Towards creating a nondiscriminatory professional environment for all TESOL members

regardless of native language, race, and place of birth

 

 

Abstract:

 

In this discussion-based session, participants will have the opportunity to explore the issues facing the (in)equitable professional practices that teachers of English experience in various contexts around the world. Within the complexities of identity, agency, and advocacy, teachers have to concomitantly negotiate the experiences of privilege and marginalization because of their linguistic, ethnic, social, cultural and professional identities/positioning. This negotiation has started urging more researchers and teacher educators to focus on the complexity of teacher learning, identity, and practice. Participants of this series of sessions will engage in asynchronous and synchronous discussions; Each week we will have experts and renowned researchers in the field to share with us new insights, knowledge, and practical professional development strategies that we can use to help us achieve professional growth. By the end of the session, participants will be encouraged to reflect on key issues that have been discussed and will look at future directions for TESOL as an organization and discursive field, in terms of research and practice.

 

Target Audience:

 

Participation in this workshop will benefit graduate students, teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in TESOL or Applied Linguistics, EFL/ESL instructors, and English language school administrators, interested in learning more about the issues revolving around privilege and marginalization in the field of ELT (from all varying respects), as well as the implications for "moving beyond the idealized native speaker" in inquiry and practice.

 

Workshop Platform: NNEST-IS EVO Google+ Community Page  

 

https://plus.google.com/communities/105022915563135176347

 

Workshop Hashtag: #NNESTEVO2017

 

Interest Section Sponsors: Non-Native English Speakers in TESOL (NNEST) Interest Section

 

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Syllabus

 

Weekly Outline

 

By the end of this workshop, participants will have:

• engaged in asynchronous and synchronous discussions with leaders and experts in the field on various topics- from becoming successful language educators to navigating  professional challenges and growth

• interacted with other participants on the Google + Community Page

• reflected on key issues that have been discussed, and explored future directions for TESOL as an organization and discursive field, in terms of research and practice

   

 

Week 1  (Jan 8 - 14, 2017)

Moderators: Kara MacDonald & Bedrettin Yazan

 

During the first week of the course, participants will

• join the group online meeting place

• exchange introductions and become familiar with the group environment (Google+)

• read selected articles on the assigned topic

• participate in a synchronous and asynchronous online discussion on NNEST TESOL Interest Section and NNEST movement (i.e. contextual opportunities and challenges in NNEST issues)

 

Live session: TBA (see Google + Community Page for details)

How to to join the live session: Register and sign in at: http://webheads.learningtimesevents.org/ (details will be listed on the Google + Community Page)

 

        Guest Speakers: Baburhan Uzum (NNEST IS Newsletter co-editor), Burcu Ates (NNEST IS Newsletter co-editor), Saeed Nazari (Community manager), Isabela de

        Frietas Villas Boas (representing NNEST of the month Blog interviewers)

        Topic: Getting to know the NNEST community leadership

 

 

Week 2  (Jan 15 - 21, 2017)

Moderator: Aiden Yeh

 

During this week, participants will

• read selected articles on the assigned topic

• participate in a synchronous and asynchronous online discussion exploring critical conceptualizations of identity, experience, and (in)equity, in the globalized, discursive field of TESOL, and their implications for inquiry and practice.

   

Live session: Friday, January 20th, 1 p.m. GM T (Friday, January 20th, 8 a.m., EST; Sat urday, January 21st, 10 p.m., Tokyo)

How to to join the live session: Register and sign in at: http://webheads.learningtimesevents.org/ (details will be listed on the Google + Community Page)

 

Guest Speaker: Nathanael Rudolph

         Topic: Critical worldviews and constructions of “moving beyond the idealized native speaker”: Implications for inquiry and practice

 

Overview: What does it mean when we say "moving beyond the native speaker" in TESOL, critically-practically speaking? TESOL, as a globalized discursive field (Pennycook, 2007), continues to wrestle with accounting for the movement, border crossing, hybridity, and diversity characterizing today’s ever-globalizing world, and classrooms therein (Canagarajah, 2016). This session, approached through a postmodern and poststructural lens, will provide participants with an overview of critically-oriented conceptualizations of and approaches to "moving beyond the idealized native speaker/hearer (Chomsky, 1965)," and will explore their implications for framing who teachers “are,” and “can” and/or “should” be or become in and beyond the classroom.  

