Following the spread of COVID-19, online education/distance learning (OE/DL) was opted by the governments across the world. However, many challenges remained unexplored as OE/DL was quite an unfamiliar teaching approach, particularly in Bangladesh. This study was aimed at identifying the major challenges of OE/DL in Bangladesh from the perspectives of students. Data for this web-based cross-sectional study were collected using an e-questionnaire based on Google Form. Out of 451 initial responses, 419 were retained based on some specifications. The univariate analyses identified the financial, technical, and pedagogical issues as major problems. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis suggest a two-factor solution – ‘financial-technical obstacles’ and ‘pedagogical obstacles’ – with overall good reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.881; McDonald’s ω = 0.880). The two-factors, with strong intercorrelation (r = 0.552), meet the criteria of discriminant validity. To overcome the shortfalls of OE/DL in Bangladesh, inclusiveness with sustainable educational and infrastructural approaches was recommended.

This article conceptualizes Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) and intercultural materials and shows how they are developed in the English language pedagogy. It attempts to outline how the concept of ICC can build a new dimension of language learning minimizing the communication gap between the speakers of English from different parts of the world by incorporating intercultural materials into EFL curriculum. It brings together the existing literature that prioritize the inclusion of culture in ELT materials.  This review paper examines some important principles and theories to focus on the recent changes in the assumptions and exercises of designing culture-sensitive ELT materials.  The study finds out that in EFL classes intercultural materials introduce the learners with the multiplicity of cultures across the world. Intercultural materials, in its extended realm, covers a far wider range that opens up immense scope for developing the knowledge and tolerance of other cultures and of the people who practice those cultures. An objective and unbiased mindset can be developed if the intercultural materials are incorporated to the pedagogy that reflect and represent cultures in a positive and balanced way as the principles indicate.

Address terms are important language components that represent the existing norms and practices of behaviour, holding specific contextual meanings in society and adding meanings beyond linguistic codes. This paper explores the connection of Bangla address terms with various parameters like age, religious identity, power position, social relationship, ratio of intimacy, and geo-spatial cultural variation through a close analysis of selected discourses. Based on these parameters, it is found that Bangla speakers use a wide range of address terms, which is a special feature of this language, in contrast to English or other languages. In Bangladeshi societies, kinship terms reflect the relationships among the addresser and the addressee, which vary based on paternal and maternal sides, and in different religious and cultural contexts. By employing a qualitative approach to explore the social interaction process, this paper sheds light on the use of Bangla address terms in a culturally diverse context from a sociolinguistic perspective.

Anita Desai is well recognized as an existentialist who in most of her fictions speaks of human predicament and specifically the existential crisis of women. In Fire on the Mountain, Raka, one of the three central figures, gets unique in her active contribution to the ultimate action, unparallel gravity and the mystic air of her character. A.H Tak, a critique of Anita Desai, has redefined Roger Wescott’s categorization of ‘impersonality’ by indicating at the split personality that Desai’s heroines experience in their lives. Though Nanda Kaul is the central character Raka supersedes her at the end of the novel when she sets fire on the mountain. In this regard ,the present paper attempts to identify Raka’s shift from one state to another and wants to show how Raka, being on the existential plain raises to another height that completes her spiritual growth.

King Oedipus by Sophocles and Beowulf by an anonymous author are two great legendary tales that tell of two tragic heroes of pre - Christian era. The former one is derived from the Greek mythological story where gods and goddesses play an active role in the phenomena of human life where the worthy and noble king Oedipus suffers the unhappiest events a man can have in life. The latter one is derived from the oral formulaic tales of ancient Scandinavia where the mighty, warrior king Beowulf meets the tragic end after a life full of heroic events. Both of them reign in pagan period when man is bound to surrender to the whims of fate. Yet man is a free will agent by nature and it determines him against allowing fate to settle everything of his life. This paper shows that though both of the heroes finally succumb to their nemesis, knowingly or unknowingly they have shares in the curses they are under.