Intersectionality Between Race and Nonnative English Speaker Status in Language Teacher Identities: What Educators Should Know

Abstract

Intersectional approaches to teacher education have gained prominence in recent years, and calls have been made for an intersectional, justice-oriented framework to be at the core of all teacher educator programs. Although intersectionality is just beginning to emerge as a theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical framework in the area of language teaching issues of race and nonnative English-speaking teachers’ status have already been examined critically in teaching English to speakers of other languages. Understanding the intersectionality between race and nonnative English speaker status is crucial in redefining the nature of language teacher identities as fluid, dynamic, dialogic, and contextualized. It is equally important to comprehend how nonnative English-speaking teachers negotiate and construct their identities by reevaluating their experiences with dominant ideologies in various language teaching contexts. In this paper, we first offer a critical examination of the research conducted in this area, specifically focusing on the intersections between race and nonnative English speaker status as we reveal the dichotomy between native English-speaking teachers and nonnative English-speaking teachers. Then, we focus on the importance of adopting an intersectional framework, with its inherent premise for justice, by language teacher education programs and provide some suggestions on how these programs could be enhanced by including an explicit intersectional component. As a final note on the purpose of this paper, it is essential to underscore that employing intersectionality entails a transformative vision for both professionals who teach English to speakers of other languages and for their English learners with the goal of disrupting explicit and hidden spaces of inequalities and oppression.