The Locus of Enunciation as a Way to Confront Epistemological Racism and Decolonize Scholarly Knowledge

Abstract

In this forum article, we seek to contribute to the discussion initiated by Kubota (in the article entitled ‘Confronting epistemological racism, decolonizing scholarly knowledge: race and gender in applied linguistics’) on how to confront epistemological racism and to decolonize scholarly knowledge. We begin by endorsing Kubota’s three recommendations on how to achieve such goals, as we feel they are an important step to challenge the abyssal line that exists between knowledges that are considered scientific and universal and those that are regarded as peripheral. We then propose a fourth suggestion that we feel is important to complement what is put forth by Kubota: that scholars expose their own loci of enunciation (as well as that of others) in order to localize knowledges that are often taken as global and all-encompassing. By doing so, we argue, academics in applied linguistics and other fields are able to acknowledge the limits of their claims and to present their research in ways that can shift the universality of white Eurocentric knowledge.

The road(s) not taken and internationalization in Brazil: journey or destination?

“…Diniz De Figueiredo and Martinez (2021) suggest the confrontation of epistemological racism in an attempt to decolonize scholarly knowledge and invite researchers to break barriers and expose their loci of enunciation to do so. Thus, we accept Diniz de Figueiredo and Martinez' (2021) invitation and expose our loci of enunciation (or map, if you prefer) in regards to the process of internationalization in Brazil and in what follows as a way to contribute to the exploration of other territories in the internationalization world map.…”

Critical Race and Decolonial Theory Intersections to Understand the Context of ELT in the Global South

“…This student clearly started to see that honouring his behaviour was an instance of how individuals become submissive to homogenisation unconsciously. From the view of decoloniality, the student subsequently revealed the process in which he started to disrupt that epistemic coloniality in which he was immersed (Diniz De Figueiredo &Martinez, 2021 andDurham-Barnes, 2015). The student realised his position as submissive which he paralleled with the nowadays common belief that, to validate language knowledge, English language speakers have to certify their proficiency by presenting an international exam certification.…”

“…Education, as one of those spheres, has received from crt research elements to understand institutionalised racism and its impact in social practices (Delgado & Stefancic, 2000). English language teaching (elt) has started late this inquiry, since usually race and English teaching often appear not to be associated (Kubota & Lin, 2006) despite efforts to decolonize elt by questioning issues linked to the identity of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (efl) teachers (Archanjo et al, 2019) and students (Simoneli & Finardi, 2020), to principles and challenges of English as a lingua franca in elt (Sifakis, 2019), and to the introduction of English in primary education in Colombia (De Mejía, 2019), as well as to global citizenship education (Piccin & Finardi, 2019), agency in language policy planning , the role of English in the Global South in internationalisation programs (Chiappa & Finardi, 2021), discourses (Piccin & Finardi, 2021), and in the revelation of the locus of enunciation (Diniz de Figueiredo & Martinez, 2021).…”

The Multilingual Turn in Sla and the Praxis of Decolonial Fissure

“…In addition to this, bringing one's locus of enunciation to the fore can help scholars in the global South situate their local histories and epistemologies, and shift the universality of white Eurocentric knowledge (Figueiredo & Martinez, 2019). Taking a case of a renowned scholar in the field of applied linguistics Ofelia Garcia, Figueiredo and Martinez (2019: 4) show the importance and relevance of the enactment of the locus of enunciation for the production of situated knowledge.…”