“They Said They Need . . . a Normal American Teacher”: Exploring the Raciolinguistic Beliefs of Transnational TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Practitioners

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers' Perceptions and Beliefs for Working With English Learners: Research Across Educational Settings (Table 12)

Abstract

Issues of the legitimacy of nonnative speaker teachers have been a paramount concern over thirty years in TESOL and applied linguistics. Previous studies primarily considered their strengths based on their bi/multilingual background compared with monolingual teachers. However, recent scholarship has elevated the issue of race to transcend the native/nonnative speaker dichotomy and to challenge the deficit perspectives of nativeness more effectively. From a transnational and raciolinguistic perspective, this study investigated the racial understanding and raciolinguistic beliefs of three Asian TESOL practitioners. Findings revealed the participants’ understanding of race was developing and their raciolinguistic beliefs were greatly shaped by the transnational experiences, suggesting the compelling need to spread education about race and promote anti-racist pedagogies in teacher education.

Authors

• Zhiwen Song, University of Cincinnati

• Mark A. Sulzer, University of Cincinnati