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Across most predominantly English-speaking countries, classroom-based language education plays an important role in the internationalization of young citizens. However, the quality of language learning opportunities in many countries is less than ideal. The development of language education policy is influenced in part by broader societal perceptions of language, and these perceptions are often reflected and shaped by the media. The case of Australia is an interesting one for focus, because media and policy attention to the discipline is high, and yet to date there has been no comprehensive analysis of its representation. To fill this gap, the authors subject 261 news articles from Australian newspapers between 2007 and 2016 to mixed-methods content analysis, guided by Ruiz’s three orientations to language. The results show that language is positioned as a problem, and as an economic resource, but not as a social resource, nor as a right of everyday citizens. The ideological positioning of language in the press has implications for the perceptions of the role of language education, and for student uptake.
