Examining the discourses of cross-cultural communication in transnational higher education: from imposition to transformation

Abstract

The expansion of transnational higher education programmes over the last decade has foregrounded the themes of internationalisation, cross-cultural learning and cooperation in international research, whilst also raising questions about the appropriateness of educational programmes originally tailored for very different contexts, about the nature of the teaching and learning experience and regarding the assurance of standards and quality across geographically, culturally and educationally remote contexts. This theoretical article addresses some of the most salient issues raised in recent transnational education scholarship, with a particular focus on cultural imperialism and the dynamics between the global and local, the ‘powerful’ and the ‘powerless’. Building on the socio-linguistic work of Fairclough, and linking this to Bourdieu’s social theory, the article suggests a way of conceptually re-examining the various power relationships between actors in the transnational higher education field, suggesting a way of reconciling the apparent oppositions and polarities and enabling a more dynamic analysis of the field.