It is not every day that we get to hear a Fiji Islander publish with one of the world’s top ranked publishers, but this is a milestone that was recently achieved by Dr Prashneel R. Goundar a former Fiji National University Linguistics Lecturer, now an academic in New South Wales, Australia.
In March this year, Goundar published his new book English Language Mediated Settings and Educational Inequalities – Language Education Policy Agendas in the South Pacific with Routledge Publications (UK).
Routledge is a British multinational academic publisher founded in 1836 by George Routledge. It specializes in books, journals, and online resources in the humanities, social sciences, education, law, and behavioural sciences.
Publishing around 5000 new books and 1800 journals annually, Routledge has a backlist of over 140,000 titles and is regarded as the largest global academic publisher in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. As many academics would attest, it is quite a challenge to publish journal papers with Routledge, let alone a book which has been successful navigated by Dr Goundar.
Adding another feather to his cap, last month Dr Goundar was recognised as an Accredited Linguist by the Australian Linguistic Society.
His previous books include Pursuing Divinity in Paradise (2020), In Simple Words (2017) and Writing and Publishing in Fiji; Narratives from Fijian Writers (2018). I had the pleasure of reviewing his latest book prior to publication.
The significance, originality, and contributions of this book is that it is the most recent study that has sought to establish an explicit connection between language testing and educational inequalities at the higher education level. It is innovative and weighty as it has asked different sets of questions in seeking new answers to the problem of academic English language skills faced by undergraduate students in Fiji.
The book also has a blurb by the Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, Professor Biman Prasad: “Prashneel Goundar provides an excellent contribution on the issues faced by undergraduate students in their academic writing. Lack of good writing skills for many of them, pose significant challenges in their studies.
This book based on research in Fiji provides a useful framework for policy interventions by higher educational institutions in Fiji to improve not only writing skills of undergraduate students but also ways in which they could be supported to successfully complete their qualifications.”
Similarly, Dr Norbella Miranda an Associate Professor of Languages at Universidad del Valle praised the book noting that it bridges the gap between students’ performance in language tests and their unequal access to English language learning throughout their education. Through narratives, it brings students’ perspectives about constrains and injustices in higher education and provides ideas on how these can be addressed.
In his new book, Dr Goundar brings to the forefront the complex relationship between language, education policy, and inequality in higher education across the South Pacific, with a particular focus on Fiji. The research critically examines how students from diverse schooling backgrounds struggle within English-language university environments, where English is often a second language. He argues that educational inequalities – rooted in colonial histories, resource imbalances, and social disparities – play a significant role in shaping students’ academic performance.
A key focus of the book is the role of language testing in higher education and how it can either reinforce or challenge systemic inequities. Drawing on data from a Global South context, Dr Goundar reveals how the variation in education quality between urban and rural areas significantly impacts students’ acquisition of academic English skills. These language gaps, he suggests, are not merely educational issues but reflections of broader societal inequalities.
The book raises important questions: What are the long-term language effects of colonisation on South Pacific education systems? Are students from rural or under-resourced schools given equal opportunities to succeed in English-dominant university settings? And how do language policies either bridge or widen the gap between students from different socio-cultural zones?
Dr Goundar’s work does not stop at diagnosing the problem, in fact, it seeks innovative and context-sensitive solutions for more equitable language education. He calls for a more inclusive approach to language policy and planning, one that addresses the needs of multilingual learners and challenges the dominance of English in academic assessment and instruction.
This research is a timely scholarly contribution to Fiji, as there has been a call for educational review of Fiji’s curriculum. The writers book emerged after his three-year study looked at academic English writing skills of first year undergraduate university students.
The book is a valuable resource for postgraduate students, educators, policymakers, and researchers interested in language policy, multilingual education, and the broader dynamics of inequality in the South Pacific. It is both a scholarly contribution and a call to action for more just and equitable education systems in the region.
On the whole, Dr. Prashneel R. Goundar’s groundbreaking work, English Language Mediated Settings and Educational Inequalities – Language Education Policy Agendas in the South Pacific, marks a significant scholarly achievement, not only for Fiji but for the wider South Pacific academic community.
His rigorous research offers fresh insights into the complex interplay between language, education policy, and systemic inequality, while also proposing practical pathways toward more inclusive and equitable academic environments.
Through his contributions, Dr Goundar not only amplifies the voices of underrepresented students but also challenges longstanding structures of disadvantage, making his book an essential resource for all committed to fostering social justice in language education in Fiji. The book is now available through Amazon, Taylor & Francis.com, Routledge books, and Booktopia.
n RAVNIL NARAYAN is a lecturer in applied linguistics in the Department of Language and Literature at the Fiji National University. The views expressed in this article is his own. Email: ravnilnarayan@gmail.com
Dr Prashneel R. Goundar a former Fiji National University Linguistics Lecturer, now an academic in New South Wales, Australia. Picture: SUPPLIED
The cover of the new book, English Language Mediated Settings and Educational Inequalities – Language Education Policy Agendas in the South Pacific with Routledge Publications (UK). Picture: SUPPLIED
Dr Prashneel R. Goundar, a former Fiji National University linguistics lecturer, now an academic in New South Wales, Australia, with his new book. Picture: SUPPLIED
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