An Investigation into the Language Learners’ Perception of the Usage of English and Bangla Coinage Words in Advertisements

An Investigation into the Language Learners’ Perception of the Usage of English and Bangla Coinage Words in Advertisements

Salma Ainy

Bangladesh Open University, Bangladesh

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.907000141

Received: 21 June 2025; Accepted: 01 July 2025; Published: 04 August 2025

ABSTRACT

The interest and concern of this paper arises from the circumstance that advertisements in Bangladesh are incorporating words which are used in a manner that were not used before. It is also a reality that advertisement writers constantly create new words and phrases to attract the eyes and ears of their target audience. Quite often, the newly created words or juxtaposition of languages or code switching express the idea more clearly and more succinctly than the traditional expressions. However, it is worth detecting whether these types of language initiate better language output and whether in any manner it promotes distorted forms that may ultimately contribute to serious deformation leading to a negative yield on the current learning scenario.

Keywords: Language of advertisement, distorted formation of words, language purity concerns, coinage, language learning.

INTRODUCTION

Language is dynamic as it goes through constant change, gets developed, and proceeds through evolution. Language adds, it gets added and thus grows. Although, the pattern of change is evidently clear in many cases, some of the changes might not necessarily be for the better and may initiate concerns whether this dynamism leads always towards better language usage in a given situation. One specific area of concern of this study is that the language of the advertisements presents the onlooker with a brand of an ‘alloy’ of Bangla and English in a single commercial incorporating multiple distorted forms that may create a strong negative impact which is ultimately reflected in learner’s speech and writing. In the case of English usage, the errors found in advertisements are mostly lexical, morphological, and syntactic.

As observed by Tam (2022), ‘In literary writings as well as in daily conversation, English phrases and words are adopted and used in new ways which deviate from their meanings in the original language, resulting in the increasing hybridization of languages. In Bangladesh, advertisements frequently employ language coinages, particularly through code-mixing and code-switching between Bangla and English, to enhance memorability and appeal to consumers. This practice, often seen as a stylistic choice, reflects the influence of Western culture and can be a strategy to increase the social and cultural value of advertised products.

Background of the Study

Bangladesh may be considered a centrifugal country in terms of the usage of English. English is without any doubt a global language and the country is well aware of the necessity of learning and using the language to be able to keep pace with the global fast changing scenario in all aspects. In today’s world, through the mass media and when the word ‘globalisation’ is no longer a word but a reality, we are vehemently exposed to and influenced by the language of the media. As a result of media expansion and exposure where English programmes and movies are widespread and also because of the extensive Internet communication facilities, general people are getting exposure to every kind of English from the Queen’s to the slang and even of the streets. Thus, English is getting into daily lives at times even not knowing the correct form or usage of an item that the user is using frequently. In this way, picking up of language used in advertisement may result in new coinage with a positive trend or may pose a cautionary signal towards learning a foreign language. The purpose of the paper aims at investigating the extent of English language use in printed/written advertisements and their overall implication on the language user.

Under the circumstance, the present research is important and timely from the perspective that it seems quite unproductive to introduce various language learning programmes and at the same time promote seriously problematic language usage through advertisements. Learners learn directly from the materials available for daily usage and pick up language quickly enough from the surroundings before going to the educational institutions to be in formal language learning atmosphere. It is also noteworthy that the Bangla language is ‘an issue of both sensitivity and pride among Bangladeshis. (Alam 2006, p. 53).

Objectives of this Empirical Research

Advertisements in Bangladesh often blend Bangla and English, using English words or phrases within a Bangla sentence or vice versa. This technique is used to capture attention and make the advertisement more memorable. Some studies indicate that advertisers in Bangladesh also utilize nativization (adopting English words into Bangla) and coinage (creating new words) to make commercials more effective. While some studies suggest that code-switching can be seen as corrupting the languages, others highlight its strategic use in advertising to achieve specific communicative goals.

