Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Openness, Closedness and Institutional Change

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Effecting Change in English Language Teaching

  • 240 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter places institutional structures and practices under the proverbial microscope alongside the nature of professional vision and intellection. Recognizing that institutional change requires honest engagement with multiple forms of representation and semiosis, conceptualizations of openness and closedness to transformative change in the literature on education sociology and philosophy are duly examined. Using Castalia, the imaginary province of cloistered study in Hesse’s novel The Glass Bead Game, as a metaphor for intellectual closedness, the discussion addresses the belief that resistance to bona fide change initiatives are, in the main, a result of ideologically influenced forms of intransigence and institutional preservation. Such forms of closedness are in turn identifiable with the operations of power and oppression within educational domains in general, and language education in particular.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allwright, R. (2003). Exploratory practice: Rethinking practitioner research in language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 7, 113–141. https://doi.org/10.1191%2F1362168803lr118oa.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy. Public Culture, 2(2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-2-2-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, D., Churchill, E., Nishino, T., & Okada, H. (2007). Alignment and interaction in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 169–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00539.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, D. (2015). Becoming multilingual and being multilingual: Some thoughts. In J. Cenoz & D. Gorter (Eds.), Multilingual education: Between language learning and translanguaging (pp. 225–237). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, A. S. (2005). Reconstructing local knowledge, reconfiguring language studies. In A. S. Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice (pp. 3–24). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, A. S. (2006). TESOL at forty: What are the issues? TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 9–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, A. S. (2016). TESOL as a professional community: A half-century of pedagogy, research, and theory. TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 7–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching? The Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00986.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, R., & Usher, R. (2000). Globalisation and pedagogy: Space, place and identity. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05480.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1998). SLA property: No trespassing! Modern Language Journal, 82(1), 91–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb02598.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). New York: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gass, S. (1998). Apples and oranges: Or why apples are not oranges and don’t need to be: A response to Firth and Wagner. Modern Language Journal, 82(1), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb02597.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96(3), 606–633. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1994.96.3.02a00100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goosseff, K. A. (2014). Only narratives can reflect the experience of objectivity: Effective persuasion. Journal of Organization Change Management, 27(5), 703–709. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-09-2014-0167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, I. (1998). Cartels of the mind: Japan’s intellectual closed shop. New York and London: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hocking, D., & Toh, G. (2010). EAP writing: Reflections on divergent perceptions and expectations among tutors and students. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 20, 161–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, A. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, A. (2013). ‘Native speaker’ teachers and cultural belief. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-speakerism in foreign language education: Intergroup dynamics in Japan (pp. 17–28). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a lingua franca: Attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J. (2014). English as a lingua franca in the international university: The politics of academic English language policy. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J. (2015). Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a lingua franca. Englishes in Practice, 2(3), 49–85. https://doi.org/10.1515/eip-2015-0003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kachru, Y. (1994). Monolingual bias in SLA research. TESOL Quarterly, 28(4), 795–800. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Understanding language teaching: From method to postmethod. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen-Freeman, D. (1991). Second language acquisition research: Staking out the territory. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 315–350. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen-Freeman, D. (2002). Language acquisition and language use from a chaos/complexity theory perspective. In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp. 33–46). London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, A. M. Y. (2010). English and me: My language learning journey. In D. Nunan & J. Choi (Eds.), Language and culture: Reflective narratives and the emergence of identity (pp. 118–124). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, M. H. (1997). Construct validity in SLA research: A response to Firth and Wagner. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 318–323. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05487.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • May, S. (2014a). Introducing the “multilingual turn”. In S. May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education (pp. 1–6). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, S. (2014b). Disciplinary divides, knowledge construction and the multilingual turn. In S. May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education (pp. 7–31). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortega, L. (2014). Ways forward for a bi/multilingual turn in SLA. In S. May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education (pp. 32–53). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2007). Global Englishes and transcultural flows. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2010). Language as a local practice. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, M. (2012, June 6). Freedom, openness and creativity in the digital economy. Truthout. Retrieved from http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/9547-freedom-openness-and-creativity-in-the-digital-economy. Accessed on 4 November 2016.

  • Peters, M., & Roberts, P. (2012). The virtues of openness: Education, science, and scholarship in the digital age. Boulder: Paradigm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivers, D. J. (2013). Institutionalized native-speakerism: Voices of dissent and acts of resistance. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-speakerism in foreign language education: Intergroup dynamics in Japan (pp. 75–91). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, P. (2012). From west to east and back again: An educational reading of Hermann Hesse’s later work. Rotterdam: Sense.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Seargeant, P. (2009). The idea of English in Japan: Ideology and the evolution of a global language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sridhar, S. N. (1994). A reality check of SLA theories. TESOL Quarterly, 28(4), 800–805. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taniguchi, S. (2010). Transforming identities in and through narratives. In D. Nunan & J. Choi (Eds.), Language and culture: Reflective narratives and the emergence of identity (pp. 208–214). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toh, G. (2016a). English as medium of instruction in a Japanese situation: Presumption, mirage or bluff? London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toh, G. (2016b). Countering essentialist conceptualizations of content knowledge in a Japanese CLIL situation. LACLIL, 9(1), 212–237. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2016.9.1.9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toh, G. (2018). Anatomizing and extrapolating from ‘do not publish’ as oppression, silencing and denial. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 15, 258–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. (2010). The knowledge economy, language and culture. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Willis, D. B., & Rappleye, J. (2011). Reimagining Japanese education in the global conversation: Borders, transfers, circulations, and the comparative. In D. B. Willis & J. Rappleye (Eds.), Reimagining Japanese education: Borders, transfers, circulations, and the comparative (pp. 15–50). Oxford: Symposium.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zuengler, J., & Miller, E. R. (2006). Cognitive and sociocultural perspectives: Two parallel SLA worlds? TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 35–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Language and Communication Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Glenn Toh

Authors
  1. Glenn Toh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Toh, G. (2019). Openness, Closedness and Institutional Change. In: Effecting Change in English Language Teaching. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15261-1_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15261-1_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15260-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15261-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation