INFORMATION TO USERS
This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer.
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order.
ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI
NOTE TO USERS
This reproduction is the best copy available.
UMI
LIFTING THE VEIL OF SILENCE;
AN INQUIRY INTO RACE AS A FEATURE OF THE PEDAGOGICAL AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment o f the Requirements for
the Degree Doctor o f Philosophy in the Graduate
School o f The Ohio State University
By
Marinus II. Stephan. M..A.
*****
The Ohio State University 2001
Dissertation Committee:
Professor Keiko K. Samimv. .Adviser
Professor Charles R. Hancock
Professor .Alan Hirvela .Approved b\
Prolessor Reiko
.Adviser Foreign and Second Langpfage Education Program College of Education UMI Number: 3011147
Copyright 2001 by Stephan, Marinus Herman
All rights reserved.
UMI
UMI Microform 3011147 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17. United States Code.
Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Marinus Herman Stephan 2001 ABSTRACT
The purpose o f the study was to explore how race affects the social and pedagogical dimensions o f the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom.
Specifically, the study wanted to investigate whether issues o f race serve as a source o f the goals, values, and beliefs teachers hold relative to the teaching o f ESL, To this end, two sets of semi-structured interviews were conducted with six ESL instructors employed at San Christobal State University, a four-year college located in a metropolis in the US
Midwest (to protect the privacy o f the research participants, the names o f the institutions where the study was conducted have been altered) .Analysis o f the data revealed that for
some o f the instructors who participated in the study, issues o f race seem to have little or
no impact on their teacher thinking processes. The teaching philosophy o f others, on the
other hand, is, in addition to pedagogical principles, also guided by their socio-political
ideology, o f which their racial belief's and experiences make up one aspect.
With respect to the social dimension o f the classroom, the study focused on the
extent to which ESL students tend to prefer one category o f ESL instructors to another.
To this end, a survey was conducted among students enrolled in the ESL programs at San
Christobal State University and San Christobal Community College, a two-year college,
both located in a metropolis in the US Midwest. .Analysis o f the survey data showed that
the students participating in this study favored white ESL instructors to those o f color. The study provides a number of speculations to explain this particular phenomenon. The report concludes with a number o f implications arising from the study and recommendations for further research.
la Dedicated to Emery, Melania, Marina, Eugene, Sandy, & Tessaly
IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
On September 6, 1994, my then 3-year-old son, my wife, and myself embarked on two journeys, one in the literal and the other in the figurative sense o f the word. The literal journey took us from Paramaribo, the capital o f the Republic o f Suriname, to
Columbus. Ohio The figurative journey took us from a relatively stress-free life to one filled with tension, worries, and sacrifices. Such, unfortunately, is the life that most doctoral students and their families lead.
The journey from Paramaribo to Columbus would not have been possible without the assistance o f Dr. Donald Winfordo f the Department o f Linguistics at The Ohio
State University whose generous offer of an assistantship initially allowed me to enter the
Foreign and Second Language Education Program. I, therefore, thank him for his support.
.As difficult as the figurative journey was, it could have been significantly more strenuous had it not been for the support o f a number o f people I first wish to express my gratitude to the members o f my Dissertation Committee: Dr. Keiko Samimv,my academic adviser, who offered me both academic and personal advice: Dr. .Alan Hirvela, whose suggestions during the dissertation writing process were beyond invaluable; and Dr.
Charles R. Hancock, whose feedback most certainly contributed to making this dissertation the kind o f product that it eventually has become.
My thanks, furthermore, to the instructors who, in spite o f their hectic schedules, invested their time and enersv in this studv. Thanks to Dr. Diane Belcher for her assistance and to the ESL students who, their course work not withstanding, took the time to complete the student survey. In addition, I thank Fernanda Capraro for her assistance during the pilot phase o f the study, for her ideas and suggestions, but above all tor her friendship. I also wish to express my appreciation to Drs. Lesley Ahmadi and
Tona Dickerson for sharing their thoughts with me as I was working on this study.
■A number o f other people were not immediately associated with my dissertation, but it is safe to say that without their assistance writing the dissertation would have been a lot trickier. When my wife, my son, and I met the Borror familyfor the first time on
Thanksgiving Day o f 1994, we could not have imagined the sacrifices this family would make on our behest so as to enable us to experience life in the US in an agreeable manner. We are profoundly indebted to Patricia, Carl, Lesley, Tim, Steven, and Carla
Borror tor their kindness. If generosity came with a price tag, the U.S. national debt would pale against the debt we would owe the Borror family.
Sincere gratitude to Patricia Kedzerski, for proofreading my work, for her suggestions, moral support, a host o f other noble deeds and for being a dear friend.
Thanks to Dr. Ruth Boizenius who was there to support me whenever times were rough, and to Peter Brandt, a genuine computer wizard, who time and again came to my rescue whenever a computer hardware or software failure occured. I am also indebted to
Camille Pincliam Jones, Destry Holmes,and a number o f other Black .American students with whom I began to discuss issues o f race in .America some two years before I began writing this dissertation. Last but certainly not least, thanks to Emery and
.Melania, my son and wife respectively, for their support and understanding. In the words of Lennon and McCartney, it has indeed been a “ long and winding road.”
VI VITA
October 14, 1955 ...... Bom - Paramaribo, Suriname
1981...... B.A. English Language and Literature, Instituut voor de Opleiding van Leraren (Institute for .Advanced Teacher Training), Paramaribo, Suriname
1981- 1986 ...... English Language Instructor, Natuur Technisch Instituut (Institute o f the Natural and Technical Sciences) Paramaribo, Suriname
1988 ...... M.A. Applied Linguistics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
1988 - 1994 ...... English Instructor/Researcher, Instituut voor Taalonderzoek en Taalont- wikkeling (The Institute for Language Research and Development) Paramaribo, Suriname
1995 - 1998 ...... Graduate Teaching .Assistant, English as a Second Language Composition Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
1998 - present ...... W riting Consultant, University College, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
FIELDS OF STLTDY
Major Field: Foreign and Second Language Education TABLE OF CONTENTS
A bstract...... ii
Dedication ...... iv
Acknowleduments ...... v \'ita ...... vii
List o f Tables ...... xiii
List of Figures...... xiv
Chapters:
Introduction ...... 1
1 1 Background o f the study ...... 1
12 Personal testimony ...... 8
1 3 Statement o f the problem ...... 11
14 Purpose and significance o f the study ...... 14
15 Research questions ...... 14
15 1 Primary research question ...... 15
15 2 Secondary research questions ...... 15
1 6 Basic assumptions ...... 17
1.7 Definition of terms ...... 18
1.8 Delimitations o f the study ...... 21
1 9 Limitations of the study ...... 22
Review o f the literature ...... 25
2 1 Introduction ...... 25
2.2 On the origin, evolution, and theory of the concept o f race ...... 33 viii 2.3 Insights into racial perceptions and beliefs in C h ina...... 43
2.4 Racial prejudice in ‘The land o f the rising sun’ : A case
of one-up-manship ...... 50
2.5 Yellow peril in the ‘ hood: Black-Korean confrontations
in America’s inner cities ...... 62
2.6 The native-nonnative speaker dichotom y ...... 71
2.7 Issues o f race and the teaching o f ESL: Two
incompatible concepts'’ ...... 87
2 S Summary ...... 95
Research design ...... 97
3 1 Introduction ...... 97
3 2 Triangulating the study paradigmatically ...... 97
3 3 Research on race and the need for an emergent design 99
3 4 Shifting research design; From phenomenological study
to case study ...... 103
3 5 Case study design ...... 107
3 5.1 The research participants ...... 107
3 .5.2 Data collection procedure ...... 109
3 .5 3 Data analysis ...... 113
3 6 The design o f the Instructor Preference Survey ...... 114
3 6 1 The research participants ...... 114
3 6 2 The development o f the Instructor Preference Survey ...... 117
3 .6 3 The final version o f the Instructor Preference Survey ...... 122
3 6 4 Data analysis procedure ...... 126
3.7 Validity and reliability ...... 128
3 8 Summary ...... 129
Results and Discussion o f the Teacher Case Studies ...... 131
4 I Introduction ...... 13 1
4 2 The case studies ...... 133 i.\ 4.2.1 Case study .A.: .Abalo ...... 133
4.2.1.1 .Academic and professional profile ...... 133
4.2.1.2 Perspectives on teaching ...... 135
4.2.1.3 Racial experiences ...... 141
4.2.1.4 Summary ...... 143
4.2.2 Case study B; E rin ...... 144
4.2.2.1 .Academic and professional profile ...... 144
4.2.2.2 Perspectives on teaching ...... 146
4.2.2.3 Racial experiences ...... 151
4.2.2.4 Summary ...... 153
4.2.3 Case study C: Jack ...... 154
4.2.3.1 .Academic and professional profile ...... 154
4.2.3.2 Perspectives on teaching ...... 156
4.2.3.3 Racial experiences ...... 158
4.2.3.4 Summaiy- ...... 160
4.2.4. Case study D; Lindsey ...... 161
4.2.4.1 .Academic and professional profile ...... 161
4.2.4.2 Perspectives on teaching ...... 162
4.2.4.3 Racial experiences ...... 166
4.2.4.4 Summary ...... 168
4.2.5 Case study E: Mukembe ...... 169
4.2.5.1 .Academic and professional profile ...... 169
4.2.5.2 Perspectives on teaching ...... 170
4.2.5.3 Racial experiences ...... 174
4.2.5.4 Summary ...... 175
4.2.6 Case study F: Shelley ...... 176
4.2.6.1 .Academic and professional profile ...... 176
4.2.6.2 Perspectives on teaching ...... 177
4.2.6.3 Racial experiences ...... 179
4.2.6.4 Summ ar\'...... 182
X 4.3 Cross-Case Analysis ...... 183
4.3.1 Discussion o f research question 1 ...... 184
4.3.2 Discussion o f research question 2 ...... 187
4.4 .\ plurality o f voices: A case o f harmony or dissonance? ...... 193
4.5 Sum m ary ...... 197
5. Results and discussion o f the Instructor Preference S urvey ...... 199
5.1 Introduction ...... 199
5.2 Results and discussion ...... 200
5.2.1 Discussion o f research question 3 ...... 200
5.2.2 Discussion o f research question 4 ...... 210
5.2.3 Discussion o f research question 5 ...... 217
5.2.4 Discussion o f research question 6 ...... 220
5.2.4.1 In search o f rival explanations ...... 220
5.2.4.2 Interpretation o f the findings: Perspectives from the
Instructor-participants ...... 223
5.2.4.3 Language to pology, conscious racism.
and socio-economic status ...... 236
5.2.4.4 Accent, the broadcast industry, and
the teaching o f ESL...... 239
5.3 Summary ...... 250
(). Summar\'. conclusions, implications, and recommendations ...... 252
6.1 Introduction ...... 252
6.2 Sum m ary ...... 252
6.3 Conclusions ...... 255
6.3.1 Conclusions relative to the pedagogical dimension o f the ESL
classroom...... 255
6.3.2 Conclusions relative to the social dimension o f the ESL
classroom...... 256
\i 6.4 Implications o f the study ...... 263
6.4.1 Implications for ESL instructors ...... 263
6.4.2 Implications for the ESL profession ...... 265
6.4.3 Implications for curriculum developers ...... 266
6.5 Recommendations involving the practice of ESL teaching ...... 269
6.6 Future research ...... 275
6.7 Some continuing thoughts ...... 280
6.8 Limitations o f the study ...... 281
Bibliography ...... 283
.Appendix .A Consent form regarding the participation o f instructors ...... 304
.Appendix B Socio-politics and language teaching: Perceptions o f foreign and
second language instructors ...... 305
Appendix C Questions related to interview = 1 ...... 311
Appendix D Questions related to interview 4 2 ...... 312
.Appendix E Excerpts o f interview 4 1 with M ukem be ...... 314
.Appendix F Excerpts o f interview 4 1 with M ukem be...... 320
Appendix G Race in the ESL classroom: A survey ...... 331
.Appendix 11 Teacher-student relationships in foreign and second language
classrooms: A survey ...... 340
.Appendix 1 TESOL's policy statements ...... 348
.Appendix J TESOL's resolutions ...... 349
Xll LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3 1 Demographics o f the teacher-participants by selected characteristics ...... 108
3 .2 Overview o f data collection activities ...... 110
3 3 Demographics o f the student-participants by selected characteristics ...... 116
5 1 Student-participants' preferences for American ESL instructors o f
diverse racial background based on raw scores awarded ...... 201
5 2 Percentage distribution by group o f student-participants regarding the
preferences tor American ESL instructors o f diverse racial o rig in ...... 202
5 3 Student-participants' preferences for NTSPs and Non-NESPs based on
raw scores ...... 205
5 4 Percentage distribution by group o f student-participants regarding the Preference for NESPs and Non-NESPs ...... 206-207
5 5 The degree o f influence o f selected factors as perceived by the student-
participants on the acceptance o f ESL instructors based on the raw scores 211
5 6 Percentage distribution by group o f student-participants regarding the
influence o f selected factors on the working relationship between teacher
and student ...... 213 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 1 Elements o f the culture o f education ...... 26
\ i \ CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
\t c’ are tryime, to do here is drop a pebble in the pond and have it reverberate all across [the ESL profess ion J.
W illiam Jefferson Clinton. President o f the United States. 1992-1996. 1996-2000
1.1 Background of the study
In the United States, race has historically been a significant social force within both the wider community and educational institutions. .Wrguably nowhere else does this find better expression than in the Supreme Court rulings in the cases o f Plessy v.
Feryiison and Brown v. Board o f Education o f Topeka. Kansas, which, in 1896 and 1954 respectively, first legalized and then outlawed racial segregation (Cruse 1987). In sum. race is "perhaps the most unique element o f .American history and the central problem o f
.American national culture" (Scott-Childress. 1999. p.vii).
Consequently, at the dawn o f the 21st Century, race continues to be part and
parcel o f the fabric o f .American society. To illustrate, in the 1990s. the abyss separating
Black and White .Americans, for instance, was highlighted by two events. On .April 29.
1992. riots broke out in South Central Los .Angeles after four white police officers
charged with the beating o f the black motorist Rodney King had been acquitted. Leaving
S800 m illion dollars in property damage and 58 fatalities in its wake (Mannes. 1992; Takaki. 1998). this rampage is aptly regarded as "the worst civil disturbance in modem
American history " (Mannes. 1992). Three years later, the division between Blacks and
W hiles in .America was once again clearly evident when Orenthal James (nicknamed
O.J.) Simpson, a black man. who in addition to being a football legend had also been an actor and publicity agent for a reputable rental car company, was acquitted o f charges o f having slain his ex-wife and her male companion, both o f whom were white
I Sehmallegger. 1996). While opinions about the verdict were not entirely divided along racial lines, many Black Americans greeted it with jubilation, considering it not so much a victory /or the suspect as a victory over "the endemic racism in the criminal Justice system [o f the United States]" (Gabriel. 1998. p.130). Many White .Americans, on the other hand, were utterly dumbfounded and dismayed.
At the time this report was nearing its completion, the United States was once again rocked by race-related disturbances. On Saturday. .April 7. 2001. a police officer in the city o f Cincinnati in the State o f Ohio shot and killed Timothy Thomas, an unarmed
Black man in his late teens (Kinney. 2001 ). The incident, which many in Cincinnati's
Black community perceived as racially motivated, sparked four days o f civil disturbances, with rioters engaging in vandalism, looting, and arson (Nolan. 2001a.
2001b).
In sum. in the light o f events in the distant and the more recent past discussed
above, it may be assumed that race is likely to be a factor in classrooms in .America, the
ESL classroom included. In fact, research has shown that racial stereotypes are common
place in the behavior teachers may exhibit toward their students. Simpson and Erickson
11983 ). for instance, provided a succinct review o f this research. They referred, for instance, to a study reported in Eaves (1975). who found that White teachers rated black boys as more deviant in comparison to White boys. They mentioned, furthermore, the study reported by Coates (1972). who established that White teachers rated the
personality o f black boys more negatively than that o f White boys. Simpson and Erickson also pointed to a study reported by Feldman and Donehoe (1978) who found that in terms o f nonverbal communication. Black as well as White teachers were more positive
towards students o f their own race.
More recent studies suggest that little has changed in the intervening years.
Casteel ( 1998). for instance, reported that the White female teachers in his study treated
the Black .American male students less favorably than they did the White male students.
Moreov er. Pigott and Cowen (2000) reported that both Black and White instructors
perceived o f Black children as having more serious school adjustment problems, more
stereotv pically negative qualities, and poorer future educational prognosis than White
children have.
On the other hand. Simpson and Erickson (1983) also reported that, for instance.
Brown. Payne. Lankewich. and Cornell ( 1970). Byalick and Bersoff ( 1974). and Hillman
and Davenport ( 1978) have found that Black as well as White teachers had more positive
interactions with students o f the opposite race than with students o f their own race. W ith
regard to these three studies. Simpson and Erickson commented that. "It is possible that
... the teachers were try ing to overcompensate in their interactional behavior with
opposite race children" (p. 185). .A more recent study suggests that the suspicion Simpson
and Erickson covertly expressed about the three aforementioned studies may only be
partially justified. Teitegah (1996). for instance, found that teachers' attitudes toward White. Black.
Asian, and Hispanic .American students varied depending on the t\ pe o f behavior that was studied. She found, for instance, that white teachers who. among other things, believed that. " [l]t is okay to work with minority people, but [believe] it would not be right to share an apartment with one" (p. 155). gave Black students the highest ratings with respect to the students' personal-social behaviors. .At the same time, however, these teachers ga\e Black students the lowest ratings with respect to cognitive-motivational beha\ iors. Overall, then, one cannot deny that racial stereotypes are an aspect o f life in classrooms across the United States.
One might, therefore, expect issues o f race to attract the attention o f ESL practitioners and researchers, particularly since a significant portion o f the ESL research community consists o f .Americans, or foreign nationals who work and reside in the US.
.As I w ill show in section 2.7. such research has. by and large, not been forthcoming. Yet. studies that address issues o f race in the ESL prot'ession in general and the ESL classroom in particular are o f importance in that they enable one to learn more about the social context o f ESL teaching and learning. This knowledge, in turn, enables
professionals in the field to design classroom methodologies, an issue discussed at length
by Holliday ( 1994).
There is a significant body o f literature in the field of foreign language teaching
and learning that im plicitly focuses on race (e.g. Bostick 1971; 1972a. 1972b. 1979;
U)85; Brigman and Cheser Jacobs 1981; Clark 1980. 1982; 1985; Clark and Harty 1983;
Clowney and Legge 1979; Davis 1986. 1990. 1992; Davis and Markham 1991; English
1996. 1997; Guillaume 1994; Hancock 1994; Hopkins 1992; Hubbard 1968. 1975. 1980; Huber 1990; Jackson 1978; Lassiter 1989: Lomangino 1983; Lucas 1995; M iller 1953;
Moeller and Ashcroft 1997: Scales 1981; Wilberschied and Dassier 1995). These studies are characterized by the fact that they tie in race with educational policies. That is. these studies advance theories as to why current language learning and teaching policies fail to attract a significant number o f students o f color, in particular Black .Americans; moreo\ er. they investigate the attitudes o f these students towards language learning, and make suggestions regarding the recruitment and retention o f such students.
In contrast to the above studies, the scope o f this study is socio-pedagogical in nature; that is. it explores how issues o f race, specifically racial categorization— i.e.. the fact that one person is. for instance. Black and another White-- affects the social and pedagogical dimensions o f the ESL classroom. In an effort to gain a better understanding o f the research topic. I began perusing the "'fiagship'journals" {Richardson. 1990. p.20) o f both ESL and foreign language teaching (FLT)— in this case. Foreii^n Lan^ucige
Annals. Modern Lani^uage Journal, and TESOL Quarterly— for articles on the socio- pedagogical aspects o f race. This perusal o f the professional literature on the teaching o f
ESL and foreign languages spanning the period 1974 through 2000 yielded literally less than a handful o f articles that discussed how race as a social force e.xerts influence over
people and events in the ESL classroom.
In this respect. 1 echo the sentiments expressed by Taylor (1997) regarding the
scarcity on studies that relate ESL teaching and learning to the phenomenon o f race. In
her study that. "situate[d] English as a second language ... pedagogy at the convergence
o f the discourses o f culture, race' and nation." (p.2) Taylor observed.
1 was surprised to find no mention of'race' in my first visit to the literature. Articles on 'complex speech act behavior', 'task-based methods o f vocabularv' development' and 'cultural sensitivit}' held forth eloquently in arenas in which race', class, sexuality or ability appeared to be simply not relevant [sic], (p. 18)
Taylor went on to claim that she returned to the literature with a few questions, one o f which was how authors who write articles on matters related to the teaching o f ESL imagine students and teachers. According to the aforementioned researcher. “ ESL students were being imagined either as abstract language learners (undifferentiated except in terms of personality, psychology, and ability), or as culturally different learners" (p.19; parenthetical statement in the original). Thus, what can be inferred from Taylor's statement is that, historically, only the character traits, the cognitive and the cultural features o f the language learners have been o f interest to ESL scholars and researchers.
By and large, language learners were perceived as deracialized beings.
The reader is referred to section 2.7 for a more elaborate discussion regarding the limited number o f investigations into issues o f race relative to the ESL classroom. Suffice it to say that one speculation regarding the paucity o f this type o f research might be the
\ irtual insignificance in this particular setting o f r/ie iwo-liercd racial order (Dikotter.
1992). .According to Dikotter. in their efforts to explain the origins and evolution o f the
phenomenon o f race, historians seemingly overemphasized the role o f Western civilization to the virtual exclusion o f the role played by Eastern civilization. That is to
say. Dikotter claimed that by bypassing the role non-Western societies have played in the
origins and evolution of the idea of race, a two-tiered racial order been established that
pitted Blacks against Whites. Moreover, he continued to argue, racial prejudice, too. has
become a matter apparently solely involving these two racial groups. Consequently. issues o f race may tend to become negated, marginalized, and trivialized in contexts where both Blacks and Whites are minorities, such as in America's ESL classrooms.
Two factors have apparently contributed to the absence o f the two tiered racial order in ESL classrooms in America: the racial make-up o f the current ESL student population, on the one hand, and that o f the ESL profession on the other. To begin with, the average ESL student in the United States in the year 2001 is far more likely to be a national from an .Asian rather than from a European or an African country. To illustrate, of the nearly 514.723 international students studying in the United States in the academic year 1999-2000. 280.146 (54%) originated from .Asia (Institute o f International
Education. 2000) Put differently, for every two international students in the U.S. at that time, one was .Asian. It should be noted, moreover, that the bulk o f these .Asian students came from China, Japan. India, and the Republic of Korea (Ibid.).
Moreover, in the United States, the second and foreign language teaching profession is a white-dominated field. To illustrate, in the academic year 1996-1997. a total o f 17.816 Bachelor's. Master's, and doctoral degrees were conferred in Foreign
Language and Literature/Letters by public and private universities in the United States.
(3f this total. 12.852 (72.1°'o) were awarded to people o f European ancestry (Snyder.
I loffman. and Geddes. 1997). Thus, at the dawn o f the 2 U'Century, the white instructor teaching a class consisting predominantly o f .Asian students is the norm, rather than the exception in the .American ESL instructional setting. This situation effectively eliminates
the at'orementioned two-tiered racial order in the ESL classroom and. therefore, issues o f
race may be perceived as having less of an impact within this particular educational
settinu. The implication of such a perception for ESL instructors o f color in general and
Black ESL instructors in particular is that they may face difficulty in. for instance. establishing a harmonious teacher-student relationship. Perceptions in Japan about
Blacks, for instance.
lim it the perceived capacity o f Black people to the fields o f sports and show business, and thus Japanese people hardly perceive Black people in everyday roles as [ESL] pro lessors, company executives, astronauts, and other intelligencia without reservation ( Yamashita. 1996. p.740; see also Cottman. 1993.)
I'hus. it is possible that some Japanese students may find it difficult to perceive o f Blacks as authentic ESL instructors, a fact which may not only undermine the credibility of these instructors but may adversely affect their relationship with such students. This study addresses the extent to which ESL professionals o f color may be perceived as less authentic than those o f Caucasian oriuin.
1.2. Personal testimony
.A perusal o f the professional literature involved more than eagerness on my part to. "build credibility and offer ... a litany of evidence" (Royster. 1996. p.30) for the case 1
w ant to make. 1 was also in search o f solidarity: that is. 1 was looking for other language-
teaching professionals in general and ESL professionals in particular who might have had
similar experiences as I had. specifically with regard to the possible impact o f racial
attitudes and expectations from both students and instructors on the pedagogical and
social dimensions o f the ESL classroom. My search led me to. among others. English
( 1996) with whom I had at least two facts in common. Like him. I learned that while 1 was "sensitive to the inherent differences among races. I was not consciously m indful o f the impact o f those differences [might have on me as an ESL professional]" (p.90). .\nd like English, it would take an experience to teach me a lesson, the same lesson that .A.min
( 1997. 1999 k an ESL professional, presumably also learned: ESL instructors o f color or those perceived as such may have to work harder at establishing their professional authenticity, particularly among their students.
The impetus for this study arose from an experience that occurred during my in\ oKement in an ESL writing program. On one occasion, my students— who were primarily o f .\sian origin— expressed dissatisfaction with my performance in their end- of-term es aluations. Their report prompted a request from the Director o f the program for
some soul searching. One issue that came up during this process was whether 1 believed
the students were racially biased against me. Because o f my background. 1 readily
dismissed that idea. .As a person o f Black heritage. 1 was born, raised, and educated in
Suriname, which is located on the northeast coast o f South .America. In Suriname,
language instructors. English teachers included, have always been men and women o f
.African. Chinese. East Indian. European, and Indonesian descent. These instructors
represented the racial composition o f Suriname, and whenever their teaching skills have
been questioned, it hardly ever has been related to their racial background.
Consequently, while working as an EEL instructor in Suriname. 1 had no reason to
believe my students were racially biased against me. Moreover. I assumed— perhaps
naively— that my teaching in the L'S would not alter this belief. WTiat 1 also failed to
realize was that not all students o f color may necessarily perceive themselves as such, or place much importance on being people o f color: consequently, they may not necessarily develop an affinity with a teacher who is o f color and perceives himself or herself as such.
My view o f interracial relationships between teacher and students in the ESL classroom w as forever changed, however, as a result of a brief new spaper article brought to my attention by one o f the ESL program coordinators. The article, published in a local newspaper, read.
[The Chinese] [mjovie star/stunt demon Jackie Chan reportedly has hacked out o f a movie w ith [the Black actor] Wesley Snipes because of race. ... [.-\]ccording to The Philadelphia Inciuirer. Chan had second thoughts about doing [the movie] atter deciding that moviegoers in .Asia couldn't handle the film ’s interracial relationship.
.Assuming the report is accurate, w hat it means is that an interracial working
relationship between a Chinese and a Black actor may be perceived as inappropriate by
.Asian audiences, hence Mr. Chan's decision to withdraw from the project. It is perhaps
somewhat ironic that about the same that the article referred to here vvas published.
Norment ( 1997) reported that Mr. Snipes was romantically involved with an .Asian
model. Moreover, in all fairness to Mr. Chan, it should be added that in 1998 he made a
hit movie that featured the Black actor Chris Tucker in a leading role. Nevertheless, the
article from w hich the quote above was taken created a greater sense o f awareness on my
part regarding the issue o f race in the ESL classroom than any scholarly article on the
topic might have had. For if it is true that .Asians have difficult}' in accepting a Black man
projected on a screen, what. I wondered, did my .Asian students make o f the physical
presence o f a Black person in the classroom w ho is also assumed to be the authorit}
10 within this particular setting? And what about other teachers o f color, especially non native speakers o f English, whose race does not match that o f their students? It seems reasonable to assume that others may have had experiences similar to mine. However, there appear to be few reports in the professional literature on ESL teaching and learning that discuss such experiences (e.g. .Amin 1997; English 1996).
1.3 Statement of the problem
Holliday ( 1994) contended that students and teachers come to the (ESL) classroom with a number o f attitudes and expectations that have evolved out o f social forces that lie outside o f the ESL classroom. He labeled these forces, "the macro aspects o f the social context o f language education" (p. 13). and argued that they are. "key in helping us understand what happens between people" (p. 14). Race is one such macro aspect. ESL teachers and learners come to the ESL classroom with certain racial stereotypes o f members o f other racial groups. Consequently, how teachers and learners view and deal with one another, to some extent, may be grounded in the racial stereotypes they hold o f one another.
Vet. as Holliday ( 1994) claimed, not enough is knowTi about how the attitudes o f
teachers and students acquired within the wider community outside the classroom affect
the ESL teaching and learning process in general, and the interaction between ESL
teachers and learners in particular. Thus, there are. for instance, insufficient data about
what happens in the ESL classroom between teacher and learners when the race o f the
former does or does not match that o f the latter and vice versa. The lack o f data has
implications for particularly ESL instructors o f color in that any race-based
11 misconceptions ESL students may hold about them might result in these instructors becoming. " less effective in facilitating their students' language learning than, perhaps.
W hite teachers"! Amin. 1997. p.581 ). .Amin (1997). an ESL instructor of color employed in Canada, asserted that for some ESL students, the term "authentic ESL teacher" conjures up images o f an individual who is white. In the case o f .Amin, the issue o f authenticity is compounded by the fact that she is a native of Pakistan, a country where
English is not spoken as an L 1. .And in the eyes o f the same students .Amin is referring to. an "authentic ESL instructor" should, in addition to being White, also be a native speaker o f English ( see section 2.6 for a discussion o f the native speaker issue in ESL).
Thus, race and native speaker ability are in essence "intertwined axes o f differing interests." rather than, "sources o f inequality that are distinct from each other" (Bhavnani.
1997. p.37). Put differently, although race and native speaker ability supposedly are two unrelated social forces, each producing inequalities that differ in nature from those produced by the other, in the minds o f many students these two social forces are interwoven, creating in essence a new social force.
For ESL teachers whose race does not match that o f their students, the
intertwinement o f race and native speaker ability might be detrimental to their morale as
ESL professionals. Thus .Amin ( 1997). for instance, declared. "I am constantly being
challenged on the rules o f English grammar, and it seems to me that some students are
waiting for me to make a mistake" (p. 581 ). Likewise. Romney (1998b) writes. "TESOL
professionals who are members o f U.S. minorities have reported accounts o f how they
have been denied jobs abroad ... because employers feared that students would not
perceive them to be 'real .Americans' or 'ty pical .Americans' [. i.e. White .Americans]." These assertions give rise to important questions. For example, what is it like for teachers to ha\ e to contend with racial attitudes, be it those o f their students or their own. when engaged in classroom interaction? How do such racial attitudes as discussed above affect the belief systems o f ESL instructors in general and particularly those o f ESL teachers whose race does not match that o f their students? Do ESL students truly prefer to be taught by White ESL instructors, as. for instance. .-\min {1997. 1999) claimed? How are the attitudes o f students whose race matches that o f the teacher different from those o f students who originate from racial groups other than that o f the teacher? Conversely, how are the attitudes the teacher holds toward students belonging to her or his racial group different from those she or he holds toward students belonging to other racial groups?
Finding answers to these types o f questions may ser\ e to enhance the teacher-student relationship; this, in turn, may result in the creation and further enhancement o f an atmosphere conducive to ESL teaching and learning.
Thus, the aforementioned assertions and the questions they raise illustrate the need to explore how issues o f race may affect what happens in ESL classrooms.
Moreover, they make a compelling case for the need for such bodies as the International
Black Professionals and Friends in TESOL (Romney 1998a. 1998b) and Sonnative
Ein^lish Speakers in TESOL (Braine 1999). both o f which are caucuses within the association o f Teachers o f English to Speakers o f Other Languages (TESOL).
13 1.4 Purpose and significance of the study
The purpose o f this study vvas to explore the extent to which racial difference and racial experiences contribute in shaping the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the
ESL classroom. To achieve this purpose, the study combines a case study approach with a survey design, involving respectively six ESL instructors and 174 ESL students (see
Chapter 3 for further details). In this study, "racial difference" is defined as the difference between people based on their racial origin or skin color; the term "racial experience" refers to a person's beliefs and perceptions about and personal encounters with the social phenomenon known as race.
The significance o f this study is that it fills a gap within the prot'ession's knowledge regarding the social context o f ESL teaching and learning. Moreover, eurrentlv a debate is being conducted in ESL concerning the native/nonnative speaker
issue in ESL. .Although there seems to be some evidence that suggests that race is an aspect o f the aforementioned issue, this particular topic seems to have been sidestepped
thus far in the debate. This study contributes to the debate due to its focus on racial
difference in relation to instructor preferences as held by ESL students.
1.5 Research questions
The study addresses the following primary and secondary research questions.
Each question is followed by a brief explanation of the rationale behind that particular
question.
14 1.5.1 PrimarA' research question
How do issues o f race contribute to the pedagogical and social dimension o f the ESL classroom?
This question is in part inspired by Prabhu's ( 1992 ) interpretation o f the dynamics o f the classroom lesson, which, so he asserted, has a pedagogical, a social, and a personal dimension. For the purposes o f this study. Prabhu's interpretation has been adapted to some extent. In this study, the term "pedagogical" refers to the theoretical and practical aspects o f ESL instruction, whereas the term "social" refers to the interaction between teacher and students. This study approached the interaction primarily viewed from the point o f view o f the students and focused on how race affected the preference o f the student-participants for a particular type of ESL instructor.
1.5.2 Secondary research questions
1. What kind o f racial experiences were the teacher-participants exposed to prior to entering the ESL profession?
What goals, beliefs, and values ESL instructors hold regarding their day-to-day teaching may in part be inspired by their racial experiences.
2. How do racial experiences contribute to the instructors' theoretical approach to the
teaching of ESL?
The purpose o f this question was to determine whether the experiences the instructor-
participants have had with issues of race, motivate them to incorporate ideas within their
15 iheories about teaching aimed at breaking down any racial stereotypes some ESL students may hold.
3. To what extent did the student-participants exhibit a disposition tor a particular category ot'ESL instructors?
.\m in 11997) has claimed that, "the majority o f the students [o f the teachers she intery iewed for her study] showed a decided preference for White teachers over non-
White teachers” (p.580; see also .Amin. 1999). This study wanted to establish whether the student-participants favored a particular type of ESL instructor.
4. To what extent does race contribute to the disposition the student-participants
exhibited toward a particular category of ESL instructors?
.Assuming the student-participants favor a particular type o f ESL instructor, this study
wanted to investigate whether this preference was racially motivated.
5. What do the instructor-participants know about the disposition the student-participants
exhibited for a particular category of ESL instructors?
I'he purpose o f this question was to ascertain whether the instructor-participants yvere o f
the opinion that ESL students by and large feel more at ease when taught by one type o f
instructor as opposed to other types.
6. How do the instructor-participants account for the disposition the student-participants
have shown for a particular category of ESL instructors? This question, which was included after the preliminary analysis o f the student data and prior to the second interview with the instructor-participants. seeks to explain why a particular t\ pe o f ESL instructor is in demand by the student-participants.
1.6 Basic assumptions
The following assumptions are postulated. It is assumed that the ESL teaching profession in general and in the United States in particular is committed to the ideal o f creating a racially harmonious society, both nationally and globally. Second, the ESL profession has an interest in investigating and discussing the possible impact o f issues of race on the pedagogical and social climate in the ESL classroom. Third, teacher and students enter into and maintain a relationship based on certain beliefs and perceptions, those relative to race included. Fourth, the research participants identify with the racial groups they have indicated they belong to. Fifth, the research participants in general and the student-participants in particular perceive .Africans. .Asians, and Europeans as having certain phenotypical features commonly associated with people from .Africa. .Asia, and
Europe respectively. Thus, for instance, it is assumed that the concept o f .Asian would
first and foremost invoke in the research participants the image o f a person who has "[an]
inncr-eye told [. whose] [s]tature tends to be short, [whose] skin color [tends to be] dark,
[and who tends to have] brown eyes" (de Blij. 1996. pp. 195-196). Similarly, it is
assumed that the student-participants associate the concepts o f .African and European
w ith phenotypical features that are characteristic o f people who are Black and White
respectively. Sixth, the student-participants perceive ESL instructors originating from
countries were English is generally perceived as the official or main language as proficient speakers o f English, irrespective o f the racial background o f these instructors.
Finally, it was assumed that the data supplied by the researchers are truthful representations o f their ideas and feelings.
1.7 Definition of terms
This study defines the term "race" as a social construct that uses physical characteristics in general and skin color in particular to classify people into sub-groups.
\'a \ lor ( 1998) observed.
[TI here is no doubt that most .Americans use color to designate the racial groups. ... .Asian .American as a referent, still basically refers to the "yellow” people, and Flispanics are uniformly thought o f as the "brown" people. With regards to Black .Americans, the tendency is to see any black as part o f that culture group, (p. 124)
Thus in the minds o f many .Americans, skin color is the characteristic that
distinguishes members of one racial group from members o f another racial group. This
notion is also discussed by Janet Helms, arguably the most eminent scholar in the field o f
racial identity theor\. In one article, she stated that.
in [the United States], by custom and/or fiat, some combinations of certain observable characteristics— including, but not limited to. skin color, quantity o f melanin, facial features, and/or language- are assumed to distinguish various racial groups. (Helms 1994b. p.20-1 ).
Elsewhere. (Helms 1994a), she pointed out that the societal consensus in the
United States is that there are four racial groups: .Asians. Blacks. Whites, and Native
.Americans. She went on to say that although Latinos may exhibit the physical characteristics o f one or more o f the four racial groups referred to above, they. i.e..
Latinos, are often treated as a fifth racial group. She would, moreover, most likely claim that race as used in this study is quasi-biologically defined. According to Helms (1994a).
Quasi-biological definitions o f race are based on visible aspects of a person that are assumed to be racial in nature, such as skin color, hair texture, or physiognomy. These characteristics are assumed to be present in each racial group in some form but to differ in type sufficiently to distinguish members o f one group from another. ... However, racial characteristics so defined are quasi-biological. because the phenotype (physical appearance) reveals virtually nothing about the genotype (genetic makeup), (p.297; parentheses in the original)
Put another way. the term "race" as it is used in day-to-day conversation to distinguish one group o f people from another on the basis o f what the members o f each group physically look like is erroneous. However, since it is the physical description o f people that most individuals first think of on hearing or reading the word "race", this study, therefore, has opted to use this term rather than "quasi-biological race". The term "racial categorization" is used here to refer to the classification o f human beings into racial groups.
Given the perceived association between skin color and the division o f human beings into racial groups, the proposed study treats people o f .Asian. .African. Hispanic, and European descent as racial groups rather than cultural or ethnic groups. When the label ".American" is used in association with one o f these racial groups, it denotes that members o f a given racial group are citizens o f the United States o f .America. The terms
Blacks. Latinos, and Whites are used as synonyms o f Black -. Hispanic -. and European
.Americans respectively.
19 In this study, the term "racial experience" refers, first, to a personal encounter with or observ ation o f one or more race-related events and. second, to the knowledge or wisdom gained from such encounters and observations. The term "people o f color" is used as a collective term to refer to all racial groups except those o f European descent, as well as to persons who are biracial. i.e.. someone whose parents originate from two different races, for instance. Black and .-\sian.
.\ term closely associated with "race" and "racial experience" is "whiteness".
Social scientists use this term to refer to "the position that the categor\- o f "White people' happens to occupy in people's m ind.... It is a norm against which every thing is compared or matched with rewards and privileges commensurate with it" (Semali. 1998. p. 183). .As
1 will show in this study. White ESL instructors, when perceived as a collective, occupy a rather important position in the minds o f ESL students; these instructors are apparently perceived as authentic ESL instructors.
The phrase "authentic ESL instructor" is defined in this study as "an instructor who
ESL students perceive as being reliable and trustworthy, particularly in meeting their
linguistic needs." For in-depth discussions and explanations o f the term "whiteness", the
reader is referred to. for instance. Delgado and Stefancic ( 1997). Frankenberg ( 1993).
Gabriel ( 1998). Kincheloe. Steinberg. Rodiguez and Chennault (1998). .Vlclntyre (1997).
and Nakav ama and Krizek (1995). The term "authenticity" when used in reference to
ESL instructors has the same connotation.
.Another term used in this study is "core country membership." This term is used
here to mean, "pertaining to one o f the core English-speaking countries." .According to
Phillipson ( 1992). the term "core English-speaking countries"
20 covers Britain and the USA. Canada. Australia, and New Zealand. A ll are countries in which the dominant group are native speakers o f English. Indeed, the countries are often thought o f as exclusively English speaking, despite the linguistic diversity within their borders. .As the ancestors o f the dominant group came from Europe, such countries can be described as Europeanized societies, (p. 17)
The term "core countrv" member", then, refers to citizens o f the aforementioned nations.
Moreo\ er. based on the spatial distribution o f skin pigmentation in the world Europeans are considered light skinned and referred to as Caucasians or Whites (de B lij. 1996).
Consequently, since the dominant groups in .Australia. Britain. Canada. New Zealand, and the United States are o f European ancestr}\ one might assume that the dominant groups in these nations are light skinned— i.e.. Caucasian or White-- as well.
It should be noted that given the relatively small number o f respondents from
Africa, the Middle East, and South and Central .America in this sample (n = 22). they were placed in one group labeled "Amescan". This label is an acronym formed by first letter or letters o f the regions these respondents originated from.
1.8 Delimitations of the study
So as to narrow the scope o f the study, the following delimitations have been set.
First, the research participants (i.e. ESL teachers as well as students) have been selected from one region within a city in the Midwest. Second, the "synthesized concept"
( Belkhir. 1997. p.229) o f race, gender, and class— i.e.. the intersection between these three concepts— is not taken into account in this study. Since women make up over 70% o f the teaching staff in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics 1996).
issues o f gender w ill most certainly have their bearings on ESL learning and teaching
21 situations. Particularly for women o f color, and thus female teachers o f color, race, gender and class are "intertwined axes o f differing interests" (Bhavnani. 1997. p.37). rather than discrete entities that are in competition with each other. However, issues o f gender and class are so complex in nature that mentioning them in passing does them little or no justification. Hence, while the aforementioned "synthesized concept" is acknowledged, no attempt is made here to treat it in-depth.
1.9 Limitations of the study
One limitation o f this study is that it relies predominantly on self-report data.
Such data carries with it the risk that the researcher may draw conclusions that are unwarranted. To put it in research terminology, the validity o f the research is threatened.
I'o reduce such threats, the study w ill include member checks, i.e. the soliciting of
feedback from the research participants.
.\ second and closely related limitation springing from self-report data, is that
such data may Jeopardize the external generalizability o f the study. In other words, the
making o f generalizations beyond the group o f research participants may be in dispute.
But as Maxwell ( 1996) points out. "the generalizability of qualitative studies usually is
based ... on [among other things], the development of a theor) that can be extended to
other cases" (p.97). This is referred to as transferability (Lincoln and Guba. 1985).
Moreover, given the sensitive nature o f the study, the participants, and
particularly the students, may have provided responses they presumed to be socially
acceptable rather than responses that represent their views. .Also, because currently the
typical ESL student is more likely to be an .Asian rather than an .African. South/Latin American, or a European, the diversity o f opinions may have been compromised. That is. the outcomes o f the student survey may be more representative o f the perceptions o f the
Asian students in this study, or. perhaps, o f ESL students from Asia, rather than from the general ESL population. However, at the sites where the survey was conducted, it was not possible to achieve a balance in terms o f the geographic origin o f participants. While this problem could have been solved by only including Asians in the study, the concern was that, given the nature o f the study, such a decision might be perceived as unfairly targeting .Asians.
There is no presumption on my part to extend the scope o f the study beyond the
174 ESL students involved in this research. To begin with, these 174 student-participants made up a fraction o f the total ESL student population in the United States. By comparison, the ESL W riting Program at San Christobal State University, one o f the two colleges where this study was conducted, has an average yearly enrollment o f 1200 students. Moreover. Shoemaker ( 1996). in her study o f the ESL programs o f 180 community colleges across the United States, found one program in California, one in the
State o f Washington, and one in New Jersey which served 3000. 1500. and 1100 ESL students per semester respectively. Moreover. Kuo ( 1999) in her study o f 164 community colleges reported similar enrollment figures. Thus, the responses o f the 174 students
participating in this study may not necessarily have been representative o f the beliefs o f
students enrolled in ESL programs in the U.S. Nevertheless, the data provided by these
174 students might be used as a starting-point for one or more researchers who would
like to replicate this study using a larger sample. Furthermore. 118 (67.8%) of the 174 student-participants were undergraduate students. Traditionally, undergraduate students are young and, consequently, lack sufficient life experience. Thus, age and life experience may also have been factors in the way the student-participants responded to the teacher preference survey that was conducted as part of this study.
Paradigmatically. this study consisted o f a qualitative and a quantitative component. The former component constituted the dominant part o f the study and followed the principles o f the qualitative paradigm. The latter component, on the other hand, made up a small portion o f the study and was designed in accordance with the principles of the quantitative paradigm. The quantitative component, moreover, primarily served the purpose o f buttressing the qualitative one. Hence, this study made no attempt to determine the statistical significance of the quantitative data. It is. therefore, possible
that the findinus relative to these data are attributable to chance. CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Any lime you have a sense ofhislo/y. I hen you are always talking about the very complex relations o f the present to the past and ways in which futures are embedded in the present. (Cornel West. 1999)
[lljistory has a way of intruding upon the present, and perhaps tho.se who read I Brown's Burv l/ r Heart at Wounded Knee/w ill ha\'e a clearer understanding o f what the .American Indian is. by knowing what he wa.s. (Dee Brown. 1970)
2.1 Introduction
Merriam ( 1998) defined the literature review section o f the research report as. "a
narrati\ c essay that integrates, synthesizes, and critiques the important thinking and
research on a particular topic" (p.55). This review, however, is not limited to a discussion
o f the research conducted into how issues o f race affect the pedagogical and social aspects
o f the teaching o f ESL. One reason is that the field o f ESL appears to have done little
"important thinking and research" on the aforementioned topic, given the relatively few
studies that have been published to date. Consequently, the review o f such research
w ould be relatively brief, perhaps no more than a handful o f pages, literally speaking.
25 Second, as Bowers (1987), quoted in Holliday (1994), pointed out, "the classroom is a
microcosm which . reflects in fundamental social terms the world that lies outside the
window" (p. 15). Therefore, to understand how racial experience and racial difference
may impact the classroom pedagogically and socially, one needs to study how these issues
o f race are played out in the setting in which they originate, i.e., society at large.
Consequently, rather than presenting solely an overview o f the research on the topic
proper, this chapter, in addition, presents a discussion on certain variables within wider
society as well as in the individual. These variables significantly impact the research topic
and provide the theoretical backdrop against which this research is conducted. Moreover,
this discussion allows tor a better understanding o f the need for this research.
The discussion in this chapter is situated within Holliday's (1994) host culture
complex ( see Figure 1.1).
Professional culture I The culture of the The culture of the The culture of
I host educational host institution the classroom I environment Student culture
/ /. I: F.lenieiiis o f the culture of educatton (adapted from Holliday, 1994)
26 What in the caption above is referred to as the "Culture o f Education” is "a complex o f interrelated and overlapping cultures o f different dimensions” (Holliday ,1994, p 28 ) Holliday asserted that the culture o f the classroom, which in turn consists o f the protessional culture— in this case, the ESL profession— and the student culture, is situated within the culture o f host institution. He defined a host institution as formal settings such as schools, colleges, universities or private language institutes (to which one might add the more intbrmal settings such as community centers, refugee centers, and churches where courses in second language acquisition are frequently ofTered.) Holliday goes on to situate the culture o f the host institution within the culture o f the host educational environment. He defines this notion as. "any type o f environment which influences the host institution and in turn, the classroom" and which, "would often not [only] be [national], but also
[international]"(p 15)
This chapter is by and large a historical account o f certain aspects relative to the phenomenon o f race, some o f which the reader may perceive as being unrelated to the teaching o f ESL .As 1 will show, however, each o f these aspects is or can be directly related to the ESL teaching process. Moreover, as the epigraphs at the start o f chapter suggest, making sense o f the current status quo requires knowledge o f the status ante Put ditTerently. to develop an understanding o f a given situation, one needs to know what transpired from the moment the situation came into existence up to the moment of in\ estigation
The facts one unravels in the process may be quite disturbing as anyone who has read Brow n (1970). for instance, can attest. Likewise, some o f the material discussed in
27 this chapter may be somewhat upsetting to the reader, particularly sections through 2.3 through 2 5 Therefore, whenever the reader comes across one or more disturbing passages, he or she is referred to the epigraphs at the start o f this chapter so as to put things in perspective.
This chapter, furthermore, focuses on aspects o f the international, the national and professional academic culture relative to the topic o f this study With regard to the international culture, two issues are addressed. The first is the historical development of the notion o f race (section 2.2), while the second involves perceptions o f race and skin color in China and Japan (sections 2.3 and 2.4 respectively). So as to understand the current state o f affairs related to a given topic, it is often necessary to situate that topic wifhin its historical context. For instance, one cannot understand let alone explain issues o f gun ownership and gun control currently being debated in the United States without reference to the Second Amendment o f the Constitution o f the United States and the historical facts that led to the adoption of this amendment. Similarly, I argue that understanding issues o f race and how these issues may influence what pedagogically and socially happens in the ESL classroom should, for a proper understanding o f the topic, be situated within the larger historical context o f the origins and evolution o f racial categories among humanity.
The focus on perceptions o f race and skin color in China and Japan is warranted for tw o reasons First, a substantial number o f students from these two nations are enrolled in American colleges In the academic year 1999-2000, for instance, there were
51.001 Chinese and 46,406 Japanese students in the United States (Institute o f
28 International Education (IIE), 2000). Together, they made up nearly 19% o f the 514,723 foreign students in the country. Moreover, in that same year, the total number o f students from China and Japan was substantially greater than the number o f students from
Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand combined, .\ccording to the IIE (2000), these four counfries had a combined total o f 72,548 students in the U.S., whereas China and Japan combined had a combined total o f 97,407 students.
Second, as sections 2.3 and 2.4 will show, both China and Japan have a history o f
beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes involving skin color and race that have been traced back
as far as antiquity (see. e.g.. Dikoter 1992. 1997; VVagatsuma. 1968). Upon entering the
ESL classroom, the Chinese and Japanese students bring this legacy with them. Or as Pels
( U^94) put it.
When students from abroad arrive at our United States institutions o f higher education, they will unpack more than their suitcases. They will also unpack the social, intellectual and cultural baggage that has been packed for or by them since they were born, (p 2)
This baggage also includes perceptions, beliefs and attitudes about race and racial
difference Given the presumably high enrollment figures o f Chinese and Japanese students
in ESL courses. Fels's point, moreover, reaffirms the key argument on which this study is
based which is that issues o f race are an integral part o f what teachers and students bring
to the ESL classroom. Hence, issues o f race cannot and should not be ignored by the ESL
profession.
With respect to the national culture, section 2.5 o f this study reviews the
relationship between Black and Korean .Ajnericans, specifically the racial beliefs and
29 attitudes Black Americans hold about Koreans. In the context o f this study this issue warrants attention given the number o f Korean students on U.S. college campuses.
Numerically, students from the Republic o f Korea rank third after those from China and
Japan In the academic year 1999-2000, for instance, there were 41,191 Korean students enrolled in colleges across the United States (HE, 2000). This means that after the Chinese and the Japanese, Korean students are the ones most likely to be present in the ESL classroom.
For the sake o f discussion, the reader is asked to consider the following scenario.
A number o f Korean students are placed in an ESL class taught by an instructor who happens to be a Black .American ESL professional or one who they perceive as such.
Some o f these students have some knowledge o f the tensions that have characterized the relations between members o f the Black and Korean .American community over the past two decades as reported in section 2.5 o f this study (see, for instance, .Abelmann and Lie,
1995. Chang and Leong, 1994, Min, 1996, Kim, 1999; Totten and Schockman, 1994;
Chang and \'u, 1994) Under these circumstances, there is a real possibility that some o f these students may have difficulty accepting the authority and expertise o f their instructor
Fels's ( 1993) remarks seem to enhance the likelihood that such a situation may actuallv develoD He noted that.
30 The LA uprisings in April, 1992, resulted in a significant increased number o f foreign students (mostly Asian) living in University housing requesting to have a change o f room assignments or refusing initial assignments so that they would not have to share a bedroom or even occupy a different bedroom in the same apartment unit with a Black student. At its worst, some foreign students refused to be placed in an apartment if they so much as saw a photo o f a Black person decorating that apartment’ s walls, (p.3; parenthetical statement in the original)
Thus, in the wake o f the 1992 riots in South Central Los .Angeles some Asian students seemingly developed anti-Black sentiments. .Assuming that during that time these
students were taught by a Black American ESL professional, it seems legitimate to assume
that they might have transferred their sentiments from the residence hall to the ESL
classroom.
In the scenario sketched above the assumption is that the students are racially
biased against their instructor .Alternatively, however, the teacher may be the one who is
racially biased against the Korean students. Studies have shown (see section 2.5) that
some Black .Americans do harbor anti-Korean sentiments, even those Black .Americans
w ho have little or no interactions with Koreans on a daily basis. These studies have,
furthermore, shown that these sentiments are not limited to members o f the lower class; if
anything, they seem to be more pronounced among members o f the middle class. So. a
Black ESL instructor originating from a suburban area is potentially more likely to be
biased against Koreans than one originating from the "projects’ . In sum. the fact that
Black ESL instructors, irrespective o f social class, may be racially biased against Koreans
31 justifies a discussion o f the confrontations between Korean and Black .Americans. More importantly, it justifies the need for research into how issues o f race affect life in the ESL classroom
With respect to the professional academic culture, two aspects are dealt with, namely the dichotomous relationship involving the native and non-native English speaking professional (section 2.6) and the research on issues o f race in ESL (section 2.7). Finally, an overview is presented regarding the research community within ESL profession has thus tar dealt with issues o f race is examined. This overview will show that very limited research has been conducted into how issues o f race may affect life in the ESL mstaictional environment.
