Construction of English language skills as human capital and ELT as development aid in Bangladesh

Md Maksud Ali; M. Obaidul Hamid; Ian Hardy

doi:10.1080/14747731.2023.2171619

Construction of English language skills as human capital and ELT as development aid in Bangladesh

Md Maksud Ali (Lead / Corresponding author), M. Obaidul Hamid, Ian Hardy

Education and Society

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The discourse of English Language Teaching (ELT) development aid for the Global South has undergone significant changes since its introduction in the post-WWII period. Specifically, in the contemporary context of globalisation, both the aim and operation of ELT aid exhibit the influence of neoliberalism. This article examines policy documents about the introduction and implementation of a UKaid-funded development project in Bangladesh called English in Action to understand the forces and ideologies which guided the donor and project implementers to subscribe to instrumentalist discourses in relation to ELT as development aid. Drawing on decolonial perspectives, notably, the idea of ‘geopolitics of knowledge’, the article contributes to our understanding of the politics of the neoliberal discourses of English constructed through contemporary ELT development aid projects by illustrating how such discourses of English and development may hide coloniality through the promotion of Euro-centric epistemological approaches as a universal solution to global problems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1163-1179
Number of pages	17
Journal	Globalizations
Volume	20
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2023.2171619
Publication status	Published - 2 Feb 2023

Keywords

Bangladesh
discourse
ELT development aid
English in Action
human capital development
neoliberalism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sociology and Political Science
Public Administration

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1080/14747731.2023.2171619Licence: CC BY

Final published versionFinal published version, 1.7 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Construction of English language skills as human capital and ELT as development aid in Bangladesh",

abstract = "The discourse of English Language Teaching (ELT) development aid for the Global South has undergone significant changes since its introduction in the post-WWII period. Specifically, in the contemporary context of globalisation, both the aim and operation of ELT aid exhibit the influence of neoliberalism. This article examines policy documents about the introduction and implementation of a UKaid-funded development project in Bangladesh called English in Action to understand the forces and ideologies which guided the donor and project implementers to subscribe to instrumentalist discourses in relation to ELT as development aid. Drawing on decolonial perspectives, notably, the idea of {\textquoteleft}geopolitics of knowledge{\textquoteright}, the article contributes to our understanding of the politics of the neoliberal discourses of English constructed through contemporary ELT development aid projects by illustrating how such discourses of English and development may hide coloniality through the promotion of Euro-centric epistemological approaches as a universal solution to global problems.",

keywords = "Bangladesh, discourse, ELT development aid, English in Action, human capital development, neoliberalism",

author = "Ali, {Md Maksud} and Hamid, {M. Obaidul} and Ian Hardy",

note = "Funding Information: This article examines a large-scale international ELT project called English in Action (EIA 2009-2018) in Bangladesh to develop a better understanding of how proficiency in English is construed as human capital in the context of development aid in a globalised world. This £50 million mega-project was funded by UKaid through the British government{\textquoteright}s Department for International Development (DFID), currently renamed Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The project was implemented by a consortium of three international agencies (Cambridge Education, Open University UK and BBC Media Action) and two Bangladeshi NGOs (Non-Government Organisations: Under-privileged Children{\textquoteright}s Education Programme, and Friends in Village Development in Bangladesh). EIA aimed to {\textquoteleft}change the economic future of millions of Bangladeshis by helping them develop English language proficiency{\textquoteright} (Hamid & Jahan, , p. 552). Thus, while EIA{\textquoteright}s goals of contributing to Bangladeshi society and economy are explicitly spelled out, not much is known about the underlying logics and the ideological forces that guided the implementation of the project in Bangladesh. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

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AU - Ali, Md Maksud

AU - Hamid, M. Obaidul

AU - Hardy, Ian

N1 - Funding Information: This article examines a large-scale international ELT project called English in Action (EIA 2009-2018) in Bangladesh to develop a better understanding of how proficiency in English is construed as human capital in the context of development aid in a globalised world. This £50 million mega-project was funded by UKaid through the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID), currently renamed Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The project was implemented by a consortium of three international agencies (Cambridge Education, Open University UK and BBC Media Action) and two Bangladeshi NGOs (Non-Government Organisations: Under-privileged Children’s Education Programme, and Friends in Village Development in Bangladesh). EIA aimed to ‘change the economic future of millions of Bangladeshis by helping them develop English language proficiency’ (Hamid & Jahan, , p. 552). Thus, while EIA’s goals of contributing to Bangladeshi society and economy are explicitly spelled out, not much is known about the underlying logics and the ideological forces that guided the implementation of the project in Bangladesh. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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N2 - The discourse of English Language Teaching (ELT) development aid for the Global South has undergone significant changes since its introduction in the post-WWII period. Specifically, in the contemporary context of globalisation, both the aim and operation of ELT aid exhibit the influence of neoliberalism. This article examines policy documents about the introduction and implementation of a UKaid-funded development project in Bangladesh called English in Action to understand the forces and ideologies which guided the donor and project implementers to subscribe to instrumentalist discourses in relation to ELT as development aid. Drawing on decolonial perspectives, notably, the idea of ‘geopolitics of knowledge’, the article contributes to our understanding of the politics of the neoliberal discourses of English constructed through contemporary ELT development aid projects by illustrating how such discourses of English and development may hide coloniality through the promotion of Euro-centric epistemological approaches as a universal solution to global problems.

AB - The discourse of English Language Teaching (ELT) development aid for the Global South has undergone significant changes since its introduction in the post-WWII period. Specifically, in the contemporary context of globalisation, both the aim and operation of ELT aid exhibit the influence of neoliberalism. This article examines policy documents about the introduction and implementation of a UKaid-funded development project in Bangladesh called English in Action to understand the forces and ideologies which guided the donor and project implementers to subscribe to instrumentalist discourses in relation to ELT as development aid. Drawing on decolonial perspectives, notably, the idea of ‘geopolitics of knowledge’, the article contributes to our understanding of the politics of the neoliberal discourses of English constructed through contemporary ELT development aid projects by illustrating how such discourses of English and development may hide coloniality through the promotion of Euro-centric epistemological approaches as a universal solution to global problems.

KW - Bangladesh

KW - discourse

KW - ELT development aid

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KW - human capital development

KW - neoliberalism

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SN - 1474-774X

VL - 20

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JO - Globalizations

JF - Globalizations

IS - 7

ER -

Construction of English language skills as human capital and ELT as development aid in Bangladesh

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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