Feature

Syed Shamsul Haq talks on Bangla at IUB

Hasan Saimum Wahab

Eminent poet and novelist Syed Shamsul Haq delivers a lecture on 'How much Bangla, How much English: The place of Bangla and Bangladeshi Culture in English Medium Institutions' at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) on 24 February 2010. The Vice Chancellor of IUB Prof. Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, Prof. Nazrul Islam and Prof. Razia Sultana Khan were present among others on the occasion.

In his talk Mr. Syed Haq opined that whatever the case may be Bangla should and must come first. 'But we need English as a language also for reaching the world outside Bangladesh' he added. He said, 'Each and every citizen of this country should have access to English language from their childhood.' He also discussed the nature of Bangla language and cited a range of instances to illustrate the capacity of the same to absorb so many words from different foreign languages.

International Mother Language Day at AIUB

Syeda Farzana Sultana Hafsa

The teachers and students of the Department of English of the American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) organized a series of programmes in celebration of the International Mother Language Day, which included Literary Competition, a special seminar titled 'Banglar prattohik bebohar: Mooldhara theke lokkhoniyo bichchuti' (Everyday Usage of Bangla: Noticeable Deviation from the Mainstream), and a colorful multicultural participated by the Bangladeshi and foreign students-teachers of AIUB recently.

Prof. Dr. Tazul Islam, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, welcomed all and introduced the key note paper presenter Anis Ahmed, currently the International Radio Broadcaster and Web Editor of the Voice of America (VOA) and formerly a faculty of Dhaka University's English Department who gave an excellent presentation using realistic examples to narrate how the 'promito' (standard) Bangla is being gradually engulfed by a mixture of regional, cultural, political and social codes which, in turn, is threatening to transform Bangla into a no-man's language. He therefore stressed the need of 'Promito Bangla training' for electronic media personnel. Followed by the presentation there was a lively question-answer session moderated by Dr. Faheem Hasan Shahed, Head of the English Department. Prof. Dr. Tafazzal Hossain, Vice President of Academics, gave a thanks giving speech highlighting some of his personal experiences with Bangla language issues.

The last event was the most entertaining one: a multicultural musical show mostly by the foreign students and teachers of AIUB. Some of the enthralling performances were from: Dr. Charles Villanueva (Filipino Dean of Faculty of Business Administration), Hida and Rifa (Indonesian student twins), Noora Shamsi Bahar (Iranian teacher of English department), Mokronosov Innokunty (Russian student), Dr. Silverine de Silva (Sri Lankan teacher of Mass Com and Media Arts), Chen Lin (Chinese teacher of English department) and so on.

(Syeda Farzana Sultana Hafsa is an Assistant Professor of the English Department at AIUB)