Abstract:
Through an examination of three different contexts and aspects of language in development programs - the particular needs of Lao PDR as it seeks greater integration with South East Asia and the global economy; the struggles over language policy and education in East Timor, with its new mixture of economic and political dependence and independence; and the relationship between local and external participants in a development project in Cambodia – this paper highlights several issues of concern for language in development programs. We argue that while countries such as Lao PDR seem to have little choice in engaging in widespread English education, there are several concerns that emerge from the contexts of East Timor and Cambodia: Local participation is disallowed both in the classroom and in program development by the discursive context of development. And by viewing their central concern as language development rather than language in development, such programs have frequently failed to confront the contexts in which they operate. Put together, these three contexts suggest that language development can only become language in development when it faces up to these broad political and discursive concerns.