 

 

Week 3    (Jan 22 - Jan 28, 2017)

Moderator: Michael Karas

 

During this week, participants will

• read selected articles on the assigned topic

• participate in a synchronous and asynchronous online discussion on NNEST mentoring practices

 

Live session: TBA (see Google + Community Page for details)

How to to join the live session: Register and sign in at: http://webheads.learningtimesevents.org/ (details will be listed on the Google + Community Page)

 

Guest speaker: Geeta Aneja

Topic: (Non)native speakering in teacher education: Where it comes from, why it matters, and what we can do about it

 

Overview: As dichotomized notions of “native” and “nonnative” are unraveled, an ongoing question is how teacher educators in their own classrooms can create spaces where candidates can explore and enact alternative identities that resist the (re)invention of such binaries. In this chapter, I consider pedagogical possibilities by examining how a teacher educator at a large, urban university integrates critical discussions, normalizes diversity, and encourages and facilitates her students’ exploration of identity in ways that resist traditional, dichotomized paradigms, while also advocating for more nuanced ways of thinking about language, its users, and its use. To contextualize the glocal significance of Anna Marie’s approach, I first develop (non)native speakering as a poststructuralist, dynamic way of framing both the historical emergence of (non)native speakered subjectivities, as well as how “native” and “nonnative” identities are reified, conferred, denied, and performed through everyday interactions (see also Aneja, 2016). I then use (non)native speakering as a lens through which to analyze the significance of the possibilities Anna Marie’s classroom pedagogy offers for undoing structuralist, binary views of identity. The chapter’s conclusion will discuss participants’ resistance against the ‘traditional’ (non)native speaker concept and how ELT professionals can continue to address inequity in the “field.”

 

 

Week 4     (Jan 29 - Feb 4, 2017)

Moderator: Geeta Aneja

 

During this week, participants will

• read selected articles on the assigned topic

• participate in a synchronous and asynchronous online discussion on doing research on NNEST issues (Where to begin? Where to go? Where to share?, practical suggestions for graduate students on taking the first steps toward a professional life)

• learn how to write grants, funding, etc. and how to provide support NESTs/NNESTs professionally (training, publications, conference presentations)

 

Live session: TBA (see Google + Community Page for details)

How to to join the live session: Register and sign in at: http://webheads.learningtimesevents.org/ (details will be listed on the Google + Community Page)

 

Guest speaker: Ana Solano-Campos

Topic: Beyond the NS/NNS Binary: Intersectionality in Contexts of (Neo)Colonial Bilingualism

 

Overview: In this session, participants will become familiar with the concept of (neo)colonial bilingualism and how it relates to the native speaker fallacy. We will discuss how language ideologies informed by the colonial project position users of English as outsiders based on identity markers such as race, religion, ethnicity, and immigration status, among others. After exploring the overlapping layers of privilege and oppression operating in the lives of learners and educators in ESL/EFL classrooms, we will discuss how English teaching professionals can open up spaces to affirm students’ dynamic and intersecting cultural, linguistic, and national identities. The purpose of this session is to highlight the role of intersectionality in challenging ideologies of native speakerism via a decolonizing pedagogy.

 

 

Week 5     (Feb 5 - 11, 2017)

Moderator: Nathanael Rudolph

 

During this week participants will

• read selected articles on the assigned topic

• participate in a synchronous and asynchronous online discussion on the future of TESOL NNEST-IS

• suggest practical ways to raise awareness about NNESTs/NNESs issues

• brainstorm ideas about members' roles during and beyond TESOL convention(s)

• offer suggestions on building and implementing sustainable practices against  unprofessional, discriminatory treatments of NESTs/NNESTs in the process of hiring/at the workplace

 

Live session: Friday, February 11th, 03:00 GMT (Thursday, 10 p.m., Eastern Standard Time; Friday, 12 p.m., Tokyo)

