Standardizing subjectivities: extensions within the field of international education.
Date
2011-08-31
Authors
Pullman, Ashley
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Abstract
The difficulties non-native-English-speaking students encounter within the field of international education was explored though ethnographic research I conducted on a private Australian accounting college in China. This institute functions within a system and structure of education that has been designed elsewhere – generally for a native-English-speaking learner – under practices of standardization rather than specificity of context. Conflict experienced within everyday practices surrounding discourses of linguistic competences are uprooted to reveal how non-native-English-speaking students are positioned within this field. This positioning requires individuals to follow and recognize a system of learning, acceptable forms of knowledge, and a privileged way of communicating. When previously formed subject positions are individually and/or institutionally deemed in contradiction with this field, conflict within everyday practices arises. While counter-discourses were found within the use of native-languages, they were primarily negatively sanctioned within educational practices leading to further forms of standardization.
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Keywords
Sociology of Education, International Education, China, Extended Case Method