The impact of neoliberalism on university language programs

This paper reports on research examining the influence of neoliberalism on language programs in universities through a case study of one language program. The corporatization of higher education exists within a neoliberal episteme that has led to a strong “narrative of international student as “cash”” (Stein & De Andreotti, 2016, p.232) with historical roots in Canadian policy at both the federal and provincial levels. They suggest that this narrative runs parallel to ongoing declines in government financial support for institutions of higher education, with the number of international students in Canada having more than tripled since 2000. In order to maintain a state of ongoing and increasing internationalization, ‘market concerns’ may be elevated above pedagogical considerations. Therefore, these programs and the teachers who work within them, are often marginalised and devalued. According to MacDonald (2016), language teaching in EAP (English for Academic Purposes) contexts is typically framed as remedial – merely a means of satisfying academic entrance requirements therefore leading to instability experienced by language teachers. Teachers of English as an additional language (EAL) are increasingly contracted rather than salaried workers, subject to ongoing job insecurity and underemployment, and thus vulnerable to the whims of both students and the administration who stand in judgement of their professional worth (Bernstein et. al., 2015). The professional status of EAL teachers in these contexts reflects larger, global trends in employment influenced by neoliberalism and globalization. Standing (2014), writing on labour economics, terms this phenomenon as the emergence of a “precariat”. He argues that this class is defined by insecurity in relations of production and distribution through ‘flexible’ work with few benefits, and corresponding instability in their occupational identity, as they have to undertake work for they are not compensated as a means of ‘marketing’ themselves, such as constant re-training, networking and professional development.