Multilingualism

and Identity:
an Empirical Investigation on
Bangladeshi Secondary Pupils in
Tower Hamlets.
- Dr Abul Kalam Azad
Presented at
Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education: Focus on
Languages of the Wider World
19th – 20th February 2010
Brunei Lecture Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London
London Borough of Tower
Hamlets
London Borough of Tower
Hamlets
 Demographics of Bangladeshi population in
the UK
283,063 (2001 Census UK) , 0.5% of the UK's
population
338,300 (2006 – England & Wales) 0.6% of England
total population
London
Estimated (in 2010) 500,000 0.8% of the 170,500
UK's
population
Birmingham 23,200
Oldham 11,000
Luton 8,300
Bradford 5,700

54% of the Bangladeshi population lived in the

Greater London area.
65,553 Bangladeshi residents or 22.8% of
the UK Bangladeshi population live in Tower
 Methodology
Questionnaire-interview
with 32 students aged 12-
18 in two independent
Muslim secondary schools
for boys in Tower Hamlets,
East London.
Interview with 5 parents;
Interview with two senior
teachers in two schools.
 Passion about a language
• Arabic = 65%
• English = 6%
• Bengali = 0%
• Italian = 3%
• French = 3%
• Spanish = 3%
• Latin = 3%
• no passion = 15%
 Decline pattern of Bengali GCSE
•Between 2000 and 2009 national
entries for Bengali at GCSE fell from
2,124 to 1,407 (-37%)
•Between 2000 and 2009 national
entries for Arabic at GCSE fell from 1318
to 3130 (+137%)
•(JCQ final exam entry data; 2009 data is
provisional. Final data will be available
in May 2010 on CILT website).
•In School A, entries for Arabic GCSE has
gone up and It has gone down for
Bengali.
•In School B, Bengali is not taught at all
H ter ot n d
el a he a ise
in ith
t
s ct
ps ct r r
w

de ra
p
Un nd ion e s e
a l ig li s er
re i a iv
o c d
S it h le
s

w eop
Broadens p
Un her
ot

minds
de cu
rs ltu
ta re
nd
in
g

World Intellectual
citizenship pride
 Identities No in School A No in School B Total
= 23 boys = 9 boys = 32
1 British Muslim 13 4 17= 53%
2 British Bangladeshi 1 n 1= 3%
3 Muslim 3 1 4= 13%
4 Bangladeshi Muslim 1 n 1=3%
5 Bangladeshi British 1 n 1=3%
6 British n 1 1=3%
• British Bangladeshi Muslim 1 3 4=13%
• Muslim British 2 n 2=6%
• British Muslim Bangladeshi 1 n 1=3
 UK/England
is the
91% (N=29) favourite
geo-faith country to
identity 91%
87%
(N=28)
British
Identity
England is the preferred 13% (N=4) Global
country to live for 3 of Muslim Identity
them
 Why do they want
to live in
UK/England?

Have
I was suited experience More
to the d no freedo
lifestyle here racism m

Better Assimilate
provisio It is my
homeland d to the
ns society
 2 respondents wish to
live in the city of Medina
in Saudi where Prophet
Muhammad migrated,
lived and buried
One sample
wished to
live
anywhere
with social
peace and
cohesion
They have related their identities
with space, race and faith
which have sprung from socio-
psychological phenomena of
prerequisite, pressure and
passion.
Their cultural and multilingual
backgrounds can be an
acceptable explanatory
components of such
multidimensional entities.
 Finally:
“the (multilingual) young
people were flexible and
adaptable in response to
their environment as they
negotiated identities which
were complex and
sophisticated” (Creese et al,
2008: 18)
 Thank you !!

kalamahsan2005@yahoo.co.u