Temporal Politics and discursive marginalization: neoliberal and neocolonial dynamics of English-medium instruction in Pakistan’s higher education

An analysis of the rise of English-taught programmes in the North Macedonian context: the impact of policy spillover

This study examines the proliferation of English-medium instruction (EMI) within North Macedonia’s higher education system, a context emblematic of broader regional trends towards Europeanisation in the Western Balkans. Moving beyond the steering at a distance framework (Kickert, 1995), we analyse EMI development through the lens of post-socialist state-building and marketisation. Employing social process tracing (Kaas et al., 2025), we analysed higher education policy documents and regulations, complemented by interviews with key decision-makers to map the trajectory of English-taught programmes. Contrary to the assumption that EMI growth is driven by explicit language planning, our findings reveal a consistent pattern of policy spillover. We demonstrate that while no national policy explicitly mandated EMI, successive reforms—aimed variously at multilingual inclusion, privatisation, marketisation, Bologna harmonisation, and institutional liberalisation—inadvertently created the conditions for EMI to thrive. This study contributes to the literature by reframing EMI institutionalisation not merely as a pedagogical or linguistic goal, but as an institutionalised by-product of broader governance transformations. These findings offer significant implications for policymakers and researchers, suggesting that effective language planning requires analysing the unintended consequences of macro-level governance reforms.

Navigating Neoliberal Demands: Linguistic Entrepreneurship Among EMI Students in a Non-Elite Chinese University

English-medium instruction (EMI) has rapidly expanded in Chinese higher education, yet its implementation often lacks a solid research foundation and overlooks the politico-economic dimensions of education. This article reports on a case study of how EMI students from a second-tier Chinese university, an under-investigated population, navigated and internalized neoliberal values. Using the framework of linguistic entrepreneurship and data from semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and institutional documents, the study revealed that students perceived EMI as a means to overcome their disadvantages and enhance their competitiveness in China’s stratified educational market. However, insufficient English proficiency led to unexpected learning challenges and often prompted them to adopt grade-oriented strategies that circumvented or undermined meaningful learning. These findings highlight the frequent tensions between neoliberal expectations and educational realities. The article concludes with policy and practical recommendations to mitigate the influence of neoliberal ideologies amid nationwide hyper-competition in China.

Cultural Legitimacy, Coalition Pragmatism, and Digital Outreach: Explaining the National Awakening Party’s Trajectory in Indonesia

THE GRAMMAR OF SUBALTERNIZATION AND THE COLONIALITY OF DIGITAL HATE: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF DEHUMANIZATION, POLITICAL MISOGYNY AND REGIONALISM IN BRAZIL (2018–2022)

The findings identify a shared grammar of subalternization: sanitary and zoological metaphors authorize symbolic expulsion, pathologizing predications discipline women in public life, and territorial generalizations transform historical inequality into presumed civic incapacity.

Language policy roadmap in the Philippines: a policy synergy towards global competitiveness and neoliberalisation

Cinema, censorship and educational impact: a semiotic and empirical analysis of the compilation–oral history documentary “Yollara Düştük” (We Hit the Road)

Introduction Compilation-oral history documentaries operate at the intersection of ideological struggle and educational praxis, yet their dual function as counter-hegemonic texts and pedagogical tools remains under-theorized. This two-phase study examines the 2014 Turkish documentary Yollara Düştük through semiotic and educational lenses to investigate how hegemonic control is contested in compilation documentaries and how such films influence university audiences' perceptions of censorship, motivation, and beliefs about success. Methods Phase 1 employed a critical-semiotic analysis drawing on Peirce's sign model, Eco's concept of the “open work,” Barthes' myth theory, and Gramsci's theory of hegemony to examine how archival images, editing strategies, and oral testimonies transform symbolically within the documentary text. Phase 2 utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. A newly developed and validated 24-item instrument-the Documentary Cinema Educational Impact Scale (BSES)-was administered to 440 university students and faculty members across three dimensions: Perception of Censorship and Attitude Against It, Educational Motivation, and Beliefs in Success in Life. Model fit was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Qualitative interviews (n = 30) were subsequently conducted, and joint display analysis was used to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings. Results Semiotic analysis revealed that censorship functions as a semiotic struggle in which archival traces are recoded within counter-hegemonic narratives. The opening sequence (00:00–03:15) employs static shots of closed cinema doors and silence to symbolize suppression, while the archival montage (12:40–18:10) forges temporal links between 1977 and 2014 footage, transforming historical traces into symbols of resistance. Quantitatively, the BSES demonstrated excellent model fit (χ2/df = 1.95, RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, SRMR = 0.045). Educational motivation emerged as the strongest outcome (x¯ = 3.95), followed by beliefs in success in life (x¯ = 4.08), with structural censorship perception showing more moderate effects (x¯ = 3.72). Qualitative findings indicated that the film reinterprets repressed events by recontextualizing archival footage and constructing a counter-hegemonic discursive space. Joint display analysis confirmed that the documentary enhances individual motivation but exerts limited influence on perceptions of structural censorship. Discussion Compilation-oral history documentaries function simultaneously as sites of ideological struggle and as educational tools that enhance motivation and success beliefs among university audiences. However, their impact appears largely confined to symbolic awareness and individual transformation rather than catalyzing structural or institutional change. These findings suggest that while such documentaries effectively mobilize counter-hegemonic meaning-making at the semiotic level, their educational efficacy in fostering critical consciousness about systemic censorship remains bounded. Future research should explore pedagogical strategies that bridge the gap between symbolic awareness and structural critique.