REVISITING IDEOLOGIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26618/yjbmj818
Curriculum, English Language Teaching, Higher Education, Ideology
Abstract
English language teaching (ELT) in higher education is increasingly shaped by global and ideological changes, particularly neoliberalism, standard language ideology, and the dominance of English in academic contexts. A review of studies published between 2015 and 2025 further shows that these concerns have gained significant prominence. This article draws on a systematic review of 47 Scopus-indexed publications. The data were analyzed using thematic synthesis to trace patterns, variations, and emerging trends, while VOSviewer was employed to visualize relationships among keywords, authors, and major research topics, allowing broader mapping of ideological orientations within ELT. The result shows that curriculum design, language policy, textbooks, and teaching materials remain key sites where ideology is reproduced. Classroom interaction and institutional practices also contribute to the reproduction of ideology, although less prominently than curriculum and teaching materials. Neoliberalism, standard language ideology, and internationalization appear as dominant orientations, whereas perspectives such as linguistic pluralism, translanguaging, and social justice function more as counter-discourses. Methodologically, most studies rely on qualitative approaches, particularly interviews, ethnography, case studies, and CDA. Other approaches, including mixed methods and frameworks like Systemic Functional Linguistics or autoethnography, are less frequently applied and tend to address more specific concerns. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of developing English teaching practices that are more inclusive and responsive to student diversity, through the application of linguistic pluralism and translanguaging. In addition, these results encourage critical studies that integrate micro (classroom interaction) and macro (policy and curriculum) analyses to understand ideological dynamics in higher education more holistically.
References
Adhikari, B. R., & Poudel, P. P. (2024). Countering English-prioritised monolingual ideologies in content assessment through translanguaging practices in higher education. Language and Education, 38(2), 155–172. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2023.2217804
Al Muqarshi, A., Al Adawi, S. S., & Al Bahlani, S. M. (2024). English as a medium of instruction and intellectual capital creation in Omani higher education: Unravelling the dilemma. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 25(1), 119–142. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-10-2022-0192
Alharbi, M. A., & Alqefari, A. N. (2023). Attitudinal stance toward translanguaging in Saudi Arabia: A mixed method case study. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 33(1), 47–65. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12448
Ali, Md. M., Hamid, M. O., & Hardy, I. (2023). Construction of English language skills as human capital and ELT as development aid in Bangladesh. Globalizations, 20(7), 1163–1179. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2023.2171619
Al-Issa, A. (2015). Making a Case for New Directions in English Language Teaching Research at an Omani University: A Critical Qualitative Content Analysis Report. The Qualitative Report. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2131
Annisah, A., Sholihin, S., & Waliyudin, W. (2023). Analysis of the Quality of Teachers’ Beliefs in English Language Teaching and Its Implementation in the Independent Curriculum. SELTICS, 6(2), 130–138. https://doi.org/10.46918/seltics.v6i2.2045
Araos, F. (2018). Navegando en aguas abiertas: Tensiones y agentes en la conservación marina en la Patagonia chilena. Revista de Estudios Sociales, (64), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.7440/res64.2018.03
Aryawati, N. P. A., Triyuwono, I., Roekhudin, R., & Mardiati, E. (2024). Bibliometric analysis on Scopus database related internal control in university: A mapping landscape. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2422566. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2422566
Banister, C. (2023). Decolonizing business English: Exploring classroom ideologies. ELT Journal, 77(2), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccac043
Barnawi, O. Z. (2022). Resisting and creating alternatives to neoliberalism in ELT: A case study of three transnational language teachers in Saudi Arabia. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 19(4), 377–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2022.2102015
Carvalho, S. D. C., & Schlatter, M. (2024). Shifting Away from Normative/Hegemonic Language Assessment in Graduate Programs in Brazil and Espousing a Social Justice Agenda: Insights from Assessment Practices with Indigenous and Deaf Students in Two Universities. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada, 24(1), e44875. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-6398202x44875
Chaweewan, T., & Boonsuk, Y. (2025). When English is no longer singular: Asian students’ journey to English plurality in Thai higher education. Language, Culture and Curriculum. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2025.2484734
Christiansen, M. S., Trejo Guzmán, N. P., & Mora-Pablo, I. (2018). You Know English, so Why Don’t You Teach?” Language Ideologies and Returnees Becoming English Language Teachers in Mexico. International Multilingual Research Journal, 12(2), 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2017.1401446
Cogo, A., Gimenez, T., Cabrini Calvo, L., & El Kadri, M. (2024). “English is the natural language of science”: Discourses and ideologies concerning EMI in two Brazilian universities. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 13(1), 51–72. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2024-2007
Dafouz, E. (2018). English-medium instruction and teacher education programmes in higher education: Ideological forces and imagined identities at work. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(5), 540–552. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1487926
