Education Science ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (4): 80-88.

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The World of Higher Education Constructed by Language

Dong Yunchuan, Wang Guo   

  1. Research Institute of Higher Education, Yunnan University, Kunming Yunnan 650091, China
  • Online:2024-07-15 Published:2024-09-06

Abstract:

Language is intrinsic to all aspects of education, and externally shapes higher education. Specifically, education is carried out with language as the medium, the quality of education depends on language for identification, and the use of language will also affect the ecology of education. The close relationship between higher education and language is reflected in their historical homogeneity, knowledge relevance, and function compatibility. On the one hand, the vertically connected and resource-rich education system has formed a strong discourse in the form of educational decree in practice; On the other hand, the horizontal penetration and skillful substitution of educational academic discourse by ever-changing technology has caused higher education to be impacted and bound by the technical language in the process of modernization. Under the influence of multiple forces, higher education has formed the behavior tendency of “expression is more important than essence”, and the educational process has seen the separation of “concept and essence” and “name and reality”. As real people and things continue to retreat in the field of education, an educational advocacy ecology of “words are more important than reality” has been formed. In the future, high-quality development of higher education needs to rationally adjust language positioning. The origin of educational evaluation should shift from artificial language to focus on the whole person. The value orientation of education should be returned from focusing on the “expression” to the “person and thing” itself, and the ecological logic of education should shift from language competition to language leisurely.

Key words: higher education, language, discourse, technology, education system

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