This paper looks at interpersonal interaction in rural development pro-grams in Tanzania. It argues that foreign development organisations play a significant part in reinforcing the linguistic hegemony of English. Tanzania is one of the few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in which an African language, Swahili, is spoken by more than 90% of the population as a first or second language. At the same time, Tanzania as a nation is heavily dependent on foreign aid, with projects and programs constituting a major economic factor. Prevailing practises of aid delivery mean that Tanzanian aid workers face the burden of translating, mediating and producing much of the needed communication in a foreign language. The majority of the population faces a language barrier when accessing information on social development in their country. The bias towards English inhibits upward accountability as well as the dissemination of information and technology.