International Students in a Foreign Discourse

Abstract

Exporting education has played a major part in the services sector of English-speaking countries, such as America, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. In Australia, despite of the government policies oriented to attracting international students to invest for their education in Australia, some ideological construction of racism is imbricated within the structure of an official DIMA (Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) document. A key part of this official policy lies in its assessment levels on financial capacities in the processing of international student visa applications for access to an Australian education. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is employed on the language used in looking at different financial requirements for students from different countries. Evidence of racial ideology is manifested in an asymmetrical power discourse in Australia between the (white) lawmakers and international students from developing countries, especially from Asian countries, from which the majority of international students originate. The conclusion reveals that racial prejudice continues to be imbricated within friendly educational discourse of Australia.