The notion of belonging to a profession emerged with capitalism in the mid-nineteenth century, serving as a stabilising force in society and later, as a means for occupational groups to claim power and status in society. Academics are generally perceived as having the four central attributes of a profession: expert knowledge; technical autonomy; an orientation towards serving others; and high status, income and other rewards (Gorman & Sandefur, 2011). However some argue that academics belong to their individual professional disciplines rather than academia more broadly (Williams, 2008). Despite the establishment of a professional association, the Association of Academic Language and Learning (AALL) in 2005, academic language and learning (ALL) practitioners have not been perceived externally as belonging to a profession. Recognition of the developmental role of ALL work and the contribution made by ALL practitioners to the student learning experience is more important than ever in the new university where, under neoliberal priorities, upskilling and deskilling strategies are being employed by university management in moves to deprofessionalise many tertiary roles (Macfarlane, 2011). This paper argues that without recognition of the expertise brought to the tertiary experience by ALL practitioners, as well as the academic nature of their work, ALL practitioners are in a particularly vulnerable position in many universities, as both academic and professional roles in universities are reconfigured and new classifications and roles are introduced.

Keywords: academic language and learning; new university, deprofessionalisation