Abstract
Until very recently, ability and whiteness as relational systems have been uninterrogated by TESOL research, policy, practice, and teacher education. Consequently, monolingual teachers often use students’ proximity to whiteness and nondisabled status as a metric for ascertaining their ability or belonging in certain language learning spaces. Similarly, English language teachers’ uncritical and unsupported engagement with policy and professional learning around race and whiteness contributes to the unwarranted subjection of multilingual students to the special education referral process. In this contribution, we aim to analyze the nuances of ableism and racism in the field of TESOL, and offer TESOL educators practical examples to dismantle it. Drawing from the critical intersectional framework of DisCrit, this contribution presents two DisCrit solidarity-oriented practical examples for the language classroom: cultural reciprocity and translanguaging. We argue that these support TESOL educators in understanding the relationship between whiteness and ability, as well as valuing the importance of multilingualism in school settings.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 708-718 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | TESOL Quarterly |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 24 Oct 2021 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language