Dr. Md. Enamul Hoque :
The newspaper at president is considered as a very important organ of the ‘world voice’. In the modern democratic world, it is also known as the ‘Fourth Estate’, the other three being judiciary, executive and administrative systems. It is a great blessing of the modern scientific advancement in many respects. It gives lot of knowledge and information. It keeps the people up-dated with regard to all the educational, social, and political or other developments.
In modern days newspapers are used in place of traditional textbooks because newspapers are more current than textbooks. In the newspaper, there is a lot of current and contemporary information which can boost the performance of students in general. Newspaper plays a vital role when it comes to informing the public on what’s happening around the world, which is as well helpful to teachers, students, and educators who need to be updated on the current issues surrounding them. Therefore, educationists always advise to use newspapers as an important teaching aid, especially as a tool of promoting the reading culture where a lot of efforts have been invested by the government and other stakeholders.
In this regard, an English newspaper is highly educative for academic learners. Now-a-days, English newspapers enjoy high esteems in our society; therefore, English newspapers are published in almost all the countries of the world of different languages. When teachers use newspapers in classroom, it helps students to look at things in a bigger scope and it improves their critical thinking skills since they cover a wide range of things all in one pack.
Newspapers are easy to be brought in the class in different subjects and courses, especially in language classes, geography, history, literature, etc. There are different purposes and ways for using newspapers in language classroom. They may be used for the culture they transmit. The more widely students read, the greater their understanding of this cultural meaning will be. They can also be used for reflecting changes in the language as well, and in doing so, helping students and teachers keep up pace with such changes.
The New Nation is one of the oldest newspapers in Bangladesh. The publisher of this paper was the renowned journalist and political analyst Barrister Mainul Hosein. It was the only English newspaper in Dhaka publishing the general people’s views and grievances for a long period. Since the inception, many famous and legendary journalists worked in the oldest newspaper.
The New Nation is the oldest independent English Daily of Bangladesh. People get it as one of the popular Bangladeshi news sources in English language. The New Nation makes a significant contribution in promoting the education and research of Bangladesh. We find that the New Nation publishes incredible articles that tackle social issues, education system, test and evaluation, cultures, arts, and more. It conveys the public opinions to the people on important issues.
This will, in turn, help people review the government and authorities well. Similarly, people get great employment opportunities from newspaper advertisements. Those seeking jobs look through newspapers to get reliable job opportunities. Whenever there are any changes in the rules and regulations of the country. It makes us aware of them. Moreover, they are very informative for people of all walks of life.
The New Nation maintains international standard and format in presentation of different items. The newspaper displays the most significant stories of that day. Headlines and sub-headlines allow for easy scanning of the day’s most important news. This subsection contains important news and features about global events. The stories are usually written from home and abroad. The expressions of opinions are always located in the Editorial Section. Letters to The Editor encourages readers to voice their opinion by writing letters to the editor.
It has been serving the society for long 42 years. At first, it was a weekly paper, and three years later, it started as daily. When the the New Nation newspaper was officially launched as a daily on October 15, 1981, it immediately drew global attention. While acknowledged as being “professional”, it was also regarded as a vital symbol of opening-up. Today, we can safely say that it was the previous generations’ courage that paved the way for Bangladeshi Daily’s success.
The New Nation is an international-standard English newspaper. Like all international newspapers, the New Nation is linguistically up-to-date and provides valuable linguistic data. They may be used for the wide variety of text types and language styles, not often found in textbooks. At the same time, they may provide a natural source of many of the varieties of Written English that become very important to students, and valuable for language study as the student progress. So, they may be used as supplementary material and examples in Text Analysis, Academic Writing, Stylistics, Semantics, etc. while analyzing different types of texts.
The variety of subjects and topics makes newspapers interesting and motivating for the students to work with. In this context, the New Nation is fully resourceful to provide such materials, like the reports of real-life events, and affairs which can arise students’ curiosity. The Newspaper-based activities in the classroom may engage students in enjoyable activities and encourage their further reading. Thus, it can be an invaluable source of authentic materials. The more students read the newspaper, the more they want to explore.
Research shows that students using the newspaper as an educational resource score more highly on standardized tests, develop the habit of lifelong reading, and are more likely to become engaged citizens and regular voters. As an English newspaper, the New Nation has been contributing tremendously to education and research. Using the newspaper as an educational resource helps students to: develop a better understanding of their community, state, nation, and world; cultivate critical thinking, reading, and writing skills; clarify and develop decision-making skills; and improve problem-solving skills.
A student can learn all about general knowledge and current affairs from here. We stay updated with the technological advancements, government policies, research studies, and more. Newspaper articles and news write-ups include rich vocabulary; students who read the newspaper regularly develop a good vocabulary which helps them in their academics and also come handy as they participate in different competitions.
Reading a newspaper regularly is also a good way to improve grammar. Students who inculcate the habit of reading the newspaper regularly develop a greater understanding of the use of punctuations. They also become skilled at structuring sentences properly. It thus helps in enhancing their writing skills too; and helps in preparing the students for different competitive examinations as these tests mainly assess their general knowledge.
The articles, views, and comments published in this Newspaper surely expand the curriculum with an unlimited amount of information to use as background for learning activities. The newspaper expands the curriculum with an unlimited amount of information to use as background for learning activities. For teachers the newspaper offers a special attraction. It has been called the living textbook and it lives up to that name.
The New Nation always prioritizes news of education and academic affairs. It covers any education updates, and disseminates it with adequate importance. The editorial of the New Nation is highly rich which covers important issues of national and international interests. It serves educators and students by providing with educational resources. The FUNCTIONS of the New Nation are set out under three main headings: to inform, to instruct, and to entertain.
It can fairly be said that if the readers go through the leading article published in in the New Nation every day, they can obtain high level proficiency in English; and find a very good picture of international, national, and local affairs. Instruction is also to be gained from the articles on specialized subjects. We believe, everyday, teachers throughout the country rely much on the New Nation as a primary source of news and informational text to help their readers enhance their reading, writing and thinking skills.
Being one of the leading English-language national media outlets, The New Nation has been playing an essential role in reporting on the public agenda around key developments in the country, informing its readership about Bangladesh beyond its borders, and connecting its audience to the world and vice versa. We also want to express our gratitude for the work and engagement to inform the general public. This is vital during an outbreak such as COVID-19, when people require up-to-date, verified, and timely information.
The New Nation is celebrating its 42nd anniversary on October 15. The New Nation has made extraordinary strides forward since its inception in 1981. It has continued to provide valuable in-depth news coverage related not only to Bangladesh but also throughout the whole world. It has deservedly received many accolades for the high standard of journalism and photojournalism.
We congratulate the management and staff of The New Nation newspaper on the 42nd anniversary! Over the years, the newspaper has taken a worthy place in the information space of the country, having established itself as an authoritative source of timely and reliable information. We hope in coming days, the New Nation will proceed with their outstanding work for the nourishment of democracy, constitutionalism, human rights, people’s welfare, good governance, and journalistic objectivity as before.
(Dr. Enamul Hoque is educational researcher and teacher educator. He is former
professor of English).
