ULAB concludes 3-day international conference

The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) held a three-day virtual international conference titled “Entangled Englishes in Translocal Spaces” from September 2-4.

The conference was organized by the university’s Center for Language Studies and the Department of English and Humanities, said a press release.

Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni graced the occasion as the chief guest, while Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Professor Dr. Kazi Shahidullah, and member ULAB board of trustees Kazi Nabil Ahmed, MP, attended as the special guests.

The conference Keynote was rendered by eminent sociolinguist Alastair Pennycook, Professor Emeritus of University of Technology Sydney. Prof. Pennycook maintained that World Englishes are entangled with social, political, cultural, and material realities of individual and collective lives. He specified that English needs to be decolonized and provincialized. This interdisciplinary conference included papers by scholars and professionals from ten countries on Englishes to examine their roles in society.