Language and frames of a reified world: how university actors turn teaching into a number

The paper adopts the lenses of reification (the objectification of reality in relation to the way things are perceived and structured at the individual level) and framing theory to explore, at different levels, actors' understanding of performance-measurement systems relating to the quality of teaching within the university sector. Individual reification can be seen as the result of a wider process of social alienation, which explores the inherent dangers of commodifying subjects. In a university setting, this potentially encourages individual striving over collegiality and teamwork. The research draws on comparative case studies of four English universities, document analysis and interviews with government officials. The linguistic framing tasks used at the individual level provide evidence of reification and contribute to reinforce it via the deployment of arguments providing reasons for action/inaction (motivational frames) based on efficacy, and through the use of diagnostic and prognostic frames that articulate concepts only within the prevailing ideology. It is suggested that this can decrease the possibility of contestation (de-reification) at the level of individual responses. The paper contributes to our understanding of current theory and literature by exploring the use of individuals' linguistic framing tasks as cues for reification. It voices significant apprehension about the dysfunctional (and likely mission-damaging) effects of extant (reifying) university teaching measurement systems and calls for a more-cautious approach and more critical reflections of current practices that, arguably, appear to have led the sector to the uncritical acceptance of highly-questionable neoliberal tools and ideas.