Becoming “global” in higher education: positioning and agency in young people’s language biographies
Becoming “global” in higher education: positioning and agency in young people’s language biographies
This article focuses on the discursive construction of a “global persona” made by undergraduates ending an internationalised degree. By means of two case studies, we analyse their positioning regarding the university’s diverse definitions of “globality” and “global personae” as they emerge in institutional webpages. We look into how students’ (mis)alignments with those definitions are shaped by academic expectations and choices, and the material conditions they enjoy. Multilingualism plays an important role in these definitions, along with features assigned to neoliberal subjectivities. Results indicate that there are many ways of “being global.” While one of the participants orientates herself towards a “global persona” as internationally mobile, the other aspires to remain locally while being able to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. Results may prove useful in informing internationalised universities and degrees in Europe in terms of images projected to prospective students and how internationalisation is experienced by undergraduates.
Catalan education system, discursive positioning, global persona, higher education, subjectivity
Patino-Santos, Adriana
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Trenchs-Parera, Mireia
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Pastena, Andreana
7ba851f7-9348-4359-98c7-afb46b0a5db7
13 March 2024
Patino-Santos, Adriana
6a3c90b1-c110-4c9e-8991-afb409e76ef7
Trenchs-Parera, Mireia
a986627d-bf80-49aa-896b-a18a29442b35
Pastena, Andreana
7ba851f7-9348-4359-98c7-afb46b0a5db7
Patino-Santos, Adriana, Trenchs-Parera, Mireia and Pastena, Andreana
(2024)
Becoming “global” in higher education: positioning and agency in young people’s language biographies.
Journal of Language, Identity, and Education.
(doi:10.1080/15348458.2024.2325128).
Abstract
This article focuses on the discursive construction of a “global persona” made by undergraduates ending an internationalised degree. By means of two case studies, we analyse their positioning regarding the university’s diverse definitions of “globality” and “global personae” as they emerge in institutional webpages. We look into how students’ (mis)alignments with those definitions are shaped by academic expectations and choices, and the material conditions they enjoy. Multilingualism plays an important role in these definitions, along with features assigned to neoliberal subjectivities. Results indicate that there are many ways of “being global.” While one of the participants orientates herself towards a “global persona” as internationally mobile, the other aspires to remain locally while being able to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. Results may prove useful in informing internationalised universities and degrees in Europe in terms of images projected to prospective students and how internationalisation is experienced by undergraduates.
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Becoming Global in Higher Education Positioning and Agency in Young People s Language Biographies
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e-pub ahead of print date: 13 March 2024
Published date: 13 March 2024
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© 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Keywords:
Catalan education system, discursive positioning, global persona, higher education, subjectivity
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Local EPrints ID: 488062
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/488062
ISSN: 1534-8458
PURE UUID: aea0749a-e83e-4abb-ae38-77de1673265c
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Date deposited: 14 Mar 2024 17:38
Last modified: 02 May 2024 01:44
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Author:
Mireia Trenchs-Parera
Author:
Andreana Pastena
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