Some final remarks are in order. Sections 2 3 through 2.5 are rather elaborate, perhaps to the point o f exhaustion. Moreover, they contain information that may be disturbing at times. The purpose o f providing such an overwhelming amount o f often disquieting details is not to prove that any o f the groups discussed in these sections— the
Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans, and Black .Americans— necessarily have racist
attitudes Nor is it to pass judgments on any or all o f these groups. Rather, it is to
convincingly argue that the ESL classroom has the potential to be a fertile breeding
ground for racial tension.
This knowledge, in turn, serves to highlight the importance of research into how
issues o f race may affect the pedagogical and social dimension o f the ESL classroom
despite the limited presence o f Blacks and Whites, the two groups most often associated
with racial antagonism, in this particular setting. Medgyes (1994), commenting on the existence o f the native/nonnative speaker distinction, made a statement that is quite pertinent in the context o f this study. Research into how issues o f race may pedagogically and socially affect the ESL classroom "should not be rejected, overlooked or blurred, simply because it runs in the face o f certain [ideological beliefs and assumptions]; it deserx’es the researcher’s attention” (p. ix).
2.2 On the origin, evolution, and theory of the concept of race
The classification o f people into racial groups has become so commonplace and has proven to be such a potent force that one might assume that such a division has been a characteristic o f humanity since time immemorial. Or. in the words o f Keating (1995),
"Categorizing people by 'race' has become an accepted way o f comprehending and explaining ourselves and our world” (p. 909). The work o f scholars such as Banton
(1999/1977), Gossett (1963), Hannaford (1996), and Mosse (1999/1985), however, makes clear that such an assumption is unjustified. In fact, racial classification as it is known today originated in the 18'*’ Century.
Snowden ( 1999/1983 ) observed that investigations into the works o f the Greek and Roman literati have made evident the favorable impression Greeks and Romans had o f the Black people they encountered, in this case, the Ethiopians. Snowden, cited in
Hannaford (1996), concluded that while even in antiquity Blackness was associated with ill omens, demons, the devil and sin. there are no stereotypical images o f the Ethiopians to be found Rather, the Greeks and Romans apparently respected the Ethiopians for their
"military power, love o f freedom and justice, piety, and wisdom.” (Snowden 1999/1983,
33 p 28 ). According to Hannaford (1996), during antiquity, divisions of humanity were based on whether people adhered to the notions o f nomos ( i.e., political rule, civility and the law) or physis (i e., incivility, barbarity, and custom). He asserted, moreover, that when the word "race" entered the languages o f Western Europe during the period between
1200-1500. it did not have the connotation it currently has. He pointed out that,
[The word race] originally had multiplicity o f meanings that mostly related to running, mathematical or astrological lines, millstreams, ships' wakes, marks, and courses. The word also denoted being o f good, noble, and pure lineage, and in Christian Europe directly related to membership in an ancient and exclusive noble order o f kings and bishops (p. 147)
Thus, classifications o f people based on biological characteristics were totally absent during antiquity Divisions o f humanity based on biological characteristics only developed
as a result of transtbrmations that occurred within science, particularly biology, culture
and politics during the 18''' and 19"' Century in Europe and North .America.
The IS'" Century saw the rise o f the Enlightenment, a cultural movement among
intellectuals in Western Europe. France was the center o f this movement that was
characterized by, among other things, empiricism, scientific reasoning, and aesthetics.
Together, these three characteristics would ultimately result in the classification o f people
into racial groups. Biologists, for instance, developed an eagerness to explain, '‘man's
place in nature " (Mosse, 1999/1985, p.40), and particularly regarding variety among
humans Their major objective was. “ to examine, classify, and arrange the whole order o f
nature in a rational pattern" (Curtin, 1999/1965, p.33). The belief o f the day was that in creating the world, God had organized His entire creation as a Great Chain o f Being. The implication, at least in the minds o f the enlightened, was that all living beings could be classified and hierarchically arranged with humanity at one end o f the scale as the most significant link and microscopically small creatures at the other end as the least significant ones. This in turn had implications for the various groups making up humanity in that these groups, too, could be classified and hierarchically arranged.
Given this purpose, it became necessary to observe, measure and compare various groups o f people. Phrenology and physiognomy (i.e., the study o f the skull and face, respectively), both dating back to antiquity, became prominent scientific activities. With regard to the significance o f physiognomy, Hannaford (1996) observed.
Physiognomy is unreliable because the characterization depends on so many different features, from which resemblances may be seen but not complete likeness. The complexity o f the problem is further demonstrated by listing some o f the variables that might be considered in such an inquiry; size o f feet and toes , ankles, lower leg, knock- knees. thighs, buttocks, belly, back, sides, chest, shoulders, neck, lips, nose, face, eyes, waist, forehead, size o f head, ears, and hue (too Black is a sign o f cowardice, as in Ethiopians and Egyptians; but so, too, is White in women) (p.49; parenthetical statement in the original)
Thus, according to Hannaford (1996), the reliability o f studies and conclusions based on
physiognomy is questionable.
Scholars apparently ignored problems such as those identified by Hannaford during
the Enlightenment. They made judgments about the capabilities and mental faculties o f
each group based on physical appearance. For instance, in studying the skulls o f both
j o people with Black and people with White, scientists noticed what they considered to be a deficiency among the former in that the front and back parts o f their skulls showed depressions. The scientists concluded that these depressions only allowed for a small brain in the head. A hmdamental phrenological doctrine at the time was that a small brain was incapable o f manifesting a powerful mind. Consequently, or at least so the reasoning went, dark skinned people must lack intelligence which, in turn, made them inferior to those who did possess such intelligence (i.e . presumably. White people), (Horsman, 1999/1981) .As a result. Black people consistently were ranked low among the racial groups (Mosse.
1999n9S5f
The act o f classilying groups o f people into races was compounded by the
application o f aesthetic criteria to further determine their status as people who were either
superior or interior (Mosse 1999/1985). Thus, while scholars during the era o f the
Enlightenment claimed to adhere to rigorous scientific activity which was supposedly
objective, they were also applying subjective standards o f beauty to justify the perceived
superiority or inferiority o f a given racial group.
For more then a century, race was presented and perceived as a feature inherent in
human biology, caused by "differential concentration of gene frequencies" (Helms 1996. p
146. quoting Gordon. 1976) in the human body. In the early part o f the 20* Century,
however, this biological theory was challenged and new theories emerged. The most
commonly held belief is that race is sociopolitical construct. Haney Lopez (1995), for
instance, contended that there are four facets to the social construction o f race:
First, humans rather than abstract social forces produce races. Second, as human constructs, races constitute an integral part o f a whole social fabric that includes gender and class relations. The meaning-systems surrounding race change quickly rather than slowly. Finally, races are constructed relationally, against one another, rather than in isolation. (p. 196)
Thus, according to Haney Lopez, races, which are created by human beings, are fluid and do not function in isolation, neither from one another nor from other forces in society. In shon. Haney Lopez declared, races are human fabrications. To support his argument,
Haney Lopez referred to developments relative to Mexicans. He wrote.
In the early 1800s, people in the United States ascribed to Latin ,A.mericans nationalities and, separate from these, races. Thus, a Mexican might also be White. Indian, Black or .Asian. By the 1840s and 1850s, however, U.S. .Anglos looked with distaste upon Mexicans in terms that conflated and stigmatized their race and nationality. In the newly independent Texas, war propaganda from the early 1830s and 1840s purporting to chronicle Mexican ‘atrocities' relied on racial disparagements [o f Mexicans], (p. 197)
Thus, prior to the mid 1800s, Mexicans and other Latinos were identified by their nationality Only after the occurrence o f certain political events were Latinos, and particularly Mexicans, perceived as a racial group
The perception o f race as a socially constructed concept has given rise to various definitions Haney Lopez (1995), for instance, defined race is "a vast group o f people loosely bound together by historically contingent, socially significant elements o f their morphology and/or ancestry" (p. 193). In addition. Helms (1994a) defined the term 'race' as the “ sociopolitical history and experiences o f domination and/or subjugation" (p.298) o f a particular group o f people whose phenotypical features differ from those they are
37 dominated or subjugated by. .\nd Omi and VVinant (1994) defined race as " a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types
o f human bodies" (p. 55).
In the United States, issues o f race have also given rise to various movements,
most notably the Civil Rights Movement o f the 1950s and 1960s, defined by Norrel
(2000) as “ the political, legal, and social struggle by black Americans to gain full
citizenship rights and to achieve racial equality" (n.p ). In the late 1970s, the United States
saw the emergence o f yet another movement inspired by issues related to race and racial
power: Critical Race Theory (CRT). .According to Crenshaw. Gotanda, Peller, and
Thomas ( 1995), "[CRT] embraces a movement o f left scholars, most o f them scholars o f
color, situated in law schools, whose work challenges the ways in which race and racial
power are constructed and presented in .American legal culture and, more generally, in
.American society as a whole" (p. xiii).
Regarding the genesis o f CRT, Matsuda, Lawrence III. Delgado and Crenshaw
( 1993) wrote.
The civil rights movement o f the 1960s had stalled, and many o f its gains were being rolled back. It became apparent to many who were active in the civil rights movement that dominant conceptions o f race, racism, and equality were increasingly incapable o f providing any meaningful quantum o f racial justice. Individual law teachers and students committed to racial justice began to meet, to talk, to write, and engage in political action in an effort to confront and oppose dominant societal and institutional forces that maintained the structures o f racism while professing the goal o f dismantling racial discrimination. (p 3) Thus, CRT developed because its proponents believed that the strategies used during the civil rights era to tackle prevalent notions o f race, racism, and equality were by the late
1970s no longer adequate and that different approaches were needed to fight racial power in American society. CRT is based on the following six principles; it
( 1 ) recognizes that racism is endemic to American life;
( 2) expresses skepticism to dominant legal claims o f neutrality, objectivity, color
blindness, and meritocracy;
(3) challenges ahistoricism and insists on a contextual/historical analysis o f the law;
(4) insists on recognition o f the experiential knowledge o f people o f color and [their]
communities o f origin in analyzing law and society;
(5) is interdisciplinary and eclectic [in that] it borrows from several traditions, including
liberalism, law and society, feminism, Marxism, poststructuralism, critical legal theory,
pragmatism, and nationalism;
(6) works toward the end o f eliminating racial oppression as part o f the broader goal of
ending all forms o f oppression (Matsuda, Lawrence III, Delgado and Crenshaw 1993,
p 6)
To some extent, Gomel West, the Black .American philosopher and theologian,
might be perceived as a critical race theorist given the ideas and beliefs he brings to race
theor\- Like other race theorists. West challenges ahistoricism as if evident from the
epigraph presented at the start o f this chapter. Moreover, also like other race theorists, he
is eclectic in his approach o f issues o f race, bringing with him a knowledge o f philosophy,
social theory, history, literary criticism, and cultural thought (West, 1999). Because the aim o f this study was to investigate the extent to which race matters in the ESL classroom, it seems appropriate to briefly discuss West’ s ideas and beliefs regarding issues o f race put forward in his work Race Matters, perhaps his most widely read publication.
West recognizes that racism is endemic to .American life. In Race Matters he w rote. "To engage in a serious discussion o f race in .America, we must begin not with the
problems o f black people but with the flaws o f .American society— flaws rooted in the
historic inequalities and longstanding cultural stereotypes" (p.3). Thus, according to West,
the starting point o f any discussion on issues o f race in .America should be the flaws o f
.American society rather than the woes o f Black .America.
West shares w ith critical race theorists a sense o f skepticism regarding the manner
in w hich issues o f race are currently dealt with in American society His skepticism
involves in particular the way in which liberal and conservative politicians perceive of the
plight o f Black .Americans. Liberal politicians. West contended, view Black .Americans as
a group o f people beset with socioeconomic woes that ought to be remedied through
go\ ernment programs and financial incentives. .At the other end o f the political spectrum.
West argued, are the conservatives who. when looking at Black .America see a community
that has impoverished values and degenerate morals. West maintained that these two
opposing views, "[conceal] the most basic issue now facing black America: the nihilistic
threat to tts veiy existence" (p. 12; emphasis in the original). "[T]he nihilism that
increasingly pervades black communities," West declared, is to be understood here
40 as .. the lived experience o f coping with a life o f horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness” (p. 14; emphasis and the parenthetical statement in the original).
West pointed out, furthermore, that nihilism has been part and parcel o f the Black
.American community ever since the days o f slavery. However, so he asserted, for many generations Black Americans had been successful in warding o ff the nihilistic threat thanks
to "black religious and civic institutions that sustained familial and communal networks o f
support" (p. 15). West claimed, furthermore, that the current generation seems incapable
o f averting the aforementioned threat for two reasons; first, the stronghold corporate
institutions have over society in general and the Black community in particular, and,
second, what he perceived as the crisis in black political and intellectual leadership.
Regarding the influence o f corporate .America on the Black community. West
observed.
Like all .Americans, .African .Americans are influenced greatly by the images o f comfort, convenience, machismo, femininity, violence, and sexual stimulation that bombard consumers. These seductive images contribute to the predominance o f the market-inspire way o f life over all others and thereby edge out nonmarket values— love. care, service to others— handed down by preceding generations. The predominance o f this way o f life among those living in poverty-ridden conditions, with a limited capacity to ward o ff self-hatred, results in the possible triumph o f the nihilistic threat in black .America, (p. 17)
Thus, the myriad images consumers are bombarded with with respect to what it takes to
be a person o f prestige in today's society may result in the loss o f certain human values.
41 West, comparing today’s black political leaders with those o f the 1950s and 1960s such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker, and Fannie Lou Hamer, explained the cause o f the current crisis in black leadership. He stated,
[M]ost present-day black political leaders appear too hungry for status to be angry, too eager for acceptance to be bold, too self-invested in advancement to be deviant. .Axid when they do drop their masks and try to get mad ..., their bold rhetoric is more performance than personal, more play-acting than heartfelt, (p.38)
Thus, according to West, today’s black political leaders tend to serve their own interests rather than those o f their rank and file. In this respect, he also referred to the Rev. Jesse
Jackson who he praised for his '’brilliance, energy, and charisma,” but, at the same time, also criticized for his "televisual style," (p. 44), i.e., a term that West used to describe the
Rev Jackson's preoccupation with wanting to be a television personality (see also West,
1999)
West argued, fbnhermore, that "black intellectual life is rather a depressing scene"
(p 42) He identified two basic reasons for this argument. First, he contended, for Black
scholars wanting to gain status, prestige, and influence within academic circles, it is
necessary that they adhere to the beliefs that are fashionable in that particular environment.
Thus, there may be no room or opportunities for them to voice their dissension lest they
may not gain the aforementioned status, prestige, and influence. Secondly, those who tend
to distance themselves too far from mainstream academia may have few other places to
turn to make their voice heard and may end up producing mediocre works.
Like race theorists. West appears to work toward the elimination o f racial
oppression. He favors "a coalition strategy that solicits genuine solidarity with those
42 deeply committed to antiracist struggle” (p.28). For, as he put it, "there are slight though significant antiracist traditions among whites, Asians, and especially Latinos, Jews, and indigenous people that must not be cast aside'' (Ibid.). To avert the nihilistic threat that the Black .American community is experiencing. West maintained that Black people need to once again embrace the values held so dear by the previous generation (i.e., love and care tor one another).
To summarize, racial classification is one o f the outcomes o f a preoccupation o f
is "’ Century intellectuals with empiricism, scientific reasoning, aesthetics, as well as their eagerness to determine man's place in nature. By studying a group’s physical appearance
and by adding value judgements to their (pseudo) scientific findings, IS'*' Century scholars
have given the world a legacy that has haunted it tor two centuries now. In the 20""
Centurv’, racial injustice and inequality in the United States gained worldwide attention
through the Civil Rights Movement o f the 1950s and 1960s. The late 1970s saw the rise of
a new movement known as Critical Race Theory (CRT), which was inspired by the on
going racial power in American society The beliefs o f the new movement can be found,
among others, in the work o f Cornel w est. the Black .American philosopher and
theologian. Though not a product o f CRT. West's work, as shown in this chapter, clearly
has certain elements o f the aforementioned movement.
2.3. Insights into racial perceptions and beliefs in China
For the purposes o f this overview, I draw primarily on the work o f Dikotter (1992.
1997) Like Greek mythology. Chinese mythology divided humanity into those who lacked
43 civility and those who were civilized. But that is where the comparison between the two
mythologies seems to end with respect to the division o f mankind. For while Hannaford
( 1996) argued that the Greeks did not consider themselves civilized and the rest o f
humanity lacking in civility, Dikotter (1992) claimed that Chinese mythology pitted the
civility o f Chinese society against the savageness o f the rest o f the geographically known
world. Moreover, whereas Greek mythology did not designate skin color to the
barbarians, Chinese mythology, by contrast, described the barbarians as being Black. ,\nd
while, according to Greek mythology, the Greeks generally held the Blacks they
encountered in high regard, Chinese mNihology perceived Blacks as a simple-minded lot
with characteristics resembling those o f beasts.
.According to Dikotter (1992), the Chinese, in real life, employed skin color as a
characteristic o f one's identity long before the emergence o f racial ideology in China at the
end o f the 19''' Century. Citing Maspero (1955), Dikotter pointed out that, "the Chinese
called their own complexion "White' from the most ancient times" (p 10). The Chinese
elite, flirthermore. developed and employed a White-Black dichotomy which became the
benchmark o f ancient Chinese civilization. Thus, while a woman's White complexion was
the hallmark o f feminine beauty, peasants who developed a dark skin due to prolonged
exposure to the sun were referred to as Black-headed people. So. apparently, social class
distinction was inherent to the Black-White dichotomy.
Moreover, while the Chinese upper class perceived White as the symbol o f the
center o f the civilized world, which consisted solely o f the Chinese. Black became a
symbol o f the most remote part o f the geographically known world. In addition, all non-
44 Chinese were perceived as devils, irrespective o f whether they were Black or White. But whereas the White devils were ‘ as cold and dull as the ashes o f a frog, the Black ones
[were] ugly and dirty as coal’ (Jing He, 1957, quoted in Dikotter, 1992). And while the
White devils were perceived as rulers, the Black ones were perceived as slaves.
Thus while the Chinese did not hold Caucasians in high regard, their beliefs about them were less negative than those they held o f Black people. As Dikotter (1992) put it,
[Westerners] provoked curiosity mingled with a feeling o f repulsion and pity Their complexion was not just White, it was ash-White’ .... the exteriorization o f the demonological forces that drove the foreign devils to undertake their expansions overseas, (p. 14)
In other words, the Chinese associated skin complexion with the expansion efforts o f
White people
Until the end o f the 19''' Century, the Chinese employed the White-Black binary opposition more for symbolic purposes than as an element o f racial differentiation. The reader is reminded that all non-Chinese were perceived as devils, irrespective o f the color of their skin That changed drastically with the emergence o f Chinese nationalism.
Throughout the 19th Century, China, and the south-east region in particular, had been embroiled in ethnic conflicts. These hostilities were the result o f "heightened competition over natural resources, the need to control market towns, the gradual erosion o f social order and organizational disorders caused by demography pressures" (Dikotter. 1997. p 14)
Chinese reformers who wanted “ a radical transformation o f imperial institutions and orthodox ideology" (Ibid., p. 15), were also committed to establishing a tnore stable
45 and cohesive Chinese society. To that aim, they placed great emphasis on “ Chineseness”
(Dikotter, 1997, p.20), i.e., the fact that all Chinese had a shared kinship, that they were all descendants o f the Yellow Emperor, and that they all belonged to the same nation, the so-called Middle Kingdom between heaven and earth. Thus, they invoked a sense of nationalism.
At the same time, they proposed a division o f mankind into three distinct biological groups or races and, in essence, mapped out different geographical locations for each. The yellow race comprised the residents o f the Chinese States, i.e., China, Korea, Tibet,
Vietnam and Burma, the White race comprised the residents o f the States o f the
Barbarians, i.e.. Japan, Russia, Europe, and North .Vmerica; and the Black race, comprised
the residents o f the States o f the Beasts, i.e., .Africa, South .America, and .Australia
(Dikotter. 1992. 1997).
With this division, skin color ceased to be mere symbolism in China, and had
become an element o f racial differentiation. .And when it was invoked, it was done with
the clear intent to marginalize and discriminate against people o f color in general and
Black people in particular. The Chinese have done so on various occasions in the late 19“"
Century and in the course o f the century thereafter. Toward the end 19“' Century, the
Chinese scholar Tang Caichang, for instance, in speaking about the different races
remarked, "Yellow and White are wise, red and Black are stupid; yellow and White are
rulers, red and Black are slaves; yellow and White are united, red and Black are scattered"
(quoted in Dikotter. 1997. p. 16). It should be noted that Whites were no longer
46 characterized as devils but had been elevated to a status similar or equal to that o f the
Chinese. Interestingly, the American Indians, whom Tang Caichang referred to as ‘red’, were apparently subsumed within the Black race.
.According to Dikotter (1997), Chinese scientists were probably the most prominent propagators o f racial bigotr\' in China. Their beliefs were included in many a publication. For instance, a popular zoology textbook published in 1916 described people o f color as having, "a facial index similar to that o f the orang-utan" (Ibid., p.21). One te.xtbook used in elementary schools in the 1920s that dealt, among other topics, with racial politics, referred to the Chinese and White people as relatively strong and intelligent, people o f color, on the other hand, were described as feeble and stupid.
Furthermore, in a dictionary o f zoology published in 1923. Du Yaquan et al. reterred to Black people as having, "a shameful and inferior way o f thinking", and who. in addition, lacked, "the capacity to shine in history" (quoted in Dikotter. 1997, p.20). In an anthropological publication o f 1924. Dr Gu Shoubai claimed, among other things, that
Black people were recognizable by the offensive stench they omitted. And in a book entitled. History o f the progress o f maiiktiul attci culture, published in 1926. Dr. Gong
Tingzhang reinforced Dr. Gu Shoubai's argument by claiming that, "even the slightest contact with a Black person was enough for the olfactory organs to be repelled by an
amazing stench' " (quoted in Dikotter, 1997, p.20).
To argue that in this day and age no person with self-respect and dignity would dare to make similar statements would be easy— perhaps too easy. In tact, even after the communist takeover o f China in 1949 when the Chinese government denounced racial
47 ideology, and China became the self-appointed leader o f the Third World nations, racial bigotiA' remained alive and well in China. .As Dikotter (1992) reminded his readers, “ [I]t would be wrong to underestimate [the] pervasiveness and tenacity [o f racial prejudice]”
(p 195). He pointed out, turthermore, that when Mao Zedong had claimed that "racial problems are class problems,” he had, in fact, equated race and class (this study has adopted pinyin, the phonetic romanization spelling system officially used in the People's
Republic o f China, hence, the spelling Mao Zedong rather than Mao Tse-tung).
Consequently, one might argue that Chairman Mao had merely substituted one label for another without affecting the contents o f the message.
The experiences o f .African students belie the racial harmony preached by the
Chinese government. Dikotter (1992) quoted a Ghanaian student who, in the 1960s,
claimed that the Chinese treated .African students as “ people from whom normal
intelligence could not be expected" (p. 194). .And two decades later, at a time when about
1.600 .African students annually were receiving a scholarship from the Chinese government
(Sexton, 1986), relations between Chinese and .African students seemed to have
deteriorated Throughout the 1980s outbreaks o f racial violence were reported between
Chinese and .African university students in various Chinese cities, among which were
Beijing and Nanjing (see, for example, Dikotter 1992; Jacobson, 1989a, 1989b; Lin, 1983;
Sexton. 1986) Chinese students were quick to use the racial epithet heigiii, i.e.. Black
de\ils(Lin. 1983; Jacobson, 1989a), proving that the views o f the Chinese about Black
people had changed very little over time.
48 Ironically, it might have been overzealousness on the part o f the Chinese government o f the day to demonstrate its solidarity with the dispossessed that sparked the violence It so happened that at the heart o f the hostilities between the students were complaints raised by the Chinese that their government was treating the .African students with more dignity than its own. For instance, while the .African students received a monthly stipend o f S50, the Chinese students received only SIO a month. The latter also maintained that not only were the dormitories where the foreign students resided newer and cleaner than their residential halls, they also had to contend with overcrowded conditions For while two .African students were assigned to one room, as many as eight
Chinese students could be rooming together (Lin, 1993)
To summarize, Chinese history is replete with negative stereotypical images o f
other racial groups, the Black race in particular. Over the course o f many centuries. Black
people— and other non-Chinese people as well— have been ridiculed simply on the
grounds o f their phenotypical features. These views have persisted under communist rule
with its ideological creed o f social equality and justice for all. To argue, therefore, that
these facts are merely historical and have no bearings on Chinese students who enter the
ESL classroom in .America today shows a limited sense o f reality
One is. to begin with, reminded that the last major racial confrontation between
Chinese and .African students in China occurred just over a decade ago. More importantly,
one is reminded o f Fels' (1994) statement that international students come to the
.American ESL classroom with cultural perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes that have been
instilled in them by the society in which they grew up. Consequently, to argue that some
49 Chinese students come to this particular setting with certain racial stereotypes is not at all a tar-fetched proposition. This, again, makes clear why research into how racial matters atTect life in the ESL classroom is such an imperative.
2.4 Racial prejudice in ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’: A case of one-
upmanship
discussion on racial matters in Japan should probably begin with Wagatsuma
(1968), perhaps the most detailed and exhaustive historical account o f perceptions o f skin
color in Japan in general and the fascination o f the Japanese with White skin in particular.
Long before they had had any contacts with either White or dark skinned people, the
Japanese perceived White skin as beautiful and Black skin as ugly. Both men and women,
but particularly the latter, took various measures to obtain and retain a skin that was both
White and smooth. Thus, in the 7“' Century, for instance, ladies-in-waiting applied White
powder in liberal amounts on their face so as to enhance their beauty, and four centuries
later the men engaged in the same practice.
Wagatsuma reported that between the S'*’ and the 12“* Century, members o f the
privileged class did not perform outdoor duties lest their skin would turn tan. In the 1600s,
many Japanese, in their efforts to become or remain White, used pure water to wash their
face, rubbing it with a cloth bag that contained either rice bran or the droppings o f the
Japanese nightingale. They also steamed their face regularly for the same purpose. Juices
were extracted from flowers to bleach the skin, and medication promising to turn the skin
50 white sold well. A well-known figure in 19“’ Century Japan was the Kabuki actor, “ [a] rather feminine type o f male with a slender figure, well-formed face. White skin. Black hair, and red lips [who] became a favorite object o f feminine desire” (Ibid., p. 133).
Perhaps one reason why these and other similar practices remained fashionable for so many centuries is that throughout that period Japanese authors lauded the White skin o f
Japanese women.
Afier the arrival o f Westerners in Japan, the Japanese, while retaining their fascination with White skin, began developing ideas about dark skin. .An interesting phenomenon reported by Wagatsuma is that Japanese painters o f the day frequently gave the faces o f the Dutch and the English sailors, for instance, a somewhat greyish tint. Thus,
when compared with the portraits o f the Japanese women o f the day, the women looked
Whiter than the Europeans. Worst o f all were the portraits made o f the Black servants o f
the Westerners. Wagatsuma declared:
The faces o f Negroes are painted in a leaden- or Blackish-gray, and their hair is shown as extremely frizzled. The physiognomy o f the Negroes is somewhat caricatured and in some instances closely resembles the devils and demons o f Buddhist mythology (p. 135).
Thus, the phenotypical features o f Black people were grossly exaggerated and, like the
Chinese, the Japanese pictured Blacks as demonic characters. In this respect, they had one
more thing in common with the Chinese: they also produced caricatured White people. .As
Wagatsuma pointed out
The portrait o f Commodore Perry and five principals o f his staff drawn by a Japanese artists shows the .Americans with noses o f exaggerated size, large eyes, and brownish hair. Their faces are painted in a washout, whitish-ash color (p. 136).
51 Thus. White people, too, had their fair share o f ridicule. In addition, Wagatsuma noted that writings o f the early Meiji period (1868-1912) reveal that while the Japanese still admired the White skin o f Westerners, they
noted with disapproval the hair color and the hairiness o f Westerners, Wavy hair was not to the Japanese taste until the mid-1920s. Curly hair was considered to be an animal characteristic (p. 137).
Thus, although White skin was still valued for its beauty, other physical features o f White people were rejected.
By the second half of the 20“' Century, ideas among Japanese about what constituted beauty had dramatically changed, particularly among women. They replaced
their straight black hair by hair that had been either permanented or waved. Moreover,
they gave their hair different colors, including purple and red. In addition, young actresses
and even some actors developed a tendency to alter their eyes and the nose, apparently in
an elTort to appeal to audiences both in and outside o f Japan. .According to Wagatsuma.
Japanese who had been in .America for some time acquired the idea that Japanese have
■yellow" skin, while those in Japan argued that their skin color was brown.
This may seem to denote a move away from the fascination with White skin.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however, tor in the 1960s two aspects related to
skin color remained constant: the fascination o f Japanese males with the "W hite" skin o f
Japanese women and the deprecation o f the skin o f Black people by certain members of
the Japanese community. Today, the aesthetic value Japanese attach to the color White
and the connotations it carries are found in such proverbs as "White skin compensates for
manv deficiencies", and "In rice and women, the Whiter the better" (Russell, 1996. p. 19).
s? Wagatsuma (1968) noted that
Japanese men interviewed in the United States and Japan [in 1965] all agreed in valuing the “ Whiteness” o f skin as a component o f beauty in the Japanese woman. Whiteness is very often associated in their minds with womanhood with chastity and purity and motherhood (pp. 139-40).
Thus, a Japanese woman with White skin remained the primary preference among
Japanese men. However, as Wagatsuma pointed out, young Japanese men also developed an appreciation for Japanese women with a sun-tanned skin, who, in addition, were expected to have, "large Western eyes, a relatively large mouth with bold lips, a well- developed body, and an outgoing ... personality” (p. 140). .Acceptance o f a sun-tanned skin apparently lay in the fact that such a skin tone was associated with, "the socially privileged people who can atTord summer vacations at the seaside or mountain resorts.” (Ibid., p M l ) While the Japanese men interviewed in the United States acknowledged the beauty o f White skin in Caucasian women, they also asserted that White women were inaccessible to them due to a certain remoteness they perceived between themselves and White society.
Wagatsuma (1968) reported that some o f the Japanese interviewed claimed that
their attitude toward people o f .African descent was the result o f their unfamiliarity with
their skin color That unfamiliarity is presumably the reason why in many Japanese novels
o f the 1950s and 1960s, Blacks were depicted as villains. In one such story, Wagatsuma
noted, the author described a scene in which
two hundred and fifty Negro soldiers enroute to Korea break out o f Jono camp in Northern Kyushu one night and attack civilian's houses around the camp. Many women are raped. (Magatsuma, 1968, p 152)
3 3 Other Japanese argued that in the mind o f Japanese, Black skin is associated with numerous undesirable traits. Particularly those Japanese who had little or no personal contact with Black people apparently appreciated them the least. They perceived o f Black people as having "inhumanly Black skin, goggle eyes, thick lips, kinky hair, a strong body odor, and animal-like sexuality and energy" (Ibid., pp. 153-54). At the same time, however, many felt indignation toward White .Americans for discriminating against Black people .According to Wagatsuma, the type o f Black person the Japanese thought the least objectionable was someone with a light skin color and Caucasian features. In fact, the word the Japanese use to refer to a Black person, kuronbo, "carries the connotation o f childishness" (Wagatsuma, 1968, p. 155). Russell (1991) apparently perceives the word
even as a racial epithet in that he translates it as "nigger"
Yamashita's ( 1996) account o f the experiences o f a Black .American female
exchange student in Japan in the mid 1970s seem to indicate that negative perceptions o f
Black people die hard in Japanese society. .As Yamashita recalled.
During the first three years o f the exchange program, there were no significant accommodation problems involving exchange students. It was arranged for each exchange student to have a 3-month homestay with a Japanese family. During the fourth year o f the exchange program, 1 Black student, a female, came in a group o f about twenty students The program office had no problem finding homestay families for all the students except for the lone Black student. The exchange program coordinators tried very hard to find a family that would accept her in its home, but they were unable to find one. They ended up pairing her o ff with a blue-eyed, blond-haired girl to persuade a family to accept her in a kind o f a package deal. (p.735)
Thus, Japanese families were apparently reluctant to open their home to the young. Black
female Yamashita referred to.
54 Russell (1991; see also Russell, 1996) argued that Japanese attitudes toward
Blacks have been shaped by stereotypical images about Black people in the Western world He referred, for instance, to the behavior exhibited by Commodore Matthew Perry after the successful conclusion o f a trade and commerce treaty between the U.S. and Japan in 1854 On that occasion, the Commodore "treated the Japanese delegates to a Blackface minstrel show performed by White crew members aboard the flagship Powhatan. " (p. 418)
He also pointed out that the perceptions that the Japanese have o f Black people are the result o f books such as The Story o f Little Black Sambo, written by Helen Bannerman and
which became a classic in Japan when it was published in 1953, "complete with pickaninny
illustrations" (Ibid.) He also criticizes such cinematic products as Tarzan and Gone with
the Wind featuring an obese mammy, "whose modern-day cloned cousins can be discerned
in a 1990 Japan Tobacco Jazz festival ad and in a series o f television ads for Sumitomo
Realty & Development Co . Ltd." (Ibid ).
Moreover. Russell (1996) contended that literary and visual representations o f
Blacks in Japan have over the course o f time bestowed various negative characteristics on
Black people, one o f which is infantilism. It is not a coincidence, he claimed, that "Black
characters often appear in Japanese stories in connection with children" (p.23). .Another
characteristic associates Black people with bestialities. Russell referred to the fact that,
"Black character dolls are sometimes placed next to stuffed apes and other stuffed animal
toys in shops" (p.24). He also noted that “ [i]n the Japanese-dubbed version o f the
television series The .A-Team the Black character played by Mr, T is renamed Kong' "
(Ibid . emphasis in the original), presumably a reference to the King Kong, the giant-sized
55 gorilla in the Hollywood production o f the same name. In addition, Russell asserted, Black people are also perceived as people who are primitive, hyper sexually active, and possess natural athletic ability and physical strength. Moreover, they are believed to be mentally interior, psychologically weak, and emotionally volatile.
Russell (1991) also denounced what he perceived as acts o f racism on the part of
Japanese proper. He referred to the work o f the cartoonist Osamu Tezuka whose depiction o f Blacks ranged from "deformed, witless domestics to bulbous-lipped, banjo eyed sa\ ages" (p.419) He also reported on an article written in 1990 by YQji .Aida, professor emeritus at Kyoto University In his article. Professor .Aida argued that Blacks and Hispanics lack the ability to manage advanced industrialized nations since they apparently are insusceptible to education and incapable o f adapting to changes in their social environment Russell contended that professor .Aida's remarks potentially carry much weight given his authority as an academic. Thus, just as their Chinese colleagues,
Japanese scientists seemed to be in the forefront o f promoting racial prejudice in Japan.
For scientists to make certain racially insensitive claims is one thing; for leaders of a country to do precisely the same, is another. That, however, is exactly what some
Japanese politicians did. On various occasions, and particularly in the 1980s, they hurled racial insults at Black and Hispanic .Americans, thus contributing to the negative
stereotypes that writers such as Cottman (1993) and Russell (1991, 1996) claim exist
about these groups in Japan. On November 22. 1986, the then Prime Minister o f Japan,
't'asuhiro Nakasone, in comparing intelligence levels between his country and the United
5 6 States, said that, '‘since there are Black people, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans in the United
States, its intelligence on the average is far lower than the high level in Japan”
(Nakasone, quoted in Cottman, 1993, p.24; see also Kearney, 1992; Russell, 1991). Thus,
Nakasone blamed Blacks and Hispanics for what he perceived as .Ajnerica's low level o f intelligence.
Then, in 1988, Michio Watanabe, a high ranking official within Japan’s Liberal-
Democratic Party, claimed that Black .-Americans displayed a sense o f irresponsibility with
regard to paying their debts (Kearney, 1992; Russell, 1991). .\nd on September 21, 1990,
nearly four years after Prime Minister Nakasone had had an episode o f "foot-in-mouth
disease" (Kearney, 1992, p. 13), yet another insensitive remark was made, this time by the
then Minister o f Justice, Seiroku Kajiyama. Referring to foreign prostitutes who at the
time entered Japan in increasing numbers, Kajiyama commented, "They ruin the
atmosphere o f the neighborhood they move into. The area is becoming mixed, just like in
.America, where Blacks move in and Whites are forced out" (Kajiyama, quoted in
Cottman, 1993, p 24; see also Russell, 1991). Thus, Minister Kajiyama equated Blacks in
.America with the foreign prostitutes in Japan by arguing that in areas where these two
groups o f people reside, the quality o f life depreciates significantly.
In addition, relations between the Black .American community and Japanese
companies with locations in the United States have at times been strained Russell (1991),
for instance, asserted that, “ Japanese companies, deliberately or not, tend to avoid
minority areas, some systematically discriminating against Blacks and other minorities in
hiring and promotion" (p.416). In the 1980s. lawsuits alleging, among other things, racial
57 discriminatory practices were filed against Hitachi, Honda, and Yaohan, a multinational supermarket chain. All three companies were found guilty o f the allegations (Kearney,
1992) Funhermore, in 1988 The Washington Post published an article in which it was alleged that certain department stores in Japan “ produced or displayed stereotypical, negative Black images on beachwear, dolls and mannequins” (Kearney, 1992, p.21).
One may be surprised to learn that in spite o f these and other racially insulting remarks and practices on the part o f some Japanese, Kearney (1992), for instance, reported that Black Americans are in favor o f broadening relations with Japanese. He, funhermore. referred to the historical ties between Black .Americans and the Japanese, observing that the Japanese have generally treated Blacks with respect and dignity and ha\ e always strongly denounced acts o f racism against Black .Americans (see Okihiro
( 1994) tor a fairly extensive overview o f the historical ties between Blacks and .Asians from -Antiquity to the 20"’ century) Likewise. Kearney argued. Blacks have always strongly disapproved o f acts o f racism against Japanese and, historically, have shown more respect for the competence and skills o f the Japanese than Whites have.
Kearney (1992) reported, furthermore, that Black .Americans residing in Japan tend to be ver\- forgiving o f Japanese on those occasion that the latter may have made insensitive remarks He based this claim on the fact that the Black .American community dismissed the remarks made by Japanese politicians as imitations o f remarks occasionally made by L' S government officials. He asserted that Japanese also participated in a demonstration that followed the disparaging remarks made by Justice Minister Kajiyama.
58 He attributed the strained relationships during the 1980s between the .African .American community and Japanese businesses in the U.S. to,
a mismatching o f expectations African Americans are demanding equity now, and Japanese businesses are still looking for a formula to resolve Black grievances. People are confused on both sides because Japanese businesspeople are unfamiliar with the .African American community, and Blacks are unfamiliar with the Japanese business community (p. 20)
Put differently, the strained relations between the two communities involved were the result o f a lack o f information about each other's cultural values. Kearney also blamed
Black .Americans for the perpetuation o f the stereotypical images Japanese hold about
Blacks, given the characters they portray in movies and on television that, “ amplify their
image as people preoccupied with sexuality" (p. 16).
Kearney (1998) focused in-depth on the cordial relations between the Japanese and
Black .Americans between 1900 and 1945. He pointed out that prominent Black
.Americans— from Frederik Douglass, W E B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington in the
19'’’ Century to Democrat Representative .Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in the 20'** Century—
have expressed favorable views about the Japanese government in its policy. But if these
“ foremost intellectuals, leaders, and image makers o f Black .America" (Kearney, 1998,
p xvi) apparently had a favorable impressions o f the Japanese, the sentiments among
ordinary Black .Americans seemed to have been quite the opposite.
In the first o f her series o f autobiographical books, .Angelou (1970/1993) discussed
the disappearance o f the Japanese from the San Francisco area, the result o f their
internment after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She pointed
59 out how many o f what once were Japanese-owned stores transferred into the hands o f
Blacks who migrated from the South. She also described the sentiments o f Blacks toward the displaced Japanese:
A person unaware o f all the factors that make up oppression might have e.xpected sympathy or even support from the Negro newcomers for the dislodged Japanese. Especially in view o f the fact that they (the Blacks) had themselves undergone concentration-camp living for centuries in slavery’s plantations and later in sharecroppers' cabins. But the sensations o f common relationship were missing. The Black newcomer had been recruited on the desiccated farm lands o f Georgia and Mississippi by war-plant labor scouts. The chance to live in two- or three-story apartment buildings ... and to earn two- and even three-figured weekly checks, was blinding. For the first time he could think o f himself as a Boss, a Spender [sic] ... Who could expect this man to share his new and dizzying importance with concern for a race that he had never known to exist'^ Another reason for this indifference to the Japanese removal was .. [that they] were not Whitefolks. Their eyes, language, and customs belied the White skin and proved to their dark successor that since they didn't have to be feared, neither did they have to be considered. .All this was decided unconsciously. No member o f my family and none o f the family friends ever menfioned the absent Japanese. If was as if they had never owned or lived in the houses we inhabited, (pp 178-179; parenthetical statement in the original)
.Angelou's words paint a picture o f a Black American community which, in the mid 1940s, by and large showed little compassion for the Japanese .Americans. This raises the question whether the cordial relations which, according to Kearney (1998), existed between Black and Japanese .Americans was limited to the Black power brokers. Moreover, with the
Japanese referring to themselves as Whites or being perceived as such, as .Angelou suggests, one may, furthermore, question whether Black .Americans, at a time o f racial segregation enforced by the White community, were keen on having cordial relationships with the Japanese.
60 Finally, Russell ( 1996) argued that there is a particular rationale behind racial prejudice in Japan that sets it apart from racism in the West. In his words, “ Japanese images o f Blacks are inextricably linked to Japan’ s unequal relationship with the West’’
(p.24). He argued that racial prejudice in Japan against people o f color in general and
Black people in particular should be interpreted as an attempt on the part o f the Japanese to “ reappraise their status vis-à-vis Whites and the symbolic pow er... they are seen to represent...” (p.27). That is, the Japanese believe that in the minds o f White people in general and White .Ajnericans in particular they are still perceived as inferior beings.
Russell reasoned, furthermore, that in order to rise in the esteem o f Whites the Japanese feel the need to distance themselves from other groups that are perceived as deficient and backward Thus, according to Russell, the Japanese believe that they elevate their status as human beings, particularly in the minds o f White people, by devaluing other racial groups such as Blacks Hence, their condescending and at times dehumanizing attitudes toward
Black people.
To summarize, the Japanese, like the Chinese, have a lengthy history o f racial prejudice, with Black people becoming the prime target o f some Japanese scientists, companies, and politicians. John Russell, a critic o f racial prejudice in Japan, has claimed that this attitude is a matter o f one-upmanship. That is to say, to avoid being perceived as an inferior nation, the Japanese establishment in particular seems to have adopted a policy, albeit implicitly, o f looking down upon other people o f color. The assumption is that in doing so the status o f Japan as a super power is enhanced, particularly in the eyes o f
predominantly White nations such as the United States.
61 Again, the reader may question the relevance o f this massive amount o f historical data to, particularly, the social dimension o f the ESL classroom. To enable the reader to put everything into perspective, some important facts mentioned earlier are repeated here.
First, currently Chinese and Japanese students make up the majority o f foreign students on college campuses in the U.S. and, consequently, in the ESL classroom. Second, as the overviews in this and the previous section have shown, both the Japanese and the Chinese have for centuries highly valued White skin color while they deprecated darker skin. Third, as Pels ( 1994) has pointed out, when (Chinese and Japanese) students come to the (ESL) classroom, they bring with them their entire cultural baggage, including— as far as the
Chinese and Japanese students are concerned— certain ideas relative to the skin color o f
White people When these three facts are interrelated, one can understand why .Amin
11997, 1999) and Perdreau, cited in Tobash (1996) and Nero (1998), claimed that there
seems to be a tendency on the part o f ESL students to prefer White ESL instructors over
ESL instructors of color
2.5 b ellow peril in the 'hood: Biack-Korean confrontations in .America’s inner cities
.According to Okihiro (1994), the term "yellow peril" referred to the fear in Europe
o f the late ISOOs that the .Asian nations were out to destroy Western civilization and
Christianity, only to take over the role from White Europe as the most prominent
civilization on the planet. .A similar fear is one o f the causes o f the current animosity
between Black and Korean .Americans. Black .Americans are said to fear that Korean
immigrants may one day drive them out o f their neighborhoods (E. Chang, 1999).
62 While confrontations between the two groups have occurred in various major
American cities such as New York and Chicago, it was the confrontation in Los Angeles during the 1992 uprising that brought the tension between the two groups to the attention o f the nation and indeed the world. A discussion o f the settlement o f Black Americans in
Los .Angeles is beyond the scope o f this review. Suffice it to say that demographic changes and economic opportunities in the first half o f the 20* Century allowed Blacks to move from the rural South where they had historically resided to the urban areas. However, residential segregation and the move o f Whites to the suburbs led to a heavy concentration o f Blacks in certain areas. Moreover, due to job discrimination Blacks could only get menial jobs that earned them low wages (Kim and Kim, 1999). .As a result. Black neighborhoods gradually became areas o f social and economic deprivation characterized by a high incidence o f vandalism and crime.
As for the Koreans who immigrated to the United States, prior to 1965 their
number had been relatively small. In 1920. for instance, there were 1.677 Korean
immigrants in the U.S., by 1940, that number had grown by just 2% to 1.711 (Takaki,
1998 ) .As a result o f the enactment o f The Immigration .Act o f 1965. which ended
restrictions on .Asian immigration in effect for many years, the number o f Korean
immigrants soared from 10.000 in 1960 to over 700,000 in 1990 (Takaki, 1998), with
many o f them settling in Los .Angeles (E. Chang and Yu. 1994; Takaki. 1998).
Kim and Kim ( 1999; but see also Takaki, 1998) pointed out that a significant
number o f the Korean immigrants to the United States are college educated men and
women who prior to their immigration held professional, technical, managerial, or
63 administrative positions. However, with the exception o f those who held a degree in the field o f medicine or related fields, Korean immigrants found it difficult to get a position in the field they had majored in since prospective American employers did not accept their degrees. Consequently, Kim and Kim observed, the only positions available to them were those that either had a short supply o f workers, that native-born Americans were not inclined to fill, or that required low-level skills, all o f which provided only marginal incomes Since Korean immigrants did not favor any o f these positions, their only other alternative- and the one preferred by far— was starting either a retail business such as a grocery store or a service business such as a laundry or a cleaning service.
In starting such businesses, Korean immigrants face a series o f challenges. To
begin with, as mentioned earlier, prior to their immigration to the U S. most Koreans had
been White-collar employees; consequently, few have any experience in operating a
business (Kim and Kim. 1999). Moreover, if the Korean immigrants were to set up their
businesses in the suburbs, they would, in the long run, be unable to compete with the large
supermarket chains and corporate companies in those areas.
.\t the same time, these supermarket chains, corporate companies and even small,
independent businesses are very reluctant to set up subsidiaries in low-income
communities fearing loss o f revenues given the communities' limited spending power, and
the perception that they are ridden with shoplifting, vandalism, and violent crime. .And so,
Koreans by and large tend to set up their businesses in these areas, for there they meet
relatively little competition other than the rivalry amongst themselves. In addition, given
64 the low incomes o f the residents, who tend to be predominantly Blacks and Latinos, the costs o f operating businesses in those areas are low as well (Min and Kolodny, 1999).
Not all Blacks welcomed the settlement o f Korean immigrants in their neighborhoods as would become evident with the passage o f time. Jackson (1988), for instance, cited in E. Chang (1999), conducted an investigation into the affective attitudes o f Black Angelenos toward other racial/ethnic groups in their community. .According to
Chang. Jackson found that Black .Angelenos felt the least affection toward .Asians. Thus, a comparison between the affection Blacks have toward, for instance. Whites as opposed to
.Asians revealed that while 13 .1% o f the respondents claimed to have the least affection toward Whites. 32.7% o f them claimed to have the least affection toward .Asians.
Chang asserted, furthermore, that Jackson also found that negative attitudes toward .Asians among Blacks residing in the suburbs o f Los .Angeles is somewhat higher
(38 9° i) than among Blacks living in South Central Los .Angeles (34.3%). Chang argued that although percentagewise the difference between the two groups is relatively small, the
finding itself is significant in that Black .American suburbanites have ver\' little contact with
Koreans on a daily basis in comparison to Blacks living in the inner city This knowledge,
in turn, led Chang to conclude that. ".African .Americans' negative attitudes toward Asians
do not necessarily arise only from direct contact (i.e., as customer and merchant)” (p.45).
■A study conducted by Stewart (1994) confirmed not only Jackson's findings but
implicitly also Chang's conclusion. Investigating the communication between Black and
Korean .Americans prior and subsequently to the Los .Angeles riots o f 1992. Stewart found
that
65 [m]ost o f the .'\frican American respondents who consistently viewed Korean Americans in a positive vein were from South Central Los Angeles. Those who viewed Koreans in a negative way were from Southwest Los .\ngeles and other geographic areas o f the city. ... [Moreover,] .African .A.merican respondents from South Central Los Angeles were generally more conciliatory and sympathetic toward Korean Americans. ... Another interesting finding is that many .African .American professionals described negative attitudes toward Koreans, (pp.34-35)
Thus, the Black residents o f South Central Los .Angeles who have contacts with Koreans daily have a more positive attitude toward Koreans than Blacks who live outside o f the area.
The findings by Jackson and Stewart are o f significance for this study. More
specifically, the fact that (a) anti-Korean sentiments are not limited to the residents o f the
inner cities and (b) these sentiments are also found among professionals, puts racial bias
directly in the ESL classroom That is to say, in the ESL classroom in which the teacher is
a Black .American and some o f the students are Koreans, the teacher may potentially be
racially biased against the students. Herein, one may again see the reason tor why research
on how issues o f race affect the social and pedagogical dimensions o f the ESL classroom
should be conducted.
Blacks in New York's inner city expressed similar sentiments toward the Korean
merchants in their neighborhoods as the Black residents o f South Central Los .Angeles did.
Min ( 1996) conducted a survey among Korean merchants. Black residents— both Black
.Americans and .Afro-Caribbeans— and White residents in Black neighborhoods. He found
that Black residents in comparison to their White counterparts were more likely to believe
that:
66 (a) the commercial activities o f Koreans in their neighborhood were exploitative (40.2%
vs 6.0%);
(b) the activities o f Korean merchants in their area led to a reduction in opportunities for
Blacks to start their own business (47.4% vs. 16.0 %):
(c) Korean business development in Black neighborhoods constituted an economic
invasion o f the Black community (35.1% vs. 2.0%) ;
(d) Korean merchants drained the economic resources o f the Black community (55 .6% vs
20.0%)
In addition, stereotypical images about Koreans were more prevalent among Black than among White residents. For instance. Blacks were more likely than Whites to believe that Koreans are overly concerned with making money (45.4% vs 26 0%) and that, by and
large, they are rude and nasty (22.7% vs. 8 0%). Moreover, Min found that there was
some ditTerence between the perceptions Black .-Americans as opposed to .Mro-Caribbeans
held about the commercial activities o f Koreans in Black neighborhoods. He concluded,
however, that, "these differences in perceptions... seem practically insignificant,
particularly compared to the large difference found between Black and White
respondents . " (p. 118).
Blacks in the inner city explained their hostility toward Korean merchants by
referring to what they perceived as inappropriate behavior on the part o f these merchants.
Blacks have alleged that these merchants charge exorbitant prices for goods that are often
o f inferior quality, follow them around in the stores, and ignore them when they come in
to complain about services rendered. They, furthermore, allege that while the Koreans
67 make profits from sales to the Black communities, they are unwilling to invest in those communities. They have also accused the Korean merchants o f unwillingness to hire
Black employees; in addition, they have alleged that the Koreans plan to eventually take over their neighborhood (E. Chang, 1999),
Interestingly, Y. Kim (1994), a retired Korean American military officer, pointed out that he has been ignored by Black shop assistants in at least one department store He stated.
It is no fun to shop in a department store staffed by Blacks I gave up trying to shop at the Broadway at Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Blvd. The clerks either ignored me or claimed they did not have my size or color, or wouldn't even sell me something that 1 wanted that was in t'ront o f me. They made no attempts to take care o f me. They were treating me as they were treated and as they were served in other stores Too often the Blacks treat others as they have been treated for over 200 years (p.8)
Obviously, there apparently are some Black .Americans who treat Korean .Americans in a
manner that is inappropriate.
