Madrasa Ideologies of English in Bangladesh
Questioning ELT ‐Aid and Post‐9/11 De‐Islamization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21400431 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury (0000-0002-9797-3380, School of Education, Communication & Society King's College London London UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | TESOL Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0039-8322 • E-ISSN: 1545-7249 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/tesq.70168 |
| OpenAlex | W7164939912 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
External donors increasingly promote English as a notionally value‐neutral language of socioeconomic advancements in the Muslim South, overlooking local ideological diversities. Furthermore, national and Western forces deploy English as a tool to de‐Islamize madrasas (Islamic educational institutes) in the post‐9/11 world for global peace. Given that the madrasa ideologies of English are scarcely represented in TESOL, this paper presents such ideologies from a Bangladeshi madrasa to critically examine ELT‐aid projects and the efforts to moderate madrasas through English. Data were collected from a traditional Qawmi madrasa in rural Bangladesh employing a linguistic ethnography under a doctoral project. The findings show that people in the madrasa navigate English within various spiritual, historical, and cultural ideological dynamics but identify the language as crucial for furthering Islam. In addition, an essential sense of Islamic comfort, control, and care closely girdles their English learning efforts. Their alternative and reflexive ideologies question the benign instrumentalism of ELT‐aid projects, and their views of learning English for and in Islam challenge the validity of the broad‐brushed mobilization of English to de‐Islamize madrasas. The paper, by offering rare critical religious insights from the Muslim South, contributes to strengthening inclusion and plurality while advancing broader decolonization agendas of TESOL
Critical discourse analysis · Ethnography · Ideology · Instrumentalism · Islam · Reflexivity · Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development · Education and Islamic Studies · Multilingual Education and Policy
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English, ‘Terror’, and Islam
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Reflexive Traditions
Policy Perspective vs. Field View
Improving the Efficacy of English Instruction at Qawmi Madrasas (Islamic Seminaries) in Bangladesh
Language Ideology, Christianity, and Identity
English and Islam
The Muslim Response to English in South Asia
Islam, English, and 9/11
Language policy and development aid
Language planning, English language education and development aid in Bangladesh
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Teaching English in the Muslim World against the Backdrop of 9/11 and Resurgent Nationalism
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Madrasa Reforms and Islamic Modernism in Bangladesh
When Talk Isn't Cheap
| Highly cited | No |
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