The construction of neoliberal subjects through China’s English language education policies

This paper presents findings from a critical discourse analysis of 10 English Language Education (ELE) policy documents published in China after 1978. Using the Text as a Critical Object (TACO) framework, the study examines how neoliberal principles are gradually embedded in ELE policies and how they contribute to the construction of students as neoliberal subjects. The analysis of the policy documents identifies two major themes. The first theme, the instrumentalisation of English, highlights the contradiction between treating English as a tool for competitiveness in the neoliberal market and the need to construct socialist collective ideas. The second theme addresses the transition from ideological education to ‘humanity’ in ELE, showing how policies strategically use the collective ideas to integrate personal development through learning English with national neoliberal goals. Based on these findings, this paper argues that ELE policies in China discursively construct students as neoliberal subjects who are expected to balance market-oriented skills with nationalist ideals. This reveals how ELE policies legitimise market-oriented objectives with nationalism, providing implications for understanding how neoliberalism governs individuals through educational policies. This study contributes to the broader debates on how neoliberalism shapes and manages individual behaviour with market-oriented values in the field of education globally.