De Costa, P. I., & Jou, Y.-S. (2016). Unpacking the Ideology of Cosmopolitanism in Language Education: Insights from Bakhtin and Systemic Functional Linguistics. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 13(2), 73–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2015.1132628
Gao, S. (2025). Language Ideologies of Racial Microaggression and Institutional Whiteness: Experiences of Chinese International Students in UK Higher Education. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 29(2), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12693
Gerday, L. (2019). What is ‘global’ in an ELT global coursebook?: A linguistic analysis of the New Headway Upper‑Intermediate Student’s Book. English Text Construction, 12(1), 59–83. https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00018.ger
Goldoni, F. (2023). Study abroad, human capital development, language commodification, and social inequalities. Applied Linguistics Review, 14(5), 1283–1304. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2020-0063
Hamid, M. O., & Ali, Md. M. (2023). Teaching English in the Muslim World against the Backdrop of 9/11 and Resurgent Nationalism: A Case Study of Bangladeshi ELT. TESOL Quarterly, 57(3), 830–858. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3241
Han, Y., & Dong, J. (2024). Reproducing inequality while celebrating diversity: An ethnographic study of international students’ EMI learning experiences in China. Current Issues in Language Planning, 25(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2023.2170622
Hatmanto, E. D., Pratolo, B. W., & Purwanti, E. (2023). Voices of English education department teachers on traces of neoliberal ideology in the ‘Kampus Merdeka’ concept. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 12(4), 1944. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v12i4.24694
Hillman, S., Graham, K. M., & Eslami, Z. R. (2021). EMI and the international branch campus: Examining language ideologies, policies, and practices. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 44(2), 229–252. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.20093.hil
Hiratsuka, T., Nall, M., & Castellano, J. (2024). Trans-speakerism: A trioethnographic exploration into diversity, equity, and inclusion in language education. Language and Education, 38(6), 1044–1060. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2023.2223565
Jenkins, J. (2020). Red Herrings and the Case of Language in UK Higher Education. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.35360/njes.577
Johnston, B. (2003). Values in English Language Teaching (0 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410606983
Karakaş, A., & Jenkins, J. (2022). Academic English Language Policies and Practices of English-Medium Instruction Universities in Turkey from Policy Actors’ Eyes. In Multilingual Education (Vol. 40, pp. 3–25). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88597-7_1
Karim, A., Islam, Md. S., Hamid, M. O., Rahman, M. M., & Amin, E. U. (2023). Language ideology, development of English proficiency, and performance in professional communication: Voices of STEM + business graduates of English medium university. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 8(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-023-00200-w
Khan, M. A., & Zaki, S. (2022). Corpus Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistan’s Language Education Policy Documents: What are the Existing Language Ideologies? Sage Open, 12(3), 21582440221121805. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221121805
Koshino, K. (2025). Between commodification and racial capital: An autoethnography exploring whiteness in higher education in Japan. Identities, 32(2), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2024.2398335
Kubota, R. (2022). An Introduction to Race and Native-Speakerism in ELT. JALT Journal, 44(2), 215–221. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTJJ44.2-1
Lenkaitis, C. A., & Loranc, B. (2021). Facilitating global citizenship development in lingua franca virtual exchanges. Language Teaching Research, 25(5), 711–728. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168819877371
Lim, D., & Park, E. S. (2024). Facts and Fictions of Native Speakerism: Local EFL Teachers’ Experiences and Viewpoints: English Teaching & Learning, 48(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-022-00128-3
Liu, H. (2020). Ideologies in College EFL Textbooks–A Content Analysis Based on Critical Pedagogy. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 11(6), 937. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1106.09
Liu, Y., May, S., & Zhang, L. J. (2024). The ideological underpinnings in university English textbooks in China: A critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics approach. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(10), 4448–4467. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2173208
Lo, A. W. T. (2025). A digital pedagogy for transculturing ELT through Global Englishes. ELT Journal, 79(3), 428–440. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaf011
Mason, S., & Hajek, J. (2020). Language Education and Language Ideologies in Australian Print Media. Applied Linguistics, 41(2), 215–233. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amy052
Metreveli, A. (2025). Neoliberal Discourse on the Webpages of English-Medium Vocational Education Schools and Coding Bootcamps in Sweden. Critical Education, 16(1), 49–67. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v16i2.186995
Miao, L. (2022). Intercultural foreign language teaching and learning in higher education contexts: Edited by Piotr Romanowski and Ewa Bandura, Hershey, PA, IGI Global, 2019, 323pp., $175.00 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9781522581284. Language and Intercultural Communication, 22(1), 100–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2022.2030951
Mirhosseini, S.-A. (2018). Issues of ideology in English language education worldwide: An overview. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 26(1), 19–33. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2017.1318415
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097
Moore, M. C. (2024). Westernization as Lingua Franca: Historical and Discursive Patterns of Hegemony in Global Higher Education [Doctoral, University of North Texas]. https://doi.org/10.12794/metadc2332627
