Power, Knowledge, and Chinese Language in Nigerian Education: A Foucauldian Analysis

The introduction of Chinese language into Nigerian educational institutions is not merely a neutral pedagogical intervention but an exercise in which particular forms of knowledge, cultural values, and subject formations are authorised while others are marginalised. This study applies Foucauldian theory to an analysis of the power-knowledge dynamics at work in the introduction of Chinese language in Nigerian educational settings, making an original contribution to the critical sociology of language education in Africa. Drawing on Foucault's concepts of discourse, power-knowledge, governmentality, and disciplinary practice, the study employs genealogical and discourse analysis methodologies applied to a comprehensive corpus of policy documents, curriculum texts, pedagogical materials, institutional regulations, and interview narratives. Data collection spans three years and incorporates document analysis of all Nigerian government and Confucius Institute Chinese language policy instruments, discourse analysis of Mandarin curriculum materials used in twelve Nigerian institutions, and critical interviews with 50 educators, students, and policy actors positioned differently in relation to Chinese language education. Original theoretical contributions include the concept of linguistic governmentality as applied to Chinese language expansion in Africa, a Power-Knowledge Map of the Confucius Institute System that identifies the disciplinary mechanisms through which Chinese cultural and political norms are normalised alongside Mandarin instruction, and a Resistance and Negotiation Typology documenting how Nigerian educators and students accept, adapt, and subvert Chinese language education's power dimensions. The study contributes a Foucauldian corrective to instrumentalist accounts of Mandarin in Nigerian education.

Keywords: Foucault, power-knowledge, Chinese language education, Nigeria, critical sociology