Description
Book SynopsisThe centering of whiteness in English Language Teaching (ELT) renders the industry callous, corrupt and cruel; or, antisocial. Using the diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder as a rhetorical device, this book examines major issues with the ideologies and institutions behind the discipline of ELT and diagnoses the industry as in dire need of treatment, with the solution being a full decentering of whiteness. A vision for a more just version of ELT is offered as an alternative to the harm caused by its present-day incarnation. With a unique linkage of discourse on whiteness, language and ability, this book will be necessary reading for students, academics and administrators involved in ELT around the world.
Trade ReviewWriting in a forceful but engaging style that is just as often memoir as it is polemic, Gerald pulls no punches and joins a growing and increasingly assertive community of critical scholars who are challenging the very foundations on which the ‘teaching of standardized English’ is constructed. This makes for compelling, even if (for some of us) unsettling, reading. * Scott Thornbury, formerly at The New School, New York, USA *
Brimming with insights from research, practice, and personal experience, Gerald makes a passionate case for demolishing the status quo in English language teaching. In witty and refreshingly candid prose, he integrates critical perspectives on racism and disability justice to imagine a different system – one that is more prosocial, inclusive, and above all else, honest. * Neda Maghbouleh, University of Toronto, Canada *
Combining key insights from critical race theory and disability studies, JPB Gerald provides a stunning overview of how racial ideologies shape language teaching in ways that consistently privilege whiteness. Weaving personal narratives with astute theoretical insights, Gerald provides a guide for creating a more just system of language learning. * Victor Ray, University of Iowa, USA *
Table of ContentsPrologue
Introduction
Part One: Disorder
The Great Pyramid Scheme
Justified
A Dark Projection
Dis/abling Blackness
Ability, Intelligence and Language
Bad at English
Language Teaching as an Instrument of Pathologization
Part Two: Symptoms
Criterion 1
Criterion 2
Criterion 3
Criterion 4
Criterion 5
Criterion 6
Criterion 7
Part Three: Treatment...?
The Ezel Project
Prosocial Language Teaching
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
