Can the grammatical proficiency of American students of Bangla as a foreign language have a positive effect on their performance in the speech act of greeting in Bangla: a Study

Abstract

Bangla, also known as Bengali, is a South Asian language taught at some American universities. At Indiana University Bloomington, Madusudan and Dhar India Studies Program offers classes in Bangla at different levels. The Bengali classes at India Studies focus on more on developing learners’ grammatical knowledge and less on learners’ pragmatic knowledge of Bangla. It is found that learners of Bangla often fail to communicate in a pragmatically appropriate way in Bangla, one area of difficulty in terms of pragmatic competence being greetings in Bangla and using the address forms correctly. Thelearners’ failure to properly perform the speech act of greeting in Bangla is one of their pragmatic infelicities. Bangla uses honorifics in address forms and has also honorific pronouns whose use involves grammar.  A study has been done in order to know whether students’ proficiency in Bangla grammar can impact their performance in greeting in Bangla and using the address form appropriately. It is found that students’ command of Bangla grammar has an effect on their performance in the speech act of greeting in Bangla.