Looking at the prevailing scenario, the suggested small empirical research-based paper attempts to display the English usage in printed advertisements. The paper, therefore, addresses the problems as they seem to pose a threat towards learning a foreign language in maintaining the standard version as the learners in many cases get fossilised about certain language traits (the distorted ones) and therefore, show the tendency to use the wrong ones even after entering the tertiary level of education.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Language of advertisements use special sorts of language with the aim of catching the consumer’s attention towards a commodity. It is purely commercial, having the goal of selling a product to the possible client. The words chosen need to be catchy and appealing to engage the readers or onlookers’ mind in a manner so that even unconsciously the language used there gets into the mind of the individual. In case of English usage, for example, a distorted or coinage format of a particular word may be more attractive than the correct spelling of the word.

As argued by Shanmuganathan and Ramasamy (2009), advertisements are marketing tools that function as persuasive communication tools as they provide information about products and services put up for sale. Advertisers use language in order to draw the attention of certain customers and pledge the validity of products and services. Sociocultural phenomena are embedded in these advertisements.

Advertisers may spend considerable time and money on research before creating and ad in order to manipulate language to suggest something about their products without directly claiming it to be true. Advertising language is farmed to influence consumers at first that may seem to be a negative one but far more likely to be ignored. Although the advertisers use colours, symbols, and pictures in advertisements, the most direct way to study ads is through an analysis of the language employed, because the other components are intended to reinforce the language message. Advertisers utilize various linguistic devices, including figures of speech, sound devices (like alliteration and rhyme), and even unconventional language use to make their advertisements more appealing and memorable.

English is considered a language associated with power and prestige, especially among the young learners. And many of them consider the importance of English used in media to convey a particular message and purpose. Hence, they tend to pick up language elements from the ads directly.

Advertisement is the media that has strong power to convey any message and is spread in many kinds of form and style every day. According to Wirdasari (2011) the function of advertising can be viewed in two basic ways: as a tool of marketing and as a means of communication. However, a look into many written advertisements in Bangladesh, many errors will be found in English messages written on those products. The errors on them are usually about the grammatical structure, the choice of words, the mix of them and the mix of Bangla and English. The consequence of this incorrect projection of language is that many people who do not understand English well and who are not aware of it could care less to learn the language properly.

Belch and Belch (2001) argued that “children, particularly young ones, are especially vulnerable to advertising because they lack the experience and knowledge to understand and evaluate critically the purpose of persuasive advertising appeals” (p. 772).

Advertisements use these distorted English words in a very catchy manner, which puts the young ones at risk of learning the wrong or fossilized words. Therefore, if children in Bangladesh are exposed to the wrong English words repeatedly, they end up learning the distorted words instead of the correct ones, not even being aware of the correct version at all.

Even older audiences are at risk of learning the fossilized words from these advertisements, because they feel that these distorted words used in the national media must be correct. Moreover, they find it satisfactory to reproduce even the meaningless words in daily communication.

However, it is noteworthy to remember that the social impact of Bangla-English code-switching comes to the attitudinal issues which are definitely connected to the sentiment, emotion, and expectation of the consumers (Bhatia, 1992; Kachru, 1986).

METHODOLOGY AND SUBJECTS

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect primary data. The questionnaire included nine multiple choice questions and two open ended questions. The sample selection technique for primary research was random sampling, and the total sample size was 50. The subjects were codified and were given assurance that their identity will not be revealed and that they should feel free to give their honest opinion as the questionnaire was aimed at research and that no opinion was to be formed based on their responses. They were undergraduate students of English from a leading private university in Bangladesh.

DATA ANLYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

The present study adapts Miles and Huberman’s (1994) definition of analysis as a process consisting of three concurrent streams of activity after data collection. They are data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification.

As already mentioned, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 50 samples to collect primary data. 46 questionnaires were returned to the researcher.  Following is the tabular presentation of the data collected from the eleven questions with their simultaneous observation and analysis.

Question 1 asked whether respondents are familiar with the use of English words or some new coinage words in Bangla, which are the offspring of English and Bangla usage in advertisements. They could choose more than one medium. If they found coinage they were to identify, where?

Table 1: Use of English and coinage of new words in advertisements.

