Color, Race, and English Language Teaching: Shades of Meaning

The unique contribution of this book is to bring together Critical Race Theory and narrative inquiry and apply them specifically to a largely overlooked area of experience within the field of TESOL: What does it mean to be a TESOL professional of color? To address this question, TESOL professionals of color from all over the world, representing a wide range of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, offer accounts of their own experiences, responding to two related questions: (1) Can you identify critical events or conditions in your personal or professional life that are the result of you being a person of color that affect who you are now and what you do as a TESOL professional of color? and (2) What have you learned from these events or conditions that have had a bearing on your life as a TESOL professional of color? This book is intended for researchers, professionals, and students in the field of English language teaching. The book is designed as a text for MATESOL programs and courses that deal with issues of language, culture, and teaching. The introduction presents a brief overview of relevant aspects of Critical Race Theory, narrative inquiry, and educational research. Focus questions for each chapter are included to help readers apply aspects of the narratives to their own experience. After a preface, this book is divided into the following 15 chapters: (1) A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, Narrative Inquiry, and Educational Research (A. Curtis); (2) Dark Matter: Teaching and Learning between Black and White (A. Curtis); (3) An Exceptional Voice: Working as a TESOL Professional of Color (S. Nero); (4) Stores through Perceptual Frames (D. Fujimoto); (5) My Journal into Racial Awareness (C. Chacon); (6) From Learning English in a Colony to Working as a Women TESOL Professional of Color (A. Lin); (7) Perpetual Foreigners: Can an American Be an American? (S. Wong); (8) Becoming an English Native: An English TESOL Professional of Color's Experience (C. Islam); (9) Musings of a Black ESL Instructor (M. Stephan); (10) The World Away from Home (G. T. Sachs); (11) Teaching English and Ethnic Origin (A. Govardhan); (12) Not a Real American: Experiences of a Reluctant Ambassador (M. Romney); (13) Out of the Safety Zone (S. Motha); (14) Confessions of an "Enraced" TESOL Professional (A. Mahboob); and (15) Conclusion (M. Romney).