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Sociological and Philosophical Perspectives on Education in the Asia-Pacific Region pp 147–164Cite as

Glocalisation of English Language Education: Comparison of Three Contexts in East Asia

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Part of the book series: Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects ((EDAP,volume 29))

Abstract

The world is going through significant social, economic, cultural and political changes, which increasingly connect people across geographical borders (Tobin 1999; Tollefson 2013a). Globalisation is the term to describe this ‘heightened form of time/space compression’ and the ‘inevitable’ competition among the territories and countries in the world (Maguire 2002, p. 262). Many governments set preparing the next generation for such changes as one of the main goals of education, as can be seen in China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010–2020) and the Europe 2020 Strategies. This is particularly the case for the countries and territories in East Asia which are considered to have already secured a degree of competitive edge over others, perhaps in an attempt to maintain their relative success. In these contexts, English language education (ELE) receives special attention because English is considered to be a ‘global’ and ‘true’ tool or a tool which is effective in securing international competitiveness (Kramsch 2014; Tollefson 2013b; Yim 2007).

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Acknowledgements

This research project was sponsored by a start-up grant for newly recruited academics provided by the Hong Kong Institute of Education [1-F341-31-R3495].

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  1. The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Tae-Hee Choi

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  1. The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Chi-Ming Lam

  2. Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Jae PARK

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Choi, TH. (2016). Glocalisation of English Language Education: Comparison of Three Contexts in East Asia. In: Lam, CM., PARK, J. (eds) Sociological and Philosophical Perspectives on Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 29. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-940-0_10

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