'Weep for Chinese university': A case study of English hegemony and academic capitalism in higher education in Hong Kong

'Weep for Chinese university': A case study of English hegemony and academic capitalism in higher education in Hong Kong

• Choi, Po King Dept of Educational Administration and Policy, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Journal of Education Policy, 25(2), 233-252, 2010

Routledge

2010

• F Learning & Teaching
  • FE Medium of Instruction, Language of Teaching, Bi-& Multilingual Education, Problems of Bilingualism, Code-mixing & Code-switching
• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RE School Management, School-Parents Relationship

University Education English Hegemony Academic Capitalism Managerialism Values Teaching Medium

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

In the spring of 2005, students and alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong staged an adamant protest against University directives which they perceived would result in a significant increase in the number of courses taught in English. They denounced the administration of selling out on the founding mission of the University, for which, as stated in its Ordinance, the principal medium of teaching would be Chinese. The University, on the other hand, defended its policy in the name of 'internationalization' and the need to stay ahead in the midst of severe competition at home and abroad. This paper examines this language controversy against the wider context of English hegemony and the rise of academic capitalism, two forces which are inextricably linked for the non-Western societies in a post-colonial era. I will try to show that the controversy was ultimately a struggle over the meaning of university education, between what I would call the instrumentalists and the humanists in this age of globalization. I end the paper with a pessimistic note, saying that it is the former who have gained an upper hand, and that the scope and parameters of the language debate are heavily restricted.
[Copyright of Journal of Education Policy is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02680930903443886]

• English

Journal Articles

• 02680939

• 10.1080/02680930903443886

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/f25ba0c8

2010-12-24