Problematising Students' Agency in the Internationalisation of Higher Education

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  • Author(s): Dylan G. Williams (ORCID Dylan G. Williams (ORCID 0000-0002-8995-1579)
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Critical Studies in Education. 2023 64(5):448-463.
  • Publication Date:
    2023
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Evaluative
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      16
    • Education Level:
      Higher Education
      Postsecondary Education
    • Subject Terms:
      Personal Autonomy; Global Approach; Higher Education; Foreign Countries; Undergraduate Students; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Student Experience; Second Language Instruction; Educational Policy; Language Attitudes; Power Structure
    • Subject Terms:
      South Korea
    • Accession Number:
      10.1080/17508487.2023.2171451
    • ISSN:
      1750-8487
      1750-8495
    • Abstract:
      From a critical ecological linguistic perspective, this paper argues that South Korean English-language-policies are constraining students' agency. Since the millennium, as a legacy of neoliberalism universities of non-English-first-language contexts have implemented EMI (English-Medium Instruction) courses top-down to further internationalise. Faced with a declining birth rate, South Korea has been no exception to this trend; nevertheless, this "dominant policy path" has disregarded the linguistic challenges of students. These challenges are exacerbated by recent changes made to the English section of the University entrance examination which constrain students' linguistic capital. Gidden's "Structuration Theory" and Bourdieu's notion of "habitus" are used to problematise South Korean university students' agency within their structured-English-learning ecologies. In analysis, I use a constructivist approach enabling a theory of "Situated Linguistic Capital" to emerge. This theory conceptualises a dynamic between "trust" and "linguistic capital" which has been "shaped" by the past and which "affects" future affordances. Accounts of English educational experiences, collected from ten South Korean university students, are used to exemplify the theory. I conclude by arguing that conducting a needs analysis with students and EMI content instructors, to understand existing power relations, will encourage moves towards bottom-up, socially just directions in future South Korean English-language-policies.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2023
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1404462