Education for Sale: The Identity Construction of `University’ and `Students’ in New Age University Prospectuses

Abstract

The commercialization of higher education is a global phenomenon that is catching up with Pakistani higher education institutions. Due to inculcation of marketing practices, the role allocation and social relationship between the university and the students are being defined using new parameters. Through the incorporation of Halliday’s (Introduction to functional grammar, 2nd edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1994) Systemic Functional Linguistics theory with Critical Discourse Analysis, the linguistic analysis of the introductory pages of prospectuses of Pakistani universities is undertaken to examine the assigned role and relationship of the two major parties, i.e., the ‘university’ and the ‘students.’ The results reveal that universities keep formal writing style and maintain an evident distance between the university and students. In general, the results show that marketization aspects are evident in the discourse of prospectuses through various advertisement practices; however, the university’s position as a powerful entity is ideologically strengthened through addressing students from an authoritative place.