The racial beliefs some Blacks hold about Koreans and the attitudes they hold
toward them are evident in a musical piece the rap artist and actor Ice Cube, nee O'Shea
Jackson, released on October 31. 1991. While the opinions Ice Cube voiced in the song
are presumably representative o f those o f a minority within the Black community, they do,
for instance, to some extent help to explain why the Korean merchants were victimized
during the uprising o f .April 1992. Black Korea, the song in question, featured on the
album Death Certificate, became the subject o f an intense national debate on account o f
its provocative nature and what many in the Korean community in particular perceived as
68 racism on the part o f the artist. The lyrics are cited here (out o f respect for the reader the expletives have been deleted):
Every time I wanna go get a [expletive] brew I gotta go down to the store with the two Oriental one-penny countin’ [expletive] They make a nigger mad enough to cause a ruckus Thinking every brother in the world’ s on the take So they watch every damn move that I make They hope 1 don’t pull out a gat and try to rob Their dinky little store, but bitch, I gotta job So don't follow me up and down your market Or your little chop-suey ass '11 be a target O f the nationwide boycott Juice with the people That's what the boy got So pay respect to the Black fist Or we'll burn down your store, right down to a crisp And then we'll see you 'Cause you can’t turn the ghetto into Black Korea.
The rap artist has since apologized to the Korean American community for his intlammatory lyrics, but, obviously, the damage was done. J. Chang (1994) provided an in- depth analysis o f how this particular musical piece was perceived within the Black and the
Korean .American communities, how it galvanized the Korean .American community and some non-Korean organizations into action, and how the mainstream media covered the controversy. For the purposes o f this review, it is sufficient to point out how the lyrics bring to the fore some o f the stereotypical images that some Blacks hold o f Koreans and
the lengths they might go to express their antipathy for them.
The lyrics paint a picture o f Koreans as people who are thrifty (Oriental one-penny
counting individuals). They portray Koreans as having a distrustful attitude toward their
69 customers, i.e. Blacks. That is, the merchants follow their customers around, thinking that they might cause trouble, engage in shoplifting or even robbery with an assault weapon
([They're] thinking every brother in the world’s on the take/ So they watch every damn move that I make/ They hope I d jn ’t pull out a gat and try to rob/Their funky little store
. ) In addition, they also portray Koreans as poised to take over the neighborhood (you can't turn the ghetto into Black Korea). Finally, the lyrics also contain a warning: Korean merchants had better mend their ways, else they face nationwide boycotts or, worse still, the torching o f their stores.
Ice Cube's warning regarding the burning down o f Korean stores would prove to
be prophetic On .April 29, 1992, less than a year after the Black Korea' controversy,
rioters, apparently furious about the acquittal o f four White police otTicers charged with
the beating o f the Black motorist Rodney King, went on a rampage. Over the course of
three days, some 2,300 Korean businesses in South Central Los .Angeles were looted and
burned down Moreover, three Koreans died in the riots and the Korean community
sustained approximately S400 million in property damage (E. Chang and Yu, 1994; Kim
and Kim, 1999; Takaki, 1998).
A discussion o f the causes at the heart o f these riots is beyond the scope o f this
review on the relations between Black and Korean .American. Suffice it so say here that
w hile the anger and frustrations o f Blacks in the inner city were in fact directed at White
.Americans, those were not in the immediate vicinity but in the suburbs, which were well
protected by the police. Korean merchants, however, who had settled among the destitute
w ho most likely had the most reason to vent their anger and frustration against the White
70 establishment, received very little o f such protection. Consequently, the Koreans became the prime targets o f those who, in addition to being angry with the White establishment, also felt animosity toward the former (Kim and Kim, 1999).
To summarize, Korean immigrants to the United States were "Caught in the middle." as Min (1996) so aptly captured their situation in the title of his publication.
Many who were White-collar workers were unable to continue their professional career in their adopted homeland because their degrees were not accepted. Rather than accepting menial positions, they opted to start small businesses instead, primarily grocery stores and other service-oriented businesses. Unable to compete with the big corporations in the suburbs, they had no alternative but to open their stores in the inner cities, areas
predominantly populated by lower income Blacks and Latinos. Black residents in
particular w ere not always very happy with the presence o f the Koreans, whom they
accused of. among other things, taking more out o f the community than they invested in.
Ice Cube, a rap artist, captured those sentiments in the lyrics o f his the song Black
Korea', causing great uproar particularly among Koreans. The strained relationship
between Blacks and Koreans culminated in the Los Angeles riots o f 1992. at which
occasion hundreds o f Korean stores were looted and incinerated.
2.6 The native-nonnative speaker dichotomy
Phillipson (1992), for instance, discussed the historical development o f the field o f
ESL. focusing in particular on developments in Great Britain. .According to Phillipson,
although ESL teachers were being trained in Britain since the 1920s, these teachers lacked
71 a solid theoretical basis for their teaching simply because in those days little significance was attributed to the theory o f second language teaching. That, Phillipson claimed, changed in 1957 with the establishment o f the School o f Applied Linguistics at Edinburgh
University, which set out to provide its trainees with a theoretical basis for the teaching o f
ESL Presumably with the onset o f this objective, the assumption was bom that the native- speaker ESL instructor was the obvious person, both in Britain and abroad, to not only teach ESL. but to train teachers in this discipline as well, and, in addition, tlmction as an ad\ isor in related matters.
In the 1980s. however, ESL professionals began challenging this assumption as is ev ident from publications that carried such provocative titles as May I kill the native s/’t'c/Av/-(Paikeday. 1985a) and The native speaker ts dead' 1985b). In the latter publication, Paikeday, a lexicographer, brought together a panel o f eminent linguists, lexicographers, philosophers, and psychologists, including such renowned scholars as
Noam Chomsky. Michael Halliday, William Labov, and Randolph Quirk. The question before the panel was. "What does the term 'native speaker' mean'!’" The outcome o f this inquiiy. tailure to reach consensus, was perhaps fairly predictable, no doubt due, at least in pan. to the complexity o f the topic.
Thus. Paikeday wanted to detine the term native speaker' loosely as "[a] protlcient user o f a specified language" ( Paikeday, 1985b, p. 87), who is not imbued "with
[any] essential connection [involving] parentage, place o f binh. first language, and other circumstantial differences in language acquisition" (Paikeday. 1985a, p.393). Chomsky, on
the other hand, seemed perfectly content to keep the aforementioned term as fuzzy as
72 ever. Realizing perhaps the frustration and disenchantment his position would generate among the other members o f the panel, Chomsky concluded his response thus: “ Sorry we couldn't reach mutual understanding on this issue, but the world will survive this failure”
( Paikeday, 1985b, p.88).
Various other scholars have attempted “ to boldly go where [Paikeday] ha[d] gone", to use but a pun on a phrase heard at the start o f every episode o f a popular science fiction television series o f the 1960s. I will here briefly review some o f the studies that ha\ e been published since Paikeday (1985b), beginning with the most recent publication available. I will end each review by discussing one particular point raised by
the authors from the perspective o f this study. Having reviewed each study separately, I
will provide, again from the perspective o f this study, a general impression o f these works.
Brutt-Grifrier and Samimy (1999) is a report o f a 10-week pilot seminar for
nonnative-English-speaking teachers, the aim o f which was two-fold: to raise their
consciousness with regard to the status o f nonnative speakers in ESL through critical
reflection and to empower them as members o f the profession. The researchers used
various techniques to achieve these goals. These consisted of, first, classroom discussions
in which the students shared with one another their views and sentiments on what being a
nonnative speaker meant to them, thereby constructing or reconstructing their identity as
nonnative speakers. Second, the participants engaged in a critical analysis o f Medgyes'
11994) The Son-Native Teacher, the textbook used in the course. The activity was
designed to encourage them to resist any identity imposed on them by society and was
unique in that the analysis had to be written as a letter addressed to the author. Finally, the participants had to produce a professional autobiography, the aim o f which was to demonstrate that the participants’ personal history is, "a site o f struggle over identity”
(Ibid., p.420) as well.
Evaluations conducted upon completion o f the course revealed that the participants had achieved a level o f enhanced awareness both about themselves and their tellovv participants. This included an understanding o f how the teaching o f EFL in one region might ditTer from that in another region. The authors listed four "implications for
ESOL teacher education” (p.428) that have emerged from their study, the second o f which advocates,
the adoption o f discursive practices and paradigms in TESOL that place [nonnative speaking] professionals at the center rather than the periphery by discarding the native-nonnative dichotomy as the main construct to which they are conceived. (Ibid.)
Thus, the researchers believe that if the profession can rid itself of the terms native and nonnative speakers, ESL/EFL professionals who do not speak English as their first language will presumably gain more prestige. Hence, their suggestion to use the term
"international English professional” as an all-encompassing concept, one that would include all ESL/EFL professionals Various other ESL professionals (see below) have proposed the strategy o f replacing the terms native and nonnative speakers by an umbrella term None o f these substitutes have caught the imagination o f the field, as I have not encountered them beyond the writings in which they were proposed; with all due respect, I doubt whether Brutt-Griffler and Samimy’s (1999) will either, for reasons to be explained shortlv
74 Finally, the researchers found that since “ EFL posits different challenges for
English teachers, further research is needed to articulate the differences between EFL and
ESL contexts in the eyes o f international professionals” (Ibid.). As this study will show, the challenges ESL professionals face, whether they are native or nonnative speakers o f
English, do not only depend on the linguistic environment in which they perform their duties. Perhaps o f even greater concern are those challenges that find their origin in students' perceptions related to the instructors' phenotypical features. Specifically, some
ESL students assume that White ESL instructors are better facilitators o f their language learning than instructors o f color (Amin, 1997, 1999). Moreover, as one o f the findings o f this study suggests, these particular challenges may be independent o f the linguistic environment in which instructors operate.
While Liu ( 1999) stopped short o f proposing new labels for the native and nonnative English speaking ESL professionals, his entire study revolved around exploring
"the complexities o f the labels [native speaker] and nonnative speaker" (p.87). In addition, his study focused on the power relationship associated with the aforementioned labels, the struggle o f nonnative-English-speaking professionals to be perceived and accepted as authentic ESL professionals by ESL/EFL students, and the difficulties these instructors have to contend with in their efforts to obtain a teaching position. The participants in his study were eight ESL instructors whose L I was a language other than English and who originated from nations in Africa. Asia. Europe, and South .America. The data were
/o primarily collected through electronic interaction (e-mail) between the researcher and the research participants and were supplemented with individual face-to-face interviews conducted periodically.
The study revealed, among other things, that while some o f the participants were concerned about affiliating themselves with either native or nonnative speakers o f English, others had no such reservations. For these research participants to arrive at a unanimous agreement on how to define the terms native and nonnative speaker would have been a major feat, particularly since Paikeday and his panel o f eminent scholars had failed to do so .A.S could have been expected, however, these research participants also were unable to reach a compromise on this issue. They did find common ground, however, on the impact o f these terms on employment opportunities and agreed that in comparison to the native speaker, the nonnative speaker is at a disadvantage in this respect. Liu concluded that determining what ditTerence being a native or a nonnative speaker o f English makes in language teaching and learning is a complex issue, involving, "the sequence in which languages are learned, competence in English, cultural affiliation, self identification, social environment, and political labeling’ (p. 100).
Liu (1999), discussing the extent to which some o f his participants accepted the
label "nonnative speaker" as a given, raised the question whether there is a power
ditTerential between native- and nonnative-English-speaking professionals. He went on to
provide an example that showed how ethnicity might affect the extent to which one is judged as being either the former or the latter type o f professional. He reported that while
a Caucasian female participant was judged as a native-English-Speaking professional, one
76 o f the Asian male participants was perceived as nonnative. ‘‘This fact” , Liu argued,
"demonstrates the invisible power relations in the labels [native speaker and normative speaker]” (p.97).
Medgyes ( 1994), yet another scholar who studied the issue o f the native versus nonnative English-speaking instructor, reported on a study the objective o f which was to determine the most salient differences in teaching attitudes between native and nonnative
English-speaking professionals. Data were collected on the basis o f three surveys. The first was conducted among 28 ESL professionals in the United States and consisted o f 17 items The second involved 216 ESL professionals in a number o f European, African and
Latin American nations and was made up o f 23 items. The third survey was conducted among 81 ESL professionals in Hungary and consisted o f 8 items In addition, the surveys in the U S. and Hungary were followed up by one-on-one interviews with respectively seven and ten o f the respondents.
•A detailed account o f the outcome o f Medgyes' (1994) study is out o f the scope o f this study. The interested reader is referred to the study in question. Here, I wish to comment on the findings o f a question which was not included in any o f the surveys but which the researcher posed during a lecture he gave in London and Paris on the native/nonnative speaker issue. I focus on this particular question since its findings are pertinent to the study reported here. Moreover, the question was similar to two o f the items on the student survey conducted for the purpose o f this study; the respondents were requested to express a preference for a particular group o f instructors.
77 Medgyes’ question was, ’’Suppose you were the principal o f a commercial ELT school in Britain [France]. Who would you employ'’ ” (p. 71). The audience was given three options: (a) to employ native speakers only, even if they were unqualified; (b) to employ native and non-native speakers, though the latter were to be employed only if the
former were unavailable; (c) applicants would not be selected on the basis o f either
nativeness or nonnativeness. In London, the majority o f the respondents chose option (b)
while those in Paris chose option (c).
In light o f the study reported here, I argue that Medgyes has failed to further
problematize particularly the native/nonnative speaker issue. The reader is asked to
consider the following scenario based on the preference indicated by the majority o f
British respondents, i.e. option (b). If, say, two native English-speaking professionals from
the United States, one Black and the other White, had applied fcr one ESL position,
would both have an equal opportunity o f getting the position'’ The assumption is that both
speak Mainstream (i.e. Standard) US English, are similar in terms o f education and
professional experience. How likely is it, for instance, that prejudice would come into play,
with the principal awarding the position to one rather than the other’’ .And if that indeed
happened, to what extent could that be considered an aberration'’
.As an aside, one might, moreover, argue that Medyes seemingly posed a leading
question. To begin with, put in today's parlance, it does not take a rocket scientist to
comprehend that option (a)— to employ native speakers only, even if they were
unqualified— would expose those selecting it as rather incompetent. That Medgyes was
raising a hypothetical question might have been irrelevant. It is no surprise, therefore, that
78 none o f the “ about fifty highly sophisticated teachers, teacher trainers, applied linguists and publishers” (Ibid., p.71) in attendance in both London and Paris voted for this particular alternative. One may presume that this option was inspired by the fact that 13
(46 4%) o f the 28 respondents involved in the survey conducted in the U.S. “ were teaching English with no formal teaching qualifications” (Ibid., p.28). In my experience, however, it is atypical for reputable ESL programs in the United States to have such a high percentage o f unqualified faculty or, for that matter, adjunct faculty
Moreover. Medgyes claimed that those who had chosen option (b)— and here he focused on the British rather than on the French respondents— did so because o f business and professional considerations. By ‘business considerations' he meant that the participants knew that international students studying English in Britain preferred to be taught by native English- speaking professionals. By ‘professional considerations' he meant that there was no consensus among the British regarding the question whether native English-speaking professionals make for better ESL instructors than their nonnative counterparts There is. however, a third possibility that may explain why over 60% o f the
British respondents chose option (b).
In 1989. the time when Medgyes presented his lectures, the native/nonnative speaker issue was presumably not as hotly contested as it was a decade later. Presumably, then, it was in those days taken for granted, particularly in Britain, the cradle o f Modem
English, that the native speaker was the ideal ESL instructor. The choice for option (b) might also have been inspired by the concept o f ownership, i.e.. the belief that the English
language is— in this case— British property and should not be given to outsiders for use
79 that goes beyond the ordinary. As for the French respondents, it is no surprise that the majority chose option (c). I f choosing option (a) would expose them as incompetent, choosing option (b) would mean that they would be undermining their own status as normative speakers o f English In this way, then, each option contributed to the leading nature o f Medgyes’ question.
In addition, Rampton (1990) proposed, as the title o f his work suggests, displacing the term 'native speaker' and supplanting it with the term ‘expert’ . He claimed that the latter term had certain favorable characteristics to it that the former lacked. For instance, while the term "native speaker" suggested an innate quality, the term “ expert” referred to someone who had acquired a skill. .And while being a native speaker meant knowing everything about the language, experts, Rampton claimed, "are never omniscient ” (Ibid.. p 99)
The author introduced his proposition by observing, "It is important first o f all to be clear about what the problems actually are. Otherwise, alterations may be simply cosmetic ” (p 97) Unfortunately, when Rampton’s alterations are placed against the backdrop o f this study, one might argue that he failed to heed his own warning. He is. however, in good company for all the scholars whose work on the native speaker issue has been discussed thus far have attacked the symptoms, but not the causative agent(s), thereby making any alterations suggested in this respect cosmetic indeed. Or, as Medgyes
(1992. see also Medg\es. 1994) observed, "... these alternatives ... are no less spurious than the concept o f the native versus the non-native speaker" (p.342).
80 In fact, merely substituting one set o f terms for another seems to suggest, first, that inappropriate nomenclature is the cause o f the problem and, second, that the problem will cease to exist once the appropriate terms have been introduced and adopted. Such an attitude suggests that the ESL profession has conceived o f and, subsequently, has dealt with the native/nonnative speaker issue more as a nuisance as opposed to a malevolent matter. It would be more appropriate, however, if ESL professionals were to adopt attitudes characteristic o f pathologists.
The research approach o f the latter is characterized by the fact that whenever a new disease breaks out. these professionals immediately set out to search for its causative agent and attack it relentlessly once they have found it. One only needs to think o f the massive number o f people that would have died over the past two decades from .AIDS related diseases— on top o f the many millions who have already succumbed to this disease
— had .AIDS researchers failed to follow the above procedure and had confined themselves instead to the treatment o f the symptoms o f the patients. It is imperative, therefore, that
ESL professionals position themselves as pathologists and deal with the aforementioned issue accordingly Only then can the profession expect to successfully "combat [the] dichotomizing and disempowering discursive practice” (Brutt-Griffler and Samimy, 1999, p 428) brought about by the native/nonnative speaker distinction
Guralnik. quoted in Paikeday (1985b; see also Paikeday, 1985a), had in no uncertain terms pointed out what in his opinion the causative agents o f the native speaker issue are. Partly in response to Chomsky, who had claimed that the question regarding the
81 meaning o f the term native speaker is based on “ [the] incorrect metaphysical assumption
.. that there are languages or dialects” (Paikeday, 1985b, p. 49), Guralnik stated:
I wouldn’t want metaphysical views on what I now see as a question that has even more political and sociological overtones than linguistic ones I am. inclined to [think] [sic] that many, if not most o f the adherents o f “ native [speaker] intuition” are motivated by unconscious— or even conscious— notions that are elitist, perhaps racist, (p. 72)
Thus, according to Guralnik, the native speaker concept and the beliefs and assumptions associated with it are all embedded in class and race, and not so much in linguistics or, for that matter, in the teaching and learning o f ESL proper.
Paikeday (1985a), to some extent, echoed Gulamik's claim, albeit less intense and in a less overt manner. He noted that the distinction between native and nonnative speakers o f English is artificial and that the differences on which the distinction is based are individual, social, and regional in nature rather than linguistic. He underscored his point of view as tbllows:
The errors made by the [foreign learner] with reference to a particular variety o f English cannot be shown to be different in kind from the errors made by the typical ill-educated, native-speaking freshman, using the same variety o f the language. There are genuine differences attributable to learning stages, as when the native-speaking child and the foreign learner begin to learn. The rest seem merely differences of degree, frequently compounded by prejudice on the one hand and lack o f tolerance on the other, (p. 392).
Thus. Paikeday. too. acknowledged that prejudice is one element associated with the native speaker issue, although he did not make specific reference to racial prejudice.
82 However, referring to Gulamik’s reaction to the question o f what it means to be a native speaker, Paikeday hailed it as, “ [t]he best [reaction] I have received so far” (Ibid., p. 395), which suggests that he shared Gulamik’s views on the issue wholeheartedly.
The validity o f Gulamik’s argument becomes apparent in studies that have focused on accented speech. The issue o f accent is discussed in greater detail in section
5 3 4 3. Suffice it here to provide two cases, recorded respectively in Lippi-Green (1997a) and Matsuda (1991), both o f which prove the validity o f the Guralnik's point. Lippi-Green
( 1997a). in discussing the stigma associated with the speech o f nonnative English speaking
.Asian .Americans, recounted the story o f a young .Asian woman o f Indian descent who was a native and monolingual speaker o f English. Wanting to purchase the latest release o f
Ikpedw Mode, a popular music group in the early 1990s. the young woman, according to
Lippi-Green, placed her order. On that occasion, the sales representative, a middle-aged man. told her. "You have to speak slower because 1 didn't understand you because o f your accent " (p 226). The author, quoting the lady in question, went on to say.
[The young lady] is understandably hurt and outraged: I have no discernible accent ['. she said]. T do. however, have long dark hair and pleasantly colored dark skin. I suppose this outward appearance o f mine constitutes enough evidence to conclude I had, indeed, just jumped off'the boat and into the store." (Ibid.)
Thus, according to the young woman, the representative's conclusion that she was a foreigner, and. consequently, spoke with an accent that hampered communication was solely based on her phenotypical features. Her experience is perhaps the epitome o f a phenomenon Dr .Andy Curtis, professor at the Chinese University o f Hong Kong, supposedly labeled “ hearing with one’s eyes” , an expression brought to my attention by one o f the instructor-participants in this study (see section 5 .2.6 3). The meaning o f this expression is that an individual attaches certain racial stereotypes to a speaker, simply based on the phenotypical features o f the latter.
Matsuda (1991) recounted the experiences o f various people, all o f whom were victims o f the hearing-with-one’s-eyes syndrome. One such victim was James Kahakua, a native o f Hawaii, who was denied promotion by the National Weather Service. More specifically, he had been disqualified for the job o f weather forecaster, supposedly because he spoke English with a Hawaiian Creole accent. Mr. Kahakua subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Weather Service. While the court ruled against him. M r Kahakua’s credentials are such that the reader may not only find it difficult to accept the authenticity o f the reason behind his disqualification, but may also be hard pressed to come up with another reason tor why he was denied promotion other than racial prejudice. Matsuda wrote,
Kahakua[‘ s] . English was good enough to serve him in the U.S. .-\rmy for twenty years. While in the army, Kahakua studied meteorology and served as an instructor in ballistics at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He spent several years as Chief Meteorological Supervisor at Schoefield barracks in Hawaii, performing a wide range o f weather observations, data collection, and predictions for the .A.rmy, ,AJr Force, and Marine Corps. He also received a Bachelor o f Science degree from the University o f Hawaii. He was already in the employ o f the Weather Service, and in that capacity he had recorded weather broadcasts. He was particularly careful in pronouncing complex Hawaiian place names, and he valued his broadcasting skills. ... [Moreover,] at no station other than Hawaii had the weather service used assessments o f voice quality on tapes to determine promotions. James Kahakua, who had never had any trouble making himself understood to any speaker o f English, knew that he was passed over because he didn't sound White, (p. 1345)
84 In other words. James Kahakua believed he was denied promotion because his speech did not resemble that o f members o f the White middle- and upper-middle class residing in
Midwestern America (Lippi-Green, 1997).
Thus, as both Lippi-Green (1997a) and Matsuda (1991) have shown, race is an
inherent feature o f the native/nonnative speaker issue. Yet, prior to .Amin (1997), no ESL
professional participating in the native/nonnative speaker debate had apparently conducted
and published an in-depth analysis and discussion o f issues o f race in relation to the
aforementioned issue By that time, the debate had been raging for over a decade. .As o f
January 2001. ,A.min (1997; but see also Amin (1999) which is an extended version o f her
1997 publication) still is the only publication that has covered the aforementioned topic in
some depth, although some other studies have mentioned it in passing (e.g., Brutt-Griffler
and Samimy. 1999; Liu. 1999). In section 1.1.1 posited the presumption that the ESL
profession is reluctant to problemaiize issues o f race in relation to the teaching and
learning o f ESL in general and the native/nonnative speaker issue in particular. I attributed
this reluctance to the virtual absence o f the traditional two-tiered racial order within its
ranks In the next section. 1 will posit some additional presumptions as to why the ESL
profession has been largely silent on issues o f race. Here, I wish to briefly review .Amin's
work
Amin (1997) is a report on the author's research and experiences involving the
perceptions ESL students hold regarding the ideal ESL instructor. For the purposes o f her
research, she interviewed five ESL female instructors o f color, who were employed in
Canada, just like she was. Her findings agreed with her experiences; in the minds o f some
85 ESL students, "[o]nly White people can be native speakers o f English" (p.580), and, as such, can be authentic ESL instructors (this assertion is confirmed by Perdreau, cited in
Tobash (1996) and Nero (1998)). In other words, what makes an ESL instructor reliable, genuine, and trustworthy in the eyes o f some ESL students is the fact that he or she is
White Or, put differently, an ESL instructor o f color is believed to be less reliable, genuine, and trustworthy than one who is White.
In ,A.min (1999) she provided compelling evidence o f this particular assumption the students apparently hold. She wrote,
.At the end o f one 8-week session where I was teaching a Level Two class in a noncredit program, 1 gave a few students the choice o f moving to a Level Three or staying in a Level Two class for the next session, . 1 expected a great deal o f resistance from them to staying in the same level. To my surprise, all the students 1 talked to, both male and female, readily agreed to do the Level Two course again. Then I was approached by other students, who I had assigned to a Level Three class, who told me that they too felt they would benefit from staying on in a Level Two class. I finally pieced together what was happening. My students had found out that a White woman was teaching the Level Two class in the next session and a non-White woman was teaching the Level Three class. My students had made their decision based entirely on the teacher's race. (p.95)
Thus, the students .Amin referred to seemed to be making the assumption that since the
Level Three instructor was a person o f color, she apparently was less than ideal.
Placed against the backdrop o f the occurrence described above. .Amin's (1997)
remarks about the impact such attitudes may have on the identity formation o f ESL
instructors o f color are quite cogent. She stated.
When students give the message that they consider their teacher to be a nonnative speaker o f English and therefore one who cannot teach them the English they want or feel they need, [teachers o f color] are unable to effectively negotiate a teacher identity. In such a classroom, [teachers o f
86 color], no matter how qualified they are, become less effective in facilitating their students’ language learning than, perhaps, White teachers, (p. 581)
She discussed how the students gave her that same feeling and how she reacted to that.
She wrote,
I went to English language schools in postcolonial Pakistan, and immigrated to Canada as an adult. I have taught ESL to adults in Toronto in both credit and noncredit courses in programs run by community colleges and by schoolboards (p. 580).
Thus for .Amin, her authenticity as an ESL instructor resides primarily in her academic and professional credentials, and not in her ethnicity or race. Clearly, an ideological tug-of-war was being waged between .Amin and her students, with the main issue being the tension created by racial categorization and racial classification o f her students about their
instructor
2.7 Issues of race and the teaching of ESL: Two incompatible concepts?
In section 1 1. I claimed that less than a handful o f articles discussing the impact
o f issues o f race on the actors and their actions in the ESL classroom have been published
in the professional literature. In this section. I wish to address this matter in some more
detail It should be noted, to begin with, that throughout the 1970s and 1980s,
sociopolitical concerns ranked near the bottom o f the research agenda o f most ESL and
foreign language teachers and researchers.
.A study conducted by McKay and Wong (1988) involving "the trend and
emphases... within the field o f language teaching" (p.379) supports this perspective. For
the purposes o f their study, these scholars perused the table o f contents o f the three major
87 journals in the field: Foreign Language Annals, The Modern Language Journal, and the
TESOL Quarterly. Their search covered the period 1974 to 1988. The researchers found that over a period o f nearly 15 years, the three journals combined devoted on average 7% o f their articles to issues related to sociopolitical awareness. By contrast, roughly 30% o f the articles in the three journals combined were devoted to 'pedagogical concerns,' (i.e.. issues related to pedagogy, method, methodology, approach, technique, activities, and the teaching o f certain skills).
Since the study by McKay and Wong, there appears to have been an increase in awareness among academics with regard to the association between sociopolitical issues w ithin society at large and the teaching and learning that takes place in the ESL classroom.
For instance, a number o f scholars have discussed the way in which the dominant position
o f English as an international language has been and continues to be exploited to establish
and maintain an unequal distribution o f power within society (e.g., Fairclough 1989;
Pennycook 1990. 1994; Philipson 1992, Toleflfson l991;Tsuda 1992; 1994).
Scholars such as B. Kachru (1992), Y. Kachru (1996) and Sridhar (1994) have
called for greater recognition o f the varieties o f English other than British and .American
English. Closely related are the studies into the perceptions students and employers hold
of nonnative speaker ESL instructors as opposed to their native speaker counterparts (see
section 2 .6) Discussions involving the stereotyping o f women in ESL material and the
incorporation o f a feminist pedagogical ideas in ESL teaching and learning in particular
have been going on for two decades now (e.g., Benesh 1998; Cockran 1996; Freeman and
McElhinny. 1996; Hartman and Judd 1978; Kramsch and Von Hoene, 1995; Ong, 1996;
88 Porreca 1984; Schenke 1996; Vandrick 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999; Willett 1996; Yepez
1994) In addition, there are scholars who have investigated the impact o f immigration policies and legislation on the topics being taught in the ESL classroom (e.g., .Auerbach
1995, Benesh 1993, Ferguson 1998; Moriarty 1998; Norton 1997).
Interestingly, in spite o f the heightened sense o f awareness among academics in the
field o f ESL teaching and learning regarding sociopolitical issues, when it comes to discussions o f how issues o f race may affect the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the
ESL classroom, the silence is rather deafening. Or, in the words o f Goldberg (1994),
"Where the subject is race, the silences speak louder than words" (p.2). To illustrate,
apparently in reaction to the great number o f .Asian students enrolled in ESL programs in
the United States (see section 11), the professional literature on the teaching o f ESL has
been enriched with such issues as the views o f .Asians about Western teaching styles (e.g.
Conazzi and Jin, 1996), the cultural experiences and expectations they bring to the ESL
classroom (e g , Jin and Cortazzi, 1998); their adjustments to, "a new way o f thinking and
o f processing knowledge" (Ballard, 1996, p. 150; see also Fan Shen, 1989); and their
classroom demeanor (e.g., LoCastro, 1996).
Furthermore, Cai (1993) discussed the cultural factors atfecting the writing o f
Chinese ESL students, while Crowe and Peterson (1995) have suggested methods to help
.Asian students to be more successful writers in English. In addition, Fu (1995) focused on
the challenges English poses for .Asian students, while He ( 1996) discussed the approach
Chinese students use to learn English. However, there appears to be a void within the
89 professional literature on the teaching o f ESL that investigates the perceptions and attitudes o f ESL students in general and Asian students in particular toward ESL instructors whose race does not match that o f the students, and vice versa. In fact, thus far there are only a handful o f such studies.
Guice (1994), for instance, investigated the influence o f a variety o f factors on the perceptions o f students have o f the speakers o f three dialects o f .American English; the southwestern dialect, the Northern Inland dialect, and Black English Vernacular (BEY).
The participants heard tape recordings o f speakers o f each o f the three dialects and had to rate them on such characteristics as intelligence, friendliness, linguistic capability, physical beauty, and trustworthiness. .According to Guice. "[sjpeakers o f [B E Y ] were rated
negatively on most factors" (p. 14). Thus, Black .Americans were not only more likely to
be perceived by these students as ignorant, unfriendly, untrustworthy, and poor language
users, but perhaps more importantly, were perceived as, "unqualified to be a teacher o f
English" (Ibid ). If this particular outcome is taken one step further. ESL students in
general may assume that all Black .Americans speak BEY and, consequently, may consider
them less than ideal as ESL instructors.
Furthermore, Perdreau, cited in Tobash (1996), contended that ESL students may
be inclined to generalize the perceptions they hold o f Black .Americans to include all Black
ESL instructors regardless o f the geographical origin o f the latter. She reported that one
o f the concerns o f international Black ESL professionals involves, "[the] hostile attitudes
and negative stereotypical images" (p. 22) they are confronted with on the part o f their
90 students and employers overseas. Clearly, such attitudes and images may negatively affect the relationship between Black ESL teachers and their non-Black students in particular.
Nero (1998) reported on a colloquium held during the TESOL ‘98 convention in
Seattle, Washington The participants discussed, among other things, the perceptions that employers and students alike have o f them and that are in part based on the skin color o f the instructor Govardhan. an ESL instructor o f Indian descent, talked about his experiences with skin color relative to the perceptions students and prospective employers have o f his teaching competence. He pointed out that in spite o f having earned two Ph D 's in English, having a high comfort level with the language, and having taught for more than 20 years in, among other countries, England and the L’ S., he is still not being perceived as a competent ESL instructor because o f his non-European features.
The number o f studies in issues o f race and their impact on the ESL classroom are extremely limited when compared with the number o f similar studies published by professionals within the field o f English as a first language (L I). Various L I scholars have w ritten at length about how racial attitudes may determine the social interactions that occur in the LI classroom between a teacher and his or her students (see, for example,
.Alberti 1995, Cazden 1988, Johnson 1994: Keating 1995: Michaels 1981: Michaels and
Cazden 1986, Middleton 1994: Royster 1996: Royster and Taylor 1997, Wallace and Bell,
1999, West 1997). Clearly, studies involving issues o f race are not alien to the language teaching profession, at least in the LI context. One can only speculate why issues o f race have not been researched as vigorously as they have been by professionals in the teaching o f English as an LI Below, some o f the speculations are outlined.
91 First, according to Phillipson (1992), the notion o f professionalism, which is an inherent feature o f the teaching o f ESL, "disconnecis culture from structure by limiting the focus in language pedagogy ... to technical matters..., [resulting in] the exclusion o f social, economic, and political matters" (p.48; emphasis in original). Phillipson declared that it is incorrectly assumed that adherence to the methods, techniques, and procedures followed in ESL teaching is sufficient for understanding and analyzing language learning.
In the years following the publication o f Philipson (1992), this argument, while still largely valid, has lost some o f its strength due to, for instance, the attention devoted to issues o f gender in the literature on ESL teaching and learning (see, e.g., Benesh 1998;
Freeman and McElhinny, 1996; Schenke , 1996; Vandrick, 1994, 1995, 1998; Willett
1996) Thus, while ESL professionals are informed about Sexism in ESL maierials
(Hartman and Judd, 1978) and. Sexism in cnrreni ESL textbooks (Porreca, 1984), very little, if anything, has thus far been written about racism in instructional materials currently in use in the ESL classroom.
.■\nd while ESL professionals are enlightened about The sexual politics o f the one- to-one lutonalappfoach ... (Stanger, 1987), there virtually are no data on how racial politics impact teaching and learning situations in the ESL classroom, let alone their impact on teacher-student conferences in the context o f ESL teaching and learning. Thus, the notion o f professionalism can apparently only partially account for why the ESL researchers seem to bypass issues o f race and their effects on the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the ESL classroom. Consequently, one needs to consider additional explanations
92 As I pointed out in section 1.1, at the turn o f 2T' Century, the instructor in the
.American ESL classroom is likely to be White, while his or her students primarily originate from .Asia, East .Asia in particular. Since historians have presented racial prejudice largely as an issue involving Blacks and Whites, this particular social phenomenon is presumed to be o f little significance in settings in which the aforementioned racial groups are largely absent, such as the American ESL classroom.
Thus, the two-tiered racial order (Dikotter, 1992) that pits Blacks against Whites is for all intents and purposes absent in the ESL classroom. Consequently, ESL professionals in general and researchers in particular etTectively negate, marginalize and trivialize investigations into issues o f race in the .American ESL classroom, resulting in a paucity of
studies that relate issues o f race to the teaching and learning o f ESL
This negation, marginalization, and trivialization is presumably lurther enhanced by
the perception in .American society that .Asians are a “ model minority" (Kim and Valdez,
1995, Takaki, 1998, Tuan, 1998). .According to this perception, .Asians have made
extraordinary academic and economic achievements in spite o f the hardships they
presumably encounter in working their way up the socioeconomic ladder. Moreover, they
are believed to be relatively tranquil and seemingly less concerned with issues o f race,
particularly when compared with, say. Black .Americans. However, as sections 2.3 and 2.4
ha\ e shown, .Asian countries such as China and Japan have a history o f racial bias
stretching back as far as antiquity.
93 Another speculation is inspired by the work o f Alderfer (1994) who argued that.
White people do not easily discuss race relations. For most Whites, the range o f feelings goes from uncomfortable to severely uncomfortable. The most common behavioral pattern is avoiding the issue, if at all possible, (p. 217)
Thus. .Mderter, himself a White American, acknowledged that White .Americans refrain from discussing issues o f race since such discussions tend to bring about feelings o f guilt,
shame, and anger since they may feel that they are being held responsible for racial
inequity in society (see also .Ahlquist, 1991).
In the context o f this study, .Alderfer's argument is undergirded by two facts. First,
in the United States the foreign and second language profession is a White-dominated field
(see section 11 for details). Second, this country also produces "the preponderance o f
second language theory” (Pennycook, 1990, p.312), for which, obviously, White ESL
researchers are by and large responsible. Evidently, they may not want to raise issues that
may cause emotional distress to the members o f the profession as well as themselves.
Dilworth ( 1990) raised an argument which, in essence, constitutes yet another,
albeit a more cynical, speculation. Though writing on a topic unrelated to this study, she
might as well have had the aforementioned paucity referred to here in mind when she
observed.
One can only speculate that the reason race ... [is] left unattended in the literature ... is tear and ignorance— tear for repercussions for tampering with the democratic creed that all people are created equal, or ignorance that even though all people are created equal, goodness can only be found in values and principles emanating from the White, .•\nglo-Saxon Protestant ethic, (p.24)
94 Thus, Dilworth seems to argue that race is not addressed in the professional literature on education, and, therefore, in the professional literature on ESL teaching because doing so would expose the myth behind the adage that all people are created equal. Or, so Dilworth seems to assert, if race were to be addressed in the professional literature on education it would become apparent that people are ignorant o f the fact that equality in .America is determined by whether or not one lives according to the standards set by the White community,
In sum, various speculations can be presented to account for the limited number of published studies that have addressed issues o f race relative to the teaching o f ESL.
Perhaps the most important one has to do with absence o f the two-tiered racial order in the ESL classroom Those studies that have been conducted have revealed that issues of race are an important aspect o f the professional life o f particular ESL instructors o f color.
Consequently, there is need for research that addresses their wants, needs, and concerns.
2.8 Summary
Using Holliday's (1994) concept of the host culture complex this chapter focused
on aspects o f the international, national and the professional academic culture, all o f which
are elements o f the aforementioned concept. One aspect related to the international culture
discussed here involved the origins and evolution o f racial classification in the western
world. Intellectuals o f the 18'"’ century, preoccupied as they were with empiricism,
scientific reasoning, and aesthetics, also sought to determine man's place in nature. They
believed that studying the physical appearance o f the various groups o f people inhabiting
95 the eanh would ultimately enable them to do so. This desire led to division o f mankind into racial groups. A second aspect related to the international culture involved the history o f racial perceptions in China and Japan. The historic overviews have shown that the
Chinese as well as the Japanese were fascinated with White skin and showed little, if any, appreciation for Black skin. These attitudes, still held by some Chinese and Japanese in the late 20'*' century, might find their way in the ESL classroom since the majority o f foreign students in the U.S., and, ergo, in the ESL classroom, originate from China and Japan.
This, in turn, may atTect the relationship between the ESL instructor and one or more students.
With regard to the second element o f the concept o f the host culture complex, the national culture, the discussion focused on the tension between Black and Korean
.•\mericans in the inner cities, more specifically on the racial perceptions the former hold o f the latter .At least two studies have shown that Black .Americans, both in the inner cities and the suburbs, feel a certain animosity toward Koreans, which was evident in one particular rap song and in the riots in South Central Los .Angeles in .April o f 1992. Finally, with respect to the professional academic culture, this study focused on the discussions involving the dichotomy between native and non-native English speaking professionals and the paucity o f research on how issues o f race affect the pedagogical and social dimensions of the ESL classroom. Some speculations were presented to explain the limited number o f studies on this topic and the available articles on the topic were reviewed.
96 CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 Introduction
This chapter begins with an explanation why this study combines the qualitative with the quantitative research paradigm. It then goes on to explain the notion o f the emergent design as a feature o f the qualitative research paradigm and how it is related to this study. Next, it addresses key aspects o f the study: the research participants, the data collection instruments, the data collection procedures and the data analysis procedures.
Finally, it discusses the validity and the reliability of the study.
3.2 Triangulating the study paradigmatically
.A.S the Review of the Literature has shown, specifically section 2.7. the effects of issues o f race on the social and pedagogical dimensions o f the ESL classroom appear to ha\ e been understudied. Consequently, there are relatively few. if any. theories published that explain such matters. Creswell ( 1998) argues that in a situation where virtually no theories are available, the researcher may still want to explore the topic he or she wishes to investigate. .An exploratory approach, in turn, calls for a detailed view o f how. in the case o f this study, issues of race as they occur in society intersect with life within the ESL
97 classroom. Creswell (1998) argues that under such conditions the researcher may want to
opt tor a qualitative research design, defined as one in which the researcher employs,
"procedures which produce descriptive data: people's own ... spoken words" (Bogdan
and Taylor. 1975. p.4). Consequently, this study is primarily qualitative in nature.
common feature o f qualitative studies is triangulation, defined as. "the act o f
bringing more than one source o f data to bear to a single point" (Marshall and Rossman.
1995. p. 144). The main purpose of triangulation is. "to corroborate, elaborate, or
illuminate the [study]" ( Ibid.). Creswell ( 1994) asserted that one strategy the researcher
might employ to triangulate the study is to combine the qualitative with a quantitative
research design. He distinguished three approaches: the two-phase design approach, the
dominant-less dominant design, and the mi.xed-methodology design. This study followed
Creswell ( 1994) in that it adopted the dominant-less dominant design, defined by
Creswell as one in which, "the researcher presents the study within [the] dominant
paradigm with one small component of the overall study drawn from the alternative
paradigm" (p. 177). In this study, the qualitative component o f the study constitutes the
dominant, and the quantitative component the less dominant paradigm. That is to say. the
study is primarily designed in accordance with the characteristics o f qualitative research.
.As part o f the discover}- process, one aspect o f the study followed the quantitative
research methodology since it sought to establish (the goal o f the investigation) by means
o f a sur\ey (method o f data collection) and some basic statistics (mode o f analysis)
whether or not ESL students prefer a particular group of ESL instructors. The findings of
this aspect of the investigation are reported numerically. Moreover, this study employed a
98 simultaneous triangulation approach (Morse. 1991. cited in Creswell. 1994). This approach involves.
answer[ing] the qualitative and quantitative research questions at the same time in the study. Results for the qualitative questions ... would be reported separately and would not necessarily relate to or confirm the results from the quantitative the study. (Creswell. 1994. p. 182)
Thus, the results o f the qualitative and quantitative components o f the study are reported in separate chapters. Moreover, the results emerging from these two components may or may not relate to one another and the results o f one component may or may not confirm the results o f the other.
3.3 Research on race and the need for an emergent design
.Another common feature o f the qualitative research paradigm relevant to this study is the emergent research design (Bogdan and Taylor 1975; Creswell. 1998: Glesne and Peshkin. 1992: Marshall and Rossman. 1995: Maykut and Morehouse. 1994: Miles and Huberman. 1994). Glesne and Peshkin (1992). for instance, writing on the qualitative research proposal, commented
a qualitative research proposal ... is somewhat tentative— [it is] a forecast o f things to come but not in contractual terms. Your plans w ill probably change as your fieldwork progresses and the opportunities o f the field emerge. I f you are inflexible, resolutely tied to your prestudy plan, then you may forego the serendipity that the process offers, (pp. 13-14)
Put differently, in the qualitative research method, the research proposal does not bind
the investigator to adhere to the proposed method o f investigation. Rather, it functions as
a plan o f action that is subject to modifications suggested by developments that take
99 place as the study unfolds. Adhering too rigidly to the proposal. Glesne and Peshkin contended, might result in researchers missing out on chance opportunities that may
benefit their study.
Furthermore. Bogdan and Taylor (1975). also addressing the issue o f the
emergent research design, observed that.
In contrast to most other methodologies in which the researcher's specific interests and goals are determined a priori, the research design in [qualitative research] studies remains flexible up to and including the actual beginning o f the research. ... During the first days in the field, the [qualitative researcher] may find that his or her ideas and areas o f interest do not fit the setting. His or her questions may not be relevant for the concerns and behavior o f the subjects. The [qualitative researcher] w ill begin to formulate a new research design or new tactics and begin to ask different questions.... (pp.26-27).
Thus, according to Bogdan and Taylor, the qualitative research method does not oblige
investigators to adhere to the design o f their study once the investigation has started.
Rather, they have the opportunity to make changes during the initial stages o f the study.
Put another way. qualitative research allows for the research design to evolve while the
study is in progress.
With regard to the evolvement o f the research design. Maykut and Morehouse
I 1994) noted.
For students and researchers well schooled in traditional approaches to research design, the idea o f a design evolving over time is contrary, and perhaps even blasphemous. .Any student or researcher can. however, appreciate the experience o f carr\ ing out one's research study and discovering a feature t'or which one's research design did not allow consideration. It is this very notion of pursuing important or salient early discoveries that undergirds qualitative approaches to inquiry ... (p.44).
100 Thus. Maykut and Morehouse argued that those trained in accordance with the traditions o f the quantitative research method are likely to reject an evolving research design. They observed, however, that is precisely the opportunity the researcher has to act upon the knowledge gained at the onset o f the study that provides the qualitative research method with its sound and secure basis.
Marshall and Rossman (1995) also commented on the making o f changes in the
initial stages o f a study designed in accordance with the traditions o f the qualitative
research method. They declared.
[The researcher] preser\ e[s] the right to modify aspects o f the research design as the research proceeds .... to determine the precise focus o f the research after [the] first days in the field, after that experience begins to clarity' the relevant themes and patterns (p.43).
Thus. Marshall and Rossman maintained that investigators who follow an qualitative
method o f inquiry have the privilege to reposition the focus o f their study as themes and
patterns begin to emerge.
What these statements have in common is the notion that qualitative research
allows for the making o f changes in the design o f the study even after it has been
proposed. Miles and Huberman (1994). however, have some reserv ations about use o f an
emergent approach. They commented.
We go along with [the emergent design]— up to a point. Highly inductive, loosely designed studies make good sense when experienced researchers have plenty o f time and are exploring exotic cultures, understudied phenomena, or very- complex social phenomena. But if you're new to qualitative studies and are looking at a better understood phenomenon within a familiar culture or subculture, a loose inductive design may be a waste o f time. (p. 17)
101 In sum. Miles and Huberman (1994) place certain restrictions on the application o f an emergent design. To begin with, a novice to the field o f qualitative research should preferably not follow an emergent design. Moreover, a research topic that has been investigated in depth or that is conducted in a setting the researcher is familiar with should not be subjected to an emergent design.^
For a number o f reasons, their comments speak directly to this study as it. too. has undergone changes in its design since it was first proposed. First. 1 acknowledge that 1 am a novice to scientific research in general and qualitative research in particular: 1 acknowledge, furthermore, that 1 have been allotted a certain period of time to complete the study. In addition, having been an ESL instructor for over two decades. 1 acknowledge that 1 am familiar with the setting o f the study, the ESL classroom.
Consequently, according to Miles and Huberman. a study such as this one should be
structured tightly enough so as to. "provide clarity and focus for [a] beginning researcher
worried about diffuseness and overload" (p. 17).
However, as 1 argued in section 2.7. few studies have been published that have
addressed issues o f race relative to the teaching o f ESL. .-\s a result, not enough is known
about the effects o f race on the interaction between the actors in the ESL classroom.
Moreover, the concept o f race, together with its related concepts such as racial attitudes,
racial perceptions, and racism, is a complex phenomenon in that it is interwoven with
other social issues such as gender and class to form a "synthesized concept" (Belkhir.
1997. p.229). Consequently, irrespective o f the research setting, an investigation into
issues o f race is often also a study in gender and class, albeit im plicitly and only to some
extent. By virtue o f these facts, then, investigators into issues o f race need to approach
102 their study with an open mind rather than using a tightly structured research design. They should be ready and w illing to make changes in any aspect o f the investigation, including the research design.
3.4 Shifting research design: from phenomenological study to case study
The qualitative portion o f this study was initially designed in accordance w ith the philosophical principles o f phenomenology. This research tradition aims to capture the essence o f a particular phenomenon, by studying the lived experience o f several
individuals (Becker. 1992; Creswell. 1998; Giorgi. 1975; Hammond. Howarth. and Keat.
1991; Moustakas. 1994; Natanson. 1973; Polkinghome. 1989). In this study, the
phenomenon o f which the essence was to be captured was race and some o f its attributes
such as racial identity, racial categorizations, racial attitudes, and racism. In order to capture the essence o f a phenomenon, it is important that the research participants are
consciously aware o f the experience. That is. they should be in touch with the ideas,
perceptions, memories, judgments, emotions, desires, and the like relative to the
phenomenon (Husserl. 1931/1962).
However, as Sniderman and Carmines ( 1997) put it. "Race is ... an emotionally
charged issue, difficult to discuss with friends, harder still with strangers (p. 12). The
degree o f difficulty became evident in interv iews conducted for the purposes o f this study
with six instructors. One instructor claimed that although issues of race had impacted her
life, she opted to cope with them by burying them. Consequently, she stated, she found it
10] quite challenging to remember experiences that were race related. .Another instructor pointed out that while he had experienced some misconduct on the part o f students in the classroom, he refused to admit that the misconduct was racially motivated.
Moreover, all the instructors said that they had difficult)- identify ing a negative experience with a student as one that was racially motivated. The female instructors o f color in particular pointed out that if. say. a White male student provoked a confrontation, it was possible that it was racially inspired. They could, however, never be quite sure since their gender could also have triggered the student's behavior. It was even possible
that the confrontation was inspired by both the instructors' race and gender, or by neither
o f these social categories.
Under such circumstances. I was concerned that these variables might interf'ere
w ith the essence o f the phenomenon o f race, rendering it obscure. Moreover, as I began
to probe deeper into my own expectations in terms o f the outcomes o f the study. 1
became aw are that getting to the essence o f the phenomenon would reveal little about its
effects o f the pedagogical and the social dimensions o f the ESL classroom. In addition,
the new insights I had developed in the early stages o f collecting the data also led to the
realization that the research questions were in need o f modification. For as Creswell
( 1998) remarked, "questions change during the process o f research to reflect an increased
understanding o f the problem" (p. 19). In sum. contrary to my earlier assumption, the
phenomenological approach appeared to be less appropriate for the purposes o f this
study. Consequently, a different approach was needed to include the new insights. The
approach selected was case study research. Below. I first define the concept o f case study
104 and then explain why I opted for this research strategy. Finally. I explain how application o f this research method affected the objectives and outcomes o f the study reported here.
Yin ( 1994) defined the case study as. "an empirical inquiry that investigates a
contemporain- phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries
between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident" (p. 13). In the context o f this
study, race, specifically racial categorization and racial experience, makes up the
■■contemporain- phenomenon." while the ESL classroom constitutes -‘the real-life context"
in which this phenomenon is examined. Moreover, the boundaries between the
phenomenon and context are not clearly evident in that racial categorizations and racial
experiences are not unique to the ESL classroom but are encountered in countless other
settings such as the work place, in organizations, sports, churches, homeless shelters,
streets, daily casual interactions and so on. Case study research is characterized by
purposeful sampling, multiple sources o f information, with-in case and cross-case
analysis and narrative reporting (Creswell. 1998; Stake. 1995). VVith-in case analysis
involves providing "a detailed description o f each case and themes within the case"
(Creswell. 1998. p.63). whereas cross-case analysis involves "the thematic analysis
across the cases" (Ibid.).
\'in ( 1994) asserted that in deciding on a research method, the investigator should
consider, ■'(a) the type o f research question posed, (b) the extent o f control [he or she] has
over actual behavior events, and (c) the degree o f focus on contemporary as opposed to
historical events." (p.4). Thus. Yin claimed that studies that are exploratory in nature and
consist of questions that are congruent with this objective are best conducted using a
105 case study method. Moreover, in this study racial categorizations and racial experience. while historical, are also contemporary and beyond the control o f the investigator. Hence. this study lends itself to a case study method.
This said, how does the shift in research method-- from phenomenology to case study— affect this investigation? .According to Becker ( 1992).
Phenomenological researchers want to know more about what a phenomenon i.s rather than what causes it to exist. ... The goal o f phenomenological research is to illuminate the phenomenon's essential, structural qualities. This is another way o f saying that phenomenologists want to understand the common aspects o f a phenomenon ... Phenomenological researchers ... want to understand the nature o f a phenomenon .... {p.33)
Thus, conducting this study in the phenomenological tradition would have meant tailoring the purpose o f the study accordingly which, in turn, would have resulted in a description of the nature or structure of racial categorization and racial experience.
Changing to a case study approach, however, changed the outcomes o f the study. That is to say. no longer was description o f the characteristics or distinguishing features o f racial experience and racial categorization the end goal. Rather, the objective o f the study became exploring the ways that racial experience and racial categorization affect the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the ESL classroom. Thus, the focus o f the study- shifted from the phenomena proper to how the phenomena inform ESL instructors' personal theories about their teaching and the social relationship between themselves and their students, especially from the point o f view o f the students.
