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Volume 4 Number 2, Summer 2007, Pages 1-142   


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Bangladeshi English Teachers' Perceptions of their Professional Practice

    Obaidul Hamid


The emergence of Critical Applied Linguistics as an accompaniment of, among others, the introduction of the Linguistic Imperialism hypothesis in the early 1990s has led to increasing demands for inquiry into the socio-political aspects of English language teaching. In light of such demands, this empirical survey looks into English teachers' perceptions of their professional practice, the impact of their practice on the local language and culture, on their learners, and the global spread of English, from the Bangladeshi ELT context. Qualitative results show that teachers perceive these contentious issues in different ways, but there are discernible patterns which suggest that Linguistic Imperialism is, to a great extent, unrepresentative of these teachers' views and is not a satisfactory way of capturing the current issues of English and ELT in Bangladesh. The study, however, affirms that the results can inform and alert practicing English teachers to the political and ethical character of their profession.

Keywords: professional practice, language and culture, linguistic imperialism