Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T14:45:15.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

English in rural Bangladesh

How is language education perceived as a resource for development in rural communities?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2014

Extract

English's elevated status within a global economy of languages means that English-language education is increasingly promoted in international development initiatives in countries such as Bangladesh. This is partly due to a growing conviction that English is able to play an important role in helping people participate in global economic markets from which they have previously been excluded (Seargeant & Erling, 2011). Despite the strong associations made between English-language ability and development, there is at present only limited evidence showing a causal relationship between the two (Erling, forthcoming), while a complex of other issues surrounding the cultural politics of the language also play a role in the social implications of its promotion in such contexts. The aim of this article is to examine how English is perceived in rural Bangladesh by the people at whom such international development programmes are targeted. A broad assumption of such programmes is that English is a positive and, in some sense, necessary resource for development. The article investigates whether this matches the perception of those at whom such projects are aimed, and what it is that these communities feel the language can offer both in practical and in socio-cultural terms for the developmental challenges they face. In order to examine these questions the article draws on results from an ethnographical survey of two rural areas in Bangladesh which investigated the attitudes and aspirations of local community members to the potential impact of English-language education on their social prospects and cultural identities.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 2011. Population and Housing Census 2011: Household, Population, Sex Ratio and Literacy Rate. Available at http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/Census2011/Bangladesh_glance.pdf.Google Scholar
Banu, R. & Sussex, R. 2001. ‘English in Bangladesh after independence: Dynamics of policy and practice.’ In Moore, B. (ed.), Who's Centric Now? The Present State of Post-colonial Englishes. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, pp. 122147.Google Scholar
Chouhan, K., Speeden, S. & Qazi, U. 2011. ‘Experience of poverty and ethnicity in London.’ JRF programme paper: poverty and ethnicity. Available at http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/London-poverty-ethnicity-full.pdf.Google Scholar
Crystal, D. 2003. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
English in Action (EIA). 2009. Baseline Research Synthesis Report, Research and Learning Group Bangladesh. Dhaka: BBC Janala.Google Scholar
English in Action (EIA). 2010. Available at http://www.eiabd.com/eia.Google Scholar
Erling, E. J. 2014. The Role of English in Skills Development in South Asia: Policies, Interventions and Existing Evidence. London: British Council. Available at http://www.britishcouncil.in/sites/britishcouncil.in2/files/role_of_english_in_skills_development_in_south_asia_inside.pdf.Google Scholar
Erling, E. J. & Seargeant, P. (eds.) 2013. English and Development: Policy, Pedagogy and Globalization. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Erling, E. J., Seargeant, P., Solly, M., Chowdhury, Q. H. & Rahman, S. 2012. Attitudes to English as a Language for International Development in Rural Bangladesh. London: British Council. Available at http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/attitudes-englisha-language-international-development-rural-bangladesh.Google Scholar
Graddol, D. 2010. English Next India: The Future of English in India. London: British Council.Google Scholar
Gunaratne, S. A. 2000. Handbook of the Media in Asia. New Delhi: Sage.Google Scholar
Hamid, M.O. & Erling, E. J. Forthcoming. ‘English-in-education policy and planning in Bangladesh: a critical examination.’ In Kirkpatrick, R. (ed.), English Education Policy in Asia and the Middle East. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Hossain, T. & Tollefson, J. W. 2007. ‘Language policy in education in Bangladesh.’ In Tsui, A. B. M. & Tollefson, J. W. (eds.). Language Policy, Culture, and Identity in Asian Contexts. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 241258.Google Scholar
Imam, R. 2005. ‘English as a global language and the question of nation-building education in Bangladesh.’ Comparative Education, 41(4): 471486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kachru, B. 1994. ‘English in South Asia.’ In Burchell, R. (ed.). Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 5, English in Britain and Overseas: Origins and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 497553.Google Scholar
Khan, J. U. 2010. ‘Call centres hanging up.’ The Daily Star, 12 August. Available at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=150442.Google Scholar
Lewis, M. P. (ed.) 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th edn.Dallas, TX: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.Google Scholar
Rahman, S. 2005. ‘Orientations and motivation in English language learning: a study of Bangladeshi students at undergraduate level.’ Asian EFL Journal, 7(1): 2955.Google Scholar
Rassool, N. 2013. ‘The political economy of English language development: English vs. national and local languages in development countries.’ In Erling, E. J. & Seargeant, P. (eds.), English and Development: Policy, Pedagogy and Globalization. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 4567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seargeant, P. & Erling, E. J. 2011. ‘The discourse of ‘English as a language for international development’: policy assumptions and practical challenges.’ In Coleman, H. (ed.), Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language. London: British Council, pp. 255274.Google Scholar
Seargeant, P. & Erling, E. J. 2013. ‘Introduction: English and development.’ In Erling, E. J. and Seargeant, P. (eds.), English and Development: Policy, Pedagogy and Globalization. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 120.Google Scholar
Silverman, D. 2006. Interpreting Qualitative Data. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Tembe, J. & Norton, B. 2011. ‘English education, local languages and community perspectives in Uganda.’ In Coleman, H. (ed.), Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language. London: British Council, pp. 114136.Google Scholar
Thompson, H. 2007. ‘Bangladesh.’ In Simpson, A. (ed.), Language and National Identity in Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3354.Google Scholar
UNDP. 2013. International Human Development Indicators: Bangladesh. Available at http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/BGD.html.Google Scholar
UNESCO. 2005. Education for All: Literacy for Life. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Vavrus, F. 2002. ‘Postcoloniality and English: Exploring language policy and the politics of development in Tanzania.’ TESOL Quarterly, 36, 373397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank. 2013a. Bangladesh: Trade Policy and Integration. Available at http://go.worldbank.org/HEAGSVFC00.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2013b. Bangladesh Data. Available at http://data.worldbank.org/country/bangladesh#cp_wdi.Google Scholar