How to to join the live session: Register and sign in at: http://webheads.learningtimesevents.org/ (details will be listed on the Google + Community Page)

 

Guest speaker: Rashi Jain

Topic: Examining translingualism in TESOL, and exploring the intersection of translingual scholarship and NNEST issues

 

Overview: Although translingualism has emerged as a new paradigm in the recent years (Canagarajah, 2012, 2013a, 2013c; Pennycook, 2008), conceptualizations around teachers’ and teacher educators’ translinguistic identities have just begun to be explored in the field of TESOL. I address this gap in literature by reviewing the few narratives that have recently become available (e.g. Jain, 2014; Motha, Jain, & Tecle, 2012; Rudolph, 2012; Zheng, 2013), and extending these theorizations by deeply examining my own translinguistic identity as a language teacher and teacher educator (as opposed to the over-simplified NEST or NNEST identities), as well as my translingual practices inside and outside my classrooms. I draw upon both autoethnography and practitioner inquiry to compile this narrative. I also write this narrative from the borderlands. Borderlands are often perceived as physical spaces, removed from the centers that are the hub of key activities and decision-making that impact all those who come into the fold of that community. However, in the field of education, borderlands also refer to peripheral spaces in vast and sometimes abstract communities of practice (Wenger, 1998).

     I have been actively participating in diverse practice and research communities in the U.S. for more than a decade now. During this time, I have performed many academic and professional roles: that of a student, a teacher, a teacher educator, a researcher, and an administrator. In the past, I have had the opportunity to teach in the TESOL teacher education program at a large American public research university, as a teaching assistant, independent instructor, and most recently as adjunct faculty. Also, I frequently teach as an adjunct professor at a community college, as well as in an intensive English program at large public university, and work with adult ESL/international students in both roles. In these myriad roles, I have so far stayed on the periphery of my communities of practice. It is a trajectory shaped both by circumstances and choice. I value the unique perspectives I gain from this deliberate self-positioning—standing at the borders of different communities, and looking at them from outside as well as inside. I believe these perspectives also help balance the narratives that emerge from those who are doing equally meaningful work from the centers of these communities. Moreover, working on the borderlands allows me to constantly create and negotiate my professional, academic, and social identities—to reimagine myself as a translingual practitioner as well as a pracademic—in response to the dynamic, fluid, mobile, and ever-evolving realities around me.

 

 

Moderator and speaker bios and pictures:

