English in Education, Volume 58, Issue 1, Pages 31-39 , 01/01/2024

Challenging the raciolinguistic inequality in English education in Thailand: the macro, meso, and micro perspectives

Mark Bedoya Ulla, Jeng Jeng Mandolado Bolintao, Pavirasa Praditsorn

Abstract

This article examines the prevalence of white privilege and supremacy in the context of English education in Thailand by presenting an auto-ethnographic exploration of the raciolinguistic experiences of a Filipino English language teacher. It explores the macro, meso, and micro levels contributing to the prevalence of monolingual ideologies and injustices encountered by non-white and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the country. We argue that since the field of English education has the potential to serve as a locus of inequality while simultaneously providing an opportunity to contest the white privilege and native English speaker-teachers’ (NESTs) hegemony, cultivating linguistic and cultural diversity and equality is a way to challenge and resist the monolithic view of English, giving equality and justice to all English language teachers, regardless of their race and nationality. Facilitating transformative endeavours can be achieved by promoting critical and reflective approaches to policy, pedagogy, and teaching practices, highlighting the importance of intelligibility in cross-cultural and multilingual interactions.

Document Type

Article

Source Type

Journal

Keywords

ELTEnglish educationraciolinguistic inequalityThailandwhite privilege

ASJC Subject Area

Social Sciences : Linguistics and LanguageArts and Humanities : Literature and Literary TheorySocial Sciences : EducationArts and Humanities : Language and Linguistics


Bibliography


Ulla, M., Bolintao, J., & Praditsorn, P. (2024). Challenging the raciolinguistic inequality in English education in Thailand: the macro, meso, and micro perspectives. English in Education, 58(1) 31-39. doi:10.1080/04250494.2024.2309390

Copy | Save