The brief report describes an exploratory investigation into changes to three university EFL teachers' teaching practices in a research-intensive university framed by managerialist technologies to improve its visibility and global ranking. The findings revealed that substantial changes have been brought about to their teaching practices in terms…

This paper investigates the conditions under which stakeholders in the higher education system in multilingual Switzerland link expectations of students' future economic to the development of human capital. Drawing on ethnographic data collected in a project focusing on mobile students crossing linguistic borders within Switzerland, I examine how…

When China liberalised its economy and opened up to the (Western) world, it actively promoted the English language at schools and universities on a massive scale. This learn-English movement, riding on the back of English as the dominant international language, has powered English into China's education reforms. We outline the movement and discuss…

European universities have, since the late 1990s, undergone dramatic changes centred on internationalisation, harmonisation and competition. This paper is concerned with two specific consequences of these changes and their interrelationship: rankings and Englishisation, the latter defined as an increase in the use of English at universities of…

A considerable number of studies have investigated students' learning in class and outside of class across subjects such as English, mathematics, and physical education in China and other countries. Scholars have found that students' activities in class and outside of class are closely related to their learning outcomes, self-regulated learning…

In Asia, we are witnessing an era where the pendulum of power is swaying towards the East with the rising economic strength of China and India. Singapore is at the "crossroads" between the East and West of these most populous nations on earth. Although Singapore may appear the most Westernised country in Asia, she is nevertheless a…

The English language curriculum (ELC) in China has undergone numerous changes since its modernisation movement in the late 1970s. The recent English language syllabus (2001) marks a new direction by incorporating "emotion and attitude" as one of the ELC's key domains. The implication is that the deep-rooted principle of learning a…