There is quite a lot of research regarding both theory and implementation of internationalisation, yet, the majority of publications on internationalization are contributed by authors from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. Contributions by researchers from Central and Eastern European authors remain low in number (Bedenlier, Kondakci, & Zawacki-Richter, 2018). Out of those concerned with internationalization in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the majority of researchers, aside from introducing different concepts (e.g. Europeanization (Dakowska & Harmsen, 2015; Dobbins, 2015; Vukasovic, 2013) do not re-conceptualize internationalisation (Orechova, 2020).

In my research I conduct a discourse conceptual analysis on various genres of texts from universities across Central and Eastern Europe in order to elaborate on how internationalisation is discursively conceptualized across universities in the region under study. Central to the analysis is the notion of concept  as “a concentrate of several substantial meanings” (Kosseleck, 2004, p. 85) that arrives to discourse studies from the study of conceptual history (Begriffsgeschichte). As discourse becomes more and more conceptual (and such is the case with internationalisation), introduction of certain notions central to Begriffsgeschichte provide critical discourse analysis the necessary tools for analysis of discourses dominated by concepts(Krzyżanowski, 2016). Moreover, the modern political and historical concepts ‘themselves become factors in the formation of consciousness’ (Koselleck, 2002, p. 129). Therefore, better understanding of the construction of the concept of internationalisation leads to improved knowledge on its present and future development.

The proposed research focuses on the discursive construction of the concept of internationalisation in Central and Eastern Europe. Results of the preliminary conceptual analysis (presented in Emerging Researchers’ Network in ECER2021) revealed ‘local development’ as one of the concepts associated with internationalisation in the discourse of Central and Eastern European universities. It is not generally excpected to be related to internationalisation (as opposed to other concepts that emerged in the preliminary analysis such as ‘international education market’, ‘international research’, ‘quality of higher education’ or ‘international labour market’) and had no connections to other concept clusters. Thus, further analysis is conducted in order to delineate the salience of the concept of ‘local development’ in internationalisation discourse in Central and Eastern European higher education. In order to achieve that, the initial corpus is expanded to include all available internationalisation documentation for the 3 universities, ranging from 2004 to 2020 (including relevant national strategies) as well as all public communication texts (in English) for the period from 2015 to 2020. The research is guided by the following questions: 1) how is ‘local development’ conceptualised in internationalisation discourse in Central and Eastern Europe? 2) when does it emerge in the discourse? 3) what are the possible reasons for this conceptualisation?

Discourse conceptual analysis that is conducted in this research stems from the discourse-historical approach of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and involves notions from conceptual history (Begriffsgeschichte) (Krzyżanowski, 2016). This study follows the methodology employed in discourse-historical approach of CDA. First, thematic analysis of the texts (broadly speaking) is conducted in order to determine the main discourse topics represented in the texts. Then, an in-depth analysis is conducted focusing on the elements of discourse that are evoked when local development and internationalisation are discussed (Krzyżanowski, 2010). In total, 138 texts of different genres regarding internationalisation will be analysed. These texts include internationalisation strategies, university development plans/strategies, national internationalisation strategies or other national documentation regarding internationalisation, university public communication texts (press releases, news items related to internationalisation or internationalisation activities) and focus groups. The texts are first analysed all together and then separately by university, to determine, if specific discourse elements are present in the entire region or in an individual university. Texts are analysed in temporal groups (prior to 2010, 2010-2015 and 2015-2020) as well in order to determine when ‘local development’ as a constituent concept of internationalisation in CEE can first be oserved and whether there are any patterns across countries.

A closer look into the discursive construction of internationalisation is expected to explain the emergence of ‘local development’ as one of the concepts related to internationalisation in the discourse of Central and Eastern European universities. A temporal analysis will allow to differentiate between different time periods and determine whether ‘local development’ is present throughout or emerges at a specific stage of the internationalisation process at the university. If ‘local development’ is present in a specific stage, the analysis should provide elaboration on the possible cause for this discursive change, for example, introduction in the national higher education discourse. Another possible hypothesis that this analysis allows to check is whether there is a specific point in the micro history of a university undergoing the process of internationalisation when ‘local development’ emerges as a response to generally unquestioned conceptualisation of internationalisation. In the case of there being few differences in the discourse across countries, this would also show that the influence of supranational discourses is prominent in Central and Eastern Europe. Since concepts play a role in how we perceive and interact with our daily reality, the way(s) in which we understand a concept affect how we bring that concept to life, especially, if it is a concept with very tangible dimensions, such as that of internationalisation. Moreover, as the interest to internationalise grows across the world, a deeper understanding of what internationalisation is constructed and understood to be could provide insights for further development of internationalisation across the world.

Bedenlier, S., Kondakci, Y., & Zawacki-Richter, O. (2018). Two Decades of Research Into the Internationalization of Higher Education: Major Themes in the Journal of Studies in International Education (1997-2016). Journal of Studies in International Education, 22(2), 108–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315317710093 Dakowska, D., & Harmsen, R. (2015). Laboratories of reform? The Europeanization and internationalization of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe. European Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2014.977318 Dobbins, M. (2015). Exploring the governance of Polish public higher education: Balancing restored historical legacies with europeanization and market pressures. European Journal of Higher Education, 5(1), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2014.969289 Koselleck, R. (2002). The practice of conceptual history: timing history, spacing concepts. Stanford [Calif.]: Stanford University Press. Koselleck R. (2004) Futures Past. New York: Columbia University Press. Krzyżanowski, M. (2016). Recontextualisations of neoliberalism and the increasingly conceptual nature of discourse: Challenges for critical discourse studies. Discourse and Society, 27(3), 308–321. Krzyżanowski, M. (2010) The Discursive Construction of European Identities. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Orechova, M. (2021). Internationalisation of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe: conceptualisation of the definition inside the region. Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia, 46, 119-131. doi:10.15388/ActPaed.46.2021.8 Vukasovic, M. (2013). Change of higher education in response to European pressures: Conceptualization and operationalization of Europeanization of higher education. Higher Education, 66(3), 311–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9606-4