Foreign language education policies and the disparity between urban and rural compulsory english language education in China: the influence of neoliberalism

Abstract

This thesis reports findings from a critical ethnographic study that explored the perpetuating disparity between rural and urban English language education (ELE) under neoliberalised education policies at China’s compulsory education stage. Research on the impact of neoliberalism reveals that the instrumentalisation, commodification, and marketisation of education contribute to inequality, stratification, and marginalisation. While existing studies on ELE and neoliberalism focus on overarching transformations in educational philosophies and policies, limited research explores the day-to-day teaching and learning practices, particularly in the context of China, where few studies have examined the rural-urban disparity in compulsory English language education.

Grounded in neo-Marxist critical theory, the study integrated critical ethnography with critical discourse analysis (CDA) and thematic analysis. The exploration began with a deconstructive interpretation of Chinese compulsory English language education policies through CDA. Subsequently, a six-month critical linguistic ethnography was conducted in both rural and urban schools to investigate daily teaching and learning practices under neoliberalised policies. Ethnographic observations of English language teaching and learning, along with interviews with students, classroom teachers, and head teachers, provided rich data for thematic analysis.

The CDA of policies reveals the pervasive impact of neoliberalism on policy formulation, highlighting how neoliberalism functions as the dominant ideology, constructing distinct subjectivities for stakeholders in their understanding of ELE over time. The thematic analysis of ethnographic data illustrates the process through which rural and urban stakeholders aligned themselves in ELE practices, revealing that neoliberalised ELE contributed to the international development of urban students while perpetuating the enduring marginalisation of their rural counterparts. Teachers were identified as subjectified trainers, reinforcing the stratification of students. The research argued that these disparities were rooted in neoliberal requirements for national development in contemporary China, indicating that neoliberalised policies (re)produce and perpetuate inequalities through the lens of nationalism within ELE policies and practices.

This research not only fills a gap in the study of policies and practices under neoliberalism in rural and urban contexts of China but also uncovers a new manifestation of neoliberalism in relation to nationalism. The implications suggest the need for policy and curriculum adjustments and the potential development of critical pedagogy and intercultural citizenship to foster individual and collective agency, emancipate stakeholders, and resist the stubborn inequality entrenched by neoliberalised structures.