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Challenging Dominant Epistemologies in Higher Education: The Role of Language in the Geopolitics of Knowledge (Re)Production

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Part of the book series: Multilingual Education Yearbook ((MEYB))

Abstract

The unprecedented rise in multilingual, heterogeneous, so called ‘super-diverse’ societies around the world has been met by an equally unprecedented rise in dominant monolingual ethos, practices and ideologies. This is particularly evident in the current Anglophonic/Eurocentric domination of the knowledge economy which characterises internationalisation of higher education worldwide. Indeed, the current higher education landscape is characterised by a strong ‘Anglophone asymmetry’ in which four English-speaking countries (the US, UK, Australia and Canada) are destination to over 50% of the students studying abroad. While universities in these countries market their campuses’ population diversity as a key point of attraction, they turn a blind eye to their linguistic diversity when it comes to engagement with scholarly discourses (e.g., academic writing) and different ways of knowing (e.g., canon of research and research methodologies). Against this backdrop, research challenging the current hegemonic, epistemologically imbalanced, monolingualising ideologies in higher education around the world is gaining momentum. In this chapter, I critically review this emerging body of research to articulate the ways in which a focus on language and language policies may illuminate different understandings of internationalisation processes and enable us to consider potential reconfigurations of epistemologies. While several examples pertain to the Australian higher education context, these may be easily transposed to cognate contexts around the world. I conclude by posing a number of questions that point to the ongoing struggle we face in the process of pluralising linguistic and epistemological practices in higher education.

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  1. School of Languages and Cultures, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Adriana Díaz

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  1. School of Education, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia

    Indika Liyanage

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Díaz, A. (2018). Challenging Dominant Epistemologies in Higher Education: The Role of Language in the Geopolitics of Knowledge (Re)Production. In: Liyanage, I. (eds) Multilingual Education Yearbook 2018. Multilingual Education Yearbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77655-2_2

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