Standardizing Subjectivities: Extensions within the Field of International Education

The difficulties non-native-English-speaking students encounter within the field of international education was explored though ethnographic research I conducted on a private Australian accounting college in China. This institute functions within a system and structure of education that has been designed elsewhere -- generally for a native- English-speaking learner -- under practices of standardization rather than specificity of context. Conflict experienced within everyday practices surrounding discourses of linguistic competences are uprooted to reveal how non-native-English-speaking students are positioned within this field. This positioning requires individuals to follow and recognize a system of learning, acceptable forms of knowledge, and a privileged way of communicating. When previously formed subject positions are individually and/or institutionally deemed in contradiction with this field, conflict within everyday practices arises. While counter-discourses were found within the use of native-languages, they were primarily negatively sanctioned within educational practices leading to further forms of standardization.