Language in the Academy
Cultural Reflexivity and Intercultural Dynamics
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Channel View Publications Ltd
Published:1st Dec '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This insightful book, Language in the Academy, addresses the marginalisation of language issues in higher education amidst ongoing internationalisation.
The book Language in the Academy explores the often-overlooked issues of language within higher education, particularly in the context of increasing internationalisation. It delves into how the construction of rhetorical norms and values for academic writing is influenced by broader cultural practices and power dynamics. The author emphasizes the transformative potential of intercultural communication and its implications for academic discourse.
In Language in the Academy, a critical examination reveals why language issues are frequently marginalized despite the globalisation of universities. By analysing various intercultural encounters, the book uncovers the diverse interpretative possibilities that arise from these interactions. It also highlights the significant role that the interplay between Socratic and Confucian pedagogical traditions can have in reshaping pedagogical practices within higher education.
Another key focus of Language in the Academy is to position language as a subject of cultural theory, while remaining grounded in the practical realities of teaching and language use in academic settings. The author argues for the necessity of scrutinising the institutional connections between language and higher education, as well as critically examining the values embedded in the pedagogy and assessment of academic language. This comprehensive approach aims to foster a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding language in the academic world.
This is a stimulating and timely book which puts language as 'cultural object' at the heart of debates about the nature and purpose of higher education in the twenty first century. Drawing on extensive scholarship and many years of teaching in UK higher education, Joan Turner turns our gaze towards the taken-for-granted assumptions about language in the academy, not least in the contemporary context of ‘intercultural communication’, and calls for greater reflexivity about the practices in which we- as scholars, teachers and students- engage. This book will promote much needed discussion about assumptions and ideologies surrounding language use in the academy.
-- Theresa Lillis, The Open University, UKThis transformative treatment of the complex factors affecting language in higher education is an essential contribution to the growing field of intercultural and transnational communication. Resisting deficit discourses about students’ language and entrenched “language vs. content” dichotomies, it provokes critical reflection on the role of longstanding invisible occidental assumptions and worldviews about language that permeate our assessments, pedagogy, and teaching. Drawing brilliantly from both classic and contemporary theory, Turner reinscribes language into the complex process of knowledge-making in the daily intercultural exchanges that are the mainstream of today’s shifting university language interactions.
-- Christiane Donahue, Dartmouth College, USAGiven the rapid growth in numbers of South-East Asian students in universities in New Zealand, the examination of assumptions about university language which Turner’s book offers is very valuable. It is likely to be of interest to writing teachers and EAP practitioners as well as tertiary teachers of international students more generally. The book provides a fascinating discussion of the nature of modern academic language.
-- Christine Biebricher, The University of Auckland, New Zealand Studies * Applied Linguistics, Volume 18 (1) 20ISBN: 9781847693228
Dimensions: 210mm x 148mm x 18mm
Weight: 407g
232 pages