English Linguistic Hegemony and Cultural Detachment in Bangladesh

A Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

The rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) has become a defining feature in many post-colonial societies, raising concerns about cultural displacement including Bangladesh. Although EMI in Bangladesh promotes global competitiveness, access to information, international higher-education opportunities, a sense of a global cultural identity and technological literacy, it may also be associated with an increased likelihood of cultural detachment from their local culture. This study investigated the influence of the medium of instruction on the cultural competence of students in Bangladesh. It was hypothesised that cultural detachment would be more pronounced among students enrolled in EMI programmes following Cambridge or Edexcel curricula than among Bengali-medium instruction (BMI, i.e., national curriculum) students. The study compared the cultural competence of 300 participants from six BMI and EMI institutions using a quantitative 5-point Likert-scale survey. The results indicated that EMI was associated with stronger awareness of Western culture and a corresponding detachment from native culture and native cultural knowledge, skills, and language use was lower than among BMI students. This study contributes to debates on Englishlanguage hegemony and its sociocultural consequences and has implications for educational policy and language teaching. The study underscores the need to balance global competencies with the inclusion of local cultural content in EMI textbooks and curricula to advance linguistic inclusion and equity in education.