Deciding How Much English to Keep in a Written Reflection
A student writes a 250-word personal reflection in Bengali about learning to cook her mother's fish curry while studying in Australia. Her draft mixes Bengali and English freely: 'I felt nostalgic when I saw the hilsa at the market, so I called Ma and she said, just follow the recipe, tension nio na.' She uses English for emotions and Bengali for actions. Her teacher says the reflection should demonstrate control of Bengali, but also that authentic code-mixing can be a legitimate feature of diaspora writing. The student must decide how much English to retain and how to signal the switches, and she has only 250 words.
1. Analyse the pattern in the student's code-mixing and judge whether it shows weak Bengali or a deliberate stylistic choice.
Read the worked answer
The pattern is not random. English appears for emotional states (nostalgic) and for a set phrase of reassurance (tension nio na), while Bengali carries the concrete actions of cooking. This suggests the speaker's emotional vocabulary is partly English-dominant, which may reflect genuine diaspora experience rather than simple weakness. However, in an assessment piece the student must show Bengali range, so relying on English for all emotion limits evidence of vocabulary. The judgement is mixed: some switches are authentic and could be retained deliberately, but others likely reflect gaps that should be filled with Bengali alternatives such as 'mon kharap' or 'chinta koro na'.
2. Recommend a policy for the 250-word reflection: how many English items to keep, which ones, and how to mark them. Justify your choices.
Read the worked answer
Keep at most two or three English items, chosen because they are untranslatable or because the switch itself is meaningful, for example a quoted phrase from her mother. Replace English emotion words with Bengali where a natural equivalent exists, to demonstrate range. Mark retained English with quotation marks or italics and, where needed, a brief Bengali gloss, so the reader sees the switch is controlled. With only 250 words, every item must earn its place; too much English reduces evidence of Bengali control, while none at all may lose authenticity. The policy balances assessment demands with the diaspora setting.
3. The teacher says authentic code-mixing can be legitimate. Explain how the student can use this idea to justify her choices without using it as an excuse for weak Bengali.
Read the worked answer
She can argue that a diaspora reflection realistically contains some code-mixing, and that retaining a quoted English phrase from her mother preserves the moment's authenticity. The justification must be specific: she should explain why each retained item is meaningful, not claim generally that mixing is authentic. She should also show she could have used Bengali alternatives, demonstrating control. The distinction is between deliberate, signalled choices that serve meaning and unmarked gaps that reveal limited vocabulary. By glossing retained English and replacing avoidable items, she shows the mixing is a stylistic decision within a piece that otherwise demonstrates strong Bengali.