Keywords in vocational education policy analysis

Drawing upon keywords in the conference theme - collaboration, innovation and prosperity - this paper introduces the notion of the keyword as an analytical tool in [vocational education and training] VET policy analysis. VET researchers sometimes provide intuitive accounts of certain words which are central to the debate they are engaging in. Examining these words in more detail as keywords can enhance researcher impressions by providing evidence of the words' linguistic behaviour and patterns of use. Although the notion of the keyword is well established in cultural studies as a result of the work of Williams, in critical discourse analysis through the work of Fairclough, and in applied linguistics through the work of Stubbs, it is rarely referred to explicitly in Australian [VET] policy analysis. Yet keywords can serve as a bridge for researchers from everyday notions of vocabulary to more nuanced notions from lexical semantics, thus enhancing the analysis of policy as discourse.

Four senses of keyword are discussed - vocational, cultural, category and corpus. Based on an examination of two collections of documents, one specialised and the other general, the paper gives a preliminary indication of how each of the four keyword senses can contribute to an improved understanding of both conceptual and associative meanings of keywords in vocational education debates.

Published abstract.

Individual available papers are indexed from TD/TNC 124.1044 to TD/TNC 124.1053. Show less