Muhalim, M. (2023). Neoliberal ideology, faith-based higher education institutions, and English in Indonesia: Negotiating English teachers’ ideological formation. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 21(3), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2033614
Pennycook, A. (2017). The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language (C. N. Candlin, Ed.; 1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315225593
Phillipson, R. (2017). Myths and realities of ‘global’ English. Language Policy, 16(3), 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-016-9409-z
Rahman, M. M., Islam, Md. S., Karim, A., Singh, M. K. M., & Hu, G. (2025). Ideologies of teachers and students towards meso-level English-medium instruction policy and translanguaging in the STEM classroom at a Malaysian university. Applied Linguistics Review, 16(2), 825–848. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2023-0040
Rahman, M. M., & Singh, M. K. M. (2022). The Ideology Towards English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) Adoption in Higher Education in Malaysia: A Case Study. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 28(2), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2022-2802-08
Rind, I. A., & Kadiwal, L. (2016). Analysing institutional influences on teaching–learning practices of English as second language programme in a Pakistani university. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1160606. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1160606
Samuell, C. (2024). Native speakerism and the Japanese ideal of English language teaching: Globalisation, ideology, and practice. Language and Intercultural Communication, 24(2), 90–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2023.2248962
Sekaja, L., Adams, B. G., & Yağmur, K. (2022). Raciolinguistic ideologies as experienced by racialized academics in South Africa. International Journal of Educational Research, 116, 102092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2022.102092
Shahid Beheshti University, Nushi, M., & Aghaei, A. (2024). Intercultural Representation in ELT Textbooks: The Case of Touchstone Series. Mextesol Journal, 48(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.61871/mj.v48n1-9
Suresh Canagarajah, S. (2025). Diversifying “English” at the Decolonial Turn. TESOL Quarterly, 59(1), 378–389. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3306
Tarrayo, V. N., Potestades, R. R., & Ulla, M. B. (2021). Exploring the Gender Perspective in English Language Teaching (ELT): Voices from ELT Practitioners in Philippine Higher Education Institutions. Sexuality & Culture, 25(5), 1634–1652. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09840-x
Tollefson, J. W. (2007). Ideology, Language Varieties, and ELT. In J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds.), International Handbook of English Language Teaching (pp. 25–36). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-46301-8_3
Tupas, R., & Tabiola, H. (2017). Language policy and development aid_ a critical analysis of an ELT project. Current Issues in Language Planning, 18(4), 407–421. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2017.1351329
Uzuner-Smith, S., & Englander, K. (2015). Exposing ideology within university policies: A critical discourse analysis of faculty hiring, promotion and remuneration practices. Journal of Education Policy, 30(1), 62–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2014.895853
Warriner, D. S. (2016). ‘Here, without English, you are dead’: Ideologies of language and discourses of neoliberalism in adult English language learning. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(5), 495–508. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1071827
Wei, L., & García, O. (2022). Not a First Language but One Repertoire: Translanguaging as a Decolonizing Project. RELC Journal, 53(2), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221092841
Widodo, H. P., Perfecto, M. R., Van Canh, L., & Buripakdi, A. (2018). Re-contextualizing ELT Materials: The Case of Southeast Asia (SEA). In H. P. Widodo, M. R. Perfecto, L. Van Canh, & A. Buripakdi (Eds.), Situating Moral and Cultural Values in ELT Materials (Vol. 9, pp. 175–188). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63677-1_10
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
In order to assure the highest standards for published articles, a peer review policy is applied. In pursue of the compliance with academic standards, all parties involved in the publishing process (the authors, the editors and the editorial board and the reviewers) agree to meet the responsibilities stated below in accordance to the Journal publication ethics and malpractice statement.
Duties of Authors:
- The author(s) warrant that the submitted article is an original work, which has not been previously published, and that they have obtained an agreement from any co-author(s) prior to the manuscript’s submission;
- The author(s) should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal;
- The authors(s) make certain that the manuscript meets the terms of the Manuscript Submission Guideline regarding appropriate academic citation and that no copyright infringement occurs;
- The authors(s) should inform the editors about any conflict of interests and report any errors they subsequently, discover in their manuscript.
Duties of Editors and the Editorial Board:
- The editors, together with the editorial board, are responsible for deciding upon the publication or rejection of the submitted manuscripts based only on their originality, significance, and relevance to the domains of the journal;
- The editors evaluate the manuscripts compliance with academic criteria, the domains of the journal and the guidelines;
- The editors must at all times respect the confidentiality of any information pertaining to the submitted manuscripts;
- The editors assign the review of each manuscript to two reviewers chosen according to their domains of expertise. The editors must take into account any conflict of interest reported by the authors and the reviewers.
- The editors must ensure that the comments and recommendations of the reviewers are sent to the author(s) in due time and that the manuscripts are returned to the editors, who take the final decision to publish them or not.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