106 3.5 Case study design
3.5.1 The research participants
In choosing instructors to participate in the research project, I followed two sampling strategies discussed in Patton (1990): convenience sampling and maximum variation sampling. W ith respect to the strategy o f convenience sampling, because 1 had previously worked at the ESL Program at San Christobal State University, a public institution located in a metropolis in Midwestern U.S.. 1 was acquainted with a number o f instructors there and. consequently, had easy access to them (to project the privacy o f the research participants, the names o f the institutions where the study was conducted have been altered). .As a result. 1 chose four of the six instructor-participants from the aforementioned program: Erin. Jack. Lindsey, and Mukembe. Though at the time o f the study the fifth participant. .Abalo. worked in another language program at SCSU. 1 knew he was an ESL instructor since he and 1 had once been students in the same ESL teacher preparation program: as such, it was easy for me to have access to him. Shelley, the sixth instructor-participant. was recommended by a friend. .At the time o f the study, she was employed as an instructor at SCSU's ESL teacher preparation, and prior to the study 1 had had no contact with her. In sum. 1 opted to request the cooperation o f aforementioned instructors not only because they were easily accessible but also because the study was subject to time constraints.
To obtain a sample that was representative o f the ESL teaching community. 1 chose instructors w ho differed from each other in a number of ways, thereby applying
Patton's ( 1990) "maximum variation sampling" strategy. 1 have recorded some o f the key
differences between the six instructor-participants in Table 3.1.
107 .Name Race LI Continent Gender Instruc Started Instruc of Origin tor Status career in tor at SCSU for .\balo Black French .Africa M ale G T A 1974 2 yrs
Erin .Asian English .Asia Female Faculty 1980 3 yrs
Jack White English N. .America Male Faculty 1980 7 yrs
Lindsey White English N. America Female Faculty 1986 3 yrs
Mukembe Black French Africa M ale G T A 1974 5 yrs
Shelley Asian English N. .America Female Faculty 1974 1 yr
Table 3. ! : Demographies o f the leaeher-pariieipanis by seleeted eharaeteristies
As Table 3.1 shows, the sample was evenly split in terms oTrace and gender; there w ere two .Asian, two Black, and two W liite ESL instructors with three o f them being males and the other three being females. English was the first language o f four o f the instructors, while two had French as their first language. Two o f the instructors originated from .Africa ( for the sake of privacy, their countries of origin are not disclosed), one came from Asia (the Philippines, to be precise), and three were bom in
North .America, specifically the United States. O f the six instructor-participants. two were
Graduate Teaching .Associates (GT.A's). and four were full-time faculty, three in the ESL
w riting program and one in the ESL teacher preparation program. In terms o f years
ser\ed within the profession, the instructor-participants ranged from 25 to 13 years; on
a\ erage. the instructor-participants had served 21 years in the profession.
Table 3.1 reveals, moreover, that the teacher participants were predominantly
people o f color, which in this study meant that they were individuals o f African or .Asian
descent. This aspect o f the selection was purposeful as well. In the context o f the United
States, it is generally accepted that race is used to define power status within the society I OS (Smith 1991). with people o f color having less power than Whites. And while racial prejudice is certainly not the prerogative o f Whites— i.e.. people o f color can also display racial attitudes toward Whites—, the fact o f the matter is that people o f color in the United States have less socio-economic power than White .A.mericans. This makes the former more vulnerable to acts o f racism than the latter. Based on this assumption, it was anticipated that the instructor-participants o f color would have experienced the phenomenon o f race more intensely than White teachers might have. This is not to say that the latter were excluded from the study. Obviously, they. too. had a role in it. for as
.Alderfer (1994). a White male discussing his involvement in research on issues o f race, wrote.
What 1 have to contribute to the Joint undertaking o f improving race relations is knowledge about white people and our ways o f dealing with race. This knowledge derives both from life experiences and formal study (p.214).
I'hus. it was believed necessary to include white teachers in the study since they brought a perspective to the investigation that was different trom that o f the teachers o f color. At the same time, this perspective was believed to add to one's understanding o f how. in this study, issues o f race might intersect with life in the ESL classroom.
3.5.2 Data collection procedure
When I contacted the six instructors to request their participation in the research
project. 1 not only explained the purpose o f the study to them but also informed them o f
the activities involved in the collecting the data for the research. Table 3.2 provides an
overview of the data collection activities conducted over the period July 23 through
November 8. 1999. 109 N am e Questionnaire Questionnaire Date of 1st Date of 2nd delivery date collection date Interview Interview .•\balo July 23, 1999 July 30. 1999 July 30. 1999 Oct. 2, 1999
Erin July 23, 1999 July 30. 1999 July 30. 1999 Oct. 1, 1999
Jack July 23. 1999 July 30, 1999 July 30, 1999 Oct. 1, 1999
Lindsey Aug. 27. 1999 Sept. 3. 1999 Sept. 3. 1999 Oct. 7. 1999
Mukembe July 31. 1999 Aug. 7. 1999 Aug. 7. 1999 Oct. 2, 1999
Shelley Oct. 8. 1999 Oct. 15. 1999 Oct. 15, 1999 Nov. 8, 1999
Table 3.2: Overview o f data collection activities
As Table 3.2 shows, the data collection procedure consisted o f two activities: completion by the instructor-participants of a self-administered questionnaire and two one- on-one semi-structured inter\'iews between the participants and myself. Once an instructor had agreed to participate in the study, he or she signed a consent form (see .Appendix .A), thereby acknowledging that he or she had been fully informed about the objectives of the study as w ill as about his or her rights. In addition, dates were set for delivering the questionnaire as well as for conducting the first interview. The second inter\ iew was tentatively scheduled with each instructor at the end o f the first interv iew.
The questionnaire was personally delivered to the instructor-participants one week prior to the first interview: this allowed the instructor-participants enough time to complete it. The surv ey was collected on the day o f the first interview, as it focused more on issues that would be addressed during the second inter\ iew. It consisted o f 25 closed and open- ended items (see .Appendix B), and was designed to develop initial insights into the beliefs
110 and perceptions the instructor-participants held regarding issues of race, including their perceptions o f the role issues o f race may play in their ESL classroom. Items 1 and 2 asked the instructor-participants to rank order a series o f options given in each category, while
Items 3 through 17 asked them to rate a series o f statements, using a Likert-type scale.
Items 18 through 25 requested the instructor-participants to supply demographic data.
1 laving completed the 25 items, the instructors also had the opportunity to comment on one or more items o f the questionnaire.
It should be noted, furthermore, that the questionnaire was not intended for the purposes o f cross data analysis among the instructor-participants; rather, it was designed to serve as a lead-in to the interviews. That is. it allowed me to develop insights into the opinions o f each instructor-participant on the research topic; at the same time, it enabled
me to attune the interview questions to each instructor-participant individually. Thus,
based on their responses on the survey 1 was able to ask each instructor some questions
relevant to him or her alone. This was in addition to a series o f general questions that
were put to all instructors. The survey was believed to be insightful for the instructor-
participants as well, since it gave them the opportunit}' to develop some insight into the
nature o f the research, the nature o f the interview pending at the time o f the survey, and
their role in it.
The two one-on-one semi-structured interviews made up the core o f the data
collection process among the instructor-participants. The interv iews were semi-structured
in that there was a number o f set questions for all participants, but unscripted,
spontaneous questions specific to each participant were raised during the interview
(samples o f the questions related to the two sets o f interviews are appended to this report
111 as Appendix C and Appendix D). Both sets o f interviews were audio taped; the first set. lasting 30-45 minutes on average, focused on the teacher-participants' attitudes and beliefs about and experiences with issues o f race. The second set o f inteiviews. lasting on average approximately 60 to 75 minutes, focused on the teacher participants'
perspectives regarding the way in which they perceived issues o f race intersected with
life in the ESL classroom. Each interview was scheduled on a day and a time as well as a
place that were convenient for the instructor involved. Three days prior to a scheduled
inteiwiew, the instructors were reminded of the meeting via e-mail. .A. sample o f both
types o f interviews is appended to this report as Appendix E and .Appendix F.
For the purposes o f the second interview. 1 carefully read through the transcript o f
the first interview (see section 3.5.3) twice, looking for matters that needed clarification.
These were then discussed with the instructor-participant involved at the start o f the
second inter\ lew. .Also, each second interview began with asking the instructor-
participant if he or she had any questions he or she wanted to raise, or comments or
clarifications he or she wanted to make regarding the first interview. .Moreover, during
the second interview I used the questionnaire as a mechanism to determine the extent to
which instructors were consistent in their opinion. For instance, say that in outlining his
or her philosophy o f teaching during the second interview, the instructor implied or stated
that his or her philosophy o f teaching was influenced by his or her racial experience. 1
checked the participants' response against the response on the survey, and if the two
responses to the question involved appeared to contradict each other. 1 confronted the
participant with this presumed contradiction and asked him or her for an explanation.
11: 3.5.3 Data analysis
To facilitate the analysis process o f the teacher-participants' data, the following steps were taken prior to the analysis. Each audio tape-recorded interv iew with the instructor-participants was labeled as follows; name o f the interviewee, date o f the
interview, and assigned number o f the interview. Moreover, each recording was transcribed verbatim. Words, phrases, or sentences that were inaudible were marked
"[v ]"( for unintelligible). To confirm accuracy, each transcript was matched against the
recording by carefully reading the former while listening to the latter. The transcripts
were personally delivered to the instructor-participants for them to review, that is. to
ensure that the transcript properly rellected their opinions. .Any comments or changes the
participants wanted to make and any questions 1 had were dealt w ith during the first part
of the second interview. The transcripts o f the second set o f interviews were also
forwarded to the instructors. .Any comments and clarification on their part and any
questions that 1 had relative to the second interview were dealt with over the telephone or
via e-mail.
For the purposes o f the analysis o f the data, this study followed the "constant
comparative method" as outlined by Merriam ( 1998;see also Maykut and Morehouse.
1994). In accordance with this method. I first read the interview transcripts, vvxiting.
"notes, comments, observations, and queries in the margins" (Merriam. 1998.p. 181).
Next. 1 reviewed these marginal notes and grouped them together into categories or
themes and kept a list o f the groupings. 1 then moved on to the next transcript and
repeated the procedure. Upon completion o f this procedure. I had two lists. I compared
these two lists with one another and then merged them into "one master list o f concepts
113 derived from both sets o f data" (Ibid.). I then moved on to the third transcript and
repeated the procedure, comparing the list o f groupings from the third transcript with
those on the master list. I followed this same procedure for the other transcripts.
.According to Merriam (1998). the categories, in addition to being exhaustive and
mutually exclusive, should reflect the purpose o f the research and should be sensitizing,
i.e.. "should be as sensitive as possible to what is in the data" (Ibid.. p. 184). I verified
maintenance o f these criteria in my data analysis procedure through numerous and close
readings o f the transcripts.
3.6 The design of the Instructor Preference Survey
3.6.1 The research participants
For the purposes o f this study, the students were chosen from two institutions o f
higher learning; San Christobal State University (SCSU) and San Christobal Community
College (SCCC). both located in a metropolis in the US Midwest. In choosing the
students for this research project. 1 once again tbllowed Patton's ( 1990) "convenience
sampling" strategy. That is to say. my involvement as an instructor at the ESL programs
at SCSU and SCCC made allowances for easy access to the students enrolled in these
programs.
1 requested and subsequently was granted permission from the directors o f both
programs to conduct the sur\ ey. The director o f the ESL W riting Program at SCSL^
requested the assistance o f the instructors in the program. .All were w illing to distribute
the questionnaire among the students, provided that the students did not have to complete
the questionnaire in class as that would be an imposition on their already tight schedules.
114 The director o f the ESL program at SCCC pledged his support for the survey, but suggested that I personally contact the instructors and request their participation. He suggested, furthermore, that given the linguistic sophistication o f the questionnaire. I only request the participation o f the students enrolled in the advanced level o f the program, which I did.
It should be pointed out that at the time o f the study the ESL program at SCSU primarily attracted students from East and Southeast Asia, more specifically China.
Indonesia. Japan. Korea, and Taiwan. Most o f these students had previous English language teaching classes before studying at SCSU. Moreover, at the time o f the study, students enrolled in the ESL program at SCCC originated from .Africa, particularly
Somalia. .Asia. Central and South .America, the Middle East (primarily Iran and Iraq), and
Europe, primarily the former Soviet Union. These students are predominantly immigrants and refugees, many o f whom have had little exposure to English prior to their arrival in the U.S. and commencement o f their studies at SCCC. Some characteristics relevant to the student-participants are summarized in Table 3.3
115 Geographic Gender Length of Age Class Rank Origin Residency in the U.S. Asians: M ale: Up to one year; Under 18: Freshman:
n = 138 (79.3"b) 87 (5 0 .0 % ) 104 (59.8%) 2( 1.1%) 86 (4 9 .4 % )
•Africans: Female: 1-2 years: 18-22 : Sophomore:
n = 9( 5.2%) 86 (49.4%) 42(24.1%) 79 (39.7%) 14 ( 8.0 “ »)
Europeans: Unknown: 3-4 years: 23 - 2 7 : Junior;:
n = 1 4( 8.0% ) 1 ( 0 .6% ) 1 7 (1 9 .8 % ) 61 (3 5 .1 % ) 14 ( 8 .0 % )
Middle Easterners: 4 years or more: 28 -32 : Senior;
n = 8 ( 4.6 “ o) 11 ( 6.3°») 21 (12 .1 % ) 41 .7“ »)
South .Americans: Over 32 : Graduate:
n = 5 (2.9 “ o) 11 ( 6.3“ ») 53 (3 0 .5 % )
Undeclared: — —— ----- 3 (1 .7 “ »)
Table 3.3: Demographics o f the student-participants by selected characteristics
The 174 respondents included in the sample represented 33 nations from five geographic regions: Asia. Africa. Europe, the Middle East, and Latin - and South
America. It should be noted, furthermore, that one participant did not declare his or her gender. The student-participants differed in terms o f the length o f residency in the United
States, with the majority having lived in the United States for less than 12 months. Two o f the student-participants were 17 years old. and nearly 65% o f the student-participants
116 ranged in age from 18 to 27. Since SCCC offers pre-baccalaureate educational programs, the 25 participants from this institution were all considered undergraduates and included in the number o f Freshman students, since they were all in their first year at SCCC.
3.6.2 Development of the Instructor Preference Survey
In order to establish a process for determining whether ESL students report preterence for ESL instructors o f a particular racial background, a two-part self administered questionnaire was designed. One part consisted o f a series o f demographic items; the other was made up o f a series o f statements that focused on the perceptions o f the respondents relative to issues o f race as they might be encountered in the ESL classroom. I'he participants were asked to rate the statements using a Likert-type scale that ranged from 1 to 4. where " I " meant "Not true" and "4 " meant "Ver>- true."
E.xamples o f the statements are. "1 prefer a White ESL instructor over one who is not
W hite." and. “ I f I had a chance to select my ESL instructor. I would never select instructors o f certain races." .A, small pilot study (N = l 1 ) was conducted in June 1999 among students enrolled in one course in the ESL Composition program at SCSU.
Upon analysis o f data from this pilot study, the suspicion arose that the participants might have given responses they perceived as socially acceptable. No doubt some o f the students had responded truthfully: overall, however, the responses, at least at
face \ alue. seemed unreliable. One indication was that the data provided by the participants in the pilot study was diametrically opposed to claims o f ESL professionals
like .Amin ( 1997. 1999). and Govardhan. cited in Nero ( 1998; see sections 2.6 and 2.7
respectively). The overall picture that emerged out o f the pilot study seemed to suggest
117 that, as far as the participants in the pilot study were concerned, issues o f race were virtually irrelevant in the ESL classroom. Yet. both Amin and Govardhan argued that the instructor's skin color does affect the perception students, among others, have o f them as authentic ESL instructors.
.\\\ researchers grapple to a greater or lesser extent with the question o f how to achieve and guarantee the trustworthiness o f their data, where taistworthiness should be
interpreted to mean the extent to which the researcher can believe the information
provided by the respondents. However, for researchers conducting investigations into
issues o f race, achieving and guaranteeing the trustworthiness o f the data arguably
constitutes the most formidable challenge. Few seem to have expressed this point more
poignantly and effectively than Harpending (2000). In his review o f Jon Entine's (2000)
Tahoo: Why Black athletes dominate sports and why ire 're afraid to talk about it.
Harpending noted.
What do .Americans really think about race, race differences, and the public position that there are no races'? ... No one really knows; a poll about views o f race would be like a poll about Marxism in East Germany in 1980. Everybody would lie. (p. 85)
Thus, when conducting research on issues o f race the researcher should be aware that the
respondents are more likely to provide false information than if they were responding to
items o f a study that wanted to learn about their study habits, for instance. To enhance the
reliability o f the data collection instrument, revision seemed appropriate.
The revision process involved, to begin with, the inclusion o f a number o f
statements relative to issues o f race as they may impact the respondents themselves as
well as their relations w ith others in wider society. Examples o f such statements are. "M y 118 race is an important part o f who I am," and "Some of my close friends belong to a different racial group." These and similar statements were included in an attempt to lessen possible anxiety that might be aroused among the participants were the questionnaire to focus solely on issues o f race in the ESL classroom. Moreover, statements that did focus on the perception o f the respondents relative to issues o f race as they might be encountered in the ESL classroom were to some extent reworded.
In addition, it was apparent that a strategy needed to be devised that would attempt to dissuade the respondents from providing socially acceptable responses. The strategy developed involved presenting the respondents with a list o f .American nationals who differed from one another either ethnically or racially. The list included an .Arab, an
.Asian, a Black, a Hispanic and a White American, all o f whom, the respondents were informed, were ESL instructors who were similar in qualifications, teaching skills, and experience. The respondents were then asked to rank order these instructors from one to fi\ e on the basis o f a particular characteristic such as the extent to which they felt comfortable with these instructors and the extent to which they preferred them. The reader is referred to .Appendix G for the complete set o f statements and questions.
Upon completion o f the revision process, the sur\ ey was once again subjected to a pilot study conducted in July 1999, involving 37 ESL students enrolled in the ESL Writing
Program at SCSU. .Analysis o f the responses o f the participants brought three issues to
light. First, the question whether ESL students have a preference for ESL instructors o f a
particular racial background warranted further investigation. Thus, in response to the
statement, "1 prefer a White ESL instructor over one who is not White," 11 respondents
(29.7'’ q) had indicated that they did and 26 (70.3%) had indicated that they did not.
119 However, a follow-up item that asked the students to rank five American ESL instructors o f various racial backgrounds from the most to the least preferred, revealed that 15 o f the
26 respondents (57.7%) who had claimed not prefer a white ESL instructor to ESL instructors o f color, ranked the white American ESL instructor first. Thus, these 15 students seemingly contradicted themselves. That is, when they were directly asked if they preferred a White ESL instructor to one o f color, their answer was, "N o," Yet. when that same question was restated in a less direct fashion, their answer was. "Yes," This ambivalence seemed to imply that the proclivity for white ESL instructors on the part o f
ESL students is apparently more commonplace than the number o f respondents who claimed to favor these instructors would lead one to suspect. Consequently, this issue needed to be further investigated.
Second, it became apparent that depersonalization o f the items was needed to
further dissuade the respondents from providing socially acceptable responses. Thus, if the respondents could be given a sense that they were not committing themselves personally to the truth or the falsity o f a statement or an idea but were merely reporting those held by one or more segments o f the ESL student population, they might feel less o f a need to provide socially acceptable responses. The strategy that was developed was
to give the items a more general character by the inclusion o f such phrases as. "speaking
generally", "to what extent do ESL students", or "to what extent do the students".
Third, re-evaluation o f the items revealed that the statements were rather direct in
nature— the word "race" occurred in virtually every statement— and perhaps even blunt
in tone. .As such, they may have had an intimidating effect on the participants. The "rank-
120 order" items, on the other hand, im plicitly referred to the idea o f race and. at face value, appeared to have a less intimidating tone to them. Hence, it was decided to employ only the latter t> pe o f items in the actual survey.
This strategy, however, had some drawbacks that might have potentially affected the reliability o f the data obtained through the survey. First, it forced the participants to some extent to make choices, perhaps against their better judgments. However, the participants had some options. To begin with, the introduction to the survey informed them that they were tree not to complete the questionnaire without them being penalized
for that in any way whatsoever. This option gained even more significance, as it had been
agreed upon with the Directors o f the ESL programs that completion o f the survey would
take place on the participants' own time rather than during class time. Consequently, the
participants had sufficient time to look over the survey items and contemplate whether or
not they wanted to participate in the surx ey. Moreover, the participants, if they chose to
do so. could deliberately invalidate one or more items they objected to by either leaving
them blank or by giving the options within an item the same ranking. While this option
was not explicitly stated, the participants were informed that they had the opportunity to
\ oice their concerns regarding one or more items.
.\ second possible drawback o f using rank-order items only was that each item
might have become more verbose than is common in surxeys. This, however, was a
natural consequence o f the scenarios that needed to be created in which the actual
question could be situated. A possible third draxvback regarded the fact that due to the
verbosity, the items may have also become more difficult to understand for some o f the
respondents. The fourth possible drawback, resulting from the second and third, was that the survey as a whole might have required more completion time on the part o f the respondents. These drawbacks notwithstanding, the rank-order system was believed to be the most appropriate given the sensitive nature o f the research topic.
In an effort to lessen the sense o f uneasiness on the part o f the participants that supposedly came with the focus o f the survey, i.e.. issues o f race, three items referred to here as fillers were included. These fillers revolved around pedagogical issues and were in line with the information the students were provided with regarding the purpose o f the survey, which was to learn more about the relationships ESL students have with their instructors. The assumption was that in any given classroom, teachers and students have at least two types o f relationships with one another: a pedagogical relationship— teachers versus students— as well as a social relationship, that o f one human being to another. The fillers were meant to establish the former type o f relationship but were not taken into account in the analysis, since it was the social relationship with the emphasis on instructor preference rather than the pedagogic relationship that was the focus o f the stud)'.
3.6.3 The final version of the Instructor Preference Survey
The third and final version o f the survey (see .A.ppendix H) was conducted in
October 1999. It consisted o f 15 items and was divided into two parts. Part One (Items 1 through 7) tbcused on the beliefs ESL students supposedly hold with respect to the role o f racial categorization in the interaction between students and teachers. Part Two (Items
8 through 15) was designed to collect demographic data on the participants. Clear
instructions were provided on how the survey was to be completed, particularly with
122 regard to items 1 through 7. W ith reference to these items, the respondents were asked to rank the options given within each item. They were encouraged to provide valid responses, which meant that each ranking was to be circled only once. Examples were given o f what constituted valid and invalid responses.
The seven items in Part One actually made up three sets o f items. The first set consisted o f items 1 and 7. items 4 and 5 made up the second set. while items 2. 3. and 6. the •■fillers." made up the third set. Initially, then, the study revolved around items 1. 4. 5. and 7. Items 1 and 7 had the same objective: to learn what significance is attached to the instructor's racial background in the student-teacher relationship. Item 7 was meant to verify the response to item 1. These two items differed from one another in that item 1 combined pedagogical factors with social factors, whereas item 7 consisted solely o f social factors.
While the data collection process was in progress, a potential problem came to light relative to these two items. In Item 1 the participants were asked to rank four pedagogical (academic qualifications, teaching competence, teaching experience, and teaching strategies) and four social factors (gender, language background. nationalit\\ and racial identity). In Item 7 the pedagogical factors were deleted and other social
factors were added, namely geographic origin, religious denomination, and sexual
orientation. Because these two items asked the participants to consider two different sets
o f social factors, there was a possibility that inconsistencies might occur. Moreover, since
the significance that is attached to racial background might be better determined i f it was
listed among a set o f social factors only, item 1 was summarily dropped, leaving items 4.
5. and 7 as key items o f the survey.
123 Item 4 investigated the preferences o f ESL students for one group o f ESL instructors. This item followed the format developed for rank-order items in the second pilot study; the respondents were provided with a list of American nationals who were divided on the basis o f race. The list included an Asian, a Black, a Hispanic and a White
.American, all o f whom, the respondents were informed, were ESL instructors who were similar in qualifications, teaching skills, and experience. The respondents were then asked to rank order these instructors from one to four, with 1 meaning "the most preferred" and 4 meaning "the least preferred."
Item 5 investigated the preferences o f ESL students for one group o f ESL
instructors over another by featuring two associations. The first involves the association
between racial background and geographical origin; the second is the association between
racial background and accent. Here, accent is defined as a particular way one speaks
English, on the basis o f which the listener concludes— rightly or wTongly— that the
speaker is a native or non-native speaker o f the language.
Spickard ( 1992). for instance, discussed the relationship that exists between a
geographical location o f a group o f people and its racial identity. Not only did he argue
that. "The process o f racial labeling starts with geography." he also maintained that, "a
[racial] group is defined by an obser\er according to ... its location" (Ibid.. p. 16). Thus,
one's geographical origins or those o f one's ancestors determine at least in part how one
is racially identified. From this follows the belief that perceptions about a group o f people
based on its geographical location are to some extent also perceptions about the racial
identity of that group.
124 With respect to the association between race and accent. Am in (1999; see also
Lippi-Green. 1997a; Matsuda. 1991) noted.
1 consider myself to be a native speaker on the grounds that English is the language 1 know best, but my colleagues ... usually position me as a non-native speaker. 1 suggest, because 1 am non-White and because 1 have a Pakistani accent.... [Moreover.] [m]y pilot study [involving the perceptions of five minority women teachers o f their students' ideal ESL teacher] indicated that accents associated with White English-speaking countries o f the First World such as Britain, the United States, and Canada have a higher status than accents associated with non-White countries such as India. Kenya, and Singapore. (p.97)
Thus, both .Amin's personal experience and her research suggest that ESL professionals and students alike perceive an association between race (White versus non-White) on the one hand and accent (Standard .American or British as opposed to foreign) on the other.
From this follows the idea that perceptions about an individual's linguistic background—
in this case, whether he or she is a native or non-native speaker o f English—.are to some extent also perceptions about the racial identity o f the individual. Thus, by knowing what perceptions one group o f people hold about the geographical origin and accent o f another group o f people, one can. to some extent, also know what racial perceptions one group
holds o f another.
Finally, it should be noted that "linguistic background" was deliberately not listed
among the factors in Item 7. for in the minds o f ESL students the term is seemingly either
associated or equated with the instructor being a native/nonnative speaker o f English.
.And as the native versus non-native speaker debate currently being conducted within the
field suggests. ESL students are believed to show a proclivity for native English speaking
ESL professionals (see .Amin 1997. 1999; Liu 1999; Medgyes 1994; Kachru 1992; 125 \[cN e il.l9 9 4 : Brutt-G riffler and Samimy, 1999). The intensity o f this debate suggested that "linguistic background" needed to be treated as a separate issue; item 5 was designed with this purpose in mind.
3.6.4 Data analysis procedure
O f the 468 survey forms that were distributed among ESL students enrolled in the ESL W riting Program at SCSU and the ESL Program at SCCC. 234 (50%) were returned. O f this number. 174 (76.1%) were included for further analysis. Sixty surv eys
(25.6°o) were left out since they were not completed in accordance with the instructions provided. The number o f survey forms excluded from analysis may appear somewhat high and. consequently, deserves further explanation.
.\ survey form was considered void if the student-respondent had completed each and every item in an inappropriate manner; that is. in a fashion that was not in accordance with the directions specitled for proper completion of the survey (see
.Appendix I I under the heading "Directions"). Systemic inappropriate completion o f the sur\ ey made it impossible to determine whether the student-participant had
misunderstood the directions or whether he or she had deliberately chosen to circle a
particular ranking more than once. By contrast, a survey form that contained at least one
valid response was included for further analysis; a response was considered valid i f it had
been completed in accordance with the directions provided for proper completion o f the
surve\- (see .Appendix H under the heading "Directions"). That is to say. the student-
participant had circled each ranking within an item only once. This was considered
e\ idence that the respondent had understood the instructions. The extent to which a survey form was considered void or valid was solely determined by the manner in which the fillers were completed, i.e.. Items 2. 3. and 6. That is to say. if each o f these three items, together with all the other items, were completed incorrectly than the survey was considered void. If only one o f these three items was completed in accordance with the directions, the survey form was considered valid even if the other items were not completed in accordance with the directions. Thus, since sixty survey forms were considered void it means that sixt}' student-respondents did not responded properly to
Items 2. 3. and 6.
In addition, the respondents in the sample were divided on the basis o f their region o f origin: .\sia. Europe. Africa, the .Middle East, and South and Central .America.
Because the three last regions combined totaled 22 respondents, they were put in one
"region" labeled .AMESC.A. the acronym derived from .-Ifrica. the .V/iddle East, and .S'outh and Central . Imcrica. Thus, the respondents were divided into three geographical groups:
.Asians. Europeans, and Amescans. Moreover, for the purpose o f the analysis o f item 5. where a distinction is made between East - and South .Asian ESL instructors, the respondents originating from .Asia were subdivided accordingly. Next, the rankings aw arded to each category within an item were recorded; categories that were not awarded a ranking or were improperly ranked— for instance, two rankings awarded to one category in an item— were awarded the ranking o f zero and scored accordingly. Finally, the sum o f the scores awarded to each cateaorv was calculated.
127 3.7 Validity and Reliability
Following Creswell (1994. 1998), the following strategies were utilized to ensure the validity o f the study:
(a) Triangulation o f research design
The study used both a qualitative and a quantitative research design with the former
being the dominant and the latter the less dominant approach.
(b) Triangulation o f data
The data collected came from two sources: the ESL students and the ESL
professionals. In addition, two methods o f data collection were used: a self
administered questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to collect data from ESL
students and instructors respectively.
(c) Memberchecks
L'pon completion o f the analysis o f the data collected for the purpose o f the
qualitative component o f the study, the findings were submitted to the research
participants for feedback, (i.e.. the participants were requested to determine whether
the information they had provided had been reported accurately). (Lincoln and
Cuba 1985):
Reliability o f the study was achieved through the following (Creswell 1994. 1998):
( 1 ) an extensive account o f the focus o f the study, the basis for selecting the research
participants, and their opinions and ideas about how issues o f race intersect with life
in the ESL classroom
12S (2) the triangulation o f data (see (a) and (b) above);
(3 ) a detailed account o f the data collection procedures and methods o f analysis used in this study.
3.8 Summary
This study, which was exploratory in nature, combined the quantitative with the qualitative research paradigm. More specifically, it adopted a research design that
Creswell ( 1994) labeled the dominant-less dominant design. This design entailed that the research was presented within the dominant paradigm, which in this case is the qualitative paradigm, while a small component o f the study is presented in the quantitative paradigm. Moreover, the research was originally designed as a phenomenological study; in the course o f the data collection process and preliminary analysis, however, it became evident that such an approach would be less beneficial than a case study approach. The latter allowed for an enhanced capability o f exploring how racial categorization and racial experience affect the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the classroom.
The qualitative component of the study involved two sets of interviews conducted with six ESL instructors employed at San Christobal State University, a four-year college
in a metropolis in the US Midwest. The instructors differed from one another in terms o f racial and linguistic background, geographic origin, gender and instructor status. The data
were collected over a period of five months in 1999. with each interview lasting
approximately 60 to 75 minutes. For the purposes o f the analysis o f the data, this study by
and large followed the constant comparative method as outlined by Merriam (1998).
129 The quantitative component o f the study involved a survey consisting o f 15 items.
It was conducted in October 1999 among ESL students enrolled in the ESL programs at
San Christobal State University and San Christobal Community College. The 174 respondents included in the analysis represented 33 countries and five geographic regions. Finally, validitv' o f the study was achieved by means o f triangulation o f research design, triangulation o f data, and memberchecks. Reliability was achieved by a detailed description and analysis o f the data collection procedures and methods used in this study.
130 CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF THE TEACHER CASE
STUDIES
4.1 Introduction
The purpose o f this chapter is two-fold. The first goal is to provide the reader with a narrative description o f each o f the six cases. More specifically. "I want to present [the reader with] a body o f relatively uncontestable data, not completely without interpretation, but a description not unlike [the instructor-participants] would make themselves had they been [reporting directly to tlie reader]" (Stake. 1995. p. 123). The objective o f the narrative descriptions is to give the reader a clear and unbiased understanding o f the facts involved in each case. Each case focuses on how racial experiences have affected the private life o f a particular ESL instructor and the extent to which these experiences have contributed to shaping the instructor's theoretical and
practical approach to the teaching o f ESL. Thus, each case serves as a window through
w hich the unique personal and professional lives o f the instructor-participants can be
viewed.
The second objective is to provide the reader with a cross-case analysis conducted
on the basis o f research questions 1 and 2. To this end the cases are compared and contrasted with one another after which conclusions are drawn. It bears mentioning tliat these conclusions should be understood in the context o f the teaching o f ESL in the
United States.
Some o f the names o f the participants have been changed to protect their privacy.
In addition, the names o f the universities they have attended and have worked have been kept anonymous as well. .Also, in some instances the names o f cities and countries where they ha\ e resided have been left out. WTiile these changes may make the text less reader friendly at times, the reader w ill no doubt appreciate the necessity o f these changes and omissions.
The instructor-participants are at times quoted at length. There are two reasons for this. First, this allows them the opportunity to address the reader in their own voice.
Second, the reader gets the opportunity to develop a clear understanding o f the point the participant wanted to bring across. The reader is reminded that in this study, the term
"racial experience" refers, first, to a personal encounter with or observation o f one or more race-related events and. second, to the knowledge or wisdom gained from such encounters and obseiwations. .Also, to enhance the reader friendliness o f the text, some minor editorial adjustments have been made in the quoted passages. These adjustments ha\ e been placed in brackets. Furthermore, each quoted passage ends with a reference according to the following format: interview number, the participant's initial, and the date the interview was conducted. Thus, the reference "11.A. 7/30/99" should be read as: the first interview with .Abalo. conducted on July 30. 1999. Likewise, the reference "12S.
11 08 99" should be read as. the second interview with Shelley, conducted on November
11. 1999.
132 Finally, some o f the key interview questions— not to be confused with the research questions— were:
• Please describe the neighborhood in which you grew up. particularly in terms o f its
racial make-up.
• Can you recall a critical incident during your childhood that might be considered
characteristic o f the racial differences and tensions within the community you grew
up in?
• What prompted you to become an ESL professional?
• Could you please outline your philosophy of teaching?
• To w hat extent do the racial perceptions you hold influence what and how you teach?
• 1 low would you account for the fact that ESL students seem to prefer one group o f
ESL instructors to another?
complete listing o f the interview questions can be found under .Appendices B and C.
4.2 The Case Studies
4.2.1 Case study .A: .Abalo
4.2.1.1 .Academic and professional profile
.Abalo is a West .African male in his late forties who has been an ESL professional
for more than 20 years. To some extent, he entered the profession by an act o f fate. He
w anted to study either anthropology or sociology, but since his parents lacked the
necessaiy- financial means needed to achieve this goal, he applied for a government-
sponsored scholarship. He was convinced that he would be granted one since, as he pointed out, he was among the best and brightest students in his class. When, after some time, he got no word from the Ministry of Education about his application, he conducted an inquiry and learned that there had been what a ministerial official referred to as "an administrative error": his application file was missing. .A.balo, however, believes that tribal rivalries, a common phenomenon in many .A.frican nations, caused him to lose out on what he perceived as an opportunity o f a lifetime. He claimed.
1 w as the victim of tribal machinations. Somebody took my file because the man in charge o f [it] was somebody [who] was not from nt\ tribe. I suspect that he did something to my file. Why isolate my file in thousands o f files? I'm not important. My name doesn't sound strange. Nobody [o f my family] was in politics. [In fact,] 1 was the first one in my family to take the [high school] exam. (12A, 10/2/99)
Thus, .-\balo seems convinced that tribal rivalries were the cause o f the disappearance o f his scholarship application. By the time the "error" was corrected, there were just three
scholarships on often one for geography, one for German, and one for English. In the
end, he opted t'or English.
.Abalo had planned to stay in college until he had earned his doctoral degree; only
then would he start teaching. But once again fate intervened. Apparently, at one point
much o f the teaching o f English done in schools in his home country was in the hands o f
people who had developed their language skills in a natural language environment, many
o f whom lacked formal pedagogical training. .And so, by the time .Abalo earned his B.A in
English, his government had outlined a new educational policy: English was to be taught
by qualified ESL professionals only. .As a result, he was drafted into the teaching force in
1974 with the promise from his government that he would be allowed to resume his
studies after having served two years. It would actually take 13 years before he could take
up his studies again.
.After two years o f classroom teaching, .Abalo was appointed .Assistant Principal,
making him both a teacher and an administrator. Because o f his administrative position,
134 he got to know some influential officials within the government, particularly at the
Ministn,' o f Education. Being acquainted with these officials allowed him to pursue his academic goals, for as Abalo pointed out.
1 could ask some favors sometimes, so after some time I said: "W ell. 1 think 1 want to do my Masters. Can 1 now just get a scholarship and go?" That is how I got to [work on] my Masters and after that [on] ?.. my Ph.D. (I L \. 7/30/99)
In 1978. .Abalo went to France where he was trained in teacher supervision. He returned to his home country in 1981 and supervised teachers until 1984. when he became principal o f a teacher training college. By 1987. however, he was. in his words,
"fed up" (11.\. 7'30/99) with the Job and afraid that as far as English was concerned, his linguistic abilities were wasting away. That same year he was offered a scholarship to work on his M.A degree in the United States. Upon completion o f his program in 1989. he returned to his home country and resumed his position at the aforementioned teacher training college. In 1992. he was once again offered an administrative position that he held for two years. In 1994 he was offered a scholarship to work on his doctorate in
foreign and second language education at San Christobal State University. .At the time o f the interview. .Abalo was a Teaching .Associate in the Department o f Modem Languages at this institute.
4.2.1.2 Perspectives on teaching
Reuardinu his views on language teaching methodologv. .Abalo noted.
1 think teaching a language is to teach openness to other cultures, to teach broad-mindedness. But when it comes to the teaching o f western languages like English or French, [tliese languages are taught] as instruments o f domination sometimes. It's done on purpose. I think.
135 These are ways o f dominating our countries where we don't have anything devised on our own. we just consume everything. It's even more subjugating, [for] we just have to copy [what they do]. So. methods like communicative language teaching come from the West and the West uses them to dominate. That's the neo-colonial aspect o f teaching, and that's part o f the linguistic imperialism people are talking about. [T]he English want their English to dominate, to serve as a tool for dominating the people, that's why they want it everywhere. Now. our government should react in mastering that tool and making it an instrument o f our emancipation, using the West's own tool against the West. (12.4. 10/2/99)
Thus. .Abalo argued that language teaching methods such as communicative language teaching have played an important role in the reproduction and the perpetuation o f the inequalities that exist between the industrialized and developing nations.
Furthermore, in .Abalo's view there also seems to be a relationship between the socio-economic inequality and racial inequality. Referring to the socio-economic conditions of nations with a significant or predominant Black population, he noted.
[T]o be a Black person in general and a Black person in the United States [means that] 1 am doomed, because we. Black people, are the less advantaged. Our countries are still dependent, economically speaking. And our economies are aid dependent. So that's why 1 say we are doomed and we are condemned to fight and come out o f that situation. That's the kind o f Black man 1 am right now. knowing that 1 am in the inferior position not as a human being, but economically, and fighting to come out o f [it]. (12.A. 10/2/99)
So. while acknowledging the relationship between social-economic and racial
inequality. .Abalo also perceived the need for nations with a predominantly Black
population to strive for their economic independence from, presumably, the
industrialized nations.
The idea o f Black liberation seems to one belief informing some o f the
philosophies .Abalo holds about teaching. Take, for instance, his perceptions about the
role o f ESL in developing nations as well as his role as an ESL instructor. He declared.
136 ESL can play a role in bridging the gap between industrialized and developing nations if we conceive o f and construct really feasible [and] politically sound programs that can help us. Right now we don't do anything, we just consume what comes from the West which is not right. There should be emancipatory programs for our underdeveloped or dominated countries. [Consequently.] as an ESL teacher. 1 see my role as helping to build curricula that are emancipator}', that can help [us] understand the world and compare positions. [That is.] where do we [.developing nations.] stand in comparison to the West, for instance. What can we do to bridge that gap. (Ibid.)
Thus, according to .-\balo. the role o f ESL and o f himself as an ESL professional is to help his country and. presumably, other nations like his to develop their own language programs and methodologies. This would, presumably, further push these nations along the path o f economic independence, enabling them, eventually, to significantly close the gap between themselves and the industrialized countries.
■Another example of how the idea of Black liberation informs his philosophies about teaching regards the interaction he perceives between education and social empowerment. To illustrate his point, he referred to the foreign language course he was teaching at the time o f the interview, and observed.
I think that kids who have identity problems, such as Black kids, need to be emancipated from whatever is striking them down. They need to know the French history, they need to read about the French struggles for emancipation and learn from it. They need to know about [other] French speaking people like [those] in Martinique, [and] on the [other French] islands. Tliey need to learn what is happening in French Guyana, and learn about those struggles o f all those kids and be part o f that, see what the problems are and have access to other experiences similar to theirs. That w ill strengthen their struggle, if ever they had a struggle here. I think this is a way o f sensitizing them to their situation first o f all. and the other similar struggles that they can copy from, they can leam from. However. I am unable to achieve the idea of emancipatory education in the French classes that I currently teach. I have a program [that 1] have to apply. 1 have to follow the curriculum, the syllabus; I don’t have any choice. The teacher doesn’t have any voice. (12.A. 10/2/99)
137 Thus, put in general terms. Abalo believes that the contents o f courses in second language teaching should inform students about the e.xperiences o f the underprivileged in countries where the target language is spoken. This knowledge would presumably empower those
students in the classroom who are underprivileged or perceive themselves as such.
.Abalo's commitment to the idea o f Black liberation is also expressed in his
relationship with Black students. He described his overall relationship with his students
in general as "fair and very professional" (Ibid.). which, he commented, is reflected in the
students' evaluations. These are by and large in his favor, he said. He declared,
furthermore.
In the classroom I take everybody to be the same because 1 don't want to make personal remarks to Black kids while White kids are there. In the classroom 1 am even with everybody. 1 try to be neutral. I don't show any preferences. (Ibid.)
.At the same time, however, he felt that in one-on-one settings such as student-
teacher conferences or individualized teaching he has a more personal and. at times, a
more intense relationship with Black students than with their White counterparts. He
asserted.
1 can sometimes be severe with .African American [students]. I f 1 see that [a Black student] is ordinarily hardworking but at times wants to be laz}'. I push her or him harder, like 1 would do to my kin. my sister [or] my brother. 1 don't really do that consciously. 1 think. It just comes suddenly. It happens very informally, starting [with] the student opening [up] to me. (Ibid.)
Here. then. .Abalo urges on the Black students to apply their intellectual capabilities to the
fullest.
138 Abalo. furthermore, seemed to argue that, as far as the White students are concerned, there is less o f a need for them to be emancipated. He reasoned thus.
[W hile] I [may] speak [the language I teach] better than [the WTiite students do], they know more cultural artifacts than I do because it's part o f their lives. They are into the museums, the restaurants, the movies, [and] the best designer clothes. Culturally speaking, they feel ver\- close to the [native speakers o f the language]. [Consequently.] I won't say the White kids need to be emancipated because they are part o f the White, dominating society. [e]ven if they are poor. But the Black kids have cultural, economic, and other kinds o f problems. So when I talk about emancipatory language teaching. I think about the dominated groups. (Ibid.)
Thus, as far as .\balo himself is concerned, liberation o f White students is less o f an issue, even for those who may be indigent, due to membership o f the dominant culture.
In addition to his ideas on how he. in his capacity as an ESL professional, could
contribute to social equity. .Abalo also seemed to have a clear understanding o f how
racial prejudice on the part o f one or more students might undermine his authority. In
this respect, he noted
1 am aware that there are people in this countiy who are racist, [and that] there are people who are not. I don't want to see my Wliite students negatively, but i f a White student has a father who is a racist, for instance, he or she may be a racist, too. So when the students come to m\- class. I'm conscious o f eveiy thing around me. I try to really be myself. [I try] to be on top o f everything, to show [them] who I am and to leave a positive image [behind] so that they see me differently from what their prejudices [about people o f color] may be. I want to intluence any negative image [they may have] and change it indirectly by my teaching behavior and the way I carr\' myself in the [French] Department in general. I am prepared to teach [them] a lesson about myself all the time because somewhere in my mind [there is the notion] that there may be racist students [in the classroom]. This knowledge influences the way that I view the context, the way I behave, and even the wav I dress. (12A. 10/2/99)
139 Thus, within and around the instructional environment Abalo consciously works on maintaining and enhancing his professional image so as to dispel any possible racial attitudes his students may hold towards him. He is quick to acknowledge that he has not observed any negative reactions or racial stereotypes from his students at any time during his assistantship in the Department o f Modem Languages.
.Abalo asserted, furthermore, that it is difficult for him to determine whether any o f the challenges students may mount against his authority and expertise from time to time can be attributed to his racial identit}'. In one instance, a White, female student challenged his method o f grading. While he could not remember the student's exact words, he remembered that they left him wondering whether she would have uttered the same words had he been a White instructor. He said.
It was like she was feeling that 1 [didn't] know what 1 was doing. .And when 1 thought about it later. 1 [wondered]. "Well, is this because 1 am Black or would she act that way with a White instructor'?' [.At the time the incident occurred] 1 was really mad. but 1 didn't show my anger. .At the end [o f the individual teaching session] 1 told her. T want you to know that if we are grading here, it's not for the purpose o f harming you.' (Ibid.) [.Abalo then went on to show the student a copy o f one o f her previous papers containing a mistake for which he had not penalized her] (12.A. 10/2,99)
Thus, for .Abalo there was this nagging suspicion that the student's criticism might have had something to do with him being Black, but he just could not be certain about it.
.At the same time, however, he frankly acknowledged that he has paid little attention to the challenges a Black instructor faces in the language classroom, particularly in predominantly White societies such as the United States. .As he pointed out.
1 must say that 1 really don't think about it. Really, it never influenced me as such. 1 remember [taking] some classes [in which] 1 was the only Black [person]. And I was impressed at that time. [I thought.] "Wow. am 1 the only Black man here?" Sometimes because o f the 140 things we [would] be talking about [I became] conscious o f how alone 1 was in lltat group But in the [setting] in which I am the teacher. 1 never think that way. 1 just take my responsibility as anybody. I don't think as myself as a Black [person] when 1 am teaching, except when the problems come. When the problem comes up then 1 say, "Is it because I am Black?" But before or until then 1 am not conscious o f my being Black. (I2A. 10/2/99)
Thus, how his knowledge and perceptions regarding his Blackness may affect the
dynamics o f the classroom has virtually been a non-issue for .Abalo. except on those
occasions when difficulties occur.
4.2.1.3 Racial Experiences
To some extent. .Abalo's views on language teaching methodology, his role as a
language educator and his relationship with his students seem to be related, at least in
part, to both his experiences as a citizen o f a developing .African nation and membership
o f the Black race. Regarding his experiences with issues o f race. .Abalo pointed out that
growing up. issues o f ethnicity and class have been o f greater significance to him than
issues o f race. He referred, for instance, to the deep inroads tribalism has made and
continues to make on relationships between ethnic communities within his society;
In the context [o f my home cotintrv']. you'll see people who are not from your tribe, and you don't play with those in some cases because they look down upon you. [a situation] which was like an extension o f colonialism. Some [social] classes were put ahead o f others; they had more educated people than others and those were supposed to replace the colonizers. So people from those ethnic groups felt some kind o f superiority over us. So there was some resentment vis à vis those ethnic groups. That was rather the issue. (11.A. 7/30/99)
In addition, he pointed out that growing up. “ all my friends were [Black]. 1 didn't
really encounter any different race other than .African until I got to high school, where 1
141 had French classmates" (Ibid.). But even after his encounter with members o f a different race, - in his case. White students whose parents were government administrators originating from France— issues o f race apparently remained relatively alien to him. He argued, for instance, that.
Consciously speaking, those [White] kids were not race minded as I wasn't race conscious because they were not mean. I think when there is some meanness into it that you see how different you are and you feel it badly. But in this case we just see ourselves as different. White. Black, but we'd come together, we did things together. ( Ibid.)
Thus. .Abalo contended that the racial differences that existed among the students did not seem to have affected their relationship since, so he argued, the students were not mean towards each other. It is meanness. .Abalo maintained, that gives racial prejudice or racism its malicious character. .At the same time, however, he acknowledged that there was not a close relationship between the Black and the
White French students at his high school. .As he observed.
[W]e [the native Black students] didn't really have any significant relationships with those [White] French guys except sometimes when you have to write a paper together, or you have to present a book together, or stuff like that. [Since] those guys happened to be nice. [and] they were helpful sometimes, we got along together. [But] I did not go to their house, [however.] and neither did they come to mine The relationship [began and] ended at school, on the playground, in the classroom. Even if we had a project together, we met at school and we did it at school, not outside o f school. (II.A. 7/30/99)
This passage makes clear that the relationship between the Black and the
White students in .Abalo's high school was. in addition to being based on mutual convenience, also one which was distant. .Abalo. however, attributed this distant relationship by and large to classicism rather than to racial prejudice. He noted.
[Tjhere were differences between us. differences in status, o f course. The French guys were better o ff then we. .Africans, [were]. That's the 142 only difference I could notice. [That] we didn't play with them at all [was] because our social spaces didn't connect. I think. Our social spaces were completely far apart. Their parents were colonial administrators; my parents were peasants. (II.A.. 7/30/99)
So. in .Abalo's opinion, the fact that the White and the Black students at the high school he attended had a rather distant relationship was the result o f differences related to social class rather than race.
4.2.1.4 Summary
.Abalo's goal as an ESL professional seems to be imbuing his career with strategies that should, eventually, result in the emancipation o f the underprivileged partaking in the language learning process, particularly Black people and people in developing nations, particularly those in .Africa. This is clear from his philosophy o f teaching and the role he envisages for himself in the teaching o f ESL. While he has not consciously thought o f the impact his being Black may have on the many facets o f the teaching o f ESL as well as foreign language teaching, he realizes that his racial identity may lead some students to question his authority and expertise. To preempt such attitudes, he comes to class well prepared and makes sure that he has a clear grasp o f the material to be taught. Finally, he believes the perceptions ESL students hold about Black
ESL professionals may be inspired by racial stereotypes relative to the accent o f and the variety o f English spoken by the latter, as well as the negative images that the .African continent tend to conjure up in the minds o f some people.
143 4.2.2 Case study B: Erin
4.2.2.1 .\cademic and professional profile
Bom. raised, and educated in the Philippines. Erin came to the United States to work on her VI.A degree in English Literature. While she had no problems with the grammar and the mechanics o f the English language, it became apparent to at least one o f her instructors that there were problems with her wxiting at the rhetorical level. She credits him with helping her to diagnose what her problems were and how to make amends. She said about this experience,
[This instructor] made me understand what the accepted rules are for developing an idea and what it was that 1 was doing rather oddly. ... 1 tended to be encyclopedic in my writing then. .And I guess at that point we were being taught to focus on one thing. But 1 tended to write a lot. so 1 had more than one point all the time. 1 couldn't be succinct in my writing. This teacher explained it not so much in [terms of]. "You are wTong". but [more in terms of.] "You are writing a different style that isn't .American academic wxiting." .And that also opened my mind to this whole idea o f contrastive rhetoric, whatever it is. whether it is real or perceived, [that it was] actually part o f our schooling, rather something that is ingrained in different cultures. (I2E. 10/01/99)
This experience had a profound impact on her appreciation o f what it means to be a second language learner. In particular she developed a keen awareness o f the struggles that students who are non-native speakers o f English have with English grammar.
Shortly after Erin had earned her .VI.A. she was offered a position at a major uni\ ersity in the U.S. Midwest where she taught composition to first year undergraduates.
The fact that she was offered the position came as somewhat o f a surprise to her since she
144 hadn't expected that the Chair and faculty members would entrust a non-native speaker with the teaching o f English to native speakers o f the language. She was told that the fact that she had learned English in a formal rather than in a natural setting worked in her favor.
After some years. Erin returned to the Philippines where she taught composition and .American literature to first year undergraduate students at a major private universitc- in Manila, an assignment which, as she soon found out. was challenging. The first year students had difficulty understanding or interpreting poems and novels she assigned because they had problems with grammar. .And so Erin found herself becoming more and more engaged in thinking about and actually teaching language at the level o f discourse and grammar, rather than literature.
At the university in Manila. Erin was also involved in designing a course in
English tor Specific Purposes (ESP), which over time became a course specifically for engineers. For the purposes o f this course, she was also involved in the development o f material based on the circumstances on the Philippines. Unfortunately, she observed, this course suited the poor and average students but not the students who were advanced writers and were looking for greater challenges. To meet the needs o f these students.
Erin, with the assistance o f other facultx' members, developed an Honors class analogous to the .American model. By that time, she had become Chair o f the English Department,
and was teaching such graduate courses as discourse analysis, and syllabus and
curriculum design, in addition to composition.
During her tenure at the university in Manila. Erin went to England for ESP
training and won a Fulbright scholarship to study .Applied Linguistics. She briefly taught
145 in Taiwan and was for a short period of time involved in a K-12 teacher-training program in the U.S. In this capacit>-. she helped develop a test o f oral proficiency aimed at immigrant students for whom the standardized tests went beyond their knowledge o f
English. In addition. Erin also worked in the Caribbean teaching composition and
.Applied Linguistics. In the mid 1990s. Erin became an .Academic Program Specialist in the ESL writing Program at San Christobal State Universit}'. teaching graduate courses in reading and writing.
4.2.2.2 Perspectives on teaching
Erin pointed out that her philosophy o f teaching has been inspired by her e.xperiences as both a language learner and a language instructor. In addition, the theories about language learning and teaching she had been exposed to also contributed to her heliet's about language teaching. Regarding her experiences as a language learner, she noted.
