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learners’ aspirations. Such approaches have been explored in recent adult literacyeducation initiatives in several development contexts, including Bangladesh. Thearchitects of such programmes argue that by taking into account communityknowledge and practices, such initiatives are more effective in increasing people’saccess to resources, as they combine literacy teaching with the acquisition ofother relevant skills for community livelihoods (e.g. saving and credit, health andfamily planning) (Street, Rogers and Baker, 2006; Rogers, Hunter and Uddin, 2007).In line with recent approaches which conceive of development as freedom (cf.Sen, 2001), these initiatives aim to empower participants to be agents of theirown development. The research reported upon in this study explores how theseethnographic approaches used in literacy education might be adapted to thecontext of English language teaching in rural Bangladesh.Bangladesh (and particularly rural Bangladesh) does not as yet have the samemarketable skills as neighbouring India in terms of providing the labour forinternational industries like call centres. This has been attributed in part to thelack of English competence among its population (see, for example, Khan, 2010).As has been noted elsewhere, it is often rural communities who are in mostneed of development assistance, and are least likely to have skills in Englishand opportunities for economic development (cf. Graddol, 2010). Since the1990s there has been a renewed interest in the role of English in Bangladesh’seconomic development and several education initiatives have sought to improveEnglish learning across the country, for example the English Language TeachingImprovement Project (ELTIP), which ran from 1997 to 2008, and English inAction (EIA), which is scheduled to run from 2009-2017. The goal of EIA is ‘tosignificantly increase the number of people able to communicate in English tolevels that will enable them to participate fully in economic and social activitiesand opportunities’; it also aims to target rural communities (EIA, 2010). Baselinestudies conducted for the project found that 84 per cent of the participantssurveyed wished to learn the language, while 87 per cent believed it would helpthem earn more money (EIA, 2009; this study surveyed 8300 Bangladeshi abouttheir perceptions of learning English). Evidence of this sort gives a clear picture ofa strong general interest in English language education and a belief that Englishlanguage learning leads to economic development. However, at present littleis known about the purposes for which members of rural communities want tolearn the language or whether in fact improved skills in English will necessarilyprovide the imagined opportunities that the participants perceive for themselves.It is for this reason that the current research project investigated the perceivedneed for and attitudes towards English in rural communities, with the intentionbeing to evaluate the ways in which top-down development initiatives (such asEnglish in Action) are viewed in such contexts, and, if English language learningopportunities are to be provided, what sort of issues these projects need to takeinto consideration in order to best suit the requirements of such communities.The research explores the perceived need for and beliefs about English in tworural communities. Building up knowledge of the desires and aspirations of peoplein a rural development context provides insights into whether and how Englishlanguage education can best assist the most disadvantaged. Wedell (2008: 628)Attitudes English Bangladesh | 185