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Article published In: Multilingualism and Mobility in the Twenty-First Century: New Trajectories and Possibilities in Migration Linguistics
Edited by Ariane Macalinga Borlongan and Lisa Lim
[AILA Review 37:1] 2024
► pp. 120–136

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English in the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility

ORCiD logo with link | University of the Philippines Diliman | De La Salle University | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
 | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
 | University of Electro-Communications | Tamagawa University | St. Marianna University School of Medicine
 | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
 | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
 | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Published online: 4 June 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.24002.kur
Abstract
In this article, we discuss the significance of English in the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility, using Kachru, B. B., Quirk, R., & Widdowson, H. G. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism. World Englishes. Critical Concepts in Linguistics, 241–270.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar Three Circles Model of World English. As education is one of the major forms of migration (Liu-Farrer, G. (2022). International students as transnational migrants. In B. S. Yeoh & F. L. Collins (Eds.). Handbook on transnationalism. (pp. 294–309). Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Borlongan, A. M. (2023). Migration linguistics: A synopsis. AILA Review, 36(1). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) in the so-called ‘age of migration’ (cf. de Haas, H., Castles, S., & Miller, M. J. (2020). The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world (6th ed.) Red Globe Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), more and more students are motivated to study abroad to complete their tertiary education. First, we discuss motivating factors both for the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility. Second, we point out how English has been playing a very central role in the internationalization of higher education institutions and international student mobility (Phillipson, R. (2010). Linguistic Imperialism Continued (1st ed.). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Jenkins, J. (2017). Mobility and English language policies and practices in higher education. In S. Canagarajah. (Ed.). The Routledge handbook of migration and language. (pp. 502–518). Taylor & Francis. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) among these factors. Then, we present the dynamics of international student mobility by looking at their global flow, English-medium programs, and English language proficiency requirements. While Inner Circle countries are still the most attractive destinations for most international students, Expanding Circle countries, where English is not an institutionalized medium of instruction in higher education, also value English by expanding English-medium degree programs and requiring English proficiency test scores to admission. Finally, we end the article by reiterating the dominance and utility of English in the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility and its stable position as the language of educational migration.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Motivating factors for internationalization of higher education and international student mobility
  • 3.Internationalization of higher education and the English language
  • 4.Dynamics of international student mobility and the role of English in contemporary higher education
    • 4.1Dynamics of student mobility
    • 4.2(The role of) English in contemporary higher education
    • 4.3Summary
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
References (36)
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2025. The importance of different elements of English as a foreign language for participation in international student mobility programs: Students' perspectives. Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta u Pristini 55:3 ► pp. 101 ff. DOI logo

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