The British Council United Kingdom Workshop on Language and Development 4. Education Policies and Nation Building Much British research on language and development has been concerned with language policies and the use of language, through education, for creating a sense of national identity. This is hardly surprising, given that the newly independent governments sought to use a national or an official language to bring about social cohesion within countries of diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. This has often had disastrous consequences in terms of development at the grass roots level.
Most governments face a tension.
They must be recognised by donor agencies, given the impact of globalisation on economic developments, the media, supranational political decision making and the access to knowledge. The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Registered in England as a Charity.