Issues of ideology in English language education worldwide: an overview

The relatively limited consideration of ideology in mainstream theory and research of teaching the English language to speakers of other languages has arguably prevented the problematization of many taken-for-granted perceptions and practices of the field. In this article I attempt to bring part of this marginalized body of scholarship on issues of ideology in the area of English language teaching (ELT) to highlight its potential insights for the field. The article sets out from a view of ideology as the most fundamental beliefs in any social practice, which may provide a less-formidable conception of the term and lessen the divergence among the minority of ELT researchers and professionals that do concern themselves with ideology. Then, after a brief sketch of the notion of ideology of language (education), I present an overview of aspects of this marginal but vibrant stream of thought on issues of ideology in ELT worldwide. Overall, the discussion is aimed to act as a call for the further understanding and embracement of sociopolitically-sensitive and ideologically-informed approaches to ELT theory, research, and practice

National Sovereignty versus Moral Sovereignty: The Case of The Australian Reporting of Taiwan

By a case study of the major national paper The Australian, this article analyses the Australian mainstream print media reporting on the tension between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. The article argues that in the international context of human rights and democracy discourse and “humanitarian intervention” after the end of the Cold War, there has been a shift of emphasis in international politics from the old discourse of realism of national sovereignty to a new discourse of moral sovereignty of human rights and democracy. The findings of the research demonstrate that within this context of discourse shift, the Australian media is caught between the two discourses. On the one hand the media defends Taiwan’s strife for Taiwanese identity and even independence because of Australia’s political and cultural values of human rights and democracy. On the other hand the Australian media is sensitive to Australia’s geopolitical position in Asia. Therefore, the media is sympathetic with Taiwan in terms of moral sovereignty. However, the media, by reflecting the Australian government’s position, does not go all the way to denounce China’s claim of national sovereignty over Taiwan