1 became conscious at a very young age o f the social and educational consequences o f using Tagalog. my first language, and English, my second language. 1 realized back then that Tagalog brought me friends, while English brought me good grades. Both goals were important to me and. fortunately. 1 was not discouraged from learning two languages well. Some o f that "learning" was unconscious and et'fortless as listening to a teacher's story, while other aspects o f it were painstaking and difficult, like learning good writing. Either way. speaking, listening, reading, and writing well in both languages became achievable goals. (12E. 10/01/99)
Thus, depending on the language, language learning brought Erin both social and
educational benefits.
Erin pointed out that six characteristics constitute the underpinnings of her
philosophy o f teaching. First, she wants to be fair in her dealings with the students, which 146 entails providing them w ith constant feedback regarding their performance and choosing material that does not offend them. Second, she wants to exude a professional attitude. which she defines as keeping abreast o f the latest developments in the field o f ESL. keeping her promises made to the ESL department as well as the students, and being prepared for class. Third, she maintains that she should also possess a positive attitude. meaning that it is her duty as an instructor to provide students with feedback that is both encouraging and truthful. Fourth, she strives after relevance in her teaching, which means that the topics o f the lessons she gives are drawn from the students' discipline or other topics that are o f interest to them. Fifth, she wants to create a learner-centered en\ ironment for the students, i.e.. one where the teaching revolves around the needs and abilities o f the students. Finally, she perceives o f language teaching as an activity that is both creative and challenging, and which requires that an instructor should possess the ability to apply a variety o f teaching techniques. Thus. Erin's philosophy o f teaching is
grounded in pedagogical principles.
Evidently, political issues including issues of race do not seem to inform Erin's
perspectives on teaching. One reason might be related to the fact that the Philippines is by
and large a racially homogenous society, at least according to Erin. Consequently.
Filipinos may be less sensitive to issues o f race than people in a racially heterogeneous
society such as the United States. Erin declared:
Since the Philippines is composed o f many islands and many provinces. Filipinos express differences between themselves in terms o f what part o f the Philippines [a person] originally [is] from. .And there are social, economic, and cultural differences, stereotypes, [and] perceptions [associated with this fact]. I think class is a very important part of it. But they're not really racial because we're all coming from the same race. [Consequently.] I am not conscious about explaining prejudice in terms o f race. I am more keen in explaining prejudice in 147 terms o f ethnic background, maybe even social class, because these are the two [social phenomena] that figure most prominently [in the Philippines], (I2E. 10/01/99)
Thus, for Erin issues o f ethnicity, class, and. as w ill become evident shortly, gender and age stand out more than those o f race.
,-\ second reason that may explain why Erin's philosophy o f teaching does not seem to be informed by issues of race might be related to her perceptions o f and experiences with ESL students, particularly those at the graduate level. She argued.
Wherever 1 taught. I've always found [graduate students] pretty similar. They are easy to work with, very open, very mature, [and] cooperative. I've haven't had any problems with .American native speakers. Filipino, or [other] Asian students. ... Graduate students just don't care so much, as long as you can teach well. (12E. 10/01/99)
Thus. Erin presumes that due to their maturity and open-mindedness, graduate students
have already accepted the idea o f racial differences by the time they enter her ESL class:
consequently, she may perceive issues o f race as less o f a problem in the ESL
instructional environment.
Erin does not believe that students have ever challenged her authority and
expertise on account o f her race or the color of her skin. Flowever. she does wonder about
it sometimes. .As she asserted.
It's hard for me to pinpoint skin color because I'm also female, so 1 don't know sometimes if it's because of that, or because I don't look .American, and I look more .Asian or something like that. I'm not sure whether it's skin color. I can't remember any experience when skin color actually mattered, even when 1 was teaching that class o f .Americans. (12E. 10/01/99)
She claimed, however, that her authority and expertise have been challenged on
account o f her gender as well as her status as a non-native speaker o f English. W-'ith 148 regard to the latter, she remembered that during her first term at San Christobal State
University. a student challenged her authority and expertise on account o f her status as a non-native speaker o f English. She said.
1 had a Korean student [who] assumed that since 1 was not Caucasian, the typical .*\merican. that English must not be my first language and therefore 1 don't know it as well. I guess he didn't think he could leam as much [from me as from the Caucasian instructor]. 1 think we were looking at a paragraph or a sentence [of his]. He looked at me as if he wanted to say. "H ow could you say that I am wrong in my interpretation if you don't speak the language'?" So. 1 said [to myself]: "Oh. my gosh. I have not encountered this kind o f argument before." He later actually ... dropped out o f my class. (I2E. 10/01/99)
Erin used various strategies to counteract these stereotypical images. She observed.
1 guess 1 [confirmed my authority and expertise as a non-native ESL instructor] by being more conscious about that. Others might [also] stereotype me as a non-native speaker, so 1 have to watch what 1 say. I make sure my monitor is way .way. way up. .And if 1 catch myself or somebody catches me [making a mistake]. I apply all sort o f techniques. I'll say. "Oh. very good, you are good at catching that." [The mistake should be interpreted as] a slip rather than a lack o f understanding or grammar. I try not to challenge the students. I f I see that [their comment] is correct. 1 acknowledge that they are right, but 1 try not to say. "Oh. I am sorry." as if I'd made a [mistake]" So. I try to get the attention away from me and focus it on what thev've done right H2E. 10/01/99).
.Apparently, issues o f gender have a greater appeal to Erin than issues o f race.
They figure, t'or instance, in the way she deals with the students, and in the perceptions
she believes the students and her male colleagues have o f her. Overall. Erin describes her
relations with her students as "pretty good" (I2E. 10/01/99). Regarding her relationship
w ith her students, she pointed out.
If [the student] comes from a culture, for example, o f which I know that the people are more formal [with one another] and the women are sort of minority and they are not treated as well. I tend to be very formal with him or her. I try to use authority and seniority in a way to 149 get their respect. There are some cultures that I am more relaxed with, such as the Taiwanese, for example. I know they are more likely to be informal, so I can be sort o f a mother or a friend, an older friend to them. 1 don't have to be rather stiff. So. 1 vary in my degree o f formality (I2E. 10/01/99).
She believes, moreover, that the students express their rejection o f her. a female in an authoritative position, by putting less time and effort into the work she has assigned than if a male instructor had assigned it. She asserted.
1 guess I've seen the effect o f the female as authority figure [on] the students in terms o f how much work they put into the assignments. They don't take [them] seriously. Or [they] tiy to take the easy way out. not work very hard to write something really well. 1 ascribe it to the fact that a female is in authority, but it could also be that the ESL course is not on their list o f priority classes (I2E. 10/01/99).
She admitted, furthermore, that at one point she believed that Middle easterners in particular had difficulty accepting her authorit) on account o f her gender. She noted.
For some reason, my thought was always that students from the Middle East were very aggressive and that I'd have a hard time [accepting my authority] because 1 am a woman. They don't see a woman as an authority figure. .And I've had some that were like that, w ho completed the course without causing any major problem. But I've also had Middle Eastern students who were just \ er\ respectful and really worked hard. So 1 guess it's good to be exposed to a number o f them because now I can say that it's not true that students from the Middle East do not respect the authority o f a woman. For more than half o f those that I've taught actually showed no trace o f any prejudice at all. and had no problems working with a female teacher (I2E. 10/01/99).
Thus, o f some concern to Erin was the extent to which her gender might be a barrier in the relationship with particularly Middle Eastern students. Expenence taught her. howe\ er. that for most o f these students her sender was not an issue.
150 4.2.2.3 Racial Experiences
By now the reader might begin to believe that Erin has given little or no thought to issues o f race; nothing could be further from the truth, however. While such matters seemingly do not figure prominently in her beliefs about teaching, she is well aware of their impact on life in wider societ)'. Take, for instance, her recollections o f the role skin color played in the Philippines during her childhood and adolescence (Helms ( 1996). for instance, argued that skin color is one o f the indicators o f a person's racial category ).
While Erin does not recall being looked down upon because of the color of her skin, she was. howe\ er. at an early age conscious o f the fact that skin color was a potent social force within Filipino societ>'. As she contended.
1 remember people all around me looking down on others, and 1 was veiy conscious o f that early on. [.A]t that time darker skin was seen as not beautiful [in addition to] all the other things that [were] associated with it. [M]aybe the person [was] also not [perceived as] bright, and maybe [he or she was] not going to be successful in life. ... 1 would hear [about] other people [who were] waiting for... let's say. a grandchild or niece or a nephew [to be bom]. .And all o f them would sort o f wait for the color o f that child. ... [T]hey would say, 'Oh. what a beautiful baby, she's got fair skin.’ .And there would be [some] sort o f disappointment when the skin is darker; they don't react as enthusiastically. Or if there would be [some sort o f enthusiasm, people might say]. "Oh. she really is beautiful even if her skin is dark". So early on I knew [that] darker skin is not appreciated (HE. 0730/99).
Erin also mentioned that as a child she was repeatedly told by her mother not to expose herself too much to the sunlight since that might cause her skin to wrinkle. In
retrospect, however, she believes that her mother may have had an ulterior motive; her
desire to protect her daughter's skin from turning dark. Moreover, she believes that it is
likely that in her youth skin color may have had an impact on the career path o f some
151 Filipinos. That is to say. those who had a light complexion would receive preferential treatment, which meant that they stood a better chance o f getting certain jobs than those who had a dark complexion. She suggests, furthermore, that skin color was also a criterion in the establishing romantic relationships, and that in some o f these cases it may have been a more significant factor than social class.
.\s a child, she also became aware that race was an important issue in the United
States. Television pictures o f the 1960s introduced her to the plight o f Black .Americans.
the C ivil Rights Movement, and the work o f Martin Luther King, topics her parents
frequently talked about and referred to. But any negative images she might have
de\ eloped about the United States based on those pictures were negated by the very
positi\ e view her parents seemingly instilled in her about the country, specifically traits
such as discipline, frugality, and the Protestant work ethic that they perceived as being
distinctively .American. Moreover, in their opinion, the .American occupation o f the
Philippines was beneficial to Filipinos in that it brought them education and a host of
other opportunities. Their positive image o f the United States is furthermore attested by
the fact that English became the LI spoken in the home environment.
.Moreover. Erin argued that o f all the issues facing .Americans today, racial
discrimination is the most sensitive one. She asserted.
1 guess eveiy time there is an event for some reason race always gets inserted. If there has been a murder, people are always sort o f tiptoeing around describing the murderer as either White or Black, and it seems if it's a White male, it is easier to say. Oh. it's a White male.' But if it's a Black male. I find that there're certain descriptions, or they tiy to hold o ff and not identity’ for a while unless they're sure o f it. So. I just find that it comes in the conversation. I think also that certain government policies such affirmative action and political correctness were triggered by race. When you read the Chronicle o f Higher Education, you leam they're setting up certain programs for .Asian 151 Americans. Pacific Islanders, and so on. For me that's ail race. .As soon as you start having preferences, creating a program for .African .Americans, for instance, the Asian Americans would want theirs. Now and then 1 would get e-mails from Asian groups, announcing. 'This web site offers X". or "Be part of Y". or Be a member o f this." And the only criterion is [that] you have to be .Asian, not whether [you are] interested in this particular field or area. 1 would get. for example, telephone calls from Spanish speakers who were trying to sell me something. 1 guess because they saw [my Spanish sounding name], and they think I'm Spanish. So. for me. that's because they think that the language and the race would be a way o f reaching me. make me more positively inclined towards them. When 1 want to change my long distance carrier those carriers. .At some point, when they're trying to convince me not to switch, they'll say. 'Hold on a second." Then a Filipino w ill come on the phone and try to talk to me. you know, to convince me to stay with the telephone company. So. that's the one that permeates all the time. 1 encounter it every day (HE. 7/30/99).
In light o f what she knows about racial discourse in the United States, she thinks that ESL instructors of color, particularly Black ESL professionals, w ill most likely have to work harder to demonstrate their linguistic and teaching competence in the classroom.
She noted.
1 guess in the Philippines it w ill depend on how dark the skin is. If it's ver>. ver>’ dark, you'll have to prove that you're good because initially there w ill be a reaction to the skin color. But if you're able to teach well, or you speak well, if [the students] know they can leam from you. then it doesn't take veiy long for acceptance to come, and it wouldn't be such a problem. Here in the US. with the existence o f [racial] prejudice. 1 would think that if you're dark skinned that you ha\ e to work harder to prove yourself, probably because of the stereotypes related to social status, [and] the schools you've been to (12E. 10/01/99).
4.2.2.4 Summar>-
Erin's experiences as a language learner and language instructor as well as her knowledge gained relative to the theories o f language teaching are pivotal to her philosophy o f teaching. Six characteristics underpin her perspectives on teaching; being 153 fair and equitable as an instructor, being professional, presenting the students with rele\ ant material, the applying a learner-centered approach, being creative and challenging oneself as a language instructor, and creating a positive attitude among the students regarding their capabilities as language learners. She believes that her authority and expertise as an ESL instructor have more likely been challenged because o f her gender, rather than on account o f her race. She is. however, aware o f the power o f issues o f race giving her experiences with skin color in her home countiy as well as the role race plays in the interaction between people in .American society.
4.2.3 Case Study C: Jack
4.2.3.1 .Academic and professional profile
Jack, an .Anglo-.American. became involved in the teaching o f ESL as a result o f his desire to bring the Word o f the Lord among the people. In 1979. he attended the
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship World Missions Conference at the University of Illinois at Champaigiv Urbana. On that occasion he learned o f the efforts that were under way to bring about a resurgence o f the Christian Church in China. Jack was. furthermore. informed that it was relatively easy to get a position as an ESL instructor in China. The opportunity to bring the Word o f the Lord to the people o f China and to earn a living at
the same time by teaching ESL appealed to Jack. In explaining his reason for wanting to
go to China, he said
1 [wanted to go] to China to tell people about Jesus, 'cause 1 thought there might be a cynical generation, with experiences roughly analogous to my generation. We were cynical about the Vietnam War. Watergate, and so forth as only young people can be cynical. .And 1 knew that Chinese young people had been really cruelly manipulated
154 by the Maoist government there. And cynicism made me look for something more durable, and I’d found it in Jesus Christ and I thought the same avenue might be appealing to my peers from the other side o f the ocean (I2J. 10/01/99). Jack enrolled in the VIA program in ESL at the University o f Hawaii at Manoa. While working on his degree, he taught ESL in a refugee program. He set out for China at the onset o f the 1980s and remained there for four years.
By the mid 1980s. Jack returned to the United States; by then he had immersed himself in the Chinese language for six years— two years o f formal exposure in the US and four years o f natural exposure in China. So great was the appeal o f the language that he decided to enroll in the VI.A program in Chinese Linguistics at the University o f
Hawaii at Manoa. eventually earning his second VI.A. He did not completely forsake ESL. however, for while working on his VI.A in Chinese linguistics he taught ESL at a private program.
Toward the end o f the 1980s. Jack enrolled in the Ph.D. program o f the
Department o f East .Asian Languages and Literatures at San Christobal State University,
thus pursuing a doctorate in Chinese Linguistics. He supported himself by working as a
l eaching Associate in the aforementioned department, where he taught Chinese language
and Chinese Civilization. Upon completion o f his course work, however, he applied for a
position as a Teaching .Associate in the ESL W riting Program at San Christobal State
University. He had been working there for two years, when the Department announced
the availability o f a full-time position. Jack applied for the position and eventually was
hired. The doctor in Chinese Linguistics, who had started his teaching career in ESL. had
now come full circle. .At the time o f the interv iew. Jack was an .Academic Program
Specialist in the ESL W riting Program San Christobal State University. 4.2.3.2 Perspectives on teaching
Jack asserted that his philosophy o f teaching is at least in part inspired by some o f the principles o f the communicative language teaching approach which was still relatively new at the time when he was working toward earning his M A degree in ESL.
He believes, to begin with, that any assignment should address the needs o f the students.
"Whatever you ask the students to do has to be something they care about." Jack claimed
( 12J, 10 01 99). Furthermore. Jack also believes that learning is done best inductively. which, he declared, means that the students, "should see language in a context, should be able to understand what the language is accomplishing, and then should themselves notice what the forms are doing" (Ibid.). Finally, he believes that there should be a close relationship between, on the one hand, the teaching o f grammatical structures and meaning, and the teaching o f language functions on the other.
To some extent, his perspectives on teaching seem also to be inspired by his
Christian background, which, as he puts it. "invites a universalist perspective" ( 12J.
10 01 99). Such a perspective, in turn, allows him to create images o f people based on
the characteristics that they have in common. This particular perspective Jack holds is
expressed, for instance, in the manner in which he at times introduces the students to
academic writing. .As he put it.
Looking at the conventional format o f the abstract o f a research report- - background, problem, purpose, method, results, conclusion— 1 say. ’ Okay, is this .American or academic culture specific?' Or is there some kind of universal, cognitive, mechanisms working here?' .And. o f course. 1 always tr>- to force them ever so subtly into the notion that these are universal cognitive mechanisms here. .And I say. 'Okay, so what is it'l’' .And they say. Oh. it's the process.' You develop background knowledge, on that basis you identify the problem, then you tr\- to deal with the problem with some methodology, you sort out the results, and you draw your truth claim from that. So. 1 suppose, in a 156 very abiding sense I do have these kinds o f universalist commitments. And it's not just philosophy; 1 suppose my Christian background may ha\ e something to do with that. It invites a kind of universalist perspective. Human beings have essentially the same problems, associated w ith... Well, the Bible calls it sin. but more colloquial terms might be selfishness or pride, as we know it. So. I am a universalist. and 1 see commonalities in all human beings (12J. 10/01/99).
His universalist perspective is also evident in his relationship with his students. about w hich he asserted.
My operating principle is to respect the students. 1 expect them to be responsible for their own learning. But respect might actually be a colloquial term for what the Bible calls love. Jesus said. "Love people.' [That] doesn’t mean you have to like them, but in realistic terms it means you should respect people and tr>' to understand where they're coming from. Consequently. 1 think 1 get along with all o f my students, but 1 tr\ to listen to what they're saying. I f 1 see this person is unusually cynical about authority, then 1 Just have to take more time and maybe not flaunt my author!t\- but rather present this as a cooperative endeavor and something that w ill help advance their own interest (Ibid.).
1 le acknowledged that his identity as a White ESL instructor and the perceptions
East .Asian ESL students in particular associate with this identity are to his advantage,
specifically in establishing and maintaining a good relationship with them. He noted.
1 w ould prefer to think Chinese students like me because o f my virtue and ability, because they believe that I come to class on time, that the instruction is pertinent, enlightening and entertaining, that I give the drafts back [on time], perhaps even that I dress well. I think, however, that they like me because they think 1 look like their cartoon .American: 1 have blue eyes and blond hair. I f it's the case that 1 conform to their idea o f the stereotypical .American, then 1 don't have to think about how my being White affects the way I approach and deal w ith students in the classroom, [but] I think it makes them more comfortable. That is one o f the luxuries o f being the dominant White. .Anglo-Saxon Protestant: you don't have to think about [being White]. It's not fair, but that's life (I2J. 10/01/99).
157 Jack obser\'ed that students do not challenge his authorit}' and expertise. He said.
The students might say. Oh. well, this guy is just an American. He doesn't know anything about Chinese, he doesn't know our problems, he doesn't know our discourse patterns that we might or might not use.' So. what can they challenge? They say I don't know English? They say 1 don't know linguistics? They say I don't understand their languages? Well, in most cases I've got them covered because I know Chinese, and I have the advanced degree in linguistics, and I'm teaching ESL. Therefore, they could challenge not my knowledge, but my presentation, my classroom practice, my methodology, they can challenge that as much as they want. .\nd 1 encourage them to. 1 say. 'You let me know if we're wasting time in here.' However. 1 do take the time to motivate every single assignment. 1 don't ask them to do anything without explaining to them why. where it comes from, where it's going, why it might or might not work. .A,nd maybe that's disamting. if I am so open about it. So. 1 do things to tr>’ to impress them with my expertise. I f 1 am talking about a syntactic issue. I'd say. "O f course. Chinese. Japanese, and Korean don't do this. Turkish does it like this." I'll tr>- to just throw in some kind of embellishment because 1 know this is a way to enhance my authority, which, if 1 am confident about what I'm teaching, can advance the project. Yeah. I'm not above that (I2J. 10/01/99).
4.2.3.3 Racial experiences
By and large, then. Jack seems to credit but a marginal role to racial prejudice as a
t'actor in the ESL classroom. This is interesting given his own experiences with this
phenomenon, both inside and outside o f the classroom, during his adolescence. Jack
recalled attending a high school in the late 1960s in a city in the State o f Florida where he
was indirectly involved in a case involving racial prejudice. He explained it thus.
We lived in this city in Florida. There was only one Black kid brought into the school at that time to integrate the school. When we had to do wrestling during the physical education class, none o f the other White students wanted to wrestle with the Black kid. So the P.E.-instructor teamed me up with the Black student, because he figured 1 was an outsider; maybe 1 didn't have the same racial prejudice as some o f the Florida bovs. (IIJ. 7/30/99)
158 But Jack himself was apparently also the victim o f racial prejudice. Because his father was a naval officer, the family had to relocate often due to his father's duties. On one occasion, the family moved to Hawaii. There. Jack was harassed at times by some
Hawaiians on account o f the fact that he was a hciole. the Hawaiian term for White people. He recalled the kinds o f harassments that he was exposed to when he went surfing, for instance. He noted.
In Hawaii. I had some friends o f Filipino. Chinese, and Korean ancestry- with whom I went surfing. The good thing about going surfing with them was that I got hassled less in the water by the Hawaiians. some o f whom would try to beat me up. smash my board, or even steal my board just [because] I was a Haole. The best place for surt'ing was on the west side o f the island. That also happened to be the side where a lot o f the Hawaiians were living. They didn't like Haoles over there, so my brother and I just surfed inside a little bit. We didn't try- to catch the best waves, didn't try to take too many waves, and didn't tiy- to hang around the beach too much. When we were finished SLirfinu we'd load up and drive awav so as to stav out o f trouble (IIJ. 7 30/99).
Interestingly, by Jack's own admission, these experiences may not have made him more aware o f racial prejudice many people o f color in the United States in particular
face on a daily basis. For when questioned about this issue. Jack responded.
I don't know; maybe not. Maybe that is because I thought the Hawaiians had a case [to perceive and treat me the way they did]. ’cause they were there first. .And the mainland Haoles [came and] deposed the queen [o f Hawaii], [and] bought up all the land (IIJ. 7 30/99).
It is also interesting that Jack supported his response by putting forward mitigating
circumstances to explain what seemingly is racial bias against him.
.A second reason that might help to explain why Jack seemed less concerned about
the racially motivated harassment he was exposed to is the fact that according to him
159 there are also privileges attached to being a Haole. As Jack explained.
Because Haoles are perceived as people who have pretty good language skills and are smart, people tended to think I am articulate and smart. I was at one point hired by a Chinese bank, which wanted one smart Haole who could communicate over the phone. I hope, however, that they hired me because I had some other abilities as well (Ibid.)
4.2.3.4 Summary
.■\pparently, a key aspect driving Jack's philosophy o f teaching seems to be what
he calls his universalist perspective. For him, it is the basis for introducing students to
academic writing as well as for building relationships with them. Other aspects o f his
philosophy o f teaching are the fact that he favors an inductive approach to learning and
his belief that every assignment should address the needs o f the students. He knows,
moreover, that the fact that he is White is to his advantage in his dealings with his
students in so far that he meets their expectations o f what an ESL instructor in the United
States should look like. Furthermore, based on what he knows about perceptions in China
about Black people, he thinks that there is the potential that Chinese ESL students may be
less appreciative o f Black than o f White ESL instructors. Nevertheless, he does not
believe that racial prejudice is a common phenomenon in the ESL classroom; rather, he
asserts, linguistic and cultural differences are more likely to be the cause of any friction
that mav occur between ESL students and ESL instructors o f color.
160 4.2.4 Case study D: Lindscv
4.2.4.1 .Academic and professional profile
Lindsey, an .Anglo-.American female, is an Academic Program Specialist in the
English Language Program o f the Department o f English as a Second Language at San
Christobal State University. Her interest in L2 learning began with her involvement as native speaker counterpart to non-native English speakers in a conversation partners program conducted at the Ottawa School o f Arts and Sciences she attended. Her interest was further piqued when, as a lecturer at the Xational Institute for Bilingual Conversation and Communication, she went to Japan and taught conversation classes. In explaining her interest for the teaching o f ESL. she stated. ” 1 think it would primarily be an interest in international culture, an interest in international people, and that fact that I like English.
English is very interesting to me” (IL l. 9/3/99)
.As a graduate student at the Topeka State University, she was employed as a
Teaching .Associate for two-and-a-half years at the university's .Applied English Center.
Upon graduation, she became a lecturer at this institute and worked there for eight years.
In the mid 1990s, Lindsey once again went to Japan, this time as an visiting scholar from
Topeka State University. At The Nihonjin Institute for .Advanced Language Studies in
Japan she taught English for one year. About her experiences as an English instructor in
Japan she observ es:
Japan is a very easy place to teach. You have wonderful facilities [and] state-of-the-art equipment. We had a Sony 9000 console for group work and listening practice. .Anything you wanted you could have. They give you research money to outfit your teaching. The students that I've taught in Japan as a whole have not been motivated and
therefore it was a little more difficult to accomplish the goals in the
161 class. It's kind o f a noveltv' to take English, and so people took English to have a foreign teacher. (I2L. 10/7/99)
Prior to this visit to Japan. Lindsey had spent one summer in Eastern Europe. teaching English at The National Academy o f Poland to students who were working towards earning a scholarship to study at an American institute. With reference to her experiences on that particular occasion she notes.
1 taught a group o f fort}' students in a military resort, which should ha\e quotation marks around it. It was ver\-. very simple teaching. We had. for instance, no Xerox capabilities, a limited supply o f paper, and no chalk. The students had the chance to be picked for a scholarship program to come to study agrobusiness in the United States for two years. .And so they were really motivated, even though they had \e r\ little knowledge of English and verv' little contact with English speakers prior to coming to our courses. (I2L. 10/7/99)
.\t the time o f the interx iew. Lindsey was teaching four different classes: a reading and a writing class that were combined into one class, a class on traditional grammar, and an advanced conversation elective.
4.2.4.2 Perspectives on teaching
Lindsey's philosophy of teaching seems to be tied in with her view of her role as an ESL instructor. In this respect, she asserted.
1 think our job as ESL instructors is not necessarily to help people become members o f a given society, but to help them fit in. to maybe lessen the shock that may result from the interaction between their society and the societ}' that they're now living in. So. we take them from their country, kind o f take them through the ESL system, blunt the edges a little bit. try not to turn them into .Americans because that would be really sad. and get them to fit in. One o f the ways that we do that is giving them language, because it's difficult to fit in or to know the society if you cannot communicate. We also trx' to teach them gradations in words and gradations in interaction patterns so that what the} bring is not so shocking to .Americans that they're ostracized or set apart. Consequently. 1 basically see my job as tacilitating learning
162 in my classroom, to help the greatest number o f students in my class move towards their goals. And to do that I need to teach skills, sometimes life skills, often academic skills, but it kind o f depends where the students come in. .A.S far as ESL is concerned. I see it as part o f that. I'm giving them a tool. Most o f the students I work with are hoping to study in academic settings in the United States and English is the tool that they need to be able to do that. .And so I try to teach them about .American academic culture, and I try to teach them English, and I try to teach them some survival strategies to help them t'lt in and to solve problems that they might encounter as they head into academic programs. The students and I work in a partnership. I don't think 1 fill their heads with knowledge; rather. I think they bring questions to me and I help them solve those problems. (I2L. 10/7/99)
Thus, according to Lindsey, in general, her task as an ESL instructor is to assist ESL students in making a smooth transition from the home to the host culture. Moreover, in her opinion, teaching ESL learners the English language and .American culture should not serve to transform them into .Americans or alienate them from their home culture. Rather. the purpose o f such teaching ought to be to furnish students with an appropriate amount o f linguistic and cultural knowledge that enable them to adequately contend with the challenges they are likely to be confronted with in the host environment. More specifically, her duty, as she perceives it. is to assist the students in achieving their goals in life by providing them with skills that they can apply in daily life as well as in academic settings. Moreover, she teaches them strategies that enable them to find solutions for the problems they may encounter in the academic world. In her perception. the student-teacher relationship has the hallmarks o f a partnership rather and not the
features that characterize the relationship between a superior and his or her subordinates.
Given all her experiences discussed above, it is perhaps no surprise that Lindsey
is at pains to inform her students about the cultural groups in .America, whenever the
opportunity presents itself. Moreover, she also discusses "other [significant] issues [in the
163 United States] that are not necessarily rosy" (I2L. 10/7/99) with them. She observed.
Most o f my students come to the United States with a media perspective o f this country, and the media is pretty one-sided and usually \ er}- positive towards American culture. .As a result, many students enter the ESL classroom with a very skewed viewpoint on what. say. an Indian is. I've tried to inform the students a little by organizing cultural panels. Here at SCSU this has been more difficult for me to do because I don't have the contacts. It's a much larger school and much harder to approach someone and say. 'Hey. could you come talk to my class because you are ... Black.' That's usually not the way that approach people. But at other schools were I've been employed. 1 brought in what 1 thought was a survey o f American society: members o f the Native .American. Hispanic. Black, and Gay and Lesbian organizations on campus, as well as personnel from the disabilit}- student center. .Moreover, whenever possible 1 try to talk about such issues as homelessness. bias, prejudice, and racism. 1 tty to bring these matters up because 1 am concerned that the students won't have an arena outside o f the classroom to ask questions about that. They might encounter it. but they won't be able to feel comfortable, or ha\e someone who they could ask questions of. 1 want to give them a chance to see some o f the things that they might not have experienced in a media-safe environment. .And so 1 do believe that issues such as these should be brought up in the ESL classroom whenever possible. (12L. 10/7/99)
Thus, prior to her position at SCSU Lindsey clearly made efforts to expose her students to the variety o f .American cultures as well as to the issues that are o f significance in
American society. Lindsey contended that the ESL classroom is a good forum to address social issues o f all kinds, including issues o f race. She noted, however, that the most she could be expected to do with the students in this respect was "to stir enthusiasm, interest, or concern" (Ibid.) because, so she argued. "1 have this job to teach English, reading, and writing" (Ibid.).
Lindsey also pointed out that racial beliefs and stereoty pes have no effect on her
relationship with her students. She claimed.
164 While I realize that a person's racial or ethnic background brings something to him or her. I think that foremost I see people as people; I don't necessarily notice them as colors or ethnic backgrounds. In fact. I almost think I view people as "raceless" or "ethnicless" at first, and then I try to learn more about them. I try not to come into a relationship with a group o f criteria that I decided is going to be true because this person is from Japan, or this person is from Mexico, or this person is from African-American descent. I try not to pigeon hole people. I think part o f that is because I work with international people all the time and you hear stereotypes about .American culture, and think. No. that's not true for every one." So I try not to project what might be commonalities that my friends have had on to new people that I don't know. (IlL . 9/3/99)
In other words. Lindsey proclaimed that she disassociates the individual she is interacting w ith from his or her racial or ethnic background. She then went on to explain the significance she attaches to this dissociation and said.
For me. the value o f seeing students as "raceless" is that it allows me to start from zero. I don't have a preconceived notion, so students' personality, their writing - and reading ability can unfold. They get to inform me; I get to learn a lot about their cultures as they kind o f unfold that information throughout the class. I don't stop and say. Well. 1 know in Japan this is true, and in the Middle East such-and- such is the case." I let them do that. It's not my job to inform them. My job is to give them information about what little bit o f .American life I know about. So 1 let them tell me. .And as I gain information about them, then 1 can paint a picture about each o f those students. So. b\ not making assumptions that I know this or that about their countiy. or 1 know what it is to be them, the students w ill have to tell me that. .And I can with honesty say. ‘ I don't understand that. Can you please explain it to me." I let them work through it. and sometimes it means giving them a word or two to help them explain it or straiten things out. But I let them unfold that information. (I2L. 10/7/99)
Put differently. Lindsey seemed to claim that not attaching a particular race or ethnicity
to the students enables them to provide her with linguistic and other socially relevant
information about themselves. This, in turn, allows their personalities to emerge so that
she gets to know the students as individuals rather than as members o f a particular racial
or ethnic group to which society has frequently attached certain stereoty pical images. 165 She did. however, acknowledge that the fact that she is White might influence the kind o f rapport the students develop with her. She declared.
1 don't know how the fact that I'm White influences the students' rapport with me. but maybe they feel more comfortable. Perhaps as an ESL instructor the students expect me to be White, so maybe the students and I start o f at a level where they're either comfortable with or curious about me and do not tear or antagonize me. and so 1 don't have to work really hard for every relationship I have with the students. 1 think then that we possibly start at the positive end o f the spectrum, and 1 have nowhere to go but down. (12L. 10/7/99)
Thus. Lindsey presumed it is relatively easy for the students to establish rapport with her
because she meets their expectations in the sense that she is WTiite.
Lindsey also offered possible strategies that would result in reducing if not
eliminating the advantage that WTiite teachers presumably have over ESL instructors o f
color. She suggested.
One solution is the issue that we in the field have been talking about a long time: we need to increase diversity in the field o f ESL teaching. And. if for whatever reason, we can't bring in a more diverse teaching population, or if it's going to take a long time to do so. then we should talk with the students about differences in register and language. We should talk about how social language is different from academic language and bring in examples, if possible, to help ESL students understand that the kind o f language they hear in a movie isn't necessarily the only way members o f particular racial group speak. We should make them understand that that members o f that group speak just as well as White ESL teachers may speak. And maybe we have to show more o f the opposite because the majority o f the information that they have exposure to is here. So we need to bring in people to talk to students, or if possible, to have interaction between students and other minorit) groups. Or we need to bring in images o f positive role models for them to maybe help balance the picture that they have formed somewhere. (I2L. 10/7./99)
4.2.4.3 Racial experiences
The notion o f "not fitting in" Lindsey addressed in the previous section, is one she
knows all too well. She recalled, for instance, how the neighborhood in which she grew
166 up in essence created a new racial identity for one o f its residents. Lindsey stated.
W ith a few exceptions, the people in the street that I lived on were White .Anglo-Saxon. Growing up. 1 remember everyone, myself included, calling the man who lived on the comer o f the street 'the French man.' 1 don’t know i f people actually thought he was French. He was just not American. And so he must be something else, so he was French. .As an adult. 1 realized that he was Korean. And I remember realizing that it was just so amazingly bizarre that we didn't recognize that he was Asian, that we didn't recognize that he was definitely not French, and how no one ever stopped to tell us that he wasn't French, that there was nothing French about this man. (IlL . 9/3 99)
fhus. perhaps in an attempt to make "the man on the comer" fit in the communit}-. he was made an honorary White, so to speak.
.As an adult, too. Lindsey would experience herself what it meant to be perceived as different, as not quite fitting in the community. She recalled.
Over the years. I've lived in Japan on and off. 1 remember that in Japan specifically there has always been some level o f curiosity, some kind o f mystique, and maybe even a little bit o f mistrust about foreigners, outsiders, people who are different. [To me.] in all instances it felt like more o f a t'ascination with people who were different than an animosity towards or a fear o f them; the Japanese just seem very curious about and interested in others. The first couple o f times that 1 visited Japan, however. 1 experienced what it felt like to be a minority. 1 never felt that way here [in the U.S.]. but in Japan 1 definitely remember that as being a very powerful thing. There were a whole string o f things that made me aware that there are people who probably wander the streets o f .America feeling this way every day. For instance. e\ eiy where I went people stared at me. they wanted to touch me. they wanted to touch my hair, things that I thought were very inappropriate. .And 1 remember thinking. 'I wonder if this is what it feels like on a daily basis to be o f an ethnic minority in the United States. Do you always feel like people are looking at you. and wondering what you're doing? Do people ask stupid questions about your ability to do common every day activities? Do people wonder what your hair feels like and whether your arms are hairy or not?' .Another time 1 was on a train and a man reached out and just touched me. He just seemed very- fascinated about the fact that 1 was blond and in the train by myself. .And I remember thinking. ‘ Would you have done this if I had been a Japanese woman? I don't see other men reaching out and touching 167 Japanese women on this train. It somehow seems like that the only reason you felt that you had the right to touch me was because I am different.' .-\nd I remember feeling a bit agitated when I got o ff the train. (IlL , 9/3/99)
Going through this experience apparently made Lindsey realize more than ever before the emotions and frustrations the dominated groups in the United States go through on a daily basis.
It is perhaps safe to say that this particular experience was a real eye-opener for
Lindsey who, by her own admission, grew up with a father who back then
was not the most ethnically aware person [I knew]. I remember that my dad had some incident with the father o f a [Black] girl we played with. This is back early 70s, and 1 remember talking with my dad when 1 was. I believe, a freshman in college, and saying, 'Dad, I remember you came home [one day] and you were really mad. .-\nd you said something like, ’Nobody's ever called me a honkie before.' What did you do down there to cause this man to be so angrx '?' .And he said. I called him a nigger.' .And I remembered being utterly appalled that my dad had used a racial slur against somebody. I mean. I'd heard my father use terms like chink, Jap, and nigger in our house, but [to me] it was almost like cussing. I figured that was something he did in the house. Me had a ver>' close business partner who was from Hong Kong. He never called him a chink, 1 am sure, so I was just amazed that my dad would actually say something that amazingly charged to another person. 1 asked him if he felt bad about it and he said, 'You know, at the time I just didn't. Then, I just said what I felt. I t'eel worse about it now than I did then.' So I remembered thinking, ’ Wow, I don't know how I'd been able to interact with different people so easily, when my father was so prejudiced.' (IlL , 9/3/99)
4.2.4.4 Summar>’
Having lived and worked abroad, Lindsey experienced what it meant to be
perceived as different by some members o f the host communit}'. She believes, therefore,
that her main mission as an ESL instructor is to enable the students to comfortably fit in
1 6 8 in American society by teaching them the language. But her experiences abroad also made her acutely aware o f how people o f color in the United States must feel when they are not accorded proper respect. Consequently. Lindsey noted that, whenever possible, she exposes her students to the various cultures in America and discusses topics with them that are o f significance to .Americans, including issues o f race. However, she contended that race matters have no effect on her dealings with the students because she perceives the individuals as raceless or ethnicless. She acknowledged, however, that the fact that she is White might have some influence on the manner in which the students relate to her in that she meets their expectations o f what an ESL instructor in the United
States should look like. She also thought that it may be more difficult for ESL instructors ot'color to establish themselves as authorities and experts in the Held because in the eyes o f a number o f ESL students they do not epitomize the "ideal " ESL instructor.
4.2.5 Case study E: Mukembc
4.2.5.1 .Academic and professional profile
Mukembe is a Black, male ESL instructor bom in Central .Africa. .At the time o f
the inters iew. he was in his late forties, had been an ESL professional for over fifteen
years and had been in the United States for about eight years. Teaching was in blood, so
to speak, for his father was a teacher and Mukembe believes that he inherited his love for
the profession from his father. In addition, he attributes his becoming an ESL
professional to the fact that when he was in school he had little trouble acquiring English.
Upon earning the equivalent o f an .Associate Degree from The College for Advanced
169 Teachers Training in his nation's capital, he started his teaching career in 1974 at St.
Magdelena ',v, a secondarv' school also located in his nation's capital. .A. year later, he returned to The College for Advanced Teachers Training to work on his BA. After having earned that degree, he worked for three years at Kwame Skruma High School in his country's capital city. He then was hired as a lecturer at The Sational Pedagogical
Institute where he taught English grammar and literature.
From 1981-1982. he studied Linguistics and English as a Foreign Language in
Great Britain. Upon his return to his home country in 1983. he resumed his duties at The
Sational Pedagogical Institute where he worked for the next eight years. In July o f 1991 he came to the United States to work on his VLA degree. Having earned this degree, he enrolled in the Ph.D. program o f the Department o f Foreign Languages at San Christobal
State University in 1994. He joined the university's ESL Writing Program as a Teaching
.Associate in 1995. .At the time of the interview. Mukembe was still a member o f the
teaching staff in the aforementioned program and was in the final stages o f the
dissertation writing process.
4.2.5.2 Perspectives on teaching
Mukembe declared that being practical is an important aspect o f his philosophy o f
teaching. Fie argued that people often tend to believe that being a good language
instructor is purely a matter o f drawing on knowledge obtained in the language education
classroom, such as the theories o f lancuaue leaminu. But. he asserted, sometimes
170 effeciix ely dealing with a problem in the classroom demands that language instructors may need to appeal to their common sense and apply problem solving skills they have acquired outside o f the language education classroom.
Mukembe argued, however, that his beliefs about and approach toward teaching are not influenced by such external factors as issues o f race. In fact, as far as this particular topic is concerned, he prefers to apply what he calls an "avoidance strategy"
(I2M . to 2.99): he avoids bringing up such matters in the classroom. This strategy seemed to have taken effect after an attempt to get his students to express themselves about the topic in particular and matters o f race in general apparently backfired to some extent. Mukembe declared.
1 remember bringing a text in class of which the title was. "Why 1 got married to a White person", or something similar. 1 guess it was published in Ebony Magazine and written by a Black woman who was married to a White man. .After class, some Black students came up to me and asked me why 1 had chosen that text. 1 said. "WTiy not?" They said. "Well, you embarrassed the White guys. They felt so uncomfortable" they said. "I didn't notice that". 1 said, [to which] they [replied]. "Well, did you notice that when you asked a White lady to answer what she thought about that, she said she had no opinion? [That was] because she didn't want to say anything that you would consider negative." 1 said. "Well. I didn't mean to embarrass anyone. To me it was a text 1 thought would produce a lot o f discussion." So. from that time on. 1 said. "Hey. watch out. it is not good to bring up issues like this because it would embarrass other people." So. I would not do this a second time, the reason being that I don't want to embarrass anyone. .And who knows, maybe some students may be so offended that they may complain to the hierarchy and when it gets to that point you never know what may happen. So I just try to be cautious about issues like these. My intention can be a good one. that is. 1 want to show the students the significance o f racial issues. But the students, given their sensitivity" and the cultural differences between them and myself, may interpret it otherwise. So. in order to avoid these kind o f things my attitude has been to avoid [issues o f race] altogether (12M. 10/2/99). '
171 Thus. Mukembe's worst fear seems to be that negative reactions on the part o f his students regarding the discussion o f a controversial topic such as race might ultimately have repercussions for his job. He. obviously, is not alone in this assumption. .According to Totten (1992). fear o f jeopardizing their job is one o f the reasons why teachers, irrespective o f the subject they teach, retrain from addressing social issues in the classroom.
Mukembe reasoned that addressing issues o f race in the classroom depends on the policy o f the ESL Program or the institution. He observ ed.
1 would like to see racial issues being addressed more in the ESL classroom, but within the curriculum. For example, if the textbook that 1 am using has an issue like that. 1 would take the opportunity to discuss it. making sure not to introduce my own biases in it. But based on my experience, however. 1 would never again venture to bring up racial issues in the ESL classroom unless [sanctioned by] the curriculum, the person in charge o f the program, or the supervisor (12M. 10/2'99).
W hile issues of race apparently are not aspects of Mukembe's philosophy of teaching, the question whether his Blackness may possibly affect perceptions regarding his authority and expertise among ESL students is one that seemingly concerns him to some extent. Compounding his concern are his status as a foreigner, his status as a non- native speaker o f English, and the cultural differences that exist between him. the majority o f his students, and the people within the host environment. Mukembe. referring to two incidents that exemplify' the complexity of the situation, declared.
1 [once] ran into a former graduate student o f mine, an .Asian lady, some months [after she had completed the course]. [On that occasion.] she asked me why there are foreigners [in the program] teaching English. Her point was that she came here to study English as spoken by native speakers, not as spoken by foreigners who are themselves struggling to speak English [properly]. It was at that 172 moment that I realized that maybe this student did not accept me as a teacher. I was veiy. very disappointed because she was one o f my best students and I had not expected such a remark from her. .A.nother time. I was teaching an undergraduate course then. I introduced myself on the first day o f class. The next day. five o f the students dropped the class. M y feeling was. 'Maybe they didn't like me because I am Black or because I am foreigner.' I am not saying that they dropped the class because of this but the thought did cross my mind, particularly when I realized that for a number o f students in the class it was perhaps the first time that they were being taught by a Black man. who. moreover, was not even an .A.merican. It is. furthermore, hard to be both Black and .African and to stand in front o f a class consisting predominantly o f .Asian students in the U.S.. a countiy that is predominantly White. It is a challenge, for there are three sets o f values interacting with one another: .African. .Asian, and .American values. It is veiy easy for the three o f them to collide and so one must be an expert in finding the right equilibrium between [these three sets o f values]. .And that is why the word 'caution' [or] cautious' is my keyword and is so important to me. These emotions that I go through, not knowing whether [students react a certain way] either because I am Black, or because I am a foreigner, [or because I am a non-native speaker o f English.] or because I am .African, have an impact, o f course. They have led me to take this stance. Be cautious with these guys. You are culturally different [from them] so don’t behave in such a way as to frustrate them. Don't say anything that may sound inappropriate. Teach what you are supposed to [teach], don't go beyond that.' That's how I regulate my behavior vis â vis the students (12M. 10/02/99).
Mukembe emphasized, however, that he is not obsessed with these matters when he is teaching, the race factor in particular. One reason, he pointed out. is that in the classroom racial attitudes are hard to detect. He noted.
Outside the classroom, people may yell racial slurs at you. and so [. in that context.] racial attitudes are utterly open. In a classroom situation, however, you don't hear things like that. I f there are racial attitudes, they are hidden: you can't detect them. I have seen things, but I still refuse to admit that [they were race-related], because it would be difficult to prove. If we'd have to go to a court hearing or something, it would be embarrassing for me to prove the case. For example, if a student is impolite to me. it's hard to say whether it is because o f racial motivation or because of anything else. O f course, it is easy to make a quick judgment and say. 'This student did that because I am Black.' But. as I said, this is difficult to prove. So. when I am in class. 173 my position is. "I know the stuff I am going to teach you [i.e.. the students], no matter what the color o f my skin is. As long as I am in front o f you. assume and accept that I know the subject, [and] that I am capable o f teaching it.' And I would say 60% o f the students do agree with me. Thus, while I am aware o f the fact that race is one o f the reasons why students would have problems with tlieir instructor. I don't teach with that [awareness] in mind. Rather. I focus on my proficiency as a teacher, my knowledge, and my education (I2M . 10/2/99). '
4.2.5.2 Racial experiences
.\ cautious attitude in dealing with others was an issue that Mukembe often heard from his mother in his childhood. He had very little if any contact with White people, though his country was a colony o f a European nation. The only Whites he had contact with were the priests at the catholic mission where he attended school. Early on in his childhood, he lived among people o f his own tribe. When the family moved to another region, however
Mukembe was exposed to people o f different ethnicity. It was then that his mother drew his attention to ethnic tensions in the community in which they lived. He declared.
M\ mother was very, very keen on explaining ethnic differences to me. She was the one who reminded me [o f these differences by saying]. Hey. look, we are not at home here. So. watch out when you pla\ with other kids. Don't say anything that may lead them to take it negatively because we are a minoritx' here so pay attention.' .-\.s a child. 1 didn't care about my mother's explanation. I said. "Okay", but sometimes 1 saw things that made an impact on me. For instance, we had a farm and we would see our sheep, or goats, or pigs, with wounds, if not killed. .And my mother quickly attributed that to ethnic tensions because we didn't belong to the group so people didn't like us. So. 1 could sometimes feel that we were not accepted so easily, and 1 was moved by that. But still it was difficult for me to make the link between the killing o f a sheep and any ethnic motives behind it (11M. &9 99T
In addition, he mentioned that while studying in Belgium he had been stopped
repeatedly by the Belgian police for no apparent reason. On some occasions he had been
asked to produce papers that established that he had entered the countiy legally. 174 Confronted with the question whether this was not routine in that all foreigners had to undergo a similar treatment, he pointed out that since Whites make up the majority culture in Belgium it would be difficult for the Belgian police to distinguish a foreigner who is white from one who is a Belgian national. His skin color, on the other hand, and the fact that people o f color are a minority in Belgium, always made him stand out.
He contrasted his experiences in Belgium with his experiences in Britain, where he had experienced little or no racism while studying there. He also felt that racism in the
L'nited States is more subtle and referred to an incident in a store. On that particular occasion, the store attendant left him standing to serve a White customer, in spite o f the fact that he. Mukembe. had been waiting to be ser\ ed even before the White customer entered the store.
4.2.5.4 Summary
To summarize, while Mukembe seemed to advocate the inclusion o f certain
knowledge acquired outside o f the classroom in the teaching process, he preferred to
lea\ e other such knowledge, more specifically that which is related to racial matters,
outside o f the classroom. He fears that dealing with such controversial topics may cause
students to become quite uncomfortable, perhaps to such an extent that this may have
repercussions for his relationship with the students and even for his professional career.
He is. nevertheless, to some extent concerned about the question whether the color o f his
skin may affect his students' perceptions regarding his authority and expertise as an ESL
professional. He seemed to think that for ESL instructors who are not White, skin color is
a bigger hurdle for students to clear than the instructor's non-American or non-British
175 sounding accent. However, he argued that since racial attitudes are hard to detect, particularly in an educational setting, he rarely, if ever, thinks about them when teaching.
4.2.6 Case study F: Shelley
4.2.6.1 .Academic and professional profile
Shelley, a Chinese-.American whose ancestors came to the United States in the
mid U)'*' Century, had never really properly mastered their language. Cantonese, in spite
o f her mother's efforts to get Shelley and her siblings to learn it. However, by the time
she had earned her B.A from The University o f California at Santa Cruz. Shelley had
clearly come to understand that her identity was intrinsically linked to Cantonese. She
decided to go to Hong Kong, primarily for the purpose o f learning the language. She
lived there from the early to the mid 1970s. .At one point during her stay there, she got a job teaching English at a girls' middle school, an event that marked her entrance in the
field o f ESL. .As she put it. "I got the Job not because I had any training, but because I had
a university degree and I spoke English" (I2S. 8/11/99).
Upon her return to the U.S.. Shelley enrolled at the University o f California at Los
.Angeles where she earned her certificate in TEST and her credentials in Social Studies
and .Adult Education. Moreover, she taught in the university's intensive English
program, taught an intensive English course for Japanese during the summer, and was an
adult educator in the city's China town. Upon completion o f her credentials, she taught
at a high school for two years.
Shelley later went to New York where she taught ESL at the .American Language
Program at a major university on the East Coast as well as a number o f other well-
176 known colleges. She has also taught courses in citizenship and ESL to adults. She has been involved in research projects with tlrst and second grade classroom teachers who worked with language minoritv' students. At the time o f the interview, she was engaged
in a similar project elsewhere in the countrv'. In the seven years immediately prior to the
inter, iew. Shelley has been primarily involved in teacher education. She has taught courses in advanced English, pedagogical grammar, second language reading and
writing, and psycholinguistics.
4.2.6.2 Perspectives on teaching
Shelley declared that her philosophy o f teaching and conducting research is dialogic in nature. It is. among others, characterized by the inclusion o f the philosophical ideas o f non-Western scholars such as K'ung Fu-Tzu (Confucius) and Mao Zedong. She justified this particular characteristic by claiming. "The more that we in the field o f
TESOL go beyond the Western .A.cademy to search for knowledge, the more capable we w ill be to facilitate [the students'] learning [of] English" (12S. 11/8/99). Shelley distinguished four features to this approach, which emerged from her work with three
Chinese theologians in the 1980s. The first involves the teacher-student relationship, which holds that the instructor functions as a facilitator rather than a source o f all knowledge, making the students responsible for their own learning. Thus, the instructor does not impart knowledge; rather, the students obtain it by. for instance, continuously raising questions about the phenomenon under study.
The second feature emphasizes problem solving, i.e.. the instructor presents students with problems and their task is to solve them. W ithin this context. Shelley
177 maintains, writing, for instance, is not be done for the sake o f writing but for real purposes, such as writing a letter to the editor o f a newspaper to. "change something that
[the students] feel is really important" (I2S. 11/8/99). Shelley obser\ed that this feature requires knowing, "what [the students] need, what the reasons are why they want to learn the language, and how [language instructors] can facilitate [that]” (Ibid.). The third feature involves learning by doing. That is. the best way to acquire a skill, for instance. reading, is to engage in it. This feature requires that students practice this particular skill intensively and reflect on what they have learned at regular intervals so as to improve their capabilities. The final feature addresses the question who benefits from knowledge. i.e.. whose interests are being served by the knowledge gained by. in this case, both ESL students and professionals. With respect to this particular feature. Shelley commented.
We in the field o f TESOL have to ask this question, because English is an international language and traditionally the field o f TESOL has been dominated by the center. .And the majority [o f people] in the world that speak English are no longer in the center. They no longer speak with [a] Received Pronunciation accent or US accent, so English is an international language. You also have the issue o f linguistic imperialism and the issue o f language rights in many forms. Those are all posed by 'Knowledge for whom' (12S. 11/8/99)?
Based on this line o f reasoning. Shelley, furthermore, argued that the role o f ESL
professionals ought to go beyond the day-to-day teaching o f English. She stated.
