ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter provides a comprehensive account of the historical journey of English language education (ELE) in Bangladesh articulated in different chapters of the Handbook. Referring to the interdisciplinary approaches and myriad theoretical lenses adopted from Applied Linguistics and ELE used in various chapters of the Handbook, the concluding chapter identifies that they put together discrete yet pertinent issues from the colonial past and the postcolonial reality entangled in endogenous and exogenous concerns of ELE in Bangladesh. The chapter also critically reflects on the topics discussed in the Handbook which include the relation of English to Bangla and other minoritised indigenous languages in Bangladesh and the consequent effects these relations have on the academic and pedagogical practices. In addition, it teases out the socio-cultural and politico-economical realities experienced by different stakeholders of education, focusing on the emergence of different streams of education, including Bangla medium, eliticised English medium and religionised madrasa education. The chapter relates the issues to the complicated process of identify formation of Bangladeshi students and teachers of English. The roles of corporatisation of English (language) studies, donor funded projects, teacher education, and SDGs are briefly discussed as well with reference to the Handbook. At the end, the chapter suggests possible ways of empowering ELE in Bangladesh through globally adopted educational trends of the 21stcentury.
