Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
ELT education, as a commodity, takes many forms in countries all over the world. This book questions how the benefits of international English language education projects are distributed. The critical issues of language rights and linguistic diversity are pivotal in the book’s examination of domination and subordination in international language education projects. The author’s description of the role and teaching of English is based on her experience of working in ELT aid and development and fee-based projects, and through it she unmasks the interests and intentions of aid and fee-based language education projects. The two case studies that form the basis of this book recount a version of ELT marketing and project implementation that will resonate with experiences of aid recipients and university-led private sector fee-payers in many different ELT contexts.
From 'green revolutions' to 'free-market' reforms, the history of international development schemes has been marked by dubious goals and failed potential, most consistently through the privileging of donor interests over local needs and conditions. Widin’s insightful study of two off-shore English language education projects suggests that little has changed as universities and governments in English-dominant countries exploit this growing commodity through the provision and monopolisation of field expertise. Theoretically engaging and richly detailed, Widin’s provocative book is a must-read for all language professionals, and indeed all of us wary of the internationalisation bandwagon now current in education.
Brian Morgan, Glendon College/York University, Canada
Jacqueline Widin has extensive experience and expertise in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and in teaching and research of tertiary-led pre- and in-service teacher training programs in Australia and in countries outside of Australia. She has a particular interest in the relationship between language and human rights and the sociopolitical dynamics of the English language teaching field. She is currently a senior lecturer with the University of Technology Sydney and manages the TESOL and Linguistics Education programs.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contents | v | ||
| List of Figures and Table | vii | ||
| Acknowledgements | ix | ||
| 1 Setting the Scene: The International Context of English Language Education | 1 | ||
| The Sites | 5 | ||
| Australian Universities and the Project Field | 7 | ||
| The Internationalisation of English | 12 | ||
| The First Language: Endangered in the Project | 19 | ||
| Projectisation of ELT | 21 | ||
| Practices in the Field | 23 | ||
| Cultural Practices | 24 | ||
| Summary of the Book | 26 | ||
| 2 Naming the Game: Positions and Interest in the IELEP Field | 29 | ||
| Project 1: Laos | 30 | ||
| Project 2: The Fee-Based Project in Japan | 31 | ||
| The Positions of English | 31 | ||
| Bourdieu’s Explanatory Tools | 32 | ||
| Mapping the Fields | 40 | ||
| Level 1: Analysis of the Position of the IELEP Field vis-à-vis the Meta-field of Power | 40 | ||
| Level 2: The Map of Relations between the Agents in the Field | 51 | ||
| Level 3: Habitus in the Field of the IELEPs | 62 | ||
| 3 Struggles in the Game of the IELEP | 66 | ||
| Struggle to Win: Project Tenders, Bids and Proposals | 67 | ||
| Struggle over Resources in the Field: Forms of Capital and Exchange Rates | 71 | ||
| Struggles over Cultural Capital in Project 2 | 72 | ||
| Constraints in the Field | 78 | ||
| Notions of Success and/or Failure | 79 | ||
| 4 Practices in the Project Field: ELT and Project Work | 91 | ||
| Construct of Project in the ELT Field | 92 | ||
| Discontent with the Project | 99 | ||
| Distrust of Host-Country Experts | 105 | ||
| The ELT Project: Teaching and Learning Practices | 106 | ||
| Conflict within the Australian Teams | 123 | ||
| 5 Talk in the Field: The ‘English Only’ IELEP | 126 | ||
| Talking Up the Project: Project Documents | 127 | ||
| English as an International Language/Lingua Franca | 132 | ||
| Legitimate Voice: Who Is In Charge? | 152 | ||
| 6 Cultural Practices: The Project Field | 157 | ||
| A Personal Mis-construction of Culture | 157 | ||
| Introduction to Culture and Habitus | 158 | ||
| Constructions of ‘Culture’ in Project Work | 163 | ||
| 7 The IELEP: An Illegitimate Field | 185 | ||
| Bourdieu and the Story of the IELEP Field | 186 | ||
| The ‘English Only’ IELEP | 189 | ||
| The Legitimate ELT Field: A Possibility or Dream? | 194 | ||
| Appendix: Description of Participants | 196 | ||
| References | 199 | ||
| Index | 210 |