1 believe that we in TESOL are all situated within a certain context and that we have to speak to the context. We have to speak both to people in international contexts around the world, but the best way of doing it is w ithin our own institutional contexts. So. if 1 am at this university then 1 w ould see my role as having a special responsibility to language minoritv students within the US and that should be my principle area of w ork. So. within my context it is important to get involved in legislative [issues], in fighting for education as both a statewide and a national issue. You have certain battles you can fight at a state level and certain at a national level. I do believe that the national discourse is ver\' important. [I believe] that it is important to look at not Just your 178 own school, your own county, or your own state. It is also important to look at what is going on across the US. to try to make an impact on the education o f language minorit}' students in Hawaii, Alaska and throughout the U.S. as well as in all o f the colonies o f the US. .And it is possible within one context like the US to learn from other advanced capitalist countries that have similar issues such as the UK and .Australia, because there are similar battles with indigenous people in .Australia or New Zealand as [there are] in the USA (I2S. 11/08/99).
4.2.6.3 Racial experiences
If this passage conveys an impression o f Shelley as a person who has a certain degree o f political activism, it is perhaps because she grew up in a household in which both her parents, her mother in particular, led politically vet}' active lives. Shelley declared.
[M jy mother had very strong beliefs. [She] was a member o f the N.A.ACP in the thirties. She was at Berkeley in the 1930s [where she picketed against] sending] scrap metal to Japan. [She] was ver\- progressive in [terms o f her opinions on] natural childbirth [and] breast-feeding when all o f her friends in the 1950s taught that that was primitive. I think that [my parents'] progressive values and their civic mindedness, their concern for others, was quite remarkable for that [time]. They were ver%’ different from most of their friends who were just into making money and climbing up themselves. .And I would also say that the student movement and the consciousness that I submerged myself into [was] because I had those values already (IIS . 10/15/99).
In addition. Shelley grew up during the time when the U.S. as a nation experienced great political upheavals: hers was the time when the C ivil Rights Movement
was in its heydays and protests against the war in Vietnam seemed to erupt all over the
counti}-. College campuses frequently served as stages where demonstrators demanded
civil rights and an end to the Vietnam War. .And so. while in college. Shelley was
politically highly active herself. She was. to begin with, a member o f the .Asian American
student organization on her campus. In addition, she participated in campaigns for the
recruitment o f minority students, the development o f a curriculum on ethnic studies, the 179 hiring o f professors to teach courses related to such a curriculum, and the execution o f research projects that would benefit the community rather than the careers o f the researchers. She also participated in students strikes, protests against the war in Vietnam. supermarket boycotts for the benefit o f farm workers, and demonstrations demanding the release o f Black political activists detained in the Soledad penitentiary.
Shelley acknowledged that during her childhood and adolescence she had never been exposed to blatant racial prejudice. "M ost o f my understanding [regarding this issue] is the stuff that my grandparents and parents went through, as opposed to me" (IIS.
U) 15 99). she declared. She noted that knowing a lot about her families' history made her aware o f the racism her grandparents and parents had to contend with. She recounted.
for instance, one particular incident involving her grandparents.
Since [my grandmother] was an .American citizen- [or so] they thought- she and my grandfather went to try to buy some propert>' under her name, because as an alien my grandfather was not allowed to buy any land. ... [Tjhey went to try to buy the land under my grandmother's name, and then found out that not only could she not buy the land, but she had lost her citizenship [as well] because she had married an alien. Then even though she was bom in the United States, she had to take citizenship classes, [and] hire a law yer... to get her citizenship back. (11 S. 10/15/99)
Shelley claimed, however, that as an academic she has been touched personally
by racial prejudice. She stated.
1 would say that my racial identity was really developed through my experiences in being radicalized [i.e.. her exposure to the political and philosophical ideas of. for instance. Mao Zedong] as a college student, but my experience in academia has been [quite] a racializing experience. It's constantly there; racism is so strong in academia that it's rubbing against you. 1 guess in a way my childhood was almost idyllic. Things are worse now at universities and in the academy then when 1 was a college student. (IIS . 10/15/99)
ISO She contended, moreover, that in the classroom her authenticit>' as an ESL professional has also been challenged at least in part because o f her race. She asserted.
Many times students think that I am not a native speaker o f English. I w ill say that this is an example of race affecting how people hear. ■Andy Curtis at Chinese University of Hong Kong calls it "hearing with your eyes.' People would hear him on the phone with his British accent [and had a positive image o f him]. Then he'd show up. they'd look at his face, and suddenly they'd have an entirely different demeanor in how they'd talk to him. Even though his accent hadn’t changed, their perception o f how they would talk to him had. That's [what he calls] "hearing with your eyes.' .And so. in terms o f students challenging the authority of their ESL instructor. I put race way up there because 1 do think are students being socialized to see English as a language spoken by White people only, and that somehow you're not really a good English speaker unless you're White. (12S. 11/08/99)
She also believes that certain developments in the t'leld have contributed to the perception among ESL students in particular that the native speaker is the ideal ESL professional. She argued.
1 think one o f the reasons why [the non-native English speaking ESL instructor] is marginalized has been because of Chomskian linguistics with its emphasis on native speaker intuition and syntax. It has led to a lot o f practices in my graduate program at [my university]. [The instructor would ask.] "W ill the native speakers raise their hand and say whether this [sentence] is grammatical or not?' We did this all the time. .Actually one o f the questions is. "Is it grammatical or not?' whereas the other question is: "Why is it or why is it not grammatical?' .And if you asked thal question then none o f the native speakers are worth anything without their class in pedagogical grammar. (12S. 11/08/99)
Shelley added, moreover, that in spite o f the significance o f race in the context o f education, the field o f ESL seems to have thus far failed to address what role race and its related issues play in the process o f second language teaching and learning. She claimed.
Look in any book on psycholinguistics or second language acquisition: they don't talk about race. Look in Ellis["s works]. Does he have race or racism in there? Is it mentioned? Even 181 linguists and sociolinguists that I respect ver\'. very much, don't talk about slavery. Neither do they talk about colonialism, nor the history of exclusion [of certain groups in .America], nor racism. So. the analysis o f linguistic variation is done without talking about racism or colonialism. And yet. race is critical to language acquisition as it is to all learning in education. (12S. 11/8/99)
She acknowledged, furthermore, that the issue o f racial identity' has influenced her perception o f people as racialized beings. She asserted.
1 would say that racial identity' has been such a part o f me that there is no way that 1 could ever say [in] the way [members of] the White majority might say that race is not an issue. 1 could not imagine saying something like. "1 don't care if someone is White, or Black or purple. 1 just treat ever\ body the same.' That is such a lack o f recognition o f what it means to be in the majority. (12S. 11/8/99).
She also asserted, however, that her authority and expertise may also be challenged on account o f her gender, not only by her students but also by colleagues and superiors. She observed.
It is also hard to tell a lot o f times if 1 am being challenged because 1 am a woman. Sometimes gender can be the most salient o f all o f the [factors]. 1 as an Asian woman could say the same thing as a White male [or] an .Asian .American male and it would be listened [and] attended to in an entirely different way. [.And so.] how much o f it is my race and how much o f it is because 1 am a woman, and how much of it is because [of my] political stances, is difficult to say. Moreover, with respect to authority and being listened to. the arguments o f a woman professor as opposed to a male professor, big difference. It's ver}' clear from my experience with tenure, it's just so systematic. Whereas in the past couple o f years all the male tenured professors who were up for promotion were successful in getting tenure, none o f their female colleagues were. So. gender can be extremely salient in academia. (11 S. 10/15/99)
4.2.6.4 Summan-
To summarize. Shelley's beliefs about teaching, based, at least in part, on
Eastern philosophical traditions, are characterized by four features: the teacher as 182 facilitator, learning through problem solving, learning by doing, and posing the question.
"Knowledge for whom?" Shelley, who has a personal histor\' of political activism,
believes that at times ESL professionals in the United States need to take political
stances for the benefit o f language education programs around the country. While she
had never been the victim o f racism in her childhood and adolescence, she claimed to
ha\e had her fair share o f racial and gender bias in academia. She has also witnessed
what she perceived as racial attitudes in the classroom and. to some extent, faults the
ESL protession for certain attitudes some ESL students may hold toward non-native
English speaking ESL professionals as well as ESL professionals o f color. She asserted
furthermore, that western media, among others, contributes to the creation and the
maintenance o f these and similar attitudes.
4.3 Cross case analysis
In this section, the cases are discussed in relationship with one another. .As
mentioned in the Introduction to this chapter, this discussion follows a comparison and
contrast approach and is conducted on the basis o f research questions 1 and 2. Each
discussion begins with a restatement o f the research question involved and concludes
w ith a general interpretation based on the outcomes o f the discussion. This general
interpretation should be understood in the context o f the teaching o f ESL in the United
States.
183 4.3.1 Discussion of research question 1
RO 1 : What kind o f racial experiences were the teacher-participants exposed to prior to entering the ESL profession?
Abate. .Vlukembe, and Erin were raised and educated in societies in which racial differences b\- and large tend to be less significant than ethnic differences or differences
in social class. The experiences o f Abalo and Mukembe. for instance, suggest that they
were socialized to regard members o f other ethnic groups with a certain degree o f either
.suspicion or condescension. Moreover, in their perception, social class apparently
regulated the degree and the kind o f interaction they could have with Whites in their
communities. So. differences in ethnicity and class rather than differences in race
apparently primarily determined their experiences with other members o f their society.
Erin, furthermore, grew up in a society that attached great significance to skin
color in addition to socio-economic status and cultural origin. .At an early age she became
conscious of how in Filipino society skin color frequently determined what kind of job
one got. whether one's romantic liaison was met with approval or disapproval by family
members, relatives and friends, and whether the birth o f a child was met with enthusiasm
or some measure o f disappointment. So. presumably. Erin's socialization included the
knowledge that a light complexion, as opposed to a dark complexion, provided one with a
certain degree o f distinction.
In addition, the kind o f attitude one develops toward issues o f race may not be
directly proportional to the extent to which one is exposed to racial intolerance. Shelley
and Jack, for instance, both grew up in 1960s .America. Shelley apparently had few. if
184 any. personal experiences with racial prejudice; what she knew about this phenomenon was primarily through her family's history. Jack, on the other hand, seemingly believed that he easily could have become the target o f the Hawaiians' attitude toward Haoles.
Given the experiences o f these two ESL professionals with racial prejudices, one might ha\ e expected Shelley to be less concerned with issues o f race: on the other hand, one might have expected Jack to come out and speak out against this phenomenon.
Shelley's and Jack's attitudes in terms of dealing with this phenomenon, however,
were perhaps contrary to expectation. Shelley actively campaigned for the recruitment o f
students o f color, the development o f a curriculum on ethnic studies, and participated in demonstrations in which protesters demanded the release o f imprisoned Black activists.
Jack, on the other hand, seems to mitigate the hostile attitude o f Hawaiians by arguing
that it might be perceived as retaliation against the Whites whose ancestors had
subjugated the Hawaiians.
What seems to enable Jack to mitigate the behavior o f Hawaiians is the fact that
there apparently are also positive stereotypical images associated with being a Haole. .As
he pointed out. Whites are also perceived as individuals who are intelligent and eloquent.
This positive stereotype probably sufficiently offsets the negative ones so as to render the
prejudice on the part o f the Hawaiians less disturbing to Jack. This may also explain why.
as he claimed, he has not necessarily become more aware o f the prejudice .Americans o f
color frequently experience.
While Shelley and Jack experienced racial prejudice as a phenomenon that was
projected from the outside in. (i.e.. directed against their racial group by outsiders).
Lindsey experienced this phenomenon as one that was projected from the inside out. i.e..
185 coming from people within her racial group. More specifically, from within her family and directed against outsiders. She grew up in a household in which she heard her father
repeatedly make reference to people o f color in derogatory terms. Moreover, she
described two o f her siblings as being rather prejudicial. Nonetheless, she managed to
keep an open mind where issues o f race are concerned. Her experiences in Japan, a
society in which Whites are a minority, contributed at least in part to her open-
mindedness. Due to what she believed were inappropriate actions on the part o f some
Japanese— them staring at her. touching her. asking her questions related to her racial
identity- Lindsey developed a greater sense o f awareness o f what it means to be racially
different.
In sum. it can be argued, first, thal the instructor-participants have been exposed
lo some type o f bias be it on account o f racial or ethnic identity, their social class status
and gender. Presumably, then, most people at some point in their life are exposed to some
type o f bias. Second, people o f color are not the only victims o f racial prejudice; White
people can be victims, too. albeit, perhaps, on a different scale, particularly if they
originate from a country- that wields significant economic and political power such as in
the United States. Particularly. White ESL instructors who work or have worked in
communities where Whites are a minority— be it in the United States or abroad— may
have been victimized. Third, not everyone reacts to racial prejudice in the same way.
Most ESL instructors o f color— and some White instructors as w ell— can be expected to
resist racial prejudice; other instructors, presumably Whites, may have an easier time
186 shrugging it o ff even if they are or have been victimized at one point in time given the power wielded by the WTiite community. Obviously, none o f these statements are new; they have all at one time or another been declared by others.
4.3.2 Discussion of Research Question 2
RQ 2: How do racial experiences imbue the instructors' theoretical approach to the teaching of ESL?
.\balo‘s ideas about teaching are to a significant extent inspired by his beliefs and perceptions o f what it means to be a Black person, particularly one who originates from a developing nation. For him. communicative language teaching, for instance, is not merely a methodology but rather an element industrialized nations such as the United States deploy in the political fencing they are engaged in with the developing nations. He believes, furthermore, that curricula and program designers in developing nations need to organize the teaching o f ESL in such a manner that it ser\ es an emancipatory purpose;
that is. it should support such nations in their efforts to become self-sufficient.
Moreover, .\balo maintains that writers o f language teaching materials should create products that enable the underprivileged to learn about the struggles o f others like
them from which they can draw courage and inspiration for their own endeavors. Thus,
for instance, textbooks should make reference to the struggles o f people o f color
elsew here in the world from w hich people o f color in the United States may draw
strength. In short. .Abalo's ultimate professional objective apparently is to contribute to
the elevation o f Black people in .Africa as well as those in the diaspora. Evidently. .Abalo
problematizes the institutional context he works in.
1 87 Erin, on the other hand, seems to adhere to an approach to teaching that is rooted in the principles o f traditional (language) classroom pedagogy. Her professional involvement, for instance, extents beyond the classroom which is evident from, as she pointed out. her reading o f the professional literature and her participation in professionally-related conferences. She adheres to a policy that suggests that the needs and abilities o f the students should drive the syllabus, a principle known as leamer- centeredness. She also is a proponent o f eclecticism, i.e.. bringing a variety o f techniques to the teaching situation to further advance the students' learning.
On the other hand. Erin appears to be conscious o f how issues o f race impact on the perceptions human beings hold o f one another. She is. for instance, well aware o f the role skin color played— and perhaps, to some extent, still plays— in Filipino societvv She is also cognizant o f how issues o f race have dominated .A.merican society and continue to do so. Such knowledge, however, does not seem to influence or manifest itself in her
ideas and beliefs about teaching. She seems to experience life inside and outside o f the classroom as two separate entities.
Like Erin. Jack. too. is aware o f the role issues o f race play in .American society.
In fact, while living in Hawaii during his adolescent years, he experienced how his
Whiteness to some extent made him the target o f racial prejudice and harassment. By the
same token, he suspects that his students feel comfortable with him in part by virtue o f
his Whiteness. That is. he conforms to their expectations o f the stereotypical .American
ESL instructor; an individual who is White and has blond hair and blue eyes. He also
believes that the students who currently make up the bulk o f the ESL clientele, namely
188 Asians, and specifically the Chinese, have certain perceptions o f Black people, and that these may. to some extent, impede a harmonious relationship between Asian students and
Black ESL instructors.
But as was the case with Erin. Jack's ideas about teaching do not reflect his experiences and. perhaps more importantly, his beliefs regarding the role race plays in the student-teacher relationship. .And so. while he acknowledges that for some students it does make a difference whether their ESL instructor is White or Black, he seems to neither problematize nor challenge these students' perceptions. He does not question the fact that one type o f skin color can give certain ESL students a sense o f comfort while another type may give rise to some degree o f apprehension on the part o f these same students. Rather, as he pointed out at least twice during the first interview, he does not have to think about it since it is just another fact o f life. Thus, apparently. Jack does not think about his teaching in terms o f challenging and attempting to change the socio
political status quo. Rather, his sole objective seems to be to ensure that the pedagogical
needs o f the students are met in that they develop, for instance, a clear understanding o f
the process o f academic writing and deeper insights into the structure o f the English
language.
Lindsey seems to approach her teaching from the perspective o f a social worker in
addition to that o f an educator. In the context o f the United States, she sees the teaching
o f English as more than imparting knowledge about the structure, mechanics, and
functions o f English. By teaching the students English, she pointed out. she seeks to ease
their transition from their own socio-cultural milieu into that of the host communitv’.
This, she obser\ ed. entails teaching them both academic and. to some extent, survival
189 skills. She also perceives o f the teaching o f English as a means to an end— the end being to enable the students to achieve the academic objective that brought them to the United
States— rather than an end in and o f itself. One may assume that im plicitly most or all o f the instructor-participants may see their professional duties in this light; Lindsey was the only one. however, to explicitly indicate this belief.
Like Jack. Lindsey experienced harassment on account o f the color o f her (White) skin, though, unlike Jack's, her experiences were perhaps more annoying than threatening. Living in Japan, she was frequently being stared at. touched, and asked all sorts o f questions, all o f which were the result o f her being White. But whereas Jack seemed to retlect upon his torment with a sense o f resignation— historically speaking, he said, the Hawaiians had a case against White .\merica— . Lindsey's experiences made her question the kind o f life people o f color in the United States have to endure on a daily basis. She is. moreover, keenly aware o f some o f the misperceptions a number o f ESL students hold about the United States and its people. .Again, this is not to say that the other instructor-participants are not: Lindsey was the only one. however, to explicitly mention this.
Consequently, she has on different occasions invited, among others,
representatives o f the various racial groups in .American society to speak to her students,
so that the latter are properly informed about these groups and can appreciate the unique
characteristics they bring to .American culture. Lindsey pointed out. however, that her
efforts can only go so far as scratching the surface, since, as she rightfully claimed, her
primary- task is still to impart knowledge about the English language through reading,
writing, and grammar exercises.
190 In thinking about her teaching. Lindsey may not be as progressive— or. some might say. as radical— as Abalo. In comparison to Erin and Jack, however. Lindsey does not seem to view the teaching o f ESL strictly in pedagogical terms but also in terms o f the opportunities it offers to raise awareness among ESL students about issues o f race as well as other social issues. Consequently, her approach to teaching clearly includes a social dimension in addition to one that is pedagogical in nature.
Like .\.balo. Mukembe is acutely aware o f how his Blackness may affect his relationship with some students. For instance, when on the second day o f a new quarter live students failed to show up. one possibility as to why that might have happened.
Mukembe reasoned, was that they were dissatisfied with having a Black ESL instructor.
Moreox er. in contemplating the statistics relative to the student survey, he was convinced that the ranking o f non-native English speakers from .Africa as the "least preferred ESL instructors" was racially motivated. He sees in this fact yet another reason why he should exercise caution in bringing up such a sensitive issue as race.
In terms o f how issues o f race affect their theoretical approach to the teaching o f
ESL. an interesting difference emerged between these two ESL instructors. Whereas
.Abalo perceives of ESL as a tool with which people in the developing world. Blacks included, might reduce their economic dependence on the industrialized nations.
Mukembe seemingly gives ver>' low priority to issues of race in his thinking about his teaching. .And whereas .Abalo speaks o f how textbook writers may contribute to the empowerment o f the underprivileged by including material that speaks to the latter.
Mukembe prefers to avoid issues o f race in his day-to-day teaching all together.
191 In general, one might say that he is reluctant to problematize issues o f race in the classroom. One explanation for his position apparently is his anxiety over antagonizing and perhaps further alienating his students if he were to engage in such activities without having what he considers to be the proper support o f one or more superiors.
Consequently, he is only w illing to address racial matters in the classroom if the curriculum, for example, specifies these as such.
Shelley's theoretical approach to teaching is a blend o f pedagogical, philosophical, and political ideas inspired by those set forth by not only western but also eastern philosophers such as K'ung Fu-Tzu (Confucius) and Mao Zedong. From a pedagogical point o f view, her teaching beliefs have much in common with, for instance. Erin's and
.lack's. Like them, she adheres to the principle o f student-centeredness. which, she argued, is attained through problem solving and hands-on activities. But unlike Erin and
Jack. Shelley also addresses the question of'interested knowledge', that is. the idea that
knowledge gained should serve the needs o f the underprivileged. This is perhaps also a
reflection o f her history o f political activism. In this sense. Shelley's belief resembles that
o f .\balo.
She is. moreover, keenly aware o f how her "Chineseness" causes some o f her
students to assume that she is neither an .American nor a native speaker o f English. She
asserted that the field o f second language acquisition has to some extent contributed to
this perception by failing to properly investigate the role o f race in second language
acquisition.
In sum. based on the degree to which the instructor-participants claimed to
incorporate issues o f race in their belief systems, this study distinguishes them into three
192 types o f instructors, namely race-distancing instructors, race-embracing instructors, and race-transcending instructors. The terms race-distancing, race-embracing, and race- transcending are borrowed from West (1993) who used them to distinguish between
\ arious types o f Black scholars. The usage o f the terms in this study differs from their usage in the original source. It should be noted, furthermore, that the distinction made here is arbitrary and to some extent perhaps even subjective; it is merely a reflection o f how the instructors came across upon analysis o f the data related to research question 2.
This study perceived of Jack. Erin, and Mukembe as race-distancing instructors.
That is to say. for various reasons these teachers have decided to separate their personal from their professional beliefs, and. thus, keep issues o f race outside o f their teacher thought processes. Put differently, they do not seem to incorporate their beliefs relative to issues of race into their teacher's belief system. Furthermore. Lindsey is perceived as a race-embracing instructor which means that she is devoted to addressing issues o f race in the ESL classroom. Finally. .A.balo and Shelley are perceived as race-transcending instructors, i.e.. not only do they wish to address issues o f race, they wish to address all issues that may result in the empowerment o f the underprivileged. Put in a different way. their objective seems to be raising the social consciousness and social responsibility o f their students.
4.4 A plurality of voices: A case of harmony or dissonance?
In a society marked by racial stratification such as the United States, issues o f race often tend to divide people along racial lines w ith contraiy views to match. To illustrate, arguably one o f the most memorable aspects o f the O.J. Simpson trial o f 1995
193 was the fact that many people who followed the proceedings were divided into two racially-based camps. But as the data included in this chapter suggest, in terms o f dealing w ith issues o f race in ESL classroom, the instructor-participants are not divisible into two neatly separated groups, for even at the intraracial level the instructor-participants hold opposing viewpoints and attitudes. Rather than to dwell on why the teacher-participants differ in their views. 1 want to discuss what one can learn from these different viewpoints.
To begin with, one learns that people deal with issues o f race in a variety o f ways.
For instance. Jack, a White ESL instructor, was acutely aware o f how his "cartoon
.American" looks— stereotypically described as having White skin, blue eyes, and blond hair— significantly contribute to his students feeling comfortable with him as their instructor. .At no point, however, did he seem to problematize the privilege that comes w ith being White. For him it is just another fact of life that the ESL teaching community has to contend with. By contrast. Lindsey's expediences in Japan as a White woman caused her not only to question how White skin or lack thereof mediates one's life. but. perhaps more importantly, to recognize it.
.Abalo's position with regard to addressing issues o f race in the ESL classroom also contrasts with that o f Mukembe. Both are Black West .Africans, but while .Abalo is committed to. t'or instance. Black liberation through his teaching. Mukembe pointed out that unless sanctioned by the curriculum, he avoids broaching the topic o f race in the ESL classroom. He fears that engaging his class in this topic may bring about a sense o f discomfort or maybe even anger among his students; worse still, he worries that their discomfort or anger when brought to the attention of his superiors may adversely affect his career.
194 Moreover, from the different points o f views on dealing w ith issues o f race in the
ESL classroom, one also learns that two persons might be members o f the same racial group, the fact that they were bom and raised in societies that differ from one another in the significance that the members attach to issues o f race, may result in them differing in their perceptions and attitudes toward these matters. Take, for instance, Erin who was born and raised in a society that, particularly during her childhood, apparently associated
skin color more with social class than with race. .-\s an adult, she is keenly aware o f how
issues of race impact life both in- and outside o f the ESL classroom, pointing out, for
instance, that given racial stereotypes in the U.S., Black ESL instructors w ill probably
have to work harder to establish their authority than their White colleagues w ill have to.
\'et, it seemed to me that when Erin was talking about racial matters, she did so as if she
were talking about a series o f events she witnessed as an outsider. While she could
clearly appreciate their significance, she could, at the same time, to a certain extent
disengage herself from the events because they were happening to others, not to her.
By contrast, Shelley, who like Erin is o f .\sian origin but was bom and bred in the
U.S., apparently is very passionate about issues o f race. Her mother's involvement in, for
instance, the N.A.ACP and other civil rights organizations and activities no doubt set
Shelley on course for speaking out against racism. Obviously, the protests against the war
in Vietnam and the demonstrations for racial equalit}', both occurring while Shelley was
growing up in the 1960s, served to further propel her activism.
Let me hasten to say that there is nothing urong with Erin's attitude as described
above. If anything, it is perhaps to pical o f people who were bom and raised in a society
in which issues o f race carry less weight than in a countrv' like the U.S. In fact. 1 believe
195 that it is precisely the kind o f disengagement I claimed Erin displayed that allows one to conduct the type o f research reported here without anger, bitterness, or rancor seeping through in one's writing. I believe that in this report those sentiments were kept at bay since 1 did not come to the study with the kind o f burning passion that. say. a Black
.American might have, although I was very' enthusiastic about my research from the first day and my passion was fueled as the study progressed. This, o f course, is not to say that
Black .Americans, or any other .American for that matter, cannot write on issues o f race w ithout their anger, bitterness, or rancor seeping through: 1 guess that they may just need to muster a higher degree o f self-discipline to ensure that those sentiments do not interfere with their fairness and impartiality than I had to.
Finally, one learns that the six instructors are the products o f the countries and regions they represent, namely .Africa. .Asia and North America. Unlike the United
States. .African and .Asian nations are by and large racially homogenous: consequently.
in these nations issues o f race may not cany the same weight as. for instance.
Fdmonston and Schultze ( 1995) have pointed out. .Accoding to these scholars.
research by the Census Bureau indicates that foreign-bom Hispanics. foreign-born .Asian and Pacific Islanders, and foreign-bom Blacks view the concept o f race differently from the native U.S. population. For example, foreign-bom Hispanics and foreign-bom .Asians and Pacitlc Islanders view race in terms o f national origin or language. (p.376)
Thus. Edmonston and Schultze asserted that, according to researchers at the U.S. Census
Bureau, certain foreign nationals tend to understand issues o f race, including racial
difference, in terms o f nationalitv and linguistic identitv.
196 Moreover, among Africans, tribal rivalries rather than racial differences are responsible for the frequent wars on the continent. Moreover, as, for instance, both Erin and Abalo obser\ ed. differences in social class more so than race can lead to friction among members o f Asian and African communities. Thus, one reason why. at the interracial level, the instructor-participants are not unanimous in dealing with issues o f race in the ESL classroom is that the ideas, beliefs, and emotions the social construct o f race evokes are not universally shared.
Contrat}- to what one may be inclined to believe, these differences in view do not necessarily produce a Babel-like confusion. Rather, they are more like sounds which while different in pitch still result in the production of a harmonious piece of music. Or as
Peel (2000) observed. "One o f the fundamental tenets o f twentieth-century theory ... is that thought, understanding and knowledge are grounded in difference, that experience
begins when the I becomes separate from the you. [and] the self [becomes separate] from
the o ther... (p.2). Thus, in the case o f this study, the different views expressed by the
instructor participants contribute significantly to one's thinking, understanding, and
knowledge o f how race as a social force is experienced differently by different persons at
both the interracial and the intraracial level. And herein lies the significance o f the case
studies discussed in this report.
•4.5 Summary
The objective o f this chapter was. first, to describe the six case studies that made
up the qualitative component o f the investigation and. second, to provide a cross-case
analysis based on these cases. Most o f the teacher-participants reported having had
197 experiences that seemed to be racially motivated or experiences that enabled them to understand why someone might look at an incident as to be one that is racially motivated. Finally, some instructors suggested that the ESL profession does not encourage students and teachers enough to think about and discuss social issues such as race in the classroom.
198 CHAPTER 5
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF THE INSTRUCTOR
PREFERENCE SURVEY
5.1 Introduction
According to Connie Perdreau, the author ot'a study on the concerns o f Black hSL professionals.
most students prefer to be taught by a ’ native speaker' o f English, and most employers prefer to hire ’native speakers'. In both cases native speakers were perceived as white and .American (or British). This perception was true regardless o f the race o f the student or employer. (cited in Nero. 1998. p. 15; parentheses in the original)
The issue of preference for a particular categoiy o f ESL instructor on the part o f ESL students is at the heart o f this chapter that reports on the results o f Items 4. 5. and 7 o f the
Instructor Preference Survey designed for and used in the present study.
The reader is referred to Chapter 3 for a detailed discussion and description o f the surve\ and the research participants. Suffice it to say here that the participants in this surv ey were enrolled in the ESL programs at two institutions of higher learning. San
Christobal State University and San Christobal Comm unit}' College, both located in San
Christobal. a metropolis in the U.S. Midwest. Moreover, items 4 and 5 o f the survey
investigated the preferences o f ESL students for one group o f ESL instructors over
199 another. However, whereas in item 4 the instructors were identified on the basis o f race,
in item 5 the instructors were identified on the basis o f geographic origin and by their
status as either native or non-native speaker o f English. Item 7 o f the survey investigated
what significance the research participants attached to the instructor's racial background
relative to the student-teacher relationship.
The report presented here utilizes the following format. First, the research
question ( RQ) relative to the item is restated. Next, the findings relative to the question
are discussed, and the discussion is concluded with a general interpretation by the
researcher based on the outcomes o f the discussion. This general interpretation should be
understood in the context o f the teaching o f ESL in the United States.
5.2 Results and discussion
5.2.1 Discussion of research question 3
RQ 3: To what extent did the student-participants exhibit a disposition for a particular
eategoiy o f ESL instructors'?
Tables 5.1 through 5.4 are used to show from various angles the extent to which
ESL students display a proclivity for a particular category o f ESL instructors. In Table
5.1. the raw scores awarded by one group o f student-participants to the categories o f
instructors are presented. Here, the term "raw score" refers to the total number o f score
points awarded by one group o f participants to a particular categoiy of instructor! s). The
score points ranged from 1 to 4. with 1 meaning "preferred". 2 meaning "worth having".
200 3 meaning ■’acceptable” and 4 meaning "last resort” , the term ’ last resort' should be interpreted as the ESL instructor one turns to in the absence o f other, more preferred
ESL professionals.'
One should also keep in mind that the higher the number o f score points is. the less a particular instructor is preferred; on the other hand, the lower the number o f score points, the more a particular instructor is preferred. Moreover, as noted in Chapter 3. given the relatively small number o f respondents from .Alrica. the Middle East, and South and Central .America in this sample (n = 22). it seemed more sensible to classify these students in one group rather than classifying them in groups based on their region o f origin. Hence, the creation o f the label ".Amesca” . which is the acronym derived from the first letter or letters o f the geographic regions listed above, and necessarily in that order.
The research participants in that group are referred to as ".Amescans.”
Instructors by ^ — Raw scores per instructor awarded Sum racial catcgmy^ by each group of participants of .Asians Europeans Amescans Raw Student- (n = 138) (n = 14) (n = 22) Scores participants African American 426 41 51 518 Asian .American 319 36 60 415 Hispanic .American 415 31 47 493 White .American 167 12 26 205
Tahlc 5. /. Stiideni-pciriicipcmts ' preferences for American ESL instructors o f diverse racial hackp.round based on raw scores awarded
Table 5.1 shows that the .Asian and European participants awarded the highest number o f score points to the .African .American instructor, while the .Asian instructor received the highest number o f score points from the .Amescans. Put differently, the student-participants from .Asia and Europe preferred the Black .American ESL instructor the least, while the .Amescans showed the least preference for the .Asian .American ESL 201 instructor. The White ESL instructor received the lowest number o f score points from all three groups o f participants. In other words, all three groups o f student-participants preferred the White ESL instructor the most. Finally, in terms o f preference, the
.•\mescans seemed to make little difference between the Black .American and Hispanic
.American instructor.
Table 5.2 shows, in percentages, how the preferences within each o f the groups o f student-participants were distributed over the four levels of preferences. To enable the reader to determine at a single glance which preference level the student-participants had
most frequently checked o ff for a given instructor, the percentage relative to that level
has been highlighted. The reader is reminded that preference level 1 means "preferred",
level 2 means "worth having", level 3 means "acceptable" and level 4 means "last
resort", where the term "last resort' should be interpreted as "the ESL instructor one turns
to in the absence o f other, more preferred ESL professionals.'
Student-partici-^^ .Asians (n = 1 3 8 ) Europeans (n=14) Amescans (n=22) pants (numbers refer to % ) (num bers refer to % ) (n u m b e rs refe r to % )
I “ 3 4 I 2 3 ; 4 1 2 3 4 Categories of Instructors .A frican A m erican 1.4 19.6 29.7 44.2 0.0 7.1 35.7 ; 42.9 13.6 18.1 36.4 18.1
Asian American 14.5 39.6 28.3 13.0 0.0 21.4 42.9 1 21.4 9.1 9.1 27.3 40.9 1
Hisp. .American 0.7 23.2 34.8 36.2 0.0 57.1 21.4 ' 7.1 18.1 31.8 13.6 22.7
White American 79.0 13.0 1.4 2.9 85.7 0.0 0.0 1 0.0 59.1 22.7 4.5 0.0
Table 5.2: Percentage distribution by group o f student-participants regarding the preferences for American ESL instructors o f diverse racial origin. Legend: /= preferred: 2= worth having: i= acceptable: ■/= last resort
2 0 2 One conclusion that can be drawTi from Table 5.2 is that while the \&Tiite
•American was perceived as ‘ preferred' by each o f the three groups o f student- participants. the .Amescans. in this respect, seemed to hold a less strong opinion in comparison to the .Asian and European respondents. Nevertheless, in all. 134 (77%) o f the 174 student participants perceived o f the White .American ESL instructor as the
■preferred' instructor. The data seemed to suggest, furthermore, that the student- participants applied ethnic affinity as a criterion for the instructor they believed was
‘ worth having.' Thus, for instance, among the .Asian student-participants the .Asian
.American instructor is perceived as 'worth having' while the European student- participants attached this label to the Hispanic instructor.
The data indicated, moreover, that a good number o f the .Asian participants— 61 to be precise— perceived o f the Black .American and the Hispanic .American ESL instructor as a last resort.' but somewhat more perceived the latter, as opposed to the former, as acceptable. The Black ESL instructor was also the last resort among the
European participants; however, in comparison to the .Asian participants, a somewhat larger percentage o f European participants perceived the Black .American ESL instructor as acceptable.' .Among the Amescans. the .Asian American instructor was more likely to be perceived as the ‘ last resort.' Moreover, the European student-participants tended to perceive the Black .American ESL instructor either as ‘acceptable' or the ‘ last resort.' In general, the data seemed to suggest, that the instructor perceived as ‘the last resort' was the one with w hich a particular group o f participants was least likely to share
phenotypical features. It is also worth noting that none o f the ESL instructors o f color
was perceived as preferred' by the European participants.
2 0 3 The preference among the student-participants for White American ESL instructors raised the question whether a similar situation was likely to be encountered in a scenario involving native and non-native English-speaking ESL instructors from geographical regions beyond the United States. In Table 5.3. the statistics are presented regarding the extent to which one group of ESL instructors, divided on the basis o f geographic region and status as either a native or normative speaker o f English, is preferred to another (Item 5 o f the survey). The reader is requested to note that:
(a) the term NESPs and Non-NESPs refer respectively to Native English-Speaking
Professionals and Nonnative English-Speaking Professionals;
(b) in this study, the term "European NESPs" refers to native speakers o f English from
The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland;
(c) the assumption is that the respondents associated the terms ".African". ".Asian", and
"European" with the traditional racial classification of humankind, in this case. Black.
Mongoloid, and White respectively;
(d) Table 5.3 distinguishes between East- and Southeast .Asian ESL instructors; le) to determine the extent to which East .Asian students would favor ESL instructors
from their own region, the respondents originating from .Asia were also subdivided
into participants from East and Southeast .Asia; and
( f) the higher the number o f score points a class o f instructors receives, the less a
particular class o f instructors is preferred; on the other hand, the lower the number o f
score points, the more a particular class o f instructors is preferred.
(g) the term "raw score" refers to the total number o f score points awarded by one group
of participants to a particular category of instructor(s).
2 0 4 (h) the score points ranged from 1 to 6. with 1= meaning "preferred." 2 meaning "worth
hav ing." 3 meaning " satisfactory." 4 meaning "acceptable." 5 meaning "tolerable."
and 6 meaning "last resort." where the term 'last resort' should be interpreted as 'the
ESL instructor one turns to in the absence o f other, more preferred ESL
professionals.'
Categories of Raw scores per categors of Instructors by Sum Instructors ^ — each group of student-participants of raw East South Euro .Ames scores Asians Asians peans cans (n = 99) (n = 39) (n = 14) (n =22) ,/Student-participants NESPs A frica 310 123 34 65 532
NESPs South .Asia 368 139 36 72 615
NESPs Europe 131 60 17 41 249 Non-NESPs Africa 5 2 : 200 64 105 891 N on-N ES Ps East .Asia 380 143 61 109 693 Non-NESPS Europe 373 159 40 73 645
Tahlc 5.3: Sliulcni-parlicipanl.s ' preferences fur \ESPs and .\on-.\'ESPs based on raw scores
The scores in Table 5.3 show that all four groups o f participants recorded the lowest score for the NESPs from Europe. In other words, all four groups o f student- participants preferred the native English-speaking ESL instructor from Europe the most.
The East .Asian. South .Asian, and European participants recorded the highest score for
Non-Nesps from .Africa while the Non-NESPs from .Asia received the highest score from the .Amescans. Put differently, nonnative English-speaking ESL instructors from .Africa were the least preferred by the respondents from East .Asia. Southeast .Asia, and Europe. while the .Amescans preferred the nonnative English-speaking ESL instructors from East
.Asia the least. Furthermore, within the category o f Non-NESPs. the European Non- 205 NESPs received the lowest number o f score points from the East Asians, the Europeans,
and the Amescans.
Table 5.4 shows, in percentages, how the preferences o f each o f the groups o f the
student-participants were distributed over the six levels o f preferences. To enable the
reader to determine at a single glance which preference level the student-participants had
most frequently checked o ff for a given instructor, the percentage relative to that level
has been highlighted.
For each category o f ESL instructor, the percentage relative to the preference
level that received the most tallies has been hiahliahted.
Student- East Asian rcspondeflls (n = 99) Southeast .Asian respondcntsfn = 39) respondents (num bers refer to % ) (num bers refer to % )
Categories of 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 1 5 ! 6 instructors NF.SPs Africa 5.1 28.2 37.4 14.1 8.1 7.1 5.1 30.8 30.8 17.9 1 7.8 1 7.8 Nesps South Asia 3.0 26.3 22.2 10.1 17.1 20.2 0.0 28.2 33.3 7 8 1 15.4 1 15.4 NESPs Europe 79.8 13 .1 4 0 2.0 0 0 1.0 71.8 12.8 7.8 5.1 1 2.6 1 0.0 Non-NESPs Africa 0 0 0.0 4 0 16.2 27.3 51.5 2.6 0 0 5.1 7.8 1 43.5 i 41.0 N on-N ESPs East Asia S.I 12.1 11.1 32.3 25.3 10.1 12.8 15.4 12.8 23.1 1 23.1 1 12.4 Non-NESPs Europe 3.0 18.2 18.2 29.3 22.2 9.1 5.1 10 3 10 3 41.0 i 12.8 1 20.5
Table 5.4: Percenlage distribution by group o f student-participants regarding the preferences for XESPs and Non-NESPs. Legend: /= preferred: 2= worth having: 3= satisfactory: 4= acceptable: 5= tolerable: 6= last resort.
206 Student- European respondents (n = 14) Amescan respondents (n = 22) respondents (num bers refer to % ) (numbers refer to % )
Categories 3 5 6 1 3 I 4 5 6 1 3 1 i ^ of instructors : i 1 .NESPs .Africa 0 0 i 35.7 35.7 1 7.1 7.1 0.0 18.2 27.3 1 8.2 1 18.2 13.6 4.5 Nesps South .Asia 0.0 1 28.6 28.6 1 28.6 0.0 0.0 13.6 18.2 1 31.8 1 13.6 9.1 13.6
NESPs Europe 71.4 1 7.1 0.0 1 0.0 7.1 0.0 50.0 31.8 i 9.1 ! 4.5 0.0 4.5 Non-NESPs .Africa 0.0 1 0.0 7.1 1 0.0 35.7 42.8 0.0 4.5 1 4.5 1 18.2 54.5 18.2 N on-NESPs East Asia 0.0 1 0.0 7.1 1 14.2 28.6 35.7 4.5 9.1 ! 13.6 1 9.1 9.1 13.6 .Non-NESPs Europe 14.2 1 14.2 0.0 1 35.7 7.1 7.1 9.1 9.1 i 27.2 1 36.4 4.5 9.1
Table 5.4 (Coniinucd): Percentage distribution by group o f student-participants regarding the preferences for SESPs and .\'on-XESPs. Legend: 1= preferred: 2~ worth having: 3= satisfactory: 4= acceptable: 5= tolerable: 6= last resort.
Table 5.4 shows that the four student groups were unanimous in their choice o f preferred instructor, (i.e.. the native-English-speaking ESL instructors from Europe). In
all. 128 ( 73.6 “ q ) o f the 174 participants chose the native-English-speaking ESL instructors from Europe as their preferred instructor. Moreover, the student-participants tended to perceive NESPs from South .Asia primarily as instructors that were
's a tisfa cto ryto be precise 50 (29.0 percent) o f 174 student-participants did so.
The data show, furthermore, that, by and large, the student-participants perceived
Non-NTs'ESPs from .Africa primarily as either 'tolerable' or as a 'last resort'. To be precise. 49 (28.2%) o f the 174 student-participants perceived them as "tolerable', while
77 (44.3“ o) thought o f this group o f ESL instructors as a 'last resort'. The data also
suggest that the East Asian participants were more likely to perceive Non-NESPs from
.Africa as "last resort' instructors, while .Amescans were more likely to perceive these
instructors as 'tolerable'. In addition. Non-NNESPs from .Africa were also the least likely
to be perceived as the 'preferred' ESL instructor: only one (.6%) of the 174 participants
perceived them as such. It is. however, not likely that the perceptions the student-
207 participants have o f Non-NESPs from Africa are related to the race o f the latter. This argument is supported by the fact that the student-participants were more likely to perceive NESPs from .Africa as either instructors 'worth having', as did 51 (29.3%) of
174 student-participants. or as instructors the student-participants were satisfied with, as did 58 (33.3%) of the 174 student-participants.
By and large, both the East and the South Asian student-participants seemed to make little difference between ESL instructors from .Africa who speak English as their LI as opposed to those from South .Asia. One might have expected to find some difference in favor o f the East .Asian instructors for two reasons. First, as the .Asian research participants and the latter category' o f ESL instructors originated from the same continent, one might ha\e expected the .Asian student-participants to exhibit greater affinit}' with
nati\ e-F.nglish-speaking ESL professionals from .Asia than with those originating from
the .African continent. Second, one might have presumed that the .Asian participants were
more likely to be familiar with the usage and users o f South .Asian English than with the
usage and users o f .African English. This presumption is inspired by the fact that 120
(87“ o) o f the 138 .Asian respondents in this study claimed to have had no exposure to
Black ESL instructors prior to their arrival in the United States. This matter, w ill be
addressed in greater detail in section 6.3.2
Relative to the historical prejudice in China and Japan against Black people
discussed in the Review o f the Literature, the attitude o f East .Asian students for in
particular NESPs from Africa gives one pause. True, the East .Asian students preferred
Black .American ESL instructors and Non-NESPs from .Africa the least, but in this respect
ihe> apparently were not different from the European research-participants and. to some
:o8 extent, even from the ,\mescans. .And if their preference for White ESL instructors seemed to suggest that they highly value White people, then, once again, they are not alone in their sentiments, since these seemed to be shared by the .Amescans as well. Thus, the preference the East .Asian students showed for NESPs from .Africa suggests that by and large these research participants did not seem bear any ill-w ill to Black people based on race. Consequently, it cannot be emphasized enough that the historical over\'iew o f racial beliefs in China and Japan provided in Chapter Two o f this report should not be interpreted as an all-out assault on the people of these two nations or .Asians in general.
To summarize, the data discussed in this section suggest that given a choice between four .American ESL instructors, the student-participants. on average, would opt for one who is White. Moreover, the students make a similar choice when selecting from among ESL instructors who differ from one another in terms o f race, geographic origin, and linguistic identity. Finally, the statistics in both tables show that both White
.American ESL instructors as well as European NESPs are more likely to be preferred to all other ESL instructors, including those instructors who speak English as their LI. Thus, the student-participants seemed highly convinced that their ESL instructor should be a
White person. To summarize, the data suggested that the student-participants tended to
show a strong preference for White ESL instructors.
2 0 9 5.2.2 Discussion of research question 4
RQ 4: To what extent does race contribute to the disposition the student-participants exhibited toward a particular category of ESL instructors?
Tables 5.5 and 5.6 form the basis o f the discussion regarding the extent to which racial origin intluences the student-participants" preference for a particular category of
ESL instructors. In Table 5.5, the statistics regarding the influence o f social factors on the acceptance o f ESL instructors are presented. It should be noted that
(a) the higher the number o f score points awarded to a social factor, the less influential
the participants perceived that factor to be in the student-teacher relationship; on the
other hand, that the lower the number o f score points awarded to a social factor, the
more impact the participants believed a given social factor has on the student-teacher
relationship;
(b) the term "Geographic Origin" used here means "continent." while the term
"Nationality" refers to "country o f origin;"
(Cl the term "raw score" refers to the total number o f score points awarded by one group
o f participants to a particular social factor;
(d) the score points ranged from 1 to 6. with 1= meaning "highly influential." 2 meaning
"inlluential." 3 meaning " somewhat influential." 4 meaning "important." 5 meaning
"of limited influence." and 6 meaning "trivial."
2 1 0 Social factors Raw Scores awarded by Groups of Sum Participants to Each Social Factor of raw East Euro Ames scores Student- .Asians peans cans participants (n = 138) (n = 14) (n = 22) Gender 587 56 81 724 Geographic origin 332 28 63 423 Nationality 354 39 58 451 Racial origin 455 53 83 591 Religious denomination 598 45 100 743 Sexual orientation 590 46 76 712
Tahk 5.5: The degree o f influence o f selected social factors as perceived by the student- participants on the acceptance o f ESL instructors based on the rmv scores
The data in Table 5.5 suggest that the East .-\.sian and European participants bclicN cd that geographic origin and nationality were the two most influential social factors in the teacher-student relationship. The .Amescans shared the belief o f the Asian and the European participants that these two factors are the most inlluential. albeit, apparently, in reverse o f order o f importance. The participants were less unanimous in their belief as to w hich factor was the least influential. For the .Asian participants and the
.Amescans. religious denomination carried the least weight, while the European participants saw gender as the social factor having the least impact on the relationship betw een teacher and student. By ranking the sum o f the raw scores in ascending order, one learns that the top three social factors influencing the acceptance o f ESL instructors
by the student-participants were geographic origin (423 score points), nationality (451
score points) and racial origin (591 score points).
Table 5.6 shows, in percentages, how. within each o f the group o f student-
participants. the degree to which the student-participants believed the selected social
til factors influenced the working relationship between teacher and students were distributed. To enable the reader to determine at a single glance which level o f influence the student-participants had most frequently checked o ff for a given social factor, the percentage relative to that level has been highlighted.
2 1 : S liiilcnl- Asian sluilciils (ii=IJK) Kiiro|(eaii sliidciits (ii=l4) Amescans (n=22) iVN|iiiii(lriil% (niiiiilirrs refer In iiei eeiilaues (iiiiiiiliers refer lu perceiilaKes (iiiiinliers refer lu pereenlanes 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 .Social faclocN M (irm lc r ____ 65 L2JL M 5 171 115 34.8 7 1 7 1 14 3 2 1 4 7 1 35.7 4 5 1.3 0 30.4 4.5 9.1 27.3 Ul (ico ^rap liic oii(^in J13) 22 .5J 171 i(M> J'ü-L II 50.0 14.3 14.3 0 0 7.1 7.1 22.7 27.3 0.0 4.5 27.3 9.1 IN.ilioiialily 2 0 .« 31.9 15 9 l.VO KO 4 3 0.0 2 X 0 14 3 35.7 7.1 0 0 22.7 27.3 9 1 13.0 4.5 13.6 36.4 1.3.6 Kacial_orjj;iii MO J ji_ 9 29.7 22 5 J j Ü L 5 H 0.0 0 0 2 1 4 J 4 3 42.9 7.1 9.1 4.5 13.0 13.0 Kcl. Drnoinliialioii .VO «.7 l.VO 25.4 2.V9 25,4 _ (ML 35.7 ' 2 1 4 1 7 14 3 14,3 0.0 4.5 13.0 18.2 22.7 36.4 .Sexual o ric iila llo ii I I s 7 2 7 2 10 9 27 5 3 i o 35.7 0 0 7 1 7 1 14 3 2K 0 31 8 4 5 4 5 18 2 0 0 36.4
Tiihlc 5 6: l\'i\ciiU i^e Jislrihiilion by ^rauf) o f studcnl-participants rcyorJiny the iujluencc o f selected social Jticlors on the working relolionsliii) between teacher and student, l.eyeiul: I ^ liiyhly in/liienlial; 2 - injliiential; 3 - somewhat injluential; 4= important; 5 -o f hmitetl influence. 6- trivial Table 5.6 shows that, percentagewise, the Asian participants were more likely to perceive racial origin as being of greater influence on the working relationship between teacher and students than did their European and Amescan counterparts. More specifically, while the .Asian students were more likely to perceive racial origin as a
factor that is somewhat influential, the European and .Amescan respondents were more likely to perceive this social factor as having limited influence.’ Moreover. .Asian student-participants seemed to credit greater influence to nationality in the working relationship between teacher and students than did the Europeans or the .Amescans.
The data also show that geographic origin o f the instructor was less o f a concern
for the .Amescans in comparison to both the .Asian and European student-participants.
while the instructor’ s gender proved to be o f greater concern to the .Amescans than to
either the .Asian or European participants. O f the three groups o f student participants, the
.Asians appeared to be the least concerned with the sexual orientation o f the instructor.
Finally, religious denomination appeared to be o f greater significance to the European
student-participants than to the .Asians or .Amescans.
Table 5.6 also shows that racial origin was o f greater significance to the .Asian
research participants than it was to the Europeans and .Amescans. These two groups o f
participants, in turn, attached more or less the same significance to the racial origin o f the
ESL instructor. Moreover, both the .Asian and the European participants believed that the
two most influential factors in the teacher-student relationship were the geographic origin
and the nationality o f the instructor. The statistics in Table 5.6 show that the European
participants attached somewhat greater significance to geographical origin than their
.Asian counterparts; the reverse is the case with respect to nationality, however.
2 1 4 While ihe research participants seemed to claim that geographic origin and nationality are the most influential social factors determining the extent to which they perceive o f an ESL instructor as a person they can accept and easily work with, circumstantial evidence, specifically, the data obtained from Item 4. leads one to question this claim. The reader is reminded that the scenario on which Item 4 was based presented the research participants with four ESL instructors who were identical in terms o f nationality and geographic origin: all four had been identified as .A.mericans. and thus originating from the same continent, i.e.. North .America. .As the data in Table 5.1 have shown, the participants tended to gravitate toward the White .American ESL instructor, who. on average, received 205 score points. On average, the .Asian. Hispanic and Black
.American ESL instructor received 415. 493. and 518 score points respectively, and thus considerable more than their White .American colleague, making them less preferable as liSL instructors in the eyes o f the student-participants than their White .American ESL instructor.
Given these statistics, the aforementioned claim o f the student-participants leaves one w ith a nagging question: how does one account for the fact that on average, the
White .American ESL instructor received score points that were twice lower than that o f the .Asian .American and Hispanic .American ESL instructor, and two-and-a-half times low er than that o f the Black .American ESL instructor? This question gains even more significance when one takes into account that all four instructors had the same national it}- and originated from the same continent. In the light o f the question above, the aforementioned claim o f the research participants sounds somewhat suspect.
115 It should be noted that while, on average, geographic origin and nationality- received 423 and 451 score points respective, racial origin received 591 score points.
Thus, the student-participants apparently credited greater significance to geographic origin and nationality as social factors in determining the extent to which they perceive o f an ESL instructor as a person they can accept and easily work with, while they seemed to downplay the influence o f the instructor's racial background in this respect.
1 lowe\ er. the racial background of the instructor may possibly play a greater role in the perception o f the student-participants than they might be aware o f or perhaps are w illing to admit.
