Higher Education's Language Problem: Navigating Multilingualism in Contemporary Universities - SRHE скачать в хорошем качестве

Higher Education's Language Problem: Navigating Multilingualism in Contemporary Universities - SRHE

This is the launch event for the Multilingual University Network, under the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). More details about the network: https://srhe.ac.uk/networks/multiling... On Higher Education's 'Language Problem': https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/... Overview The globalisation of higher education has elevated colonial languages, such as English, to the status of a global academic lingua franca. Today, universities collaborate and compete on a worldwide scale in the pursuit of knowledge production. In many contexts, English has emerged as the language of choice for those undertaking and offering university education, and, subsequently, has become not only a valuable commodity in the global economy, but also a language associated with reproducing and propagating particular epistemological stances and worldviews. The imposition – or uncritical adoption – of a particular language in an institution of higher education is far from a ‘neutral’ decision. Rather, it is a profoundly political and cultural dilemma for those compelled to learn it and use it for teaching and research. Its imposition can elicit sentiments of cultural erasure, occupation, and identity loss, and lead to linguistic and cultural displacements. Language, therefore, carries much more than communicative value. It creates mechanisms of symbolic power, and can act as a tool for symbolic violence. This brings to the fore what we refer to in this event’s title as Higher Education’s ‘Language Problem’ (see Bhatt, Badwan & Madiba 2022; and also Preece & Marshall 2020). Through three distinct provocations from our invited speakers, this event explores a range of critical perspectives and reflective accounts which link higher education research with inquiry into linguistic challenges, paradigmatic dilemmas, (de)colonial efforts, and epistemic (in)justice within the global multilingual university. Upon the feedback gained from this event, organisers will formulate the rationale for a new network within the SRHE, the ‘Multilingual University Network’, through which they will interrogate the presence and uses of languages within university settings. This network will encourage debates which critique language policies and practices in higher education institutions with a view to gaining a better understanding of what linguistic behaviours and structures support or threaten justice and growth for all. This network will therefore draw on colleagues’ expertise such as sociology, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and higher education. The combination of speakers and discussants transcend disciplines, fields of concern, and a single higher education context. The event aims to be a collaborative listening project that weaves together threads from multiple global contexts, differently troubled by the Language Problem, yet all trying to produce new lines of argument. Presentations 1. Professor Rui Yang (杨锐), Professor, Dean of Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. 2. Professor Othman Barnawi, Professor in Language and Education, Royal Commission for Yanbu Colleges and Institutes, Saudi Arabia. 3. Dr Iker Erdocia, Assistant Professor, Director of Research, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (SALIS), Dublin City University, Ireland. More details: https://srhe.ac.uk/civicrm/?civiwp=Ci...