Black teachers of English in South Korea: Constructing identities as a native English speaker and English language teaching professional

Abstract

1 Due to trade agreements, the South Korea English language teaching (E-2) visa law requirements for prospective English language teachers have expanded to include English language teaching "experts" from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and India. However, the criteria for citizens from these four countries requires possession of an English teaching license and a bachelor's degree in English, whereas citizens from the aforementioned countries need no such credentials.

Configuration of Racial Identities of Learners of English

“…The previous studies are instances of research that have started to emerge in the country in regard to the relations between race and foreign language learning; nevertheless, those studies also attempt to define racial identity as an unalterable category. Stating the view that racial identities, as well as other type of identities, are not fixed or unchangeable (Charles, 2019;Carbado & Gulati, 2003;Yosso, 2005), one presents the cited studies which show that there is a need to explore what Thesen (1997) coined as "transition identities." That is, those identities that seem to be non-racialised as opposed to those where emphasis is given to racial categories (such an indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities in the Colombian context).…”

Reinforcement of White Native-Speakerism: An Analysis of English Language Teacher Training Materials

“…The term native speaker encompasses a racial component along with a linguistic component (Ruecker, 2011;Sung, 2011). Native speakers of English are often described as people born in countries with a majority White population and closely associated with Whiteness historically (Phillipson, 1992;Ramjattan, 2019;Ruecker, 2011;Ruecker & Ives, 2015); however, these associations may be greater with countries such as the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada (Charles, 2019;Iams, 2016;Kramadibrata, 2016;Ruecker, 2011) with others forgotten or excluded (e.g., South Africa, Ireland) (Ruecker, 2011). The label native speaker may be assigned primarily to a homogenous, stereotyped, and essentialist view of White native speakers, and the nuanced experiences of teachers representing non-White racialized groups, notably Black teachers of English, are not considered (Charles, 2019;Kubota, 2018).…”

“…The use of the term is "characterized by the belief that 'native-speaker' teachers represent a 'Western culture' from which spring the ideas both of the English language and of English teaching methodology" (Holliday, 2006, p. 385). Holliday's conceptualization of native-speakerism has been critiqued for exclusion of intersecting identities of native speakers who may experience privilege of native speaker status but also marginalization based on race, such as Black teachers of English (Charles, 2019) and other biases (e.g., ableism, heteronormativity, ageism). "Native speakerness and Whiteness work in tandem to signify competence and intelligence and thus superiority, negatively affecting the experiences of non-native or native English-speaking teachers of color" (Kubota, 2018, p. 3654).…”

“…This article draws awareness to Whiteness as a centered and reinforced phenomenon in global ELT which contributes to discriminatory practices against English educators and learners who do not conform to White norms 1 (Charles, 2019;Gerald, 2020aGerald, , 2020bKumaravadivelu, 2016;Lowe & Lawrence, 2018;Matias & Mackey, 2016;Ruecker, 2011;Schreiber, 2019;Zacharias, 2019). Language is not a neutral tool (Pennycook, 2017) and carries political implications in the ideologies that accompany its use, learning, and teaching.…”

Moving TESOL forward: Increasing educators’ critical consciousness through a racial lens

“…Thus, examining the intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1990) among language, race , and other forms of oppression is important for critical consciousness. Since Kubota and Lin’s (2006) call for race‐ related research in the TESOL field, others have contributed important work (e.g., Charles, 2019; Curtis & Romney, 2006; Motha, 2014). However, many still view racism only at the interpersonal level.…”