Edmonston and Schultze ( 1995). quoted in Chapter 4 (see p. 196). have asserted that an interrelationship exists between national origin and race in the minds o f nationals horn and raised outside o f the United States. These scholars, referring to findings from the U.S. Census Bureau, asserted that certain foreign nationals tend to understand issues of race, including racial difference, in terms of nationality and linguistic identity. With
regard to this study, this finding implies that the student-participants may very well be attributing greater significance to racial identity as a factor in granting authenticity to an
ESL instructor than the score points they have awarded this social factor and its
subsequent ranking seem to suggest. Put differently, the effects o f racial identity on the
social dimension o f the ESL classroom may be greater than implied by the statistics
reported in Table 5.6
In sum. while there is no hard evidence that proves that the student-participants
based their preference for White ESL instructors on the racial origin o f the latter, there is
216 circumstantial evidence in the form o f the argument raised by Edmonston and Schultze discussed above that suggests that this particular social factor played a greater role in the aforementioned preference than the student-participants may have realized.
5.2.3 Discussion of research question 5
RQ 5: What do the instructor-participants know about the disposition the student- participants exhibited for a particular category' o f ESL instructors?
The indisputable disposition that the student-participants ha\ e exhibited toward
White ESL instructors— and which, given the findings by ,A.min ( 1997. 1999) and
Perdreau, cited in Tobash ( 1996) and Nero ( 1998) is shared by other ESL students— raises the obvious question to what extent ESL instructors themselves are aware o f this sentiment. Or. in a more general sense, one may wonder to what extent ESL instructors are aw are of the impact that their racial background may have on their relationship with
their students. One way o f establishing the extent o f their awareness is by examining their
beliefs regarding challenges on the part o f students related to their authority and
expertise. For if an instructor senses that his or her position as the person in control as
well as his or her know-how are repeatedly being questioned by the students, that can
make for a rather uneasy relationship between the parties involved.
Most of the instructor-participants. including Jack and Lindsey, both of whom are
White, believed that as far as the level o f comfort between students and teachers is
concerned. White ESL instructors have a clear head start over their colleagues o f color.
,\s Jack so aptly stated, most ESL students who come to the United States often do so
with "the cartoon .American" in mind, a belief shared by Lindsey. The "cartoon
2 1 7 American" metaphor holds that the typical American-- and. ergo, the typical American
ESL instructor— is a person who is White, has blond hair and blue eyes. Since, as Jack noted, he meets the students' expectations o f an ‘authentic' ESL instructor, his presumption is that his relationship with them w ill be good. He. therefore, has no need to ponder the question how his racial identity w ill affect his relationship with the students.
.And as Lindsey so eloquently remarked, in terms o f their relationship with ESL students.
White ESL instructors have nowhere to go but dowTi.
The teacher-participants o f color, on the other hand, could refer to at least one
incident when they were left wondering whether their authority and expertise might
possibly have been challenged on account o f their race. What made it virtually impossible
for them, as well for the White colleagues, to unequivocally state that racial identity has
an impact on the teacher-student relationship is the intertwinement o f race with a host of
social categories such as linguistic origin, gender, and geographical origin, to mention a
few.
To illustrate, with the exception o f .Abalo. who at the time o f this study was not
actively engaged in the teaching o f ESL. the other teacher-participants o f color had to
contend with the fact that their students ascribed to them the status o f non-native speakers
o f English. It is not necessary for the instructor to genuinely be a non-native speaker o f
English, as in the case o f Mukembe. for instance; it apparently is sufficient that he or she
is perceived as such. as. for example, in the case o f Shelley and Erin. Similarly, if some
students presume that their Black .American ESL instructor is a speaker o f Ebonics, they
may ascribe to her or him the negative stereotypes frequently associated with speakers o f
this dialect o f English. Consequently, they may challenge her or his authority and expertise. Thus, not being a genuine speaker o f Standard English, at least in the eyes o f
some ESL students, may be cause for them to challenge the instructor's authority and expertise.
Moreover, as all the female instructor-participants observed, female ESL
instructors have to deal with the fact that some o f their students originate from cultures in
which women are not perceived as authorities and experts simply because they are
women. Such students, then, may have difficult}' in adapting to a culture in which women
are authorities and experts in a wide variety of fields. This difficulty may manifest itself
in the students challenging the authorit}' and expertise o f their female ESL instructors.
In addition, as .Abalo observed, stereotypical images related to the ESL instructor's
geographical origin— .Africa, in his case— might also influence the extent to which some
students are willing to accept this instructor's authorit} and expertise. For instance, if
these students perceive o f .Africa as a w ar-torn continent, stricken, in addition, by-
poverty. drought, starvation, and diseases such as .AIDS, this may lead them to question
w hether, under such conditions, instructors such as .Abalo and Mukembe. for instance,
could have received proper training in ESL. .As a result, their authority and expertise as
an ESL instructor may be challenged. Thus, with at least three other social categories the
students may employ in challenging the instructors' authority and expertise, it is
extremely difficult to determine with even a modicum of certainty the extent to which a
student's challenge might be racially motivated.
The conclusion that can be drawn from the data discussed in this section is that,
by and large, the instructor-participants seemed to be aware o f the preference the smdent-
2 1 9 participants exhibited toward White ESL instructors. They all realized that in the eyes of the student-participants. White ESL instructors have some qualities that, so the student- participants might presume. ESL instructors of color lack.
5.2.4 Discussion of research question 6
RQ 6: How do the instructor-participants account for the disposition the student- participants have shown for a particular category of ESL instructors?
5.2.4.1 In search of rival explanations
One of television's most enduring commercials is the so-called "taste test." It involves a mock test in which "participants" are given two products to sample and then asked to declare which o f the two they liked best. They invariably end up preferring the product o f the company behind the commercial. In trying to account for the overwhelming preference the student-participants expressed for White ESL instructors, one is struck by the fact that there apparently was no "taste test" involved. That is to say.
the aforementioned preference does not appear to be based on the personal experiences o f
the student-participants with ESL instructors of a variety of racial identities.
To illustrate, o f the 138 .Asian participants in this study. 20 ( 11.5%) had been
taught by either a Black or a Hispanic ESL instructor in their home country. Put
differently. 118 (85.5%) o f the 138 .Asian student-participants had never had a Black or a
Hispanic ESL instructor prior to their arrival in the United States. .An additional 12
students had either a Black or Hispanic ESL instructor or both while in the U.S. So even
after the 138 .Asian student-participants had commenced their ESL course work in the
2 2 0 U.S.. 106 (76.8%). and thus the majority of them, lacked any exposure to either Black or
Hispanic ESL instructors. Yet. the student-participants apparently perceived both as being less effective in meeting their learning needs.
One may claim that it is precisely their unfamiliarity with Black and Hispanic
ESL instructors that might have prompted the students to reject the aforementioned instructors. .Assuming one were to accept this claim, one is left with a nagging question: why would the average .Asian student-participant. as the evidence in section 5.2.1 has shown, prefer White ESL instructors to those from their own region? .After all. the latter presumably have a better understanding o f the difficulties the students have to grapple with in learning English than the former. 1 claim, therefore, that the preference the student-participants have shown for White ESL instructors does not originate in the ESL classroom. In fact. Holliday (1994) noted that, "much o f what goes on within in the classroom is intluenced by factors within ... the wider society" (p.l 1). Consequently, he reasoned, "practitioners ... need ... to look in depth at the wider social forces which intluence [the] behavior [of] teachers and students" (p.17). In the context o f this study.
Holliday's line o f reasoning entails that one may need to look beyond the confines o f the
ESL classroom if one wants to understand why the student-participants showed such a
great disposition toward White ESL instructors.
So. what if one were to claim, then, that the students' preference for White ESL
instructors was because o f the fact that the White ESL instructors are native speakers o f
English and the East .Asian instructors in particular are not? Such a claim would leave
one with even more bewildering questions. First, if native speaker abilit}' proper would
be at issue, why not prefer native speaker ESL instructors from .Asia to ESL instructors
221 from the U.S.. the UK. Canada. Australia and New Zealand, all o f which have a predominantly White population? After all. one may presume that because the former originate from the same continent as the students, they are more familiar with the
students and the kind o f problems they have in learning English than the latter.
Second, how does one account for the tendency this study has observed that ESL
students tend to show a certain degree o f disposition to White ESL instructors who are
non-native speakers o f English? .Again, these instructors, when compared with their
counterparts from .Asia are presumably less familiar with the problems ESL students from
.Asia encounter in learning English. These facts suggest that with regard to the preference
of these student-participants for White ESL instructors, the dichotomy involving native
\ crsus non-native ESL professionals plays a minor role at best in the students' decision.
So w here does one go from here?
One strategy one might adopt is to go in search o f alternative or rival explanations
(Miles and Huberman. 1994). In applying this strategy, the researcher.
looks for the most plausible, empirically grounded explanation ... from among the several competing for attention ... [He or she is] not looking for one account, forsaking all others, but for the best o f several alternative accounts, (p. 274)
fhus. according to Miles and Huberman. to explain the findings of ones study, a number
of plausible explanations need to be explored from among which the one considered
most plausible is selected. To this end, the six instructor-participants were asked to provide what they believed were plausible explanations for why the student-participants so overwhelmingly preferred White ESL instructors to those o f color. They gave a variety o f explanations, which are presented below.
5.2.4.2 Interpretation of the findings: Perspectives from the instructor-participants
Abalo does not discount the presence of racial prejudice in the instructional environment. For instance, in learning that the student-participants involved in this study tended to show the least preference for .African .American ESL instructors. .Abalo said.
1 w ould think that the perceptions o f the students have to do with racial stereotypes. Because .African .Americans speak Ebonics, which, in the mind o f many people is not proper English, the students may think that this may affect the teaching o f Standard English. So. 1 think it has to do with racial stereotypes. (12A. 10/2/99)
.Abalo s statement regarding the use o f Ebonics by Black .Americans requires some qualification. It should be noted that not all members o f the Black .American community speak this dialect o f English. .According to Smitherman ( 1997). about 10 percent o f Black
.Americans do not speak Ebonics.
.As for the fact that nonnative ESL instructors from .Africa seemed to be the least
preferred by ESL students. .Abalo declared.
1 think accent has something to with it. 1 would say that as an ESL instructor here in the US. I would have to work hard to maintain my authority. 1 would really have to convince the students that I know English. But 1 can't get rid o f my accent. 1 can make an effort to speak as correctly as 1 can. watch what 1 say and speak really academically, but 1 can’t get rid o f my accent. Moreover, the fact that .Africa is die continent that everybody seems to have a pessimistic view of certainly influences the psychological distance between ESL students and normative .African ESL instructors. (I2A. 10/2/99) Thus, according to .A.balo. the African accent and the images that the African continent seems to conjure up in the minds o f some people are the reasons why ESL students seem to be reluctant to be taught by African ESL instructors who are nonnative speakers o f
English.
Erin also thought that skin color might have played a role in the perceptions the student-participants involved in this study seemed to hold toward ESL instructors who are racially different. For instance, with respect to the preferences the student-participants seem to have for ESL instructors, all o f whom were native speakers o f .American English.
Erin noted.
1 guess in this case the native speaker idea is attached to White .Americans. It looks like there would be more prestige and credibility to the [English spoken by] White Americans. .And if we consider that these are all native speakers, then it probably is skin color or cultural background that's playing a role, [particularly] if they have had little exposure to .African. .Asian, and Hispanic .Americans (12E. 10/01/99).
But she had. o f course, other explanations regarding the beliefs held by the student-participants. In contemplating the preference observed among the student-
participants for White Non-NESPs over Non-NESPs o f color. Erin suggested that they
might have perceived a relationship between English and other European languages.
although she questioned whether they had the necessaiy- linguistic knowledge to make
such an association. She stated.
Some European languages are close enough to English. 1 guess, so it could be that [the students] presume that European languages have the same s\ ntax as English has. They perceived two languages as close enough so that, [so they might have reasoned.] it must be easier for. let's say. a speaker o f German to learn English. I am not sure if it's because o f their own experiences back home, that is. being taught ESL b\ people from Europe. However. I wouldn't think that they would
224 know that English is a Germanic language. Even if they are graduate students, 1 wonder if they do [possess such knowledge] (I2E. 10/01/99).
.Another explanation she offered to account for the presumed preference referred to above concerned greater exposure on the part o f the student-participants to White non- native speakers o f English in contexts in which English was spoken. On the other hand, exposure to other nonnative speakers in the same or similar contexts was limited. She declared.
There could have been exposure to Wltite Europeans [who do not speak English natively], not in the ESL classroom, but through the media. They might have seen them being interv iewed on television. .And although those being interviewed really might have sounded foreign because o f their accent, their English sounded very well. 1 wonder if accent plays a possible role here. It could be that they perceive the English spoken by Black .Americans as something that they would not want in terms o f accent. I know, for instance, having talked to some people who are thinking o f going to schools abroad when 1 was in Singapore and Taiwan, that most preferred to get their English not from the U.S. but rather from England, because they wanted the British accent better than the American accent. The people from Hong Kong are all very pro-British, and most o f them send their children to England rather than the U.S. 1 guess [British English] sounds more prestigious or sophisticated to them. Maybe it has an effect on the kind o f position that they get back home (I2E. 10 01 99)'. Erin also raised the possibility that some o f the beliefs the student-participants
may hold might have been intluenced by the fact that certain groups o f people speak a
variety o f English that differs from Standard English. In the United States, for instance,
many Black .Americans speak Ebonics, a variet}' o f English frequently characterized as
substandard. This characterization was evident when in December 1996 a heated debate
ensued after the School Board o f the City o f Oakland Public Schools in California passed
a resolution to familiarize teachers with the linguistic structure o f Ebonics. It was
presumed that this would enable them to better serve the Black students o f the district
(see. for instance. McMillen. 1996; Manning. 1996; Perry and Delpit. 1998; Puente. 1996). In this respect. Erin pointed out that the student-participants might be basing their perceptions on certain racial stereot\'pes associated with Ebonics. She noted.
They may have encountered .A.frican Americans who probably speak a certain variety o f American English that they either can't understand \ er\- well or have been taught to see as lOO colloquial or too informal. I don't know if graduate students actually pay attention to music, but if they hear rap music they might find that very difficult to understand. On the other hand, if they hear Hispanic .American singers such as Gloria Este Ian. for instance, those are probably more mainstream [in terms o f language use] and. therefore, easier to understand. These are not perceptions o f those who have just arrived, but they carry with them exposure here in the US (12E. 10/01/99).
Thus. Erin seemed to be arguing that the perceptions the student-participants presumably
had about Black .Americans in general and Black .American ESL instructors in particular
might be related to the negative sentiments in .American society regarding the use o f
Ebonics. More specifically, the participants might have assumed that all Black .Americans
speak Ebonics, and might, furthermore, have concluded that Black ESL instructors who
supposedly speak a substandard variety o f English might not be the most desirable
individuals to teach them Mainstream US English.
Reasoning as an East .Asian student-participant might. Jack interpreted the order
o f preference this study found among student-participants relative to ESL instructors o f
color as follows. He declared.
Regarding the .Asian American ESL instructors, the students may think. 'Oh. maybe .Asian .Americans understand both [American and .Asian] culture [. and. therefore, understand our problems in learning English']. W ith respect to Hispanic .Americans. I don't know, but maybe it's the thing o f European language background. As for .African .Americans. I wonder if the students know that they have been native speakers o f English going back generations, right. Or maybe they have a sense of the social-economic distinctions in this country. That's possible, too. isn't it'? They perceive Asians as being higher 226 economically, having higher prestige, and having access to better education, right? H alf the students at Stanford are Asian ancestry, huh. Over half the students o f Berkley are Asian ancestry now. isn't that right? (12J. 10/01/99).
Thus. Jack believed that knowledge about a certain cultural aspect o f each o f the groups or perhaps knowledge o f their social-economic status in American society accounted for the preferences found for ESL instructors o f color among the student-participants.
Jack pointed out. furthermore, that the Chinese, for instance, hold certain perceptions about Black Americans. He stated.
Without any evidence. 1 don't want to just say. East .Asian people are prejudiced.' My impulse is to come up with some principled basis for a possible behavior on their part. 1 know, for instance, that when I got to China, the government liked to recite the stories o f the problems o f Black people in the United States. It was sort o f a communist propaganda. [They'd say.) 'The capitalist country' is decadent, [for] Black people [in the U.S.] are virtually still slaves.' .At primary schools. Chinese students learned to sing songs about the poor, little Black boy growing up in capitalist America. So. it's still perpetrated that Black people are underprivileged in this country. .And the Chinese may think that that could correlate to access to advanced education, which could correlate with ability, teaching ability included. Moreover. China poses as champion o f the Third World, so there are all these scholarships [the Chinese government awards to] students from really the poor countries o f the world like Mali. Togo, and Libya. There was a hotel where 1 know Black students would go hang out. [.And the Chinese might have reasoned.] Oh well. Chinese go\ ernment brings you over here, for what? Here you are. you come over to our hotel and lay about at government expense.' In addition, there were cultural differences, too. So the Black students would experience prejudice from the service people at the hotel (I2J. 10/01'99).
He argued, furthermore, that if. say. a Chinese student were to challenge a Black
ESL instructor, this might be the result o f cultural differences between the teacher and the
student rather than racial prejudice on the part o f the latter. He also pointed out that the
reason why a student may challenge the instructor may be totally unrelated to either race
2 2 7 or culture; rather, other factors might be involved. He illustrated this point as follows.
I've had plentv' o f students that were hard to handle. One reason might have been that they've already published something, so they’re proud. [and think] they don't need any more English classes. But then they've qualified in this course, and so they're insulted which in some cases may result in them challenging the instructor. Well, is that cultural or is that human pride, which, my Christian background tells me. all human beings suffer from. So. am 1 going to say this guy is proud? No. I'm going to say all human beings are proud (I2J. 10/01/99).
In addition. Jack gave his interpretation o f the preferences the student-participants in this study had indicated with respect to ESL instructors who are nonnative speakers o f
English. He asserted.
If you have three groups o f non-native speakers. Europeans. East .Asians, and Africans, how do you rate them? I f you want to have any kind o f principled basis for the distinctions [the students-participants made], you may have to speculate about linguistic or cultural matters that may or may not exist. Moreover. I'm answering this as an East .Asian student might because 1 think most o f our students are from East .Asia. .A reasonable explanation might be that the students assume that English and some other European languages such as French and German belong to the same Indo-European language family. In fact, most university students in China have to take another second language, so they might imagine that Europeans are capable o f learning English more easily than non-Europeans because there are enough cognates between French. German and English. .As for the preference for .Asian ESL instructors, the students might have rated them next because this is their own language learning experience. They’ve had non-native speakers from East Asia who brought them this far. 1 mean, these have been their teachers and they know that some of them are quite good, although they know that these instructors are nonnative speakers. .As far as .African native speakers o f English are concerned. 1 don't even know whether the students are aware that there are English speaking countries in .Africa. East .Asian students just don't know anything about Africa, and have no experience with them. So that may be why they preferred them the least (12J. 10/01/99).
Lindsey, too. had an explanation for the tendency this study has found among the
student-participants to give preference to White non-native English professionals over
their colleagues o f color. She declared that it was possible that the perception that W'hite ESL instructors are better in meeting the needs of ESL students than ESL instructors of color, may also have taken root in a context in which neither ^&Ttite ESL instructors nor
ESL instructors o f color are native speakers o f English. She observ ed.
1 wonder if the students perceived an association with Caucasians and English. I think that's that stereotypical notion that if you are White, somehow you have more 'Englishability'. It's that line o f reasoning which, once again, is inspired by the movies, and goes, i see "Europeanesque" people speaking English in movies all the time. Therefore, there must be some connection between the people and the language.' .And the less ’ Europeanesque’ the instructor looks, the further away he or she gets from the association with English, and the less likely it becomes for a student to say. 'That's the teacher I want as my ESL instructor'. (I2L. 10/7/99)
.At the same time, she expressed the belief that some ESL students w ill have more
difficulty establishing rapport with instructors of certain racial backgrounds than they
have with ESL likely to question the authority and expertise of White ESL instructors as
opposed to the authority and expertise o f ESL instructors o f color. She explained her
argument as follows.
1 think there's a certain expectation on the part o f a lot o f students that .Americans are blond, blue-eyed and Caucasian. Therefore. 1 think that might be true to say that White ESL instructors have an easier time than. say. an ESL instructor o f color in working with students. 1 think .Asian .American and maybe Hispanic .American ESL instructors in particular may experience more difficulties in this respect. 1 wonder sometimes if. say. a Hispanic American ESL instructor doesn't have to consciously establish that idea of. 1 am an authority on this language, whether 1 am native speaker or not. So. therefore, you need to respect me for my authority and knowledge, and not disrespect me because 1 don't look like whatyo/< want me to look.' I'm not sure to what extent .African .American ESL instructors may experience similar difficulties as .Asian or Hispanic .Americans. 1 don't know i f there's a presumption that Black people are a common part o f .American society and so having a Black ESL instructor is not unusual. 1 don't know why 1 believe this except for. again, that media background that so many students bring with them when they come to study in the United States. It's a negative perspective in a lot o f ways, but there are .African 229 Americans in media. And so. the students have been exposed to that; I don't think that's unusual. But you'd be hard pressed to see a lot o f outside coverage of. say. Native .Americans outside of. "I'm on the reservation." or "I ride a horse". The same can be said for Asian .Americans and Hispanic Americans. So I think maybe the expectations ESL students have o f ESL instructors in terms o f racial background might present a greater challenge for ESL instructors originating from these other groups and it might be for African-American ESL instructors. (12L. 10/7/99)
Lindsey assumes, then, that Black ESL instructors may find it easier to establish rapport and gain the acceptance o f ESL students than their colleagues o f .Asian or Hispanic
American origin, since Black people feature more prominently in the media than .Asian or
Hispanic .Americans do.
It almost goes without saying that she was rather surprised to learn that the
student-participants involved in this study tended to show the least preference for .African
.American ESL instructors. In trying to explain this tendency, she asserted.
1 cannot speak about other countries, but in Japan there were far more .African than Hispanic .Americans, at least in my experience. The latter are almost complete unknowns in Japan. The Japanese have seen Black people and— in some cases— perhaps even interacted with them. So while Japanese have exposure to Blacks, they virtually have no exposure to Hispanics. Consequently, my expectation would be that there would be a greater degree o f comfortability with Black than with Hispanic .Americans. But that's not the case. .And the only thing that 1 can think of that is that would explain it would be the influence of the media. How else would the students have their perspective'? 1 would say that this is where the movies and music come into play. ... [T]he movies they are watching are by and large negatively biased against inner city .African American culture. ... Presumably everything they know about .African Americans is from their exposure to the media. ... Moreover, movies often portray Blacks speaking a particular dialect of English. You're not seeing a great number of .African .Americans in a movie, let's say. portraying college students in an academic setting. Those tend to be .Americans from European descent. Instead, you see .African Americans in movies that are based in neighborhoods with close association with people who share a similar cultural background. So they use more slang, they use more dialectic variations than if you would take those characters and put 2 3 0 them in a mainstream movie in a business setting. .And students have commented to me on the dialect variations. They'd say. T saw this movie and I didn't understand anything.' And I would have to say. 'This is not Standard English. We all use a different kind o f language when we're talking with our friends, with our family, and with the teacher and our fellow-students in the classroom. For instance, you wouldn't necessarily understand me at home because 1 speed up. and I use a lot more slang.' So maybe this is perceived tear that their language is going to be so difficult to understand that they'd rather not have Black instructors. (I2L. 10/7/99)
Thus. Lindsey put forward two reasons why EST students in general and those originating from Japan in particular may tend to be less appreciative o f .African American
ESL instructors. Both reasons, she argued, find their origin in the portrayal o f Black
Americans in movies ESL students are probably exposed to. First, movies quite often feature Black .Americans in gang related activities and this type o f behavior is to some extent perceived as being characteristic o f all Black .Americans. Black .American ESL instructors included. .As a result, some ESL students may not feel comfortable being taught by people who they believe are morally corrupt. Second, because movies quite frequently portray Black .Americans in situations which call for the use o f slang and. most likely. Black English Vernacular, the abilit}' o f Black .Americans to be experts and authorities in the teaching o f ESL is seriously questioned by ESL students.
She did not believe that ESL students are aware o f the fact that English and some other European languages are related and. therefore, did not consider the idea a reasonable explanation for the preferences this study observed among the student- participants. She commented.
1 don't know how much students really know about that. I mean. I bring it up in class sometimes. .And we'll make comparisons between certain languages, and quite often the students seem to be surprised that Italian. French. Portuguese. Spanish, are all very similar to
231 English. They don't seem to know that necessarily; I don't think they have had a lot o f exposure to those other languages. It might be the writing system. (I2L. 10/7/99)
In going over the preferences for ESL instructors this study found among the 174
ESL students surveyed. Mukembe seemingly argued that skin color might have fueled these preferences, although he stopped short o f providing a clear reasoning for his argument. The closest he came to some kind o f reasoning was in commenting on the preferences found relative to .American ESL instructors. Knowing that most o f the student-participants were .Asian, he seemed to be reasoning as he thought an .Asian student might, saying.
White. .Asian, [and] Hispanic [.Americans] are all light skinned, while [Black .Americans] are dark skinned. So. 1 begin with the one with the lightest skin. i.e. Whites. This light skinned [ESL instructor]— [here Mukembe referred to the .Asian .American ESL instructors]— is related to me. Next is the Hispanic .Americans, he is light skinned but the [Black .American] is different [i.e.. not light skinned], so 1 choose the Hispanic .Americans and then the Black .Americans last (12M. 1002/99).
Mukembe seemed to have arrived at the conclusion that skin color was a factor in
the preferences indicated by the student-participants by what seemed like a process of
elimination, i.e.. other possibilities that might explain the preferences observed were
ruled out. For instance, in considering whether the students' preferences may be the result
o f accents that the students perceived as either non-standard .American or non-standard
British. Mukembe. referring to his own accent, remarked.
One o f the aspects o f my background 1 cannot remove is my accent. I've been [in the U.S.] for eight years [now] but still speak my English w ith this heavy .African accent; and 1 am proud o f it. It could be that my accent may lead some students to question my capabilities as an ESL instructor, but so far 1 haven't experienced this. Graduate students 232 have some experience [with accents other than those o f Americans] since, having taken courses at the graduate level, some o f them have [or have had] teachers who are not Americans. So 1 don't think it is an issue to them. As for undergraduate students. I think they are not able to distinguish accents. They are not informed enough [about this matter] and it would be difficult for them to determine whether I am an .African or an American. 1 think that you need to have some level o f proficiency in the language to detect the accent. So. I think that what prevails to them is to listen to somebody who can convey his thoughts clearly and it doesn't matter whether the accent sounds British or ■American. But the moment 1 tell them that I am not an .American, they become sensitive to my accent and say. Okay, then your English is not correct.' But before that time 1 don't think they can make that distinction, at least that's what I think. So. 1 am not worried about my accent interfering with my relationship with the students at all (12M. 10/02,99).
Thus. Mukembe argued that his authority has not been challenged on account of his
.African-sounding accent. He pointed out that for graduate students his accent would not be a hindrance as they frequently have had exposure to a variety o f accents during their academic career. He. furthermore, had doubts whether undergraduate students would be capable o f distinguishing his accent from that o f a Black .American since, in his opinion,
they lacked the linguistic sophistication that would enable them to make such a
distinction.
Mukembe also rejected the possibility that the students' preferences might have
been based on their knowledge o f language families. He noted.
This issue o f language is so intricate that it takes a specialist to come to the conclusion that someone who comes from Spain is linguistically close to someone who comes from England. So 1 don't think [the students] think in terms o f how close the languages are. 1 think at this level they Just see the person. I mean, they look where [the person] comes from: they [also] view the person in terms o f his [or her] economic status, and. o f course, the economy [status] is linked to [his or her] education. So. there is some sort o f hierarchy (I2M . 10./02/99). Thus. Mukembe maintained that by and large ESL students lack the linguistic sophistication that would enable them to base their preference for a particular class o f teachers on the relationship that exist between languages, specifically between English and the teachers' first language.
Finally. Shelley presented her interpretation o f why African non-native speakers o f English were the least preferred ESL instructors among the students who participated
in this study. She pointed out that.
During [the 1960s and 1970s] China was really trying to stand, as a developing country, with other oppressed people around the world. .\nd Chinese people literally did tighten their belts to try to give aid to liberation fighters around the world. [That ended with] the death o f Mao. the fall o f the Gang o f Four, and the whole westernization o f China. What do you have in the last ten. fifteen years? You have lots o f tensions with .African students studying in China. You also have .African elites who have always been spoiled and have an attitude of. 'I have always had servants and I expect [to have servants]'. .And then they go to a poor countrv' as opposed to going to England. They go to China where there is no hot water and that is rough for them; so. 1 mean, it is a mixed bag. but that is the situation. You also have the whole impact o f the western media, which is so racist. You have .Asian people who have never seen a Black person personally. .All they know about Black people is what they see in the media. And what kind o f portrayal are they getting? [If] you look at the portrayal [of] Africans in movies and on TV’, it's horrible. Take Indiana Jones, for instance. You have these scenes o f cannibalism and hundreds and thousands o f Black people that are so incompetent against one [man called] Indiana Jones. (12S. 11/8/99)
Fhus. Shelley believed that the perceptions the Chinese in particular have about Black
people are the result o f changes within the political status quo in China, the attitudes o f
some .Africans who studied in China during the 1980s. and the portrayal o f Black people
by the media and the entertainment industry'.
To sum up. the six instructor-participants provided a variety of explanations for
the proclivity the student-participants displayed for ^Tiite ESL instructors. These 234 explanations can be summarized as follows. One belief, which Jack in particular held and Erin supported to some extent, was that the student-participants are knowledgeable about language ty pologies, (i.e.. the classification o f languages based on), for instance, their syntactic structures. More specifically, the students are aware o f the relationship that exists between English and a number o f other, similarly structured languages. This knowledge presumably results in the belief among the students that speakers o f these
languages make for better ESL instructors.
Furthermore. Erin observ ed that negative attitudes toward people with a
particular skin color might have been the reason why the student-participants so decisively opted for White instructors. In addition, both Jack and Mukembe made
mention o f the relative high degree o f indigence within the Black and Hispanic
community in the United States and how knowledge o f this fact may affect the
perceptions ESL students develop about these racial groups in American society. .Also.
.\balo pointed out the negative perceptions and images the name '.Africa' often evokes
in the minds of non-.Africans in particular, and how these may impede a harmonious
student-teacher relationship.
Moreover. Jack and Shelley observed how the presence o f .Africans in China
might have affected the perceptions o f the Chinese about Black people in general and
.Africans in particular. In addition. Abalo. Erin. and. to a lesser degree. Mukembe.
claimed that instructors who speak with an accent that is perceived as carrying little
social prestige may find it hard to gain acceptance from ESL students. Finally. .Abalo.
Erin, and Lindsey referred to the portrayal o f Black Americans in and by the mainstream
2 3 5 media, specifically focusing on how exposure to Ebonics through the media may have triggered negative perceptions on the part o f the student-participants toward Black
Americans. By and large, then, with the exception o f the argument relative to language typology, all the other arguments could be placed under the heading o f racism and racial stereotypes. Below. I discuss the plausibility o f each o f these beliefs.
5.2.4.3 Language typology, conscious racism, and socio-economic status
The argument that the preference o f White ESL instructor is based on the student-participants knowledge o f language typologies, as. for instance Jack asserted, does not seem to be supported by certain facts. To begin with. 86 (60.6 %) o f the 142 participants enrolled in the ESL program at SCSU were undergraduate students; furthermore. 61 (70.9%) o f these undergraduate students were first year undergraduates.
It is doubtful whether undergraduate students, some o f whom may be fresh out o f high school, are aware o f the existence o f language typologies.
Furthermore. Erin, while supporting this view, questioned whether undergraduate students in general and first year undergraduates in particular have any knowledge about the relationship in structure between English and various other
European languages. Moreover. Lindsey remarked that whenever she brings up language typologies in the classroom, many students are apparently surprised to learn that there Ls a relationship between certain languages. In addition, neither Mukembe nor Shelley believed that the students are linguistically sophisticated enough to know this
information. Consequently, the plausibility o f this argument is questionable given that
neither the data nor the experience o f the majority o f the experts lends support to it.
2 3 6 The argument that the preference o f the student-participants for WTiite ESL instructors is the result o f conscious racism on the part o f the students toward people o f a certain skin color might have been convincing had the European student-participants been the only ones to show such a preference. However, this particular disposition is clearly apparent among both the .Asian students and the Amescans. Because these groups of participants preferred White ESL instructors to ESL instructors o f their own race, it makes little sense to claim that they. too. displayed racial tendencies since that would imply that they are racially biased against their own race. Consequently, the belief that preference on the part o f the student-participants for White ESL instructors is the result o f conscious racism can apparently be ruled out.
The assumption held by .Abalo. Jack, and Shelley that the student-participants have negative images about .Africa and .Africans and therefore preferred White ESL instructors presents at least two problems. First, while it is true that non-native English speaking ESL instructors were, on average, the least preferred ESL instructors. ESL instructors from .Africa who speak English as their native language were preferred even by the .Asian student-participants to ESL instructors from .Asia, whether the latter were native or non-native speakers o f English. One might assume that if. say. the .Asian participants have negative perceptions about Africans, they would tend to show those for all .Africans, irrespective o f whether or not they are native or non-native speakers o f
English. Second, while this argument might explain why the students would prefer ESL instructors from Europe over those o f .Africa, it does not make clear why they would prefer White .American ESL instructors over their Black .American colleagues.
2 3 7 Taken at face value, it seems plausible to believe that the students perceive an association between the socio-economic status o f a racial group and the capability o f members o f that group to transfer knowledge. That is to say. the students may reason that those who are financially well o ff have easier access to better education than those who do not. Consequently, so their reasoning supposedly goes, the better the education the ESL instructor must have had. the more competent she or he must be. The plausibility o f this argument lies in the fact that there seems to be a striking correlation between the statistics reported in Tables 5.1 and 5.2 and the statistics reported by the
U.S. Census Bureau regarding the per capita income and poverty levels o f the various racial groups in the United States.
In 1998. for instance, the per capita income o f White .Americans was S21.394. while .Asian .Americans earned an average S I8.709. Black .Americans and Latinos had an average income o f SI 2.957 and S 11.434 respectively (US Census Bureau. 1999). That
same year. 6.3 “ o o f all White .American families and 11.4% o f all .Asian .American
families li\ ed below the poverty level. The percentages o f all Black and Latino families
living below the povertv level were 24.7% and 24.3% respectively (Ibid.). On the basis
o f these statistics, it might be inferred that WTiite and .Asian .Americans are supposedly
better capable o f affording a decent education for their children than Latinos or Blacks.
Moreover, if one were to rank the racial groups according to per capita income, for
instance, the rank order would match that reported in Table 5.3.
However, this argument, plausible as it seems, is weakened by at least one fact:
at the time o f the sur\ ey. 105 (58 %) o f the participants had been in the U.S. for less
than a year. One might assume that many or most o f these students were probably still adjusting to their new surroundings, the language, as well as the academic and social culture. They might, therefore, have lacked the motivation or the need to look up statistics on the per capita income and poverty levels o f the various racial groups in the
United States. In addition, while this argument would explain why White .American ESL instructors are preferred to other .American ESL instructors of color, it apparently fails to account for the preference among the student-participants for ESL instructors from
Europe.
S.2.4.4 .Accent, the broadcast industry , and the teaching ofESL
That ESL students apparently attach great significance to being taught by ESL instructors who speak with an accent characteristic of either Mainstream US English
( Lippi-Green. 1997. who abbreviated this concept to .MUSE) or Mainstream British
English thereafter referred to as M.ABE) is apparently a valid claim. Item 3 o f the student survey requested that the respondents rank six instructor characteristics from 1 to
6. with 1 being the most problematic and 6 being the least problematic (see .Appendix
F). W hile this item actually had a "fille r" function, it is referred to here since it is rele\ ant to the discussion. Item 3 (d) read. " [I find it irritating when an ESL instructor] speaks with an accent that is not similar to that o f educated .Americans or British persons." .Analysis o f this particular item element showed that 54% o f the student- participants ranked it in the top three o f the most problematic instructor characteristics.
This figure suggests that a considerable number o f ESL students grants prestige to speech produced with a MUSE or M.ABE accent. Amin (1999) refers to this accent as
2 3 9 "W hite accent" (p.98) since both accents are associated with the White upper middle and the upper class in the United States and Britain respectively (see also Lippi Green 1997;
Thomas and Wareing. 1999)
Thus, in an ESL teaching setting in which the body o f ESL instructors includes people whose speech is marked by either a MUSE or M ABE accent, the presumption is that ESL students would prefer these instructors to those who speak with a foreign accent, for instance. This said, one might be inclined to assume that in an ESL teaching setting that, for instance, includes solely instructors who are non-native speakers o f
English, preference based on accent ceases to be an issue. Such an assumption, however.
is potentially erroneous.
To illustrate. Lippi-Green ( 1997a) recounted the e.xperience o f five Filipino
security guards who. for all intents and purposes, were placed on non-active duty after a
government official had charged one of them with the inabilit>' to communicate properly.
a fact the official attributed to the guard's foreign accent. The guards promptly filed a
lawsuit against their employer and were reinstated after the court ruled in their favor.
Lippi-Green ended her account thus: " I f the guards had been Italian or Norwegian
speakers, would the same progression o f events be imaginable?" (p.227). Implied in this
question is the belief, if not the notion, that not eveiy one who speaks English with a
foreign accent encounters the same attitudes from interlocutors. .As the author stated.
It is crucial to remember that it is not all foreign accents, but only accent linked to skin that isn't White, or which signals a third-world homeland, that evokes ... negative reactions. There are no documented cases o f native speakers o f Swedish or Dutch or Gaelic being turned away from jobs because of communicative difficulties, although these speakers face the same challenge as native speakers o f Spanish. Rumanian, and Urdu. (p.238-239)
2 4 0 In other words, depending on. among other things, one's race or the perceived political-economic status o f one's country o f origin, the attitudes one person may encounter on account o f his or her accent may differ entirely from those encountered by another. Consequently, as Lippi-Green put it. "accent... acts in part as a marker o f race" and as such "takes on special power and significance" (p.228). Put this way.
Lippi-Green's statement seemingly underscores Shelley's argument that racism rather than accent determines the extent to which ESL instructors o f one racial group are preferred to another.
.\t the same time. Lippi-Green seemed to contradict Medgyes (1994) who. citing Corder ( 1973). claimed.
Ordinary native speakers tend to he much less divided over the issue o f non-native use o f English. .A.s a rule, they do not expect t'oreigners to speak a standard variety and any accent is accepted as long as it is understandable without undue effort. This tolerance is particularly perceptible in relation to non-natives who do not aspire to be integrated into the society as full members and are content with the role o f the 'foreigner', (pp.5-6)
.According to Medgyes. then, as long as foreigners do not aspire to become
integrated in the English-speaking host society, say. the United States, their foreign
accent would not perturb those who were bom and raised in this country.
Lippi-Green would presumably counter by arguing that such a claim would
only hold for certain foreigners, specifically those of Caucasian origin, but not for
foreigners whose accent "sim ply do[es| not sound White enough" (p.229).
Moreover. Medgyes' claim seemingly epitomizes Philipson's ( 1992) argument that
theories o f language learning and teaching operate in isolation from social.
economic, and political matters. Incidentally. Medgyes' claim apparently puts 241 foreigners in a Catch-22 situation: on the one hand, as long as they do not attempt to integrate into, say, American society, their accent, and ergo, they themselves, w ill be accepted by members o f the host community.
On the other hand, to adequately acquire the host language, foreigners need to submit to linguistic acculturation (Schumann, quoted in Larsen-Freeman and
Long. 1991 ). This, according to Medgyes. would presumably result in the foreigners
"evoking a belligerent attitude in the native speaker"(p.6). since, so the author went on. the latter might feel that the former are trespassing on their property. Thus, foreigners are trapped by two contradictory conditions.
The implication o f Lippi-Green's statements for non-native English speaking
ESL professionals o f color in particular is that in the absence o f a colleague who speaks with a MUSE or a M.ABE accent, the "W hite accent" phenomenon might still
remain one or even the criterion on which their status as authentic ESL instructors is
judged. Under such circumstances, the concept of "White accent" is no longer
associated with just English as spoken by White North .Americans or British persons,
but w ith English as spoken by Caucasians whose nations have significant political,
economic, or social prestige.
To distinguish these two related yet different concepts from one another, this
study proposes the use o f the term "honorary White accent" to refer to people from
nations with political, economic, or social prestige whose English pronunciation is
perceived as being similar to that o f a W'Tiite British or .American national. Thus,
given Lippi-Green's philosophy on accentuality. one might hypothesize that if the
teaching staff of an ESL department at a given school consisted o f a German, a
2 4 2 Filipino, and a Togolese ESL professional, the students may perceive the ESL instructor from Germany as the one who has the most authenticity. On the other hand, they may perceive o f the Togolese instructor as the one who possesses the least authenticit}'.
One may question whether the students participating in this study applied the concept of honorary White accent' in expressing their preference for the various categories o f ESL instructors. One particular finding o f this study allows one to speculate that they may have: the tendency observed among the East Asian student-participants and the ’ .-Vmescans' to prefer Non-NESPs from Europe to those from Africa and East .Asia
(see section 5.2.1 ). The assumption that the student-participants applied the concept o f
'honoraiy White accent' in ranking categories of nonnative English-speaking ESL instructors might explain why the East .Asian participants, for instance, seemed to prefer those from Europe over those from their own region. I f the reader were to accept the aforementioned assumption, then one may question, furthermore, where and how the student-participants acquired the concept o f the honorary' White accent.' This study hypothesizes that one source is likely to be the .American entertainment media, i.e.. television, til ms. and popular music.
To begin with. Erin and Lindsey, two o f the six instructor-participants in this
study, made reference to the way in which the mainstream media in America— and. one
might add. in Great Britain (see Gabriel. 1998)— seems to feed and perpetuate racial as
well as other social stereotypes. Moreover. Holtzman (2000). for instance, gave a detailed
account o f racial and other social stereotypes in .American entertainment media, which
she defined as. "prime time television, popular film, and music" (p.5). In addition.
2 4 3 v arious other studies have documented America's media imperialism, or as Brovvn (1995) put it. "the all-pervasiveness o f ... .American media in the marketplace" (p. 57). Research conducted in. for example. .Africa (e.g. Campbell. 2000: Owens-Ibie. 2000). in .Asia (e.g.
Kang and Morgan. 1988: Tan. Li. and Simpson. 1986: Tan. Tan. and Tan. 1987: Tan and
Suarchavarat. 1988). and in the Caribbean (e.g.. Brovvn. 1995: Lashley. 1995) has shown how .American television programming, for instance, tends to erode the indigenous cultural patterns, replacing them, to some extent, with norms and values perceived as distinctively .American.
W ith respect to speech. Lashley ( 1995). in her study o f the influence o f CS television entertainment programming on young adults in Trinidad and Tobago, established a matter which is quite relevant here. She found that. "Forty-nine per cent of the [914] respondents agreed that .American programmes [sic] influenced the
Trinbagonian youth's style of speaking" (p.94) cTrinbagonian' is presumably Lashley's portmanteau word derived from the adjectives 'Tlrmidadian' and 'lohcigonian'). Thus, nearly 450 o f the 914 respondents in Lashley's study were o f the opinion that .American television programming provided them and perhaps other young adults from Trinidad and
fobago with an alternative way o f speaking English. It is. therefore, possible that these and other youngsters hear a "White accent", presume that to be the 'proper' way o f
speaking .American English, and possibly transfer the perception that they have of what
white proper' English sounds like to Caucasians in general, perhaps irrespective o f
w hether these Caucasians are native or nonnative speakers o f English.
In both Britain and the United States, the broadcast media in general and the
entertainment media in particular have played and continue to play a significant role in
2 4 4 setting linguistic standards for the general public (Lippi-Green. 1997a: Leitner. 1983). In the words of Lippi-Green.
The broadcast news industry takes a proprietary interest in the spoken language. Its promotes its own language as the only possible language o f an educated, informed mainstream. It is in part by means o f claiming authority in matters o f spoken language that it establishes itself, over and over again, as an important institution— and one as crucial as the educational system to the well-being o f the nations state. (p. 137)
fhus. the linguistic register with which the news is presented on radio and television
provides both these media with an air of authoritativeness in terms of how American or British English is supposed to be spoken.
Leitner ( 1983) and Lippi-Green ( 1997a) respectively provide an analysis o f how
the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) have contributed to the relation between language, media, and society in Britain
and the United States. Speaking about the broadcast industry' in general. Lippi-Green
observed that.
[t]he media draws a clear distinction between acceptable English and what is not acceptable. There is little or no hesitation in making value judgements about specific varieties. ... We hear from news media representatives that their own language is the right and proper model, the "national aesthetic." and that these persons, particularly those in broadcast news media, speak a homogenous English which does not betray ... their regional origin. In fact, broadcast news journalists do speak US English with the same range o f social, regional, and stylistic variation that every other speaker uses. What this means then, is that not all variation is unacceptable, forbidden, or stigmatized: it is only variants associated with groups out o f favor which must be addressed. ".Asian. Indian. ... Middle Eastern ... and Spanish accents" are not acceptable: apparently. French. German. British. Swedish accents are. regardless o f the communication difficulties those languages may cause in the learning o f English, (p. 146)
2 4 5 Thus, according to Lippi-Green, the media promotes both "W hite accent" and "honorary'
White accent". Put differently, the media does not only contribute to one's understanding o f what constitutes a proper MUSE or M ABE accent, it apparently also suggests that
English, as spoken by various other groups o f WTiite people in the world, is acceptable, whereas English as spoken by certain groups o f non-WTiites is not.
Lippi-Green's argument has implications for the field of ESL. Hypothetically
speaking, one might envisage the relationship between language, media, society, and the
ESL classroom as follows. When, for instance, a television corporation such as Cable
News Network (CN'N) in .A.tlanta. Georgia, transmits its news broadcasts to as many as
200 countries simultaneously (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000). it not only
transmits the e\ ents proper but numerous encoded messages as well. Here, the concern is
primarily w ith messages that involve the transmission of the notion o f "White accent "
and "honorar) White accent." Prospective ESL students presumably engage in a series o f
activities regarding these messages. First, they decode them and then store them in their
memor>' bank. They then retrieve them upon entering the ESL classroom, and match
them w ith the accent o f the instructor. Depending on whether or not the instructor's
accent matches the students' expectations, they may or may not perceive the instructor as
an "authentic" ESL professional.
Television not only directly influences perceptions of what constitutes proper
MUSE or M.ABE. it does so indirectly as well. Storm and Seplow (1997). on discussing
the impact o f .American television programs abroad, referred to tlie huge audiences
.American tv programs attract the world over. For instance, in India the soap opera The
Bold and the Beautiful drew a regular audience o f 50 m illion viewers: in 1997. this
246 scries also was the most popular television show in South Africa. Around the world. these writers claimed, television series such as Cheers. Golden Girls. NYPD Blue.
Roseaime. Seinfeld, and The .X-Files are watched by millions of people daily. They also discussed the effects o f these programs on their audience and pointed out. for instance. that in the late 1970s and early 1980s. many rich White South Africans seemingly identified with the characters in the tv series Dallas. For the women, in particular, the characters o f Sue Ellen and Pamela Ewing became models worth emulating, specifically in terms o f their behavioral pattern.
It is precisely the idea o f the role model that demonstrates how the media may shape the perceptions o f ESL students. For just like the ladies Ewing were role models for the rich White South .A.frican women, so. too. do the characters portrayed on television become role models for millions o f people worldwide eager to learn English.
Two features characterize these role models. First, the vast majority o f them is Caucasian.
To illustrate. Children .Vow. a "non-partisan, independent voice for .America's children"
(Children Now. 2000a. p.25) conducted "[a] comprehensive quantitative analysis of
diversity in the 1999-2000 broadcast prime time entertainment programming" (Children
Now. 2000b, p. 2). The organization concluded that.
a majority of prime time programs were classified as mixed when entire casts o f characters were considered. When the analysis was narrowed to include the opening credits cast alone, nearly half o f the shows on prime time were shown to have all White casts. Clearly, then, much o f the diversity found in prime time programs came from non-recurring or guest characters in programs where the regularly appearing characters were overwhelmingly White. (Ibid.; emphasis in oriuinal)
2 4 7 What Children Sow seemed to be claiming, then, is that roughly 50 percent o f all t\ - series shown during prime time cast no people o f color as leading characters. Or. as this organization put it in an earlier publication. "The total prime time population is mostly white, visibly African American, and disproportionately invisible for all other racial and ethnic minorities" (Children Now. 2000a. p. 5).
The second feature o f these perceived role models is that the English they speak is perceived as having an appealing sound to it. Since prospective ESL students are confronted with these features day after day. they presumably become convinced that.
(a) a speaker o f MUSE is apparently Caucasian, and. (b) apparently only Caucasians are capable o f speaking proper MUSE. Thus, language and race become intertwined.
The interrelationship between language and race in the minds o f nationals bom and raised outside o f the United States is supported by data reported in Edmonston and
Sehultze ( 1995) and mentioned previously in Chapter 4. For the sake o f convenience. the point made by Edmonston and Sehultze is repeated here. The aforementioned
scholars declared that.
research by the Census Bureau indicates that foreign-born Hispanics. foreign-born .Asian and Pacific Islanders, and foreign-bom Blacks view the concept o f race differently from the native U.S. population. For example, foreign-bom Hispanics and foreign-bom .Asians and Pacific Islanders view race in terms o f national origin or language. (p.376)
Thus, so Edmonston and Sehultze claimed, according to researchers at the U.S. Census
Bureau, toreign nationals tend to understand issues o f race, including racial difference,
not only in terms of nationality, as pointed out previously, but also in terms of linguistic
identity.
248 Returning to the issue o f White speakers o f English becoming linguistic role models for ESL students, it is quite conceivable that in a teaching setting these speakers are also likely to be perceived as the most knowledgeable ESL instructors; this in turn makes them the preferred choice o f ESL students. .A.lso. given the statistics in Tables 5.4 and 5.5. it might further be argued that the belief that a speaker o f proper English is a
Caucasian becomes so entrenched in the minds o f ESL students, that it is seemingly broadened to include those Caucasians who do not speak English as their first language.
Presumably by virtue o f their W'Tiiteness. these Caucasians are believed to be capable o f developing linguistic and teaching abilities in English that are by and large comparable to those o f White native speakers o f English.
Such beliefs may be reinforced when people o f color. Black .American actors in
particular, are cast in the role o f villain. .As one instructor interviewed pointed out.
playing the villain requires a certain use o f language, which in the case o f Black
Americans is most likely enhanced by the use o f Ebonics. Prospective ESL students may
perceive Ebonics in much the same way as mainstream America does: as a corrupted
variety o f English. Consequently. Black .Americans are perceived as being linguistically
less sophisticated than the Whites and. therefore, are less preferred as ESL instmctors.
One conclusion that can be drawn from the data discussed in this section is that
the disposition the student-participants seemingly showed for White ESL instructors can
presumably be attributed to a wide range o f factors, namely knowledge o f language
typologies, conscious racism, the socio-economic differences among racial groups in
2 4 9 America. "WTiite" accent and its promotion by the Anglo-American media. The latter may be the most plausible reason for the aforementioned phenomenon exhibited by the student-participants.
5.3 Summary
The statistics reported in this chapter suggested that the student-participants:
(a) preferred White .American ESL instructors as well as European ESL instructors
whose native language is English;
(h) preferred Black .American ESL instructors and non-English speaking ESL instructors
from .Africa the least;
(c) on average, considered the instructor's racial identity the third most influential factor
in the teacher-student relationship;
(el ma> not realize the impact race has on their preference for White ESL instructors.
The instructor-participants. asked to account for the preference observed among the student-participants for White ESL instructors, were o f the opinion that westem-style politics and the western media— the latter through, among other things, movies and
music— may influence how racial groups in. for instance, the United States are perceived
by t'oreigners. Some suggested, furthermore, that preference or lack o f preference among
the student-participants for certain ESL instructors may be the result o f differences in
accent among the latter, while others dismissed this assumption, opting instead to
interpret the aforementioned preferences as motivated by racial prejudice.
Finally. 1 propose that these findings be treated as conjectures, here defined as
■findings warranting further investigation.' I base this proposal on the following grounds.
2 5 0 First, the sensitive nature o f the study may have caused some participants to provide responses that are socially acceptable rather than statements that reflect the truth.
Secondly, the linguistic complexity o f the survey may have caused some o f the participants to misunderstand one or more items, as a result o f which they might have provided responses that might not represent their views. Third, one should keep in mind that the 174 student-participants made up a fraction o f the total ESL student population in the United States (see section 1.9).
251 CHAPTER 6
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS,
RECOMMENDATIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE
STUDY
6.1 Introduction
This chapter summarizes the study and discusses the conclusions. It also identifies implications for the field o f ESL and presents a number o f recommendations with respect to the practice o f ESL teaching and possible future research. Finally, the limitations o f the study are restated.
6.2 Summary
This study was undertaken to help fill the void that exists in the area o f research that investigates the effects o f issues o f race on the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the ESL classroom. W ith respect to the social dimension, this study determined the extent to w hich the ESL students participating in this study preferred various types o f ESL
instructors. The pedagogical dimension o f the study concerned the way in which the
theoretical and practical aspects of ESL instruction were affected by the racial
experiences o f the ESL instructors involved in the study.
