ALTRALANG Journal
Volume 8, Numéro 2, Pages 267-292
2026-10-31
From Linguistic Competence To Entrepreneurial Capital: A Critical Synthesis Of Identity, Investment, And Structural Gaps In Algerian Business English Education
Authors : Fetni Kaltoum . Fetni Bouthaina .
Abstract
This paper offers a critical conceptual synthesis of Business English education in Algerian tertiary institutions, arguing that prevailing approaches treat English primarily as a communicative competence, a bundle of skills to be acquired and assessed, while overlooking its function as a form of linguistic capital whose social and economic value is negotiated within unequal professional fields. Drawing on theory of symbolic capital and Norton's (2000, 2015) framework of identity and investment, complemented by Darvin and Norton's (2015) expanded investment model, this article integrates three strands of scholarship: contemporary ESP and Business English literature, entrepreneurship education research, and sociolinguistic identity studies. A systematic review of Algerian empirical studies reveals three interlocking structural gaps: the generalist practitioner problem, the absence of standardized Business English curricula, and assessment regimes that reward grammatical compliance over professional participation that collectively prevent English from functioning as the entrepreneurial capital it could be. The paper proposes an alternative pedagogical framework grounded in the cultivation of entrepreneurial identities, imagined professional communities, and the deliberate accumulation of linguistic capital. It concludes by calling for curriculum reform that moves beyond needs analysis toward identity investment as the organizing principle of Business English education in Algeria.
Keywords
Business English ; linguistic capital ; language investment ; entrepreneurial identity ; ESP ; Algeria ; Bourdieu ; Norton.
Les articles similaires
Belaid Bekhta
.
pages 974-991.
Houti Yamina
.
pages 207-223.
Mizab Manel
.
Zahaf Sonia
.
pages 246-266.
