The discursive construction of internationalisation in Philippine Catholic university websites

Abstract

This study examines how the growing priority for internationalisation is constructed in Philippine Catholic universities through a discourse analysis of institutional websites. School websites have increased relevance in the current global education milieu, where internet connectivity is an important means to communicate with current and potential teachers, students, and institutional partners. Specifically, I explore what and how notions of internationalisation are expressed in websites of higher education institutions (HEIs). This qualitative research offers the novelty of focusing on the case of top Catholic HEIs in the Philippines. Caught up in the global pressure to internationalise and the dictum and desire to preserve their religious identity, Catholic HEIs represent a cohort with nuanced practices and ideological struggles related to tensions in global, institutional, and religious priorities. The findings have implications for Catholic HEIs across the globe as they compete for higher world rankings and participate in internationalisation.

Keywords:

• Discourse analysis
• internationalisation
• higher education
• Catholic schools

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Santo Tomas – Research Center for Social Sciences and Education.

Notes on contributors

Pia Patricia P. Tenedero

Pia Patricia P. Tenedero is assistant professor in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and an associate of the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education and the National Research Council of the Philippines. She is honorary research fellow of Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her research interests largely focus on sociolinguistics, language learning and ideology, language for specific purposes, discourse analysis, and giving more voice to Global South workers in Global North settings. Her published works explore the communication and language practices and ideologies of globalised Filipino accountants and nurses, and of Catholic missionaries from non-Anglophone backgrounds.