The Neoliberal Structures of English in Japanese Higher Education: Applying Bernstein's Pedagogic Device

Autor/in	Smith, Michael D.
Titel	The Neoliberal Structures of English in Japanese Higher Education: Applying Bernstein's Pedagogic Device
Quelle	In: Current Issues in Language Planning, 24 (2023) 3, S.334-356 (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Smith, Michael D.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1466-4208
DOI	10.1080/14664208.2022.2102330
Schlagwörter	Neoliberalism; Higher Education; Educational Policy; Global Approach; Second Language Learning; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Human Capital; Language Proficiency; Middle Class; Sociolinguistics; Language Planning; Japan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Globales Denken; Zweitsprachenerwerb; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Ausland; Humankapital; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Mittelschicht; Soziolinguistik; Sprachwechsel
Abstract	As global neoliberalism continues to take root, States aim to produce linguistically-skilled human capital to gain an advantage within highly-competitive market conditions. With this relationship in view, English language proficiency constitutes a 'rational' educational pathway for national and personal-level success within an outwardly meritocratic knowledge economy. Yet, in Japan, as in many other locales, English has been accused of strengthening pre-existing power relations. Accordingly, this inquiry draws on Bernstein's "pedagogic device," to address the nested fields of "production," "recontextualisation," and "reproduction" shaping educational practice. Regarding "production," normative OECD discourses framing essential key competencies favour an epistemic hierarchy privileging the orthodoxy of free-market capitalism. Through unequal pedagogic reform, meanwhile, the "recontextualisation" of regulatory discourse limits valued forms of knowledge to learners attending prestigious mass-market institutions. This, in turn, holds implications for "reproduction." Through recognition and realisation, the classification and framing of English as a 'valid' knowledge privilege students from middle-class households. The appropriation of English as a 'rational' contact point for global communication, business, and finance thereby risks obfuscating the socio-economic order determining its practice. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	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
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01