	1. Rashi Jain   Dr. Rashi Jain is originally from India, and moved to the U.S. in 2004 to pursue first a masters' and then a Ph.D. degree in TESOL. A global citizen who lives across nations, languages, and cultures, Rashi believes that it is crucial for students and educators to acquire intercultural and translingual competence to successfully navigate complex 21st-century realities. As part of her professional endeavors, Rashi has been exploring the rich field of practitioner research and inquiry, and has also published and presented extensively on teaching cross-cultural communication in university courses, teacher identity and pedagogy, World Englishes and translingualism, and Non-native English Speaking Teacher (NNEST) issues. Rashi has been both a practitioner and an academic in her diverse roles as teacher, teacher educator, writer/editor, researcher, and administrator over almost two decades in various higher education settings. As such, Rashi defines herself as a ‘pracademic’—someone who works at the intersection of practitioner and academic communities—a role that truly reflects current global realities where the boundaries between different professional communities are becoming increasingly blurred.
	2. Kara Mac Donald   Kara Mac Donald is an Associate Professor, Faculty Development Trainer, at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA USA. Her background consists of over twenty years in foreign language teaching, teacher training, curriculum design and faculty development across elementary, secondary and higher education. She earned a Masters in Applied Linguistics, TESOL and a Doctorate in Applied Linguistics. As a Faculty Development Trainer, she conducts pre-service and in-service training via face-to-face and hybrid courses. She maintains a close connection to the language classroom as a part-time English instructor for children and young adults in ESL and academic preparation courses. Her interests outside of teacher training are NNEST employment issues and cross-cultural communication.
	3.Ana Solano-Campos   Ana Solano-Campos is Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Literacy, and English Language Learners at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. A former NNEST of the Month Blog interviewer, Ana is a Spanish-English bilingual with a background in Applied Linguistics, TEFL, TESOL, and Multicultural Education. Over the past 15 years, Ana has taught children, youth, and pre/in-service educators in Costa Rica and the United States. Her research interests include language ideologies and linguistically responsive pedagogies in transnational and superdiverse educational contexts. In her research, Ana uses qualitative and comparative perspectives to identify challenges and opportunities in the construction of linguistically and socially just learning environments. Ana’s work has been published in TESOL Journal, Research in Comparative and International Education, Citizenship Teaching and Learning, and the Journal of Intercultural Studies, among others.
	4. Geeta Aneja   I am a 6th year doctoral candidate in Educational Linguistics at PennGSE. I also serve as Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives in Urban Education. My research considers how the native speaker concept emerges and is reified through institutional structures and discourses in and beyond teacher education programs. I am also exploring how translingual writing and other initiatives can think beyond the native-nonnative dichotomy to create alternative ways of using and understanding language. I have taught English in India, Peru, and Hong Kong, as well as at several Philadelphia non-profits and Drexel University. I have also published articles and book reviews in TESOL Quarterly, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Language and Education, Anthropology in Education Quarterly, Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, and the TESOL NNEST Interest Section Newsletter. I have taught English in Peru, India, Hong Kong, and around the US. I can be reached at ganeja@gse.upenn.edu.
	5. Aiden Yeh   I'm a full-time Asst. Professor at Wenzao Ursuline University in Southern Taiwan. I teach creative writing and other ESP courses (Research Writing, Advertising & PR, Mass Media, and Cross-Cultural Communications, and English Language Teaching). I received my PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK; my research focus was on the effective facilitation of teacher professional development for Taiwanese teachers in supplementary schools. For my Master’s degree (University of Surrey, UK), my research was in ELT Management investigating on the recruitment, training, and reward policies for EFL teachers at a kindergarten school in Southern Taiwan. I have published journal articles and book chapters on  the following topics: NNESTs' Teacher Professional Development using online technology, blended learning,  teaching and learning EFL, and poetic discourse. I'm a member of the Electronic Village Online Coordinating Team and have served  the TESOL CALL-IS Steering Committee and the TESOL Technology Advisory Committee. I have also served as the NNEST-IS chair in 2010. I can be reached online via Skype: aidenyeh, Twitter: motherchina
	6. Nathanael Rudolph   Nathanael is an assistant professor of TESOL/applied linguistics at Mukogawa Women's University in Nishinomiya, Japan. In and through his research and teaching, Nathanael advocates for contextualized education that critically and practically accounts for and celebrates hybridity and diversity, in terms of identity and interaction. His specific interests relate to postmodern and poststructural approaches to teacher and learner identity, (in)equity in the field of ELT, and approaches to teacher education and classroom practice that challenge essentialized and idealized (non)nativeness. He can be reached at njrudolph132@gmail.com.
	7. Michael Karas   Michael Karas is a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario.  He has taught English in Korea and China. His research interests include: NNEST issues, silence and reticence in the English classroom and the lived experiences of foreign English teachers in EFL contexts.
	8. Bedrettin Yazan   Bedrettin Yazan is the chair-elect of the TESOL NNEST IS. He works as an assistant professor of educational linguistics at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. His research interests include language teacher learning and identity, privilege and marginalization in ELT, collaboration between ESL and content area teachers, and sociocultural theories in second language acquisition.  He can be contacted at: bedrettinyazan@gmail.com

 

 

I understand that session moderators are required to participate in the 4-week moderators' training session from October 16 until November 13, 2016. The EVO session will be offered between January 8 and February 12, 2017. I understand that EVO sessions are free of advertising and no commercial sponsorship is allowed. Finally, I understand that EVO sessions are free and open to all, and that no academic credit may be given for participation.

 

 

I agree: Bedrettin Yazan (Co-lead Moderator)

I agree: Nathanael Rudolph (Co-lead Moderator)

I agree: Aiden Yeh (Co-moderator)

I agree: Geeta Aneja (Moderator)

I agree: Michael Karas (Moderator)