Educating EFL Students and Administrators on Issues of Race and Diversity in the Workplace

Educating EFL Students and Administrators on Issues of

Race and Diversity in the Workplace

Evidence of employment discrimination; How race is perceived to be related to nativeness;The myth of the “ownership” of English;English as a world language;Our students as members of the worldwide

community of English speakers;The benefits of a diverse workforce in ELT;Why NESTs should care about diversity in ELT;How to create an environment in which teachers

are considered based on their qualifications rather than race or nativeness.

Evidence of employment discrimination

What do you notice?

What are the stated preferences?

What qualifications / requirements are not stated?

How race is perceived to be related to nativeness

Race = nativenessNativeness = superiorityRace + nativeness = the ideal teacher

High value placed on inner circle English and its native speakers

How race is perceived to be related to nativeness

Norton, commenting on the perceived relationship between certain native speakers and their English.

. . . Amin, based on research with five visible-minority ESL teachers in Toronto, Canada, found that her participants believed ESL students make a number of problematic assumptions about the authentic ESL teacher. Among them are that only White people can be native speakers of English and that only native speakers know “real” English. (p. 423)

Norton, B. (1997). Language, Identity, and the Ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 409-429.

The myth of the “ownership” of English

English is perceived as an Inner Circle language

With the majority of Inner Circle natives as the owners of the language

And, therefore, its only legitimate speakers

Kachru’s model

Inner Circle

UK, IrelandUS, Canada,NZ, Australia

Outer circle or

Extended circle

India, Pakistan, Singapore, Nigeria, Ghana, etc.

Expanding circle

China

Japan

Russia

etc.

Kuwait

Mexico

Brazil

etc.

The myth of the “ownership” of English

Widdowson, commenting on the ownership of English as an international language.

The very fact that English is an international language means that no nation can have custody over it. To grant such custody of the language, is necessarily to arrest its development and so undermine its international status. It is a matter of considerable pride and satisfaction for native speakers of English that their language is an international means of communication. But the point is that it is only international to the extent that it is not their language . . . Other people actually own it. (p. 385)

Widdowson, H.G. (1994). The Ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 377-389.

English as a world language

The reality is that English hasover 1 billion learners of English

worldwidemore non-native speakers than native

speakersover 1 billion speakers of English

worldwidenative speakers and official status on

every continent

Our students as members of the worldwide community of English speakers

“Native speakers may feel the language ‘belongs’ to them, but it will be those who speak English as a second or foreign language who will determine its world future.”

Graddol, D. (1997). The future of English? http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-elt-future.pdf

The benefits of a diverse workforce in ELT

A diverse workforce more accurately reflects the realities of the English language, in terms ofwho speaks ithow it is spokenwhere it is spoken

A diverse workforce that reflects the diversity of the English language inspires studentsempowers studentsreflects student populationsreflects the English-speaking population worldwide

Why NESTs should care about diversity in ELT

Perpetuation of the notion of the idealized native speaker

denigrates, devalues, demeans and debilitates the entire profession

contributes to misunderstanding about the profession

undermines the role of TESOL professionals (with degrees)

undermines TESOL teacher education

Perpetuation of the notion of the idealized native speaker is unfair to students, because

it compromises the quality of the instruction available to them

it creates / perpetuates myths about the ownership of English

it undermines the students’ linguistic self-image as members of the English-speaking community

Why NESTs should care about diversity in ELT

Teacher education Awareness of English as a global language

include information about the worldwide use and users (demographics) of English

include exposure to the worldwide use and users of English beyond the inner circle

include and consult speakers of non-native and World Englishes as authorities, experts, and models

What can be done to create an environment in which teachers are considered for employmentbased on their ELT qualifications, rather than on race or nativeness

ESOL students acknowledge, include, dignify non-native and World

Englishes and their speakers help students understand their position within the context of

English speakers worldwide expose students to diverse listening materials expose students to diverse reading materials

e.g., literatureNaipaul, Walcott, Soyinka, Roy, Lahiri, etc.

What can be done to create an environment in which students respect varieties of English beyond the inner circle

Kachru’s revised model

Lowest proficiency