Economisation of the Secondary English Curriculum in Bangladesh

Economisation or the alignment between education policy/practices and employment has emerged as a dominant trend in education in the globalised world. This employment orientation in education has come to shape English language teaching (ELT) policies and curricula in developing societies, emphasising the need for preparing students as skilled human resources so they can participate in the economy and contribute to national development. Taking Bangladesh as a case, this chapter unpacks sssthe forces and identifies key discourses which have contributed to the economisation of the Bangladesh secondary English curriculum. In doing so, we utilise the country’s public policy, education policy and the secondary curriculum documents as our data sources. The documents are analysed utilising a critical discourse analysis framework. Our analysis of the policy texts/documents indicates that economisation of the secondary English curriculum is embedded in the broader political economic context of the country, which has been shaped by two key forces, namely globalisation and neoliberalism. The chapter contributes to our understanding of the discursive practices around economisation of ELT and English curricula in developing societies.