Within the Interstices of Hegemony and Agency: A Case Study of English Language Learning and South African Domestic Work

• In Event: 58.083 - Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: 58.083-1 - Exploring Opportunity: Notions of Play, Agency, and Civic Engagement

Abstract

This paper surrounds the case study of Marie, a South African domestic worker taking English language classes near Johannesburg, and connects this case to the complex history of English language learning in South Africa. Drawing from Marie’s narrative as well as a historical analysis of English language education and domestic work within South Africa, this paper seeks to illustrate two main arguments. Firstly, it argues that the convoluted history of English language learning in South Africa reproduces hegemonic notions of English language learning as essential to being an educated person. Conversely, this paper also asserts that within the linguistic hegemony that Marie lives in, there are spaces for the autonomy, freedom, and reappropriation of the term of “domestic work.”

Author

• Anna Kaiper, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities