English Language Perplexity: articulating the tensions in the AUQA Good Practice Principles

In 2009, the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) published the Good practice principles for English language proficiency for international students in Australian universities. While the sector has generally welcomed these Good Practice Principles (GPPs), universities have been somewhat slow in implementing them and the literature has remained relatively silent in response. One important article—Murray (2010), published in The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education—discusses several problems inherent in the report in order to recommend a coherent approach to implementing the guidelines. This paper challenges aspects of Murray’s article and extends his critique of the AUQA GPPs by focussing on three key points of tension: the group of students the report discusses; its definition of English language proficiency, and its conflicting discourses of inclusion and exclusion. The aim here is to offer universities points for discussion as they work to translate this complex report into practice.