Neoliberal Discourse in Language Education
Summary
Neoliberal discourse in language education frames linguistic competence as individual human capital and language learning as market investment. Curricula are increasingly designed to cultivate competitive, self-entrepreneurial learners, whose worth is measured in economic returns and global mobility. English Medium Instruction (EMI) has come to symbolise access to international knowledge economies, while public institutions adopt managerial models that prioritise accountability, performance metrics and revenue generation. This marketisation of language pedagogy reshapes teacher roles, emphasising efficiency and measurable outcomes over critical engagement. At the same time, learners negotiate new subjectivities as self-governing actors, navigating aspirations for upward mobility alongside the pressures of performativity. Globally, these dynamics reinforce linguistic hierarchies and reshape power relations in education, yet also open spaces for critical reflection and pedagogical contestation.
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Neoliberal Discourse in Language Education publication trend
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Technical terms
Neoliberalism: An ideology privileging market principles, privatisation and individual entrepreneurialism in public policy.
English Medium Instruction (EMI): The use of English to teach subject content in contexts where it is not the students’ first language.
Self-entrepreneurial subjectivity: The construction of individuals as self-managing, market-oriented agents responsible for their own success.
Critical discourse analysis: A methodological approach examining how language reflects and sustains power relations in society.
References
- University autonomy is a predictor of English medium instruction in European higher education. Higher Education (2024).
- Constructing the 'New Worker-Self': Discursive Strategies in 'English Works!' Program brochures within the Pakistani Education System. Linguistics and Education (2024).
- Privileged discourses, teacher agency and alternative subjectivities: Analyzing Janus-faced character of English language pedagogy. Learning Culture and Social Interaction (2023).
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