Data shows that 100% of the respondents are familiar with the use of English and or coinage in Bangla advertisement. Among them 100% watched such type of distortion in television commercials, another 45.65% found such in other electronic media. 21.73% also found such coinage in newspaper, 13.04% on billboards and 10.86 % in leaflets, etc. All respondents came across such amalgamation indicating the usage of English and coinage words in everyday advertisements.  It can also be deduced that majority of respondents watched television commercials and thus it is assumed that distortion and contamination of language represented via adverts pass mostly through television commercials.

Table 2 represents the data on question 2 where the respondents were to express their attitude towards such advertisements with coinage. They were to choose from the attitude statements presented by the researcher.

Table 2: Attitude towards these advertisements.

From Table 2 it is evident that most respondents (45.65 %) reflect that these ads are somewhat catchy, spicy and interesting and 21.73% find them funny.  21.73 % find them not interesting at all; whereas 4.34% believe that the ads are effective in conveying the underlying message to their target customers. Only 2.17% of respondents are not bothered about the language of ads at all. Therefore, in summary it can be said that the ads are enjoyable to most of its target customers though they incorporate distortive language usage to some extent. Nevertheless, a good number don’t find them interesting at all.

Question 3 was in a statement format having attitude scales (Yes, all of them/Yes, most of them/Yes, only a few/ No, but only one or two could be). The respondents were to identify whether these alloyed advertisements seemed stupid, ineffective and annoying to some extent. The data is presented below.

Table 3: Do you think the language of some of these advertisements are stupid, ineffective and annoying? Give reasons for your statement.

It is evident from the data that a majority of (86.96%) respondents, reflect that these advertisements are stupid, ineffective and annoying to some extent. Among them, only 2.17% blame all those advertisements as stupid, ineffective and annoying. 69.57% think some of them are so. About 15.22% of the respondents argue that only a few are like these. However, 13.04% do not think that these advertisements are meaningless, ineffective and bothering, rather only one or two cases could be termed as meaningless. So, in a nutshell, it can be said that the majority believe that these ads are meaningless, inappropriate and bothersome.

As for reasons, they opine that language input is inappropriate and detrimental to learning. Sometimes, people assume the incorrect word to be correct and thus absorb the improper as proper.

Question 4 asked the respondents whether they could notice the use of both English and Bangla words in the same advertisement or also a newly created word by using the two, if so whether the specific word carry any meaning? They were also to comment on their observation. Table 4 below represents the data elicited.

Table 4: Could you notice both English and Bangla words in one ad or a newly created word altogether, carry any| meaning?

Table 4 shows that 23.91% of the respondents think that there is certainly a meaning associated with those mixture of English and Bangla words or the newly created ones. Among them 6.52% are certain that there is an obvious meaning and 17.39% of the respondents believe that though there is a meaning, yet it is sometimes vague to general people or more specifically, to the target customers. 10.87% of the respondents believe that there is no meaning associated with those mixed or newly created words, rather they are used only to attract customers. 4.35% of the respondents believe that if these words are broken down, and Bangla and English components are separated, they do not carry any meaning. 6.52% of the respondents are not bothered and thus think that these words in the advertisements are completely nonsense. Majority of the respondents, 65.22% believe that the meaning associated with those newly created coinage  depend on how the ad maker adjoined the two languages. So, in summary it can be said that majority of the respondents believe that the meaning of new words depend on how the ad makers combined the two languages. The meaning of the newly created word is not clear and can be deciphered according to the readers’ understanding. Sometimes they are very ambiguous. They don’t represent any clear, straight forward meaning. They are nonsense and sometimes initiate linguistic distortion. They are more like slang. Inappropriate use of language is visible not considering the situation and people prevalent in the situation.

Question 6 tried to elicit whether general people act as influential factor for such distortion in advertisement? Table 6 presents the data elicited.

Table 6 above shows that a significant portion of the survey population, which is 86.96% of the total respondents, believe that general people act as influential factor for such distortion in advertisement.

Among them 17.39% of the respondents blame general people as they appreciate such practice in advertisement. 50.00% of the respondents think that general people are guilty because they always want something unique to see and hear and ad- makers are capitalizing them. 19.57% of the respondents accuse general people for playing the role of keeping silent.

