Revisiting the Colonial in the Postcolonial: Critical Praxis for Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers in a TESOL Program

Abstract

Although historically much teaching of English has been done by nonnative‐English‐speaking teachers (NNESTs), research on their concerns as English educators has been neglected. This article takes as its central focus the narrative of NNESTs in the context of critical praxis. It discusses a graduate seminar offered for perhaps the first time in a TESOL program for NNESTs. The article presents the process of interrogating the nativeness paradigm among NNESTs themselves via their own experiences and self‐representation. It discusses the validity of conceptual tools designed to overcome disempowering discourses that may exist in TESOL programs and centers on the construction of identity among NNESTs that neither prescribes a limited role for them in the profession nor specifies definite boundaries to their capacities therein. The study suggests that the process of empowerment of NNESTs is neither linear nor simple but can nevertheless be generated within and by teachers engaged in critical praxis. It also demonstrates that many of the participants found a new relationship with their contexts, analyzed the causes of their powerlessness, and generated a new sense of agency as teachers and scholars in the field.

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“…This attitude also leads to hiring NESs over equally or more competent NNESs (Amin, 1999;Rampton, 1990). The arguments reviewed here support the claim that it is time for the ELT profession to advance from a dominant native-speaker ideology (see Braine, 1999, Brutt-Griffler & Samimy, 1999Canagarajah, 1999b;Davies, 2003;Holliday, 2005; to a more inclusive perspective that acknowledges the value of diverse abilities in teaching. This perspective, which includes the view that being an effective user of a global language best characterized as a collective of various Englishes does not require being a NES, is the premise of the present study.…”

“…While NNESs outnumber NESs by a ratio of three to one (Crystal, 2003), many NNESTs feel disempowered by students and parents who regard only NESs as authentic English teachers (e.g., Amin, 1997Amin, , 1999Brutt-Griffler & Samimy, 1999) so the socially-assigned identity of NNESs can negatively impact the teacher-student relationship (Medgyes, 1994;Rampton, 1990). As Amin (1999) argues, NNESTs are constantly compared unfavorably with native English-speaking teachers (NESTs).…”

“…Kramsch (1997) further argues that native speakership includes "acceptance by the group that created the distinction between native and nonnative speakers" (p. 363), suggesting a closed and self-delineated community with the prerogative to exclude speakers with nonnative accents. But because there is in fact no norm or standard for speaking English as a global lingua franca, scholars who have a World Englishes (WE) perspective problematize the labels NES/NNES, for which they have suggested many new terms, such as proficient users of English (Paikeday, 1985), members of an English-using speech fellowship (Kachru, 1985), expert speakers (Rampton, 1990), and international English professionals (Brutt-Griffler & Samimy, 1999). All these labels stress what Kachru (1992) calls We-ness rather than an us and them dichotomy.…”

“…He agrees with Giroux (1991) that "teachers need to see themselves as 'transformative intellectuals'" rather than "classroom technicians employed to pass on a body of knowledge" (p. 299). Drawing upon the work of Freire (1970), Brutt-Griffler and Samimy (1999) suggest that critical pedagogy might lead to change and empowerment by raising NNESTs' consciousness as a needed first step of praxis: "reflection and action that transform the world" (Lewison, Leland, & Harste, 2008, p. 12; see also Freire, 1970).…”

“…Accordingly, as Kamhi-Stein (2009) observes, the role of teacher educators is influential in creating environments in which nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) "participate, perceive themselves, and are perceived as valuable members of the classroom language community" (p. 93). In addition to providing pedagogical preparation, language teacher education programs should play a critical role in demystifying the ideology of native speakerism (Brutt-Griffler & Samimy, 1999;Golombek & Jordan, 2005;Kim, 2011;Park, 2012;Pavlenko, 2003). However, the critical issues of native-speaker ideology in relation to language and power have not been widely explored in second language teacher education.…”