Abstract
As discourses of globalisation and the knowledge-based economy become increasingly influential in both policy-making and in public debates about education, employability and national competitiveness – the choice of language in the classroom takes on a strategic importance. The paper employs a critical realist Cultural Political Economy lens to explore the use of EMI at tertiary level in the East Asian context. The discussion builds on existing theoretical framings and on empirical research into the language-globalisation nexus, as well as on language-in-education policy and practice. By doing so, the paper seeks to develop a theoretical account of historically and spatially situated socio-political and socio-economic processes that have favoured the use of EMI in the region. The focus here is on the dialectical relationship between hegemonic imaginaries (semiosis) and material practices in relation to the value attached to particular linguistic resources, where value is understood in both economic and symbolic terms, and how this is often tied to neoliberalism and discourses of competiveness.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 375-391 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Comparative Education |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 12 Jul 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Special issue: English as a Medium of Instruction in Postcolonial contexts: issues of quality, equity and social justiceStructured keywords
- WUNeducation
- SoE Centre for Higher Education Transformations
- SoE Language Literacies and Education Network
Keywords
- English-medium instruction
- cultural political economy
- East Asia
- Globalisation
- Critical realism
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Profiles
-
Dr Matt A Kedzierski
- Language, Literacies and Education Network
- School of Education - Lecturer in Education (TESOL/Applied Linguistics)
- Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education
Person: Academic , Member