Abstract
Previous research has affirmed how crucial self-reflecting on oppressive dynamics is for all educational professionals. Unfortunately, nurturing such professional self-reflection and addressing these dynamics in classroom instruction are rarely components of our preservice preparation programs and continuous professional development. Inspired by Gerald (2022), the author embarked on an autoethnographic inquiry that focused on the oppressive dynamics, linguicism and xenophobia, that are especially relevant to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) educators, including fostering linguistic justice in adult ESOL programs worldwide. Critical race and intersectionality theories were the conceptual frameworks used for this investigation. The inquiry was fortified by exploring what other TESOL professionals who have acquired English as an additional language and have taught English in both English-dominant and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) countries have shared regarding the oppressive dynamics under study. The goal was to spark other educators to make similar introspective journeys so the home languages that our emergent bi/multilingual learners bring into our classrooms are honored, where native-speakerism (Holliday, 2006) and the hegemony of English as a global lingua franca are confronted, and linguistic justice is promoted by cultivating bi/multiliteracy and embracing all varieties of English beyond its standardized forms.
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