Neoliberalism discourse research in language education: a systematic review of trends, themes, and future directions

Research on neoliberalism discourse in language education has attracted sustained scholarly attention over the last two decades, yet there is no comprehensive review assessing the current state of the art. Guided by PRISMA, this systematic review identified 89 empirical studies from Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, and JSTOR to map research trends and themes, synthesise methods and findings, and propose directions for future research. We combined bibliometric analysis (publication trends) with inductive thematic analysis. Two overarching strands emerged, namely product-oriented studies analysing neoliberalism discourse as manifested in educational products (textbooks, policy materials, and promotional discourse) and participant-oriented studies examining stakeholders’ interpretations and responses. Findings show that neoliberal tenets are culturally mediated in language textbooks, human capital values are salient in policy materials, and language is framed as a commodity in promotional materials. Participant-oriented studies further indicate tensions in stakeholders’ orientations, as educators often struggle between linguistic instrumentalism and linguistic humanism, while learners’ and parents’ investments are shaped by unequal access to linguistic resources. We recommend extending research to languages of different statuses, using diverse and practice-sensitive methodologies, attending to earlier educational stages, strengthening multimodal and digital-platform analysis, and examining neoliberalism’s intersection with multifaceted identities in language education.