252 The primarN' question this study sought to answer was how issues o f race impact the pedagogical and social dimensions o f the ESL classroom. Whereas the pedagogical dimension involved the theoretical and practical aspects o f ESL instruction, the social dimension concerned the interaction between teacher and students. To determine the impact o f race on the pedagogical dimension o f the ESL classroom, the study investigated:
1. The kind o f racial experiences to which the teacher-participants were exposed to prior
to entering the ESL profession; and
2. The role racial experiences play in the instructors' theoretical approach to the
teaching of ESL;
To determine the impact o f race on the social dimension o f the ESL classroom, the study
examined:
3. The extent to which ESL students show a disposition for a particular category o f ESL
instructors;
4. The extent to which race contributes to the disposition the student-participants exhibit
toward a particular categoiy of ESL instructors;
5. What instructor-participants know about the disposition the student-participants have
toward a particular category of ESL instructors;
6. The reasons why the student-participants favor a particular category o f ESL
instructors.
Framed as questions, these issues formed the secondary questions o f the research.
The study consisted of both a quantitative and a qualitative component. For data
gathering purposes, the survey method and the case study method were used. The
253 quantitative component involved a survey and analysis of 174 ESL students enrolled in the ESL programs o f San Cristobal State University and San Cristobal Community
College, both located in a metropolis in the US Midwest. The majority o f the student sample consisted o f students from Asia: other student-participants came from Europe, the
Middle East. .Africa. Latin .America and South .America. For the purposes o f the qualitative component, a series o f one-on-one semi-structured interv iews was conducted with six ESL instructors employed at San Cristobal State University. These instructors differed in racial and linguistic background, geographical origin, gender, and instructor status.
.Analysis o f the survey data revealed that the student-participants:
(a) highly preferred White .American ESL instructors as well as White European ESL
instructors whose native language is English (e.g.. British individuals):
(b) showed the least preference for Black .American ESL instructors and non-English
speaking ESL instructors from .Africa:
(c) believed that the geographical origin, nationality, and racial background o f the ESL
instructor were the three most influential factors in the teacher-student relationship.
.Analysis o f the case studies conducted among the instructor-participants showed
that they all brought certain experiences to the classroom which may either be race
related or related to some other social phenomenon (e.g.. ethnicity, class, or gender).
Moreover, not all instructor-participants related their racial experiences to their theories
and approaches to teaching ESL. In addition, the instructor-participants seemed aware
that ESL students tend to display a proclivity toward WTiite ESL instructors, which they
2 5 4 attributed to a number o f reasons ranging from the students' knowledge o f language typologies to the manner in which the American media represents the various racial groups in American society.
6.3 Conclusions
6.3.1 Conclusions relative to the pedagogical dimension of the ESL classroom
The investigation into issues o f race as they relate to the pedagogical dimension o f the ESL classroom led to the following conclusions. First, with the exception o f .A.balo and Shelley, issues o f race did not seem to figure prominently in the teaching philosophy o f the instructor- participants. That is to say. most o f them do not appear to perceive of racial experiences, for that matter, race theory as a source they can draw from to supplement their goals, values, and beliefs about the teaching o f ESL. This may be the result o f the fact that professionalism tends to see "methods, techniques, and procedures
followed in [English Language Teaching] ... ass sufficient for understanding and analysing language learning" (Phillipson. 1992. p.48).
Second, the teacher-participants proved to be sensitive to the idea o f addressing
issues o f race in the classroom. However, lack o f sufficient time and o f curricular support
make it difficult for them to do so adequately, if at all. In the words o f Totten ( 1992). the
teacher-participants' "already tight schedules ... ostensibly preclude addressing social
issues and other concomitant concerns, which [some program directors, colleagues, and
students] ... often [perceive] as adjunct areas and not as an integral part o f the
curriculum" (p. 15). Third, the lack o f curricular support suggests that bodies involved in
the curriculum development process such as colleges involved in the training o f ESL
255 instructors do not sufficiently encourage the making o f changes in ESL curricula which would allow ESL instructors ample time to discuss social issues such as race w ith their students on a regular and sustained basis.
6.3.2 Conclusions relative to social dimension of the ESL classroom
Item 4 o f the Instructor Preference Survey requested the student-participants to express their preference for four ESL instructors who were all identified as .A.mericans but were differentiated from one another in terms o f race. Inherent in the identification o f the four ESL instructors as .Americans was the presumption that the student-participants w ould perceive each o f them as native speakers o f English. .As shown in section 5.2.1. the student-participants favored WTiite American ESL instructors over those o f .Asian.
1 lispanic and Black .American origin. This study concludes, therefore, that the preference the student-participants exhibited for the White ESL instructor did not seem to be based on either the instructors' nationality or their status as native speakers o f English. .As a result, this study concludes that presumably another factor was at issue, one which it labels 'whiteness.'
The reader is reminded that the term "whiteness" refers to "the position that the category o f'W h ite people' happens to occupy in people's mind. ... It is a norm against
which every thing is compared or matched with rewards and privileges commensurate
w ith it" (Semali. 1998. p. 183). In the context o f this study, whiteness is believed to result
in the student-participants perceiving White ESL instructors as genuinely authentic, i.e..
they perceive these instructors the most as reliable and trustworthy category o f ESL
256 instructors, particularly in meeting their linguistic needs. Thus, one may conclude that whiteness was a factor in how the student-participants expressed their preference for one categoiy- o f ESL instructors over another.
This conclusion is consistent with the finding o f Perdreau and discussed in Tobash
( 1996) and Nero ( 1998). According to these scholars. Perdreau found that the participants in her study preferred \M iite American or British ESL instructors (see also section 5.1).
The finding is, furthermore, consistent with .Amin's (1997) claim that some ESL students assume that, "(a) [o]nly White people can be native speakers o f English; (b) only native speakers know 'real,' 'proper,' 'Canadian' English; and (c) only White people are 'real'
Canadians" (p.580). Thus, the students involved in this research project apparently share the perceptions o f the students involved in the studies conducted by .Amin and Perdreau.
Interestingly, the student-participants seemed to apply the race-based concept o f whiteness primarily as a means to distinguish White from non-White ESL instructors.
Beyond this particular distinction, race did not appear to factor in in the preferences the
student-participants expressed for the remaining categories o f ESL teachers. This study
concludes that, apparently, sociolinguistic issues are also at the heart o f the preferences
the student-participants expressed for the various categories o f ESL instructors, I base
this conclusion on three instances, which are:
(a) the preference the student-participants exhibited for native English-speaking ESL
instructors from Europe relative to native English-speaking ESL instructors from
.Africa and .Asia;
(b) the preference the student-participants exhibited for native English-speaking ESL
instructors from .Africa relative to Black .American ESL instructors; and
2 5 7 (c) the preference particularly the South Asian student-participants exhibited toward
native English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa relative to ESL instructors from
South-Asia.
Given the line o f reasoning outlined above with respect to \\'Tiite ESL instructors, one may be inclined to believe that whiteness was at issue in the preference the student- participants exhibited for native English-speaking ESL instructors from Europe relative to native English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa and Asia. On the other hand, one can also argue that in expressing their preference for native English-speaking ESL instructors from Europe, and specitlcally Great Britain, the student-participants might have been guided by the adulation that historically has been accorded to British English.
Kretzschmar (2000). for instance, in his overview o f .American English, pointed out that currently the majority of people learning English as a foreign language still learn the
British English variety'. There is some evidence, however, which suggests that the status o f British English as the model variety is being challenged.
Sahgal ( 1991 ). who. in her study, wanted to determine whether "the predominant
status o f English [in India] has caused a reallocation o f the status o f different languages
in the verbal repertoire o f some Indian communities" (p.300). surveyed 45 persons from
elite, middle, or upper strata o f society in Delhi. Her study revealed that 47 percent of
those sur\ eyed chose "ordinary Indian English" as their preferred model o f English.
Moreover. 24 percent chose British English and 2 percent chose .American English as
they model o f English they aspired to. The English o f radio and television newscasters
was also given relatively low ratings (27 percent), as this type o f English was perceived
as an imitation o f the BBC pronunciation. Thus, among the elite in India there apparently
2 58 is a preference for South Asian English over British and American English. Moreover.
Sridhar (1996). in his descriptive analysis o f "some syntactic patterns o f the variety o f
English used by students [in South India] in their final year of formal training in English"
(p. 56). observed. "[South Asians] who speak a variety [o f English] that is too close to
[standard] British or .American [English] are fundamentally suspect in the eyes o f most
South .Asians; they are considered '’ phony.' ’affected.' or ’ snobbish' (p. 66-67).
.Admittedly, in the context o f this study. Sahgal's findings and Sridhar's comments may not strike readers as convincing, since the majority o f students in this study were East .Asians. Moreover, as the Table 5.4 (see p. 206) shows, the South .Asian students showed a greater preference for ESL instructors from Europe— i.e.. Britain— than to those from .Asia. Therefore, a plausible conclusion for the preference the student- participants exhibited for native English-speaking ESL instructors from Europe relative to native English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa and .Asia is that the student- participants were guided by the prestige that British English has.
fhe preference the student-participants exhibited for native English-speaking ESL
instructors from .Africa relative to the preference expressed for Black .American ESL
instructors is intriguing. That is. whereas Table 5.2 (see p.202) shows that Black
■American ESL instructors are perceived as the "last resort", i.e.. as the ESL instructor one
turns to in the absence o f other, more preferred ESL professionals. Table 5.4 (see p. 206-
207) shows that native English-speaking ESL instructors from .Africa are primarily
perceived as either "worth having" or "satisfactory." The fact that the members of these
two categories o f ESL instructors belong to the same racial group and are native speakers
2 5 9 o f English raises questions about the reasons why they are perceived differently. This study argues that negative attitudes toward the speech style o f Black Americans residing in the inner cities, specifically their use o f Ebonics, may be at issue here.
Wachtel ( 1999). for instance, stated. "Blacks who speak with an accent and grammar closer to 'standard English' are perceived more positively by most [W]bites than [B [lacks who speak in the accent and linguistic structure o f the inner city" (p. 178).
For people residing outside o f the United States, exposure to Black .Americans is limited to the entertainment media, specifically television, movies, and music. In these forms o f entertainment. Black .American actors and artists frequently exhibit the speech patterns and word choice associated with Blacks living in .America's inner cities, where Ebonics appears to dominate. By lacing their speech w itlt expletives as. for instance, various rap
musicians frequently tend to do. such actors and musicians obviously do not contribute to
an appreciation for Ebonics. Moreover, within the Black .American community itself,
discussions regarding the role and status o f Ebonics stir up enormous controversy. This
became apparent, for instance, when the School Board o f the City o f Oakland Public
Schools in Oakland. California passed a resolution to familiarize teachers with the
linguistic structure o f Ebonics (see. for instance. Mc)\''horter. 2000).
The conclusion this study arrives at is that as native speakers of English. Black
.American ESL instructors may not only have to contend with the phenomenon o f
whiteness but also with stereoty pical notions relative to Ebonics. That not every Black
person speaks Ebonics and that it is primarily associated with "the working class and the
poor" ( Lippi-Green. 1997b. p.7) may be unknown to outsiders, such as the student-
participants in this study, or may even be irrelevant to them. The result may be that Black
2 6 0 American ESL instructors may be perceived as "less effective in facilitating [the] students' language learning." (Amin. 1997. p.581) not only in comparison to. perhaps.
White native-speaking ESL instructors but also, perhaps, in comparison to native
English-speaking ESL instructors from .Africa.
Another source o f intrigue is the preference the South .Asian student-participants in particular and the .Asian student-participants in general exhibited toward native
English-speaking ESL instructors from .Africa relative to the preference they expressed toward ESL instructors from South-.Asia. In this instance, too. one may need to take into account certain socio-linguistic factors, specifically the attitudes o f South .Asians with respect to South .Asian English (SAE). .According to Wong and Thomas ( 1993). for instance. S.AE as spoken in countries such as India and Singapore is not homogeneous in nature.
First, there are a number o f varieties o f SAE depending at least in part on the coLintrN' in which SAE is spoken. Thus. SAE as spoken in India, for instance, may differ somew hat from that o f the variety spoken in Singapore. Second, each variety is made up o f "a continuum o f Meets' ... ranging from the educated acrolectal variety or "rhetorical style' which is almost indistinguishable from Standard British English, through the medium range o f the mesolectal variety or the "communicative st\Me. to the lowest
\ ariety. the basilectal variety" (Ibid.. p.15). Wong and Thomas pointed out that this
■"lectal" continuum has apparently resulted in different standards being used for the spoken and written language. .As they put it.
While local educated norms are increasingly being adopted to judge the spoken language in India and Singapore, the norm for the wTitten form remains, by and large, standard British English. ... The
261 insistence on ... standard British English for the written form implies that Indian English and Singapore English are regarded as less favorable, if not inferior varieties o f English as they are only ’speech- worthy'. (p. 16).
Put another way. education officials, college lecturers and classroom teachers m a\. as Wong and Thomas asserted, hold negative attitudes toward the nativized varieties o f SAE. particularly when the written language is at issue. Chances are. then, that students in South .Asian nations where English functions as either the official language or one o f a number o f official languages, w ill be aware o f the negative attitudes within their educational system toward the nativized varieties, and. perhaps, even adopt such attitudes themselves.
It is. furthermore, quite possible that students in East Asian nations such as China.
Japan, and the Republic o f Korea might be aware o f the aforementioned sentiments as
well. This may cause Asian students in general to be less receptive to and appreciative o f
native-English-speaking ESL instructors from South .Asia than to those from Africa, in
spite o f the fact that they may not know what the status o f English is in .African nations in
which English is the official language or one o f the official languages. Thus, here again,
one ma\ conclude that the reason why the South .Asian student-participants in particular
and the .Asian student-participants in general exhibited greater preference toward native
English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa than to those from South-.Asia may lie in
the realm of socio-linguistics.
In addition to whiteness and sociolinguistic factors, it appears that other factors
ma\ have played a role in the preference the student-participants exhibited for a
particular category o f ESL instructors relative to another. However, given the data
2 6 2 available. 1 am unable to specify at this time what these factors might be. A case in point is the preference the student-participants exhibited toward native English-speaking ESL instructors from .Africa relative to the preference they expressed toward nonnative
English-speaking ESL instructors from the same continent.
.As Table 5.4 (see p. 206-207) shows, each group o f student-participants labeled the native English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa as either "worth having" or
"satisfactory.A t the same time, however, the student-participants. on average, preferred non-native English-speaking ESL instructors from .Africa the least. .As mentioned in section 5.2.4.1. 85.5 percent o f the .Asian students participating in this study had had no exposure to Black ESL instructors prior to their arrival in the United States, irrespective ot'whether these instructors were native or nonnative speakers of English. Moreover. e\ en after arrival in the United States. 76.8 percent o f the .Asian student-participants had
had no exposure to Black ESL instructors. These statistics make the preference referred
to here particularly intriguing and worthy o f investigation.
6.4 Implications of the study
6.4.1 Implications for ESL instructors
.As indicated in the previous section, the findings o f this study suggest that the
student-participants seemed to distinguish ESL instructors first and foremost on the basis
o f whiteness. That is. they perceived the linguistic knowledge and teaching skills o f
White ESL instructors as the norm and used it to measure those o f other ESL instructors,
in particular ESL instructors o f color. The concept o f whiteness, then, has implications
263 for both White ESL instructors and those o f color. The White instructors' cartoon-
.American image, as one o f the instructor-participants so aptly put it. allows them to enjoy certain privileges.
First, because their teaching capabilities and linguistic knowledge are presumed better than those o f ESL instructors o f color, they may have to do relatively little to prove that they are truly effective in meeting the needs o f the students as the latter automatically seem to assume. Furthermore, they can. perhaps, even afford to have a few minor slip-ups without the students' belief in their teaching capabilities being shaken too much, if at all.
Moreover. White ESI. instructors may have to invest less time and energy in establishing credibility among and good relations with their students. In addition, when judged objectively, the teaching o f some White ESL instructors may prove to be below average.
It is quite possible, however, that such instructors may still receive positive feedback
from their students at end-of-term evaluations. That is to say. the image some ESL
students have o f "the White ESL instructor' may possibly result in these students glossing
over the shortcomings o f one or more White ESL instructors.
ESL instructors o f color, on the other hand, may not be so fortunate. .And given
the findings o f the Instructor Preference Survey. Black .American ESL instructors. Black
nonnative English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa, and. perhaps. Black nonnative
English-speaking ESL instructors from other geographical regions may need to work
harder to receive decent evaluations from their students, in spite o f the fact that the
teaching skills most o f these instructors might prove to be above average. The students
may expect and im plicitly demand greater efforts on the part o f these instructors than
they would from White ESL instructors. Consequently. ESL instructors o f color may be
2 6 4 required to work harder than their White counterparts, not only to establish themselves as credible ESL professionals but also to establish a harmonious student-teacher relationship. This implication is strengthened by the findings o f Hendrix (1995a. 1995b) who. in her study on the influence o f race on the establishment o f credibility in the classroom, concluded that Black professors have to work harder than White professors do to earn credibility among their students. Furthermore, if ESL instructors o f color have to invest more time and energy on classroom duties than their White colleagues, they may have less time and energy available to conduct research and write articles for the purposes o f publication or presentation at conferences.
In addition, if teachers o f color suspect or know that ESL students lack confidence
in their teaching capabilities, this may result in low morale among these instructors. Low
morale may result in these instructors performing their professional duties poorly. Poor
teaching performance, in turn, is not only likely to result in dissatisfaction among the
students, but it w ill also ser\ e to further enhance the negative perceptions ESL students
may hold about ESL instructors of color. .And under such circumstances, establishing and
maintaining a harmonious teacher - student relationship may be difficult. This, in turn.
ma\- result in these instructors perhaps being evaluated more critically than their White
colleagues, particularly in end-of term student evaluations.
6.4. 2 Implications for the ESL profession
If. in a particular teaching setting, teachers o f color suspect or know that students
\ alue their White colleagues more than they value them, such suspicion or knowledge
may lead to strained working relationships between White instructors and instructors o f
265 color, which may impact the teaching process. The strains and frustrations that may arise from such a tense situation may lead some ESL instructors o f color to abandon the ESL profession altogether. Also, the recruitment o f people o f color may be more difficult, resulting in an increased and continued underrepresentation o f people o f color in the profession. In addition, a less racially diverse ESL profession may strengthen the belief, particularly among people o f color considering a career in teaching, that the teaching o f
ESL is the prerogative o f Caucasians only.
Because ESL instructors o f color may have less time and energy available to conduct research and publish due to the fact that they may have to invest more time and energy in classroom duties, the ESL profession may lose potentially valuable knowledge regarding the teaching and learning of ESL as well as the development o f ESL
instructional materials and resources. Furthermore, the fact that student-participants
preferred Black .American ESL instructors and nonnative English-speaking ESL
instructors from .Africa the least, may imply that the profession has either (a) made
insufficient efforts to raise awareness among its clientele that instructors o f color in
general and Black ESL instructors in particular are just as authentic as their White
counterparts, or that (b) such attempts have failed.
6.4. 3 Implications for curriculum developers
One claim made by almost all o f the instructor-participants in this study was that
curricular constraints make it difficult for them to address issues o f race in the ESL
classroom. This claim, too. assuming that it is representative of what is o f concern to
other professionals in the field of ESL, has multiple implications for the teaching of ESL.
2 6 6 First, it might imply that those involved in the curriculum development process. specifically materials writers. ESL teacher education programs, and ESL training programs do not give high priority to promoting racial consciousness among prospective
ESL teachers as well as ESL students. Racial consciousness is defined here as the constant, thorough, and critical examination and evaluation o f one's racial beliefs. positions, and actions as well as taking an active interest in the lives o f people o f other racial groups (adapted from Totten. 1992).
The aforementioned implication is strengthened by Totten's ( 1992) claim regarding the teaching o f social issues in .America's schools. He obser\ ed.
Upon close scrutiny o f school curricula across the United States, it becomes painfully obvious that preparing students to become competent social critics and/or socially active citizens is not a high priority in our nation's schools. Certainly indicative o f this is the fact that the study o f social issues in our social studies. English, and science classrooms is still ... perfunctorv at best, and scant at worst. (p.l2)
Thus, according to Totten, evaluation o f the school curricula in the U.S. revealed that
raising the social consciousness o f students is not given much attention to. This would,
presumably, include the curricula employed by ESL programs.
Furthermore, the claim that the curricular constraints tend to hamper attempts on
the part o f ESL instructors to address issues o f race in the classroom implies that the
coverage o f issues o f race by textbook writers is marginal at best. Presuming this
implication is true, then it is not very likely that issues o f race w ill be addressed on a
regular basis in the ESL classroom, for as Johnson (1989) argued. "[t]eaching and
learning materials ... have a direct influence upon what happens in the classroom" (p.7).
2 6 7 The reason is that teachers rely on textbooks to inform them about the kind o f topics students should be introduced to and the order in which this should occur (Byram and
Esarte-Sarries. quoted in Osborn. 2000).
Moreover, according to Apple and Christian-Smith's (1991). "[textbooks] ... help set the canons o f truthfulness and. as such, also help re-create a major reference point for what knowledge, culture, belief, and moralit\' really are (pp. 3-4; emphasis in original).
Put another w ay. if one w ishes to determine the kind o f knowledge, culture, beliefs, and morals a society values, one needs to look no further than the textbooks produced or used in that particular society. Therefore, one may reason that what is not in the textbook— in this case, issues o f race—obviously has little or no significance for society.
With respect to ESL teacher education programs, the claim o f the instructor- participants may imply that critical pedagogy, and specifically critical language study. has. to date, been largely neglected in the aforementioned programs. .According to
McLaren ( 1998). "critical pedagogy examines schools both in their historical context and as part o f the existing social and political fabric that characterizes the dominant socictv "
(p. 163). In addition. Fairclough (1992) claimed that critical language study.
highlights how language conventions and language practices are invested with power relations and ideological processes which people are often unaware of. It criticises mainstream language study for taking conventions and practices at face value, as objects to be described, in a way that obscures their political and ideological investment, (p.7)
Relative to ESL training programs, the claim o f the instructors implies that these
programs are less supportive o f or may even discourage activities that those in charge o f
the programs perceive as straying from traditional language teaching practices. These
268 include the teaching o f the language skills (i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and their components (i.e.. grammatical structure, vocabulary', phonology, and orthography) (Harris. 1969). This implication is strengthened by Totten's claim that,
"there is a fear by teachers that principals ... may disapprove of their teaching about social issues that are controversial" (p. 15). In this respect. 1 am particularly reminded of
Mukembe's concern that addressing issues o f race in the classroom may offend his students to such an extent that they may complain to his superiors, which in turn may result in him being reprimanded or perhaps even dismissed.
The seemingly insufficient attention to issues of race by ESL textbook writers.
ESL teacher education programs, and ESL training programs implies that the ESL
profession has failed to problematize issues o f race. By not problematizing these issues,
the profession runs the risk o f being perceived as one with little or no commitment to
contribute to minimizing racial inequality in the United States. The recommendations
discussed in the next section should be seen as possible actions that ESL professionals
might undertake to bring about positive changes relative to the way in which the field
addresses issues o f race.
6.5 Recommendations involving the practice of ESL teaching
Based on the findings o f this study and the implications presented above, various
suggestions can be made, particularly with respect to the practice o f ESL teaching. First,
the outcomes o f the student sur\ ey seem to suggest that there is a need to raise awareness
among ESL students that teachers o f color can be just as adequate in teaching the skills
26 9 and components o f the English language as their White colleagues. One way to achieve
this might be to provide the students with references that discuss the professional lives of
successful educators o f color (e.g.. Jaime Escalante and Joe Clark).
Though neither o f these men were ESL professionals, by discussing their
professional achievements with the students. ESL instructors may be sowing the seeds for
an enhanced appreciation o f ESL instructors o f color among ESL students. Escalante
taught advanced mathematics at a high school in East Los Angeles to students who were
not being successfully challenged by many of their teachers. Clark, on the other hand,
managed to change a high school in New Jersey where he was principal into one that
became a national model o f industriousness, civility and educational achievement. Both
men ha\ e achieved acclaim for their work and were subjects o f movies, respectively.
SianJ and Deliver and Lean on Me. These movies might become useful teaching tools for
both ESL instructor professional development training as well as for advanced ESL
student viewing.
Identifying successful ESL professionals o f color should be an important
objective o f the International Black Professionals and Friends in TESOL. a caucus within
Teachers o f English to Speakers o f Other Languages, the major organization o f ESL
professionals in the U.S and abroad. The aforementioned caucus should chronicle the
careers o f instructors who could ser\ e as role models. The chronicles, when published,
might not only serve to raise awareness among ESL students that ESL instructors o f color
can be just as authentic as their WTiite counterparts, but also serve to inspire greater
numbers o f people o f color to become ESL professionals.
270 There is also a need to raise the racial consciousness o f ESL students. To this end. textbook writers need to give greater prominence to issues o f race in their publications. It is encouraging to observe that some recently published ESL textbooks such as America
Sow. Foundaiions. and Open Minds address racial matters. The latter addresses the issue o f race in a somewhat traditional fashion: a Black person applying for a position is told that it is filled, while his White friend who applies immediately afterwards is told that the position is still open. The other two textbooks take a less traditional approach to the topic.
America AVnc has presented various views on interracial dating and marriages and addressed the debate over the need for affirmative action. Foundations poignantly addressed the division between Blacks and Whites from the point o f view o f a White college student. More textbooks like these are needed because, given the significance teachers and learners attach to textbooks (see section 6.4). such educational resources provide students and teachers with the means to critically question and examine how race mediates life in societies stratified along this social force.
ESL programs would also be well advised to integrate the teaching o f social issues in general and race in particular in their core courses. In addition to having students read, discuss, and wTite about issues o f race, programs ought to regularly invite representatives o f anti-racial organizations to speak to the students about racial matters.
Moreover, discriminatory practices in other countries— including but not limited to the countries o f origin o f the students— should be addressed to heighten the students'
aw areness that prejudice is a global rather than an .American phenomenon.
In addition. ESL teacher education programs ought to offer a series o f required
courses that focus on instilling in prospective teachers the principles o f critical pedagogy
271 in general and critical language awareness in particular. Given the histor\' o f the United
States regarding issues o f race, the interaction between language and race should receive significant attention in such courses. However, as pointed out in section 5.3.4.3. foreign nationals in general and .\sians and Pacific Islanders in particular, view the concept o f race differently from many Americans. Consequently, when issues o f race are discussed in a course that emphasizes the experiences and perspectives o f .Americans, some foreign nationals may not necessarily attach the same significance to these issues as their
.American classmates.
Therefore. ESL educators w ill need to look for ways to draw such students into the discussion. Such a focus, in addition to drawing students from these regions into the discussion, may also enable them as well as their .American classmates to see that discrimination is not solely an .American problem. For this purpose, the instructor may turn to books or articles that address, say. the plight o f racial and ethnic groups in other parts o f the world. For instance, given the many Somalian refugees in the United States, the instructor may focus on the civil war in Somalia, the result o f struggle between clans vying for control over the Somalian government. Yet another o f hotbed of ethnic tension and \ iolence is Indonesia. In February 2001. for instance, ethnic violence erupted in central Kalimantan province on the island o f Borneo. On that occasion, the Dayaks. an ethnic group indigenous to the island o f Borneo, killed hundreds o f Madurase. who. in
the 1960s began arriving on the island o f Borneo in massive relocation program ordered
by the Indonesia government to combat overcrowding on the island o f Madura (Cooney.
2001).
2 7 2 A course such as the one designed by and discussed in Diaz-Rico (1998) is illustrative o f the kind o f courses that are needed. As she put it. the objective o f her course is
to increase ESL teachers' effectiveness in expanding nonmainstream students' access to the core curriculum. This is accomplished by inviting teachers to reexamine their beliefs about genetic inferiority/superiority, cultural deprivation, institutional racism, the personal responsibility o f teachers toward equity in the classroom, and the employment o f a bias free curriculum. The course treats such issues as the intluence o f culture on schooling, the culture practices o f schooling, and the sociopolitical context of schooling, (pp. 71-72)
Thus, the course Diaz-Rico referred to is designed, among other purposes, to transform prospective ESL teachers from individuals who are. more often than not. reluctant to disclose their sentiments regarding issues of race, ethnicity, and class into ESL professionals willing to participate in "the struggle to achieve a just society" (Ibid.. p.71 ).
.\s a more detailed description o f this course is beyond the scope o f this study, the
interested reader is referred to Diaz-Rico ( 1998).
Furthermore, the profession as a whole needs to take a more active stance on
issues o f race as they manifest themselves in society at large since these may directly or
indirectly affect one or more aspects o f the teaching and learning of ESL. One way this
can be achieved is through Teachers o f English to Speakers o f Other Languages
(TESOL). the professional organization o f ESL instructors in the United States.
.Apparently, this association has already been working to raise the social consciousness o f
its members. For instance, in October 1999 the TESOL Board o f Directors gave its
otTicial approval for the establishment o f TESOLers for Social Responsibility (TSR).
.According to Cates (2000). this caucus "comprises TESOL members who are engaged in
273 working for a better world by integrating language teaching and learning with social responsibility, world citizenship, and an awareness o f global issues such as peace, human rights. .AIDS, and the environment" (p.3). (It is striking that Cates does not mention race as one o f the global issues that call for awareness raising; this omission once again bespeaks o f how issues o f race are dealt with in the profession). Moreover. TESOL has an impressive policy portfolio that includes, among others, statements on .African
.American Vernacular English and Nonnative Speakers o f English and Hiring Practices
(Schwarte. 2000; see .Appendices 1 and J).
By and large, these and similar committees, caucuses, and policy statements serve the profession itself. The organization should, however, be dedicated to "increasing the credibility o f [the ESL] profession" (Schwarte. 2000. p.3) beyond the confines o f the ESL teaching community and into society at large. To directly convey its socio-political
stances to its clientele, which, one hopes, in the near future w ill include its stances on
issues o f race. TESOL may need to issue press releases, both in the United States and
abroad, to publicize it socio-political stances, a recommendation originally put forth by
Wadden (1992).
To further enhance racial sensitivit) within the ESL profession, one or more
TESOL members may want to establish an interest section, the specific objectives o f
which might include:
• .Ad\ocating and advancing racial harmony within the profession;
• Enhancing racial consciousness among ESL professionals and ESL students through,
for instance, workshops and seminars;
• .Addressing racial prejudice in the hiring o f ESL professionals;
2 7 4 • Promoting research on issues o f race in relation to the teaching and learning o f ESL;
• Advocating the inclusion of issues of race in ESL textbooks;
• proposing one or more courses that address issues o f race relative to the teaching and
learning o f ESL in the TESOL Program Guidelines for Preparing Teachers;
• Collaborating with other corrunittees and caucuses within TESOL. such as
International Black Professionals and Friends in TESOL to recruit persons o f color in
the ESL profession;
• Preparing statements on behalf o f TESOL with respect to issues o f race as they
manifest themselves in society.
6.6 Future research
In order to learn more about the manner in which issues o f race may affect the
pedagogical and social dimensions o f the ESL classroom, additional research needs to be conducted. Some suggestions, presented in the form o f research questions, are:
1. To what extent do ESL textbook writers. ESL teacher education programs, programs
tor ESL learners, and other decision makers involved in the development o f ESL
curricula devote attention to issues o f race relative to the teaching o f ESL?
2. What are some o f the ways in which issues o f race can be included into the ESL
curriculum?
3. To what extent are ESL teacher educators and ESL instructors reluctant to address
issues o f race in the classroom?
4. .Assuming ESL teacher educators and ESL instructors are reluctant to address issues o f
race in the classroom, what are the reasons for their reluctance?
275 5. How can ESL teacher training programs and programs for ESL learners committed to
addressing issues o f race in the classroom assist those educators and instructors
reluctant to address such issues overcome their reluctance?
G. WTiat are the reasons why few people o f color seem w illing to pursue a career in the
teaching o f ESL?
7. To w hat extent is the tendency found among the student-participants in this study to
prefer ESL instructors from the U.S. and Britain the most also found among the ESL
student population at large?
8. .Assuming that the tendency observed among the student-participants in this study to
prefer ESL instructors from the U.S. and Britain the most is found among the ESL
student population at large, to what extent do stereotypical images o f Whites in
particularly the .American and British media and film industry contribute to this
tendency?
To what extent is the tendency observed among the student-participants in this study to
prefer Black .American ESL instructors the least also found among the ESL student
population at large?
10. .Assuming that the tendency observed among the student-participants in this study to
prefer Black .American ESL instructors the least is found among the ESL student
population at large, to what extent do stereotypical images o f Blacks in particularly
the .American and British media and film industry contribute to this tendency?
11. To what extent is the tendency found among the student-participants in this study to
prefer native English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa to Black .American ESL
instructors also found among the ESL student population at large?
2 7 6 12. Assuming the tendency found among the student-participants in this study to prefer
native English-speaking ESL instructors from Africa to Black American ESL
instructors is also found among the ESL student population at large, what could be the
reason! s) for this phenomenon?
13. To what extent is the tendency observed among the student-participants in this study to
prefer Black .-\merican ESL instructors and normative English-speaking ESL
instructors from Africa the least also found among the ESL student population at
large?
14. .Assuming the tendency observed among the student-participants in this study to prefer
Black .American ESL instructors and nonnative English-speaking ESL instructors from
.Africa the least is also found among the ESL student population at large, what could
be the reason! s) for this phenomenon?
15. .Assuming exposure to the entertainment media infltiences the preferences the student-
participants in this study displayed toward various types of ESL instructors, what kind
o f tv shows are ESL students watching once they are in the United States?
16. In a context in which the ESL classroom is primarily made up o f students o f one
particular racial group— say. for instance. .Asian students as was the case in this
study— to what extent is the students' preference for a particular group of students'
intluenced by the absence o f students o f other racial groups?
17. To what extent might the findings relative to the instructor-participants differ if the
one-on-one interviews were to be followed up by one or more group interviews with
the instructors?
2 7 7 18. To what extent might the findings relative to the student-participants differ if the
instructor preference survey is followed up by one or more group interviews with a
representative sample o f the student-participants?
Finally, those wishing to replicate this study may benefit from the following recommendations relative to the research methodology. To begin with, researchers using a sur\ ey as their data collection instrument ought to give a lot of thought to the construction o f this instrument. Since obtaining reliable data on issues o f race is difficult giving the sensitive nature o f the topic, it is important that researchers lessen the anxiety on the part o f the research participants. One way o f achieving this might be to design a questionnaire that includes but is not limited to questions related to issues o f race. Even if the researcher is only interested in the data obtained through the race-related questions. the questions should be worded in such a way and included in the questionnaire in a
manner that the research participants perceive them as asides.
This study was perhaps too narrow in focus and. therefore, may have failed to
lessen the sense o f uneasiness on the part o f the research participants. This assumption is
suggested by the comment o f one student-participant who. in the space provided for
comments, stated:
Your questions which are related [to] gender, nationality, racial background, [and] religious denomination are so irritating. 1 think you can't do this. These are not important to be a teacher. The important thing is ... to have skill for this job. If you can do your job. [it] doesn't matter [whether] you are white or black. 1 did not reply [to] some of your questions for this reason.
Clearly, this student was upset by the focus o f the questions and his refusal to respond to
them resulted in loss o f valuable data. Thus, to secure the maximum amount o f data.
278 questions related to issues o f race should be written and included in the questionnaire in such a manner that they strike the respondents as a natural consequence o f the study.
In addition, researchers may want to follow-up the questionnaire with short interv iews in which the research participants explain the motives for the responses they have given. 1 considered this idea for this study, but after careful thought decided against it. 1 reasoned that since at least some o f the research participants had difficulty in responding to items on a anonymous questionnaire, they would probably be even more reluctant to state their genuine sentiments in a one-on-one interview, let alone a group interview. However, if the focus o f the questionnaire encompasses more than just issues o f race, students may be less reluctant to be interviewed.
Moreover, with respect to student sample, not only should the sample be larger, but it should also be more varied; that is. it should contain an even number o f students from different geographic regions. It might, furthermore, be conducted in various or all of the "core English-speaking countries" (Phillipson. 1992. p. 17). i.e.. .Australia. Britain.
Canada. New Zealand, and the United States. .A similar study might be conducted among
EEL students in "peripheral English-speaking nations." i.e.. "countries that require
English as an international link language ... and countries on which English was imposed
in colonial times" (Ibid.). In this way. comparisons can be made between the perceptions
o f students residing in core English-speaking and peripheral English-speaking nations.
One data collection instrument researchers may consider for the collection o f data
among the instructors is "Guided Autobiography" (GA). Chiefly used for the purposes on
research on reminiscence, particularly among the elderly. GA is "an educational process
o f bringing one's understanding o f the past into the present in order to integrate the
2 7 9 experiences and events o f one's lifetim e" (de Vries. Birren. and Deutchman. 1995. p. 166). Given its nature. GA is probably not an appropriate method to use when the research participants are novice teachers given the fact that they lack experience in the
field. Use o f this method is more likely to be successful with research participants whose careers as ESL instructors extend over a long period o f time, say ten years or more.
G .\ consists o f two components. The first component requires that the research
participants engage in essay writing based on themes provided by the researchers. The
purpose o f these essays is to enable the research participants to engage in in-depth
personal refiection o f their experiences. Based on these essays, the research participants
engage in a series o f discussions among themselves: this activity constitutes the second
component o f the method. For a more detailed discussion o f this method, the interested
reader might consult, for instance, de Vries. Birren. and Deutchman ( 1995). Kovach
( 1995). Malde (1988). and Seaton (1992. 1996).
6.7 Some continuing thoughts
.Mderfer (1994) asserted that, "the subject o f ... race relations in the United States
can never be far from the consciousness o f citizens who do not look away from the
infomiation regularly before [them]" (p.201). Unfortunately, it appears that for many
years the ESL profession has done precisely the opposite: it has seemingly shied away
from investigations into and discussions o f issues o f race relative to the teaching and
learning o f ESL. It may have done so inadvertently, perhaps believing that the absence o f
the two-tiered racial order— Black versus White— in the classroom has rendered
investigations into and discussions about issues o f race rather frivolous.
2 8 0 As this study has showTi. however, and as the philosopher, theologian, and activist
Cornel West has so aptly captured in the tile o f his 1993 publication. Race Matters, both beyond and within the classroom walls. This study has shown that ESL students have a preference for ESL instructors who are White and who originate from core English- speaking nations, particularly the United States and Britain. I f the ESL profession is serious about encouraging a racially diverse teaching community, it is incumbent upon the profession to investigate the manner in which issues o f race impact the social and pedagogical dimensions o f ESL classrooms at all instructional levels. In doing so. the profession would demonstrate to everyone, including prospective ESL instructors of color, that there is a need for an atmosphere in which all ESL instructors are accepted,
respected and supported.
6.8 Limitations of the study
This study was limited, first, in that it relied predominantly on self-report data.
which may have resulted in the drawing o f conclusions that were unwarranted. Moreover.
given the sensitive nature o f the study, it is possible that the research participants
provided responses that they presumed were socially acceptable rather than responses
that represented their views. In addition, because currently the typical ESL student is
more likely to be an .Asian rather than an .African, a Latin .American, or a European, the
diversity o f opinions may have been compromised. Thus, it is possible that the outcomes
o f the student survey were more representative o f the perceptions o f the .Asian students in
this study rather than from the general ESL population. Furthermore, because nearly 68%
o f the 174 student-participants were undergraduate students, who. ordinarily, are
281 relatively young and, consequently, lack sufficient life experience, it is possible that age and life experience may affected the data obtained from these research participants.
Finally, because the quantitative component o f the study made up a small portion o f the study and primarily served the purpose o f buttressing the qualitative one. no attempt was made to determine the statistical significance o f the quantitative data, thus allowing for the possibility that the findings relative to quantitative data were attributable to chance.
2 8 2 Bibiiographv
Abolmann. N. & Lie. J. ( 1995). Blue dreams: K.orean Americans and the Los .Angeles riots. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University' Press.
.Ahlquist. R. (1991). Position and imposition: Power relations in a multicultural foundations class. Journal o f Negro Education 60. 2. 158-169.
.Mberti. J. ( 1995). The nigger Huck: Race, identity, and the teaching o f Huckleberry Finn. Colleae Entilish 5?" 8. 919-937
.\ldcrfer. C. P. ( 1994). .A white man's perspective on the unconscious processes within black-white relations in the United States. In J. Edison. R. Trickett. J. Watts. & D. Birman (Eds.) Human diversity, (pp.201-229). San Francisco. California: Jossey- Bass Inc.. Publishers.
.Amin. N. ( 1997). Race and the identity o f the Nonnative ESL teacher. TESOL Quarterly. 51.3. 580-583.
______( 1999). Minority women teachers of ESL: Negotiating White English. In G. Braine (Ed.). Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp.93-104). Mawhaw. NJ: LawTcnce Erlbaum .Associates. Publishers.
.Angelou. M. ( 1993). 1 know whv the caued bird sings. New York: Random House. Inc. (Originally published 1969)
.Apple. W. M.. & Christian Smith. L.K. (Eds.) (1991). The Politics o f the textbook. London: Routledge
.Atwan. R. (Ed.). (1997). .America Now: Short readings from recent periodicals (2"^ ed.). Boston. MA: Bedford Books.
.Auerbach. E.R. ( 1995). The politics o f the ESL classroom: Issues o f power in pedagogical choices. In J. Tollefson (Ed.). Power and inequality in Language education (pp. 9-33). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bachman. L.F. ( 1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
283 Ballard. B. (1996). Through language to learning: Preparing overseas students for study in Western universities. In H. Coleman (Ed.). Societv and the Language Classroom (pp.148-168). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Banton. M.. ( 1999). The racializing o f the world. In M. Bulmer & J. Solomos (Eds.) Racism (pp.34-40). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Reprinted from The idea of race, by M.P. Banton. 1977. London. Tavistock Publications)
Becker. C. S. (1992). Living and relating: .A.n introduction to phenomenology. Newbuiy Park. C.\: Sage Publications.
Belkhir. J.T.. ( 1997). Race, gender, and class. In C..A Grant & G. Ladson-Billings. (Eds.). Dictionary o f multicultural education (pp. 229-230). Phoenix. AZ: Or>x Press.
Benesh. S. ( 1993). ESL. ideology, and the politics o f pragmatism. TESOL Ouarterlv. 27. 4.705-717.
( 1998). .\norexia: .A. feminist E.AP curriculum. In T. Smoke (Ed.) .Adult ESL: Politics, pedagogy, and participation in classroom and community pro grams (pp. 101-114). Mahwah. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum .Associates. Publishers.
Bha\ nani. K. ( 1993). Talking racism and the editing o f women's studies. In D. Richardson & V. Robinson (Eds.). Thinking feminist: kev concepts in women's studies (pp. 27-48). New York: The Guilford Press.
______(1997). Women's studies and its interconnection w ith 'race', ethnicity and sexuality. In V. Robinson & D. Richardson (Eds.). Introducing Women's Studies: Feminist theory and practice (2nd Ed.) (pp. 27-53). New York: New York University Press.
Bogdan. R.. & Taylor. S.J. (1975). Introduction to qualitative research methods: .A phenomenological approach to the social sciences. New York: John W iley and Sons.
Bostick. H. ( 1971 ). The introduction of Afro-French literature and culture in the .American secondary school curriculum: .A teacher's guide. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The Ohio State Universit}'.
______( 1972a). Teaching .Afro-French literature in the .American secondary school: .A new dimension. Foreign Language .Annals. 5. 4. 420-431.
_ ( 1972b). A case for black literature in the French classroom. The French Review. 46. 1. 44-51.
284 ______11979). A guide for integrating black literature and culture in first and second year lanizuage courses. Hampton. V A . Hampton Institute Press.
______( 1985). A suryey o f foreign language leardership in predominantly Black. colleges and universities. College Language Association Journal. 29. 2. 232-242.
Braine. G. ( 1999). Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL caucus formed. TESOL Matters. 9. 1. 6.
Brigman. S. L. & Cheser. L. Jacobs (1981). Participation and success o f minority students in university foreign language programs. Modem Language Journal. 65. 4.371-376.
Brod. R.I . ( 1983). The state o f the profession— 1983. The Modem Language Journal. 64. 4. 319-329
Brown. D. ( 1970). Burv mv heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian historv o f the .American West. New York: Holt. Rineheart. & Winston.
Brown. H. ( 1995). .American media impact on Jamaican youth: The cultural dependency thesis. In H.S. Dunn (Ed.). Globalization, communications, and Caribbean identity (pp. 56-82). New York: St. martin's Press.
Brown. J. D. (December 1992/Januar>' 1993). What research questions interest TESOL members? TESOL Matters. 2. 6. 20.
Brutt-Grifiler. J. & Samimy. K. K.. (1999). Revisiting the colonial in the postcolonial: Critical praxis for nonnative-English-Speaking teachers in a TESOL Program. TESOL Ouarterlv. 33. 3. 413-43~'l.
Bullington. J.. & Karlsson. G. ( 1984). Introduction to phenomenological psychological research. Scandinavian Joumal o f Psychology. 25. 1. 51-63.
Cai. Guanjun ( 1993. March). Bevond "bad writing": teaching English composition to Chinese students. Paper presented at the annual meeting o f the Conference on College Composition and Communication. San Diego. C.A. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 364 104)
Campbell. J.T. (2000). The .Americanization o f South .Africa. In R. Wagnleitner & E. Tyler May (Eds.) " Here, there, and everywhere": The foreign politics of ■American popular culture (pp. 34-63). Hanover. NH: University Press o f New England.
Casteel. C. {1998. November/December). Teacher-student interactions and race in integrated classrooms. The Joumal o f Education Research. 92. 2. 115-120.
2 8 5 Cates. K. (2000, June/July). TESOLers for social responsibility. TESOL Matters. 10. 2.
Cazden. C.B. ( 1988). Classroom discourse: The language o f teaching and learning. Porthsmouth. NH: Heinemann.
Chang. E.T. (1999). New urban crisis: Korean-African American relations. In K.C. K.im (Ed.). Koreans in the hood: Conflict with African Americans (pp.39-59). Baltimore. VID: The Johns University Press.
______. & Yu. E. (1994). Chronology. In E. Yu (Ed.). Black-Korean Encounter: Toward understanding and alliance LA: Institute for .-Ksian .American and Pacific .Asian Studies. California State University. Los .Angeles.
Chang. J. ( 1994). Race, class, conflict, and empowerment: On Ice Cube's "Black Korea". In E. T. Chang & R.C. Leong (Eds.). Los .Angeles— struggles toward multiethnic community: .Asian American. .African American, and Latino perspectives (pp. 87- 108). First University of Washington Press.
Children Now (2000a). Fall Colors: How diverse is the 1999-2000 TV season's prime time lineup? Oakland. CA: .Author.
______(2000b). Fall Colors II: Exploring the quality of diverse portravals on prime time television. Oakland. C.A: .Author.
Clark. B. ( 1980). .An experiment in ethnicity and foreign language in a black college. Foreign Language .Annals. 13. 5. 411-414.
______(1982). The infusion o f African cultural elements in language learning: .A modular approach. Foreign language Annals. 15.1. 23-28.
______( 1985). Learning to teach the cultures o f developing nations in the foreign language and literature classroom. Hampton. VA: Hampton University'. (ERJC Document Reproduction Service No. 253 091).
______& Harty. FI. (1983). .African cultural elements in language learning, project report. Washington. DC: National Endowment for the Humanities.
Clowney. E.. & Legge. J. (1979). The status o f foreign languages in predominantly black colleges: .An attitudinal and statistical study. College Language .Association Joumal. 22. 3. 264-282.
Cochran. E.P. ( 1996). Gender and the ESL classroom. TESOL Ouarterlv. 30. 1. 159-162.
Cooney. D. (2001. February 28). Eyewitnesses recount massacre in Indonesia. The Columbus Dispatch, p. .A8. 286 Cortazzi, M.. & Jin. L. (1996). Cultures of learning: Language classrooms in China. In H. Coleman (Ed.). Societv and the Lanuuage Classroom (pp. 169-206). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cottman, M.E.. ( 1993. July/August). Racism in Japan: Negative images o f Blacks fuel friction and misunderstanding. Emerge. 4. 9. 24-25.
Crenshaw. K... Gotanda. N.. Feller. G.. & Thomas (Eds.). (1995). Critical race theorv: The kev wxitings that formed the movement. New York: The New Press.
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks. California: Sage Publications.
______( 1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design. Thousand Oaks. California: Sage Publications.
Crowe. C.. & Peterson. K... (1995. February). Classroom research: Helping .Asian students succeed in writing courses. Teaching English in the Two Year College. 22. 1. pp.30-37.
Cruse. H. ( 1987). Plural but equal: A critical studv o f Blacks and minorities in .America's plural societv. New York: William Morrow and Company. Inc.
Curtin. P. ( 1999). The .Africans' place in nature. In M. Bulmer & J. Solomos (Eds.) Racism (pp.31-34). Oxford: Oxford University Press.. (Reprinted from The image o f .Africa: British ideas and action 1780-1850. by P. Curtin. 1965. London. Macmillan)
Davis. J. D. ( 1986). .Approaches to the teaching o f afro-hispanic culture. .Afro-Hispanic Review. 5. 1-3. 28-30.
______( 1990). .A studv o f student attitudes toward foreign language programs and studv at historically and predominantly Black institution. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University of Maryland.
( 1992). .African American Students and Foreign Language Learning. Washington. D.C.: Center for .Applied Linguistics. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 345 583.
. & Markham. P. (1991). Student attitudes toward foreign language study at historically and predominantly black institutions. Foreign Language .Annals. 24. 3. 227-237.
Delgado. R. . & Stefancic. J. (1997). Critical White studies: looking behind the mirror. Philadelphia: Temple University.
2 8 7 De Vries, B.. Birren. J.E.. & Deutchman. D.E. (1995). Method and uses o f guided autobiography. In B.K. Haight & J.D. Webster (Eds.). The art and science o f reminiscing: Theorv. research, methods, an applications (pp.165-177). Washington. D.C.: Taylor and Francis.
Diaz-Rico. L.T (1998). Toward a just society: Recalibrating multicultural teachers. In R. Chavez Chavez & J. O'Donnell (Eds.). Speaking the unpleasant: The politics of (non) engagement in the multicultural education terrain (pp. 69-86). Albany. NY: State University of New York Press.
Dikbtter. F. ( 1992). The discourse o f race in modem China. Stanford. CA: Stanford University Press.
______(Ed.). ( 1998). The construction o f racial identities in China and Japan. Honolulu. HI: University of Hawai'i Press.
Dilworth. M.E. ( 1990). Reading between the lines: Teachers and their racial/ethnic cultures. (Teacher Education Mongraph: No. 11). Wahington. D C.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education and American Association o f Colleges for Teacher Education.
Edmonslon. B.. & Schultze. C. (Eds.) ( 1995). Modernizing the U.S. Census. Washington. D C.: National .Academy Press.
F.ggingion. B. ( 1992. June/July). Sociopolitical concerns committee. TESOL Matters. 2. T 13.
English. M. .A. (1996). Confessions o f an .African American foreign language teacher. In Z. Moore (Ed.). Foreign languge teacher education: Multiple perspectives (pp. 89- 96). Lanham. MD: University Press o f America. Inc.
______( 1997). Factors affecting foreign language studv among .African-.American adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Texas at Austin.
Fairclough. N. ( 1989). Language and Power. London: Longman
Eels. M.D.. (1993. November). Assumptions of African American students about international exchange education. Paper Presented at the Speech Communication Convention. Miami. FL. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED368 315.
______. ( 1994. November). Imagining America: .A studv o f assumptions and expectations among English as a Second Language students from Japan. Paper presented at the .Annual Meeting o f the Speech Communication Association. New Orleans. LA. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED389 026
2 8 8 Ferguson, P. (1998). The politics of Adult ESL literacy: Becoming politically visible. In T. Smoke (Ed.) Adult ESL: Politics, pedagogy, and participation in classroom and community pro- grams (pp.3-16). Mahwah. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum .Associates. Publishers.
Frankenberg. R. (1993). White women, race matters. Minneapolis. M N: Universtv' o f Minnesota Press.
Freeman. R.. & McElhinny. B. (1996). Language and gender. In M.FI Long & J.C. Richards (Series Eds.) & S.L. McKay & N.H. Homberger (Vol. Eds.). Sociolinguistics and language teaching (pp. 218-280). New York: Cambridge L’niversity Press.
Fu. D.. ( 1995). "M y trouble is my English": Asian students and the American dream. Portsmouth. NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.
Gabriel. J. ( 1998). Whitewash: Racialized politics and the media. London: Routledge
Garshick. E. (Ed.). (1995). Directory of professional preparation programs in TESOL in the L’nited States and Canada. 1995-1997. .Alexandria. V.A: Teachers o f English to Speakers o f Other Languages. Inc.
Giorgi. .A. ( 1975). .An application of phenomenological method in physchology. In .A. Giorgi. C.T Fisher, and E.L. Murray (Eds.). Phenomenological psychology: Volume 2 (pp.82-103). Pittsburgh: Duquesne Universty Press.
Glesne. P.. & Peshkin. .A. ( 1992). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. New York: Longman.
Gordon. V.L.. & M innick. T.L.( 1996) Foundations: A reader for new college students. Belmont. C.A: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Gossett. T.F.. ( 1963 ). Race: The history o f an idea in America. Dallas. TX: Southern Methodist University Press.
Gregoiy . S.. & Sanjek. R. (Eds.). (1994). Race. New Brunswick. NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Guiee. S. .A. 11994. February /March). ESL students’ attitudes towards US dialect speakers. TESOL Matters 4. 1. 14.
Guillaume. A. ( 1994). Whose language is it anyway? M inority participation within our reach. .ADFL Bulletin. