bangla language as well as the ethnic groups use Bangla tocommunicate with the people of the mainstream.English is getting preference among the urban people and village people are lagging. Linguistic balance and purity are necessary for both Bangla and English.

Bangla is the official language of Bangladesh, as stated in the countrys constitution, which was also written in Bangla, as well as the law enacting the "Bangla procholon ain" in 1987. This law mandated the use of Bangla in all public and national spheres.

In Bangladesh, every sector including official, non-official, academic andnon-academic institutions of Bangladesh, Bangla gets the utmost priority. It is also evident that English is also learned and taught as a second or foreign language in our academic institutions from primary totertiary levels and even the students at universities are encouraged to use English for academic purposes. Our national education policy in academic institutions, Bangla gets utmost priority up to the secondary level and after that English gets priority and for higher education, English has its priority.

There is no unified teaching system, especially in terms of language use in Bangladesh. Although the standard of English in Bangladesh is not very high, it is still adhered to by its urban followers as an elite language. Globalization, satellite television, internet etc, have exposed Bangladesh to the English language as never before.

The Arabic language is also popular in Bangladesh for religious purposes as most of the people of Bangladesh follow Islam as their religion and in Kaumi Madrasas of Bangladesh Arabic is the medium of instruction. But the reality is, in Bangladesh, there is a multilingual environment where nearly 60 languages are usedand practiced among different communities. There are 45 indigenous and small ethnic groups who havetheir own mother tongues.

Language policy refers to language planning which is now considered important for a country or nation to promote selected languages for social, cultural, political, and economic development. A language policy has been defined as "the deliberate choices made by governments or other authorities with regard to the relationship between language and social life".It is pertinent to mention here that in Bangladesh we do not have a formal and explicit national language policy. Actually, an informal or implicit national language policy exists in Bangladesh and it is based on the National Education Policy (LEP) of the country.

A nation with an explicit national language policy can create immense linguistic opportunities for social, cultural, and economic development in this modern global world. It is a matter of sorrow that in Bangladesh we do not have a formal national language policy after 50 years of our independence. It is also pertinent to mention here that in Bangladesh, there is basically an implicit national languagepolicy existing for many years for the acquisition and learning of Bangla as a state language and English as a second or foreign language. The language policy which is now used in Bangladesh suggests the use of the national language Bangla in all aspects of life.

The linguistic diversity and cultural diversity and the role they play in promoting sustainable development. An explicit national education policy for socio-cultural and economic development is the demand of the time. It is necessary for Bangladesh to make a pragmatic language policy and change the language policy regarding English.

Bangladesh to avail of the opportunities of globalization and industrialization for economic developmentand a national language policy with the inclusion of multilingualism and linguistic diversity can be onestep ahead for our socio-cultural, political, and economic development.

Advanced information technology (ICT) has accelerated globalization, and the world has become smaller. The increased opportunities for access to information via internet are widely welcomed, as it is expected to benefit the developing countries as well as developed countries. Bangladesh is promoting the ICT-based education at the primary, intermediate, and tertiary levels and English language is an essential language for ICT based education. We can encourage our people to learn different languages and they will be able to avail themselves of the benefits from the international arena. In these circumstances, the policymakers of Bangladesh should modify the existing language policy and set sail for a new explicit national language policy. we need to go for the multilingual mode in the country.

But it should be carefully noted that globalization may lead to the risk of greater uniformity, which endangers languages,particularly when emphasis is placed on acquiring the main international languages at the expenseof own languages, especially in education systems, the media and public life in general.

The writer is a Non-Government Adviser, Bangladesh Competition Commission