Reducing Colonial Harm in Language Teaching - A Guide to Critical Self-Reflexive Practices for Language Teachers

Oct 15, 2026

Explores how coloniality and raciolinguistic ideologies persist in English language teaching by shaping ideas of race, power, and linguistic legitimacy. Argues for consciousness-raising through critical self-reflexive practices, including deep introspection into positionality, intersectionality, and histories with English. Connects these claims to experiences of “othering” and norm-centered classrooms that pressure learners to approximate white linguistic standards. Offers a reflective pathway for transforming both self and system to honor students’ linguistic and cultural wealth.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Reducing Colonial Harm in Language Teaching

Critical self-reflexive practices for language teachers

Coloniality, race, and power in English language education

Raciolinguistic ideologies and “othering” in classrooms

Personal historicity: ties to the English language

English as commodity and English-only language policies

Reducing Colonial Harm in Language Teaching: A Guide to Critical Self-Reflexive Practices for Language Teachers The powerful undercurrents and rooted presence of coloniality continue to influence the field of English language teaching today (Kubota, 2016) . Motha (2014) argues that our field in its historicity and embedded colonial lineage is inherently intertwined with notions of race and power. The language of the colonized is considered by the colonizers to be inferior to the colonial language “associated with the word and people of God, of territory and ownership”(Kalyanpur et al., forthcoming). This essay engages the reader in consciousness-raising practices that require deep introspection on our own positionality, intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989), and histories with the English language and suggests ways to transform the self and system that dismisses the linguistic and cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) of our students. America is an old house. We can never declare the work over. Wind, flood drought, and human upheavals batter a structure that is already fighting whatever flaws were left unattended in the original foundation. When you live in an old house, you may not want to go into the basement after a storm to see what the rains have wrought. Choose not to look, however, at your own peril. The owner of an old house knows that whatever you are ignoring will never go away. Whatever is lurking will fester whether you choose to look or not. Ignorance is no protection from the consequences of inaction. Whatever you are wishing away will gnaw at you until you gather the courage to face what you would rather not see. (Wilkerson, 2020, pp. 15–16) This quote by Wilkerson (2020) references the historical and institutional racism in the United States, which also applies to our field of English language education. The very foundation of English language education is wrought with raciolinguistic ideologies that center white-middle-class norms and position those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as deviant from the norm. Whiteness in societal norms and expectations is unmarked (Frankenberg, 1993) and reveals itself when students of color are, for example, marked as ‘exceptional’ or the exception to the “rule” or “norm” or praised for being ‘articulate’ (Alim & Smiterman, 2012) . These examples of ‘othering’ are common forms of oppression and reification and application of power in educational spaces. In English language classrooms, teachers and students work towards approximating white linguistic norms, which places the linguistic repertoire, variety, or vernacular of students as deviant from the norm. In the following reflection, I share my complex history with the English language, the questions that emerged through my analysis of the field of English language teaching, and the subsequent critical consciousness practices I engaged in as I navigated my colonial history and relationship to the English language. Navigating the Complex Historicity of my Ties to the English Language As collateral damage of the British departure and the subsequent partitioning of India in 1947, my parents fled their homeland of Sindh in pre-partition India and became refugees in their own land, India. Their psyche was deeply influenced by centuries of British colonial presence and control in India, particularly in the ways they viewed themselves and their status in society. When my father was 19, he traveled by ship to Hong Kong to join a distant relative, who owned a retail shop. He worked in Hong Kong for five years, but as the import and export market there became saturated with businessmen from India, my father moved to Japan to join his brother. It was here in Japan that I was born. I attended a small Catholic American International School from kindergarten through 12th grade. The medium of instruction at this school was English. As I gained proficiency in English, I gradually lost my own heritage mother-tongue

FAQs

What role does coloniality play in today’s English language teaching field?

Coloniality continues to influence the field through embedded histories and power relations intertwined with race. These dynamics affect how linguistic legitimacy and norms are constructed in education.

How does the guide frame critical self-reflexive practices for teachers?

It emphasizes consciousness-raising that requires introspection into positionality, intersectionality, and one’s own history with English. The goal is to transform both personal practice and the broader system that dismisses students’ cultural and linguistic wealth.

How does the narrative describe the impact of English-only policies and learning English in post-colonial contexts?

It describes English-only practices that privilege English over heritage languages, communicating that other languages are less important. English is also portrayed as a route to mobility, reinforcing the language’s commodity value.

Oct 15, 2026

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