10.87% of the respondents think that whether general people are responsible or not depends on socio economic and cultural strata or other factors.

Only 2.17% of the respondents argue that general people are not responsible for such distortion in advertisements. In a nutshell, it can be said that most of the respondents blame general people for such distortion in advertisements out of their conscious or sub-conscious activities.

Question 7 tried to elicit whom the respondents thought are accountable for such distortion in advertisements and the following table portrays their opinions.

The majority of respondents (39.13%) believe that the ad-maker is responsible for such distortion. 26.09% of the respondents hold the target customers accountable. 16.22% of the respondents blame all the general viewers for such distortion in advertisements. 8.70% of the respondents think that the respective pressure groups are guilty for such distortion. 10.87% of the respondents think that the media is responsible for not controlling such distortion in advertisements.  There is no one in the survey population who thinks that the government is responsible for such distortion.

Question 8 asked whether the respondents thought that the mixture of languages is a strategy for most of the ad-makers or not and the Table below shows the percentage of their opinions.

Table 8: Percentage/number regarding opinions on whether mixture of languages is a strategy for most of the ad-makers or not.

From the Table it is perceived that the majority of the respondents (65.22%) agreed that it is a mechanism of the ad makers to sustain in the market and thus attract their customers. Only 34.78% of the respondents do not believe that it can be a tool used by the ad makers to attract the potential consumers. So the ad-makers/writers/narrators will full understanding use the language of the words which apart from enticing the intended audience may also incorporate inappropriacy in language usage of everyday communication.

Question 9 asked the respondents to indicate their thoughts about these advertisements.

The majority of 41.31% of the survey population argues in favour of this type of strategy and thus considers it to be okay. Another majority, 32.61% of the respondents, believe that as it is the only way to attract customers so, adopting this type of strategy is acceptable. 23.91% consider this activity completely crossable if new words are not created and both languages are distinctly present with their intended meaning intact whereas, 21.74% opine that this type of activity initiates  distortion and linguistic impurity  and thus is not a good strategy followed by the advertisement makers. 19.57% of the respondents believe that, it is fine, effective, and a clever strategy and doesn’t actually create language pollution. Only 2.17% of the respondents believe that it is a cheap and mean strategy  which is responsible for language distortion to a considerable extent.

Question 10 of the questionnaire was an open ended one and asked the respondents to mention one or two words which can be examples of coinage or language misrepresentation. The words mentioned are shown in the table below (Table 10) from where we can observe popularly used words and their frequencies (sample).

Table 10: Popularly used words (coinage/nonsense/words representing not the actual meaning rather than a completely new or opposite one) and their frequencies.

As mentioned before, a total of 46 respondents participated in the survey. The number associated with the most popular words indicates the number of respondents who have selected them, and the respective percentage indicates the percentage of the corresponding respondents who picked those specific words. The most popular words picked up by the sample population are presented in Table 11 below.

Table 11: The most popular words – slangs/ coinage/nonsense

From the above list of the most popular words, the one word that stands out is picked up nine times. The word is, ‘YoYo Jamai’. The next words which are used five times are ‘Shiram’ and ‘Mairalaiche re’. The four times used words are ‘Yo pops!’ and ‘Awesome sala’ by the respondents. This finding indicates that the young generation is quite interested in the above distorted and corrupted forms of words and is quite comfortable using them in their daily communication. These words are not proper English nor are they proper Bangla used in our everyday life. Some of them are nonsense words, used as slangs initiating completely new meanings which should not be in public. The real picture is the opposite inviting miscommunication and inappropriateness in communication.

Question 11 was an open-ended one that asked the respondents to provide their overall opinion on the advertisements concerned. Some of the most interesting comments are presented below (samples).

Table 12: Comments on the language twist in advertisements.

A summary of the above observations indicates that hybrid words used in advertisements to convey eerie or unsettling themes have the potential to degrade our culture and cause linguistic aberrations. Although these advertisements are frequently made for particular target audiences, viewers frequently fail to detect the hype-generating language. Language mixing can lead to slang or meaningless words as well as disregard for both languages. Although creating these advertisements to draw in customers is allowed, ad producers should exercise greater caution when crafting the wording to prevent unfavorable perceptions and cultural misunderstanding. When making ads, socioeconomic and cultural strata should be considered. Some advertisements could be entertaining, but they can also cause linguistic issues.

A SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS

The survey reveals that Bangladeshi advertisements with distorted words are widely viewed, with television commercials being the most widely viewed. Electronic media and newspapers, billboards, leaflets have negligible effects, indicating widespread exposure and widespread language distortion.

According to the majority of respondents, these advertisements’ increased appeal can be attributed to their mildly catchy, spicy, humorous, and intriguing qualities. Everyone agreed that these advertisements are difficult to ignore, even if some respondents thought they were entertaining and others thought they were obnoxious. But according to the majority of responders, these advertisements are ultimately pointless and completely improper. The majority of respondents think that how the ad designers blend the two languages determines the meaning of new terms made by combining English and Bangla words. According to the respondents, these commercials should be controlled because they are the cause of language pollution.

Nonetheless, the respondents also believe that these commercials degrade our society. Why create hybrid terms and use other languages to create eerie adverts when we have our own language? They strongly discourage these kinds of commercials. While some of these ads (such as Grameen Phone Telecommunication) are engaging and snappy, others abuse our language structure and contain significant grammatical and implicational distortions.

Every language is lovely in its own right, but when two languages are combined, it becomes unpleasant, and the respondents believe that the ad producers are demeaning the languages by doing this.

RECOMMENDATIONS

When it comes to the issue of language purity, as observed by Cook (2001) not all of us enjoy all the advertisements that we see, we dislike many of them since the advertisements that we come across, appear in front of us without our permission, all we can do is ignore it. We cannot stop it all together (p.203).

However, we of course need some standards and we should encourage our students to write and speak English that is clear, correct according to accepted standards, and ‘meaningful’. But we should not stifle communication and creativity by overburdening our students with too many ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’.

Due to a lack of a proper legal framework in our nation, people who watch advertisements and have complaints about them typically do not and are unable to take legal action if they believe that a particular advertisement is harming society. This is primarily due to a lack of consumer groups, widespread illiteracy, and ignorance. This calls for a comprehensive institutional and legal structure that is simple and affordable. Because they have the authority to alter or prohibit commercials that contain offensive, distorted, or obscene language before they are broadcast on a national scale, censor boards play a significant role in the case of advertisements.

CONCLUSIVE REMARKS

“Fusion is a major aim of contemporary advertising,” claims Cook (2001) (p.108).The most significant influence on the evolution of English usage and forms in Bangladesh has unquestionably been the mainstream media. Following independence in 1971, there was a general feeling of liberation and joy. Many of the previous taboos and prohibitions started to be rejected by the population. Prior to then, because Bangladesh was a part of British India and was governed by the British Government, written and, to a lesser extent, spoken English were based on the formal and grammatically recognized principles of good RP English. With the introduction of sky channels in the early 1990s and the widespread use of radio and television, even in the most isolated places, popular culture had an incalculable impact.

In the beginning, the format and language of the programmes were somewhat formal and stilted, but as the years went by, formality was replaced by friendliness, and the announcers and performers adopted different and less formal styles and the public immediately followed the trend. The comfortable world of the language of the purists was shattered – looked like it was never to be the same again.

We must, however, adhere to the standards of polite language whether we write or speak. We should avoid using profanity, obscenity, or any other language that could upset common people and greatly contribute to linguistic distortion. It is hypocritical to promote different language learning programmes using public funds while introducing extremely problematic language usage.

It is also noteworthy that language manipulation in advertising can negatively impact consumers, encouraging irrational choices. It’s crucial to avoid promoting the idea that consumerism brings happiness or that refusing unnecessary products brings happiness.

Advertising is crucial as it serves as the primary source of customer information, requiring companies to ensure accurate and timely communication along with correct information via language that they use.

Additionally, consumers are becoming more perceptive to claims and justifications made in advertisements that support their health or wellbeing. This is an additional justification for why honesty and self-control in the advertising industry are
desirable, required, and advised.

REFERENCES

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