Translanguaging and Youth Identity: Banglish as a Medium of Expression and Belonging in Urban Bangladesh

Abstract

In modern urban Bangladesh, young people increasingly communicate in a blend of Bangla and English, often referred to as Banglish. This linguistic hybridity is more than spontaneous mixing, it represents a form of translanguaging through which youth construct modern, inclusive identities and negotiate a sense of belonging in both local and global contexts. The study focuses on urban youth in Bangladesh and explores how they demonstrate creativity through the use of Banglish across different contexts, including social media, memes and discussions in university settings. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining semi-structured interviews with students and young professionals to uncover social meanings, online surveys to examine language preferences and usage patterns and meme and online conversation analysis to illustrate the role of translanguaging in digital humor and expression. In addition, ethnographic observations of campus conversations show how Banglish functions as a shared communicative code among youth. Situating these findings within existing studies on translanguaging in Bangladesh (e.g., Rafi 2022; Sajib 2019; Ahmed 2023), the research demonstrates how English is reimagined not as a foreign or elite language, but as an integral component of urban youth identity, creativity and community building in contemporary Bangladesh.