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Article published In: International Journal of Language and Culture
Vol. 8:2 (2021) ► pp.190–217

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English as an identity marker in Bangladeshi TV commercials

 | Khulna University of Engineering and Technology
 | University of Fukui
Published online: 16 September 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.20053.mos
Abstract
This paper analyzes the use of English in Bangladeshi commercials from a sociocultural perspective. A semiotic approach describes these multimodal commercials. An identity-construction approach provides a sociolinguistic understanding of them. The results are categorized into three types: monolingual, bilingual, and English loanword-translation commercials. This study confirms that, in the Bangladeshi context, the presence and positive connotations of English and Western culture increase the social and cultural value of the advertised product, engendering satisfaction and symbolic pleasure in consumers. These commercials prove that English is used to reconstruct and recontextualize the Bangla language and Bangla sense of identity on the basis of linguistic, semantic, and contextual references that exemplify metrolingualism. Thus, this paper contributes to the ongoing study of the role played by commercials in promoting the intersection between metrolingualism and the construction of local, national, and global identities within the methodological and theoretical framework of Cultural Linguistics.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Methodology and theoretical background
  • 4.English in Bangladesh: A sociocultural perspective
  • 5.Descriptions of representative TV commercials
    • 5.1Monolingual English commercials
      • 5.1.1Doreo Biscuits
      • 5.1.2Xpel mosquito repellent pump spray
    • 5.2Bilingual commercials
      • 5.2.1Frooto
      • 5.2.2Kishwan cake
    • 5.3English loanword-translation commercials
      • 5.3.1Meril petroleum jelly
      • 5.3.2Speed
  • 6.Discussion: Construction of modern identity
  • 7.Conclusions
  • References
References (50)
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