Page 31 - ELG2109 Sep Issue 477

FEATURE

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK 2010). We see presented a modern, forward- to stop teaching English altogether, since
As Motha points out, the solution is not
(English-speaking)
educated
thinking,
society, which is contrasted with a society
this would only serve to accord more power
that is static, conservative and uneducated.
to those who already speak the language.
English is, whether we like it or not, a valuable
One acts as an active transmitter of
currency today and TEFL teachers have the
knowledge and the other a submissive
receiver of knowledge. There is little room
voices heard within the global landscape. But
for interculturality and English is presented ability to empower students to have their
as the dominant, most economically useful
global language.
Within this we see the glorification of the It’s important that
native speaker who, regardless of educational students have access
or professional experience, is appraised as the
worthier teacher. This is something that Robert to English lessons
Phillipson famously discussed in his book that validate rather
Linguistic Imperialism (1992). He looked at how
‘native-speaker supremacy’, as well as English- than erase their
only policies within the classroom and the idea
that using other languages in the classroom cultural identities
reduces English standards contributes towards
the hegemony of English. it is imperative that we have an awareness of
Motha crucially points out that these the ways in which our own privileges play out
endeavours are not only highly political, but in the classroom, as well as in the global field
also commercial, and we just need to look at of TEFL in general. Our practices with our
how much money is to be made from ELT (the students need to be conscious and we need to
sector generates around £1.4bn in income for allow the students themselves to guide their
the UK each year) to be convinced of this. teaching. It’s important that students have
She also points out that despite this, English access to English lessons that validate rather
is portrayed as an entirely neutral enterprise than erase their cultural identities and that
and one that exists purely for the benefit of the material they are learning from is culturally
helping people escape from poverty and attain relevant to them.
economic betterment. Learning English is not going to stop opening
A lot has happened since I was 20 and living doors for people any time soon. But we need to
in Colombia, living my best life. Not only have bear in mind, as teachers and as people who
I grown professionally as an English teacher, are interested in making the world a better
but also as an activist, and my knowledge and place, that it is the acquisition of knowledge,
awareness of global inequalities and unjust in all its facets and forms that truly opens doors
for people. Knowing the history of English
English was seen as a means to ‘modernise’ The question remains: teaching and bringing that awareness into the
and ‘civilise’ indigenous peoples. classroom through anti-racist pedagogies is
But it was actually during the historical period considering TEFL’s something we should all strive towards.
after colonialism (so-called ‘post-colonialism’,
although the idea that there has ever really been problematic legacy of REFERENCES
a ‘post’ period to colonialism has been hotly colonisation, is it possible Motha, Suhanthie (2014) Race, Empire and
contested by scholars and writers alike) that English Language Teaching, New York: Teachers
the spread of English as a lingua franca really to continue to work in this College Press.
flourished. Post-colonial theory maintains Phillipson, Robert (1992) Linguistic Imperialism,
that this was a time during which empires field and not contribute to Oxford: Oxford University Press.
were looking for methods of conserving the neo-colonialist practices Soto, Jairo Eduardo & Mendez, Pilar (2020)
subservience of previously colonised countries ‘Linguistic Colonialism in the English Language
(see Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction of Western domination? Textbooks of Multinational Publishing Houses’,
by Robert JC Young, 2016). As Suhanthie How Journal, 27 (1), pp 11-28.
Motha explains in her book Race, Empire, and societal power relations has grown massively. Young, Robert JC (2016) Postcolonialism:
English Language Teaching (2014), this is what But then the question remains: considering An Historical Introduction, West Sussex: Wiley-
is stamped on the profession that we, as TEFL TEFL’s problematic legacy of colonisation, is it Blackwell.
teachers, occupy today. possible to continue to work in this field and Chakravorty, Gayatri (2010) Can the Subaltern
This idea that English is a tool for the not contribute to neo-colonialist practices of Speak?, Columbia University Press.
enlightenment and civilisation of certain Western domination? Is it possible to continue
uneducated people still persists. A great to work as an English teacher in a way that is
deal of research has gone into analysing the anti-racist, ethical and responsible? Alice Rodgers is a Berlin-
prevalence of this sort of neo-colonialist This is a big question and I’m not going to based English teacher
thinking within TEFL materials (see Linguistic claim to have all the answers, but if history has and activist. She is also
Colonialism in the English Language Textbooks taught us anything, it’s that there has always the creator of the website
of Multinational Publishing Houses by Jairo been resistance to oppression and structures of Hot Take English, which
Eduardo Soto-Molina and Pilar Méndez, inequality. As teachers of English, the primary provides EFL resources
2020, for example). It is common to see the place we can start is with educating ourselves
reproduction of old colonial notions of Self and with having a solid understanding of for students and teachers
and Other (a concept developed by Gayatri TEFL’s dark history – a history that is so often who are interested in the news, activism and
Spivak in her essay Can the Subaltern Speak?, hidden by claims of neutrality. social justice.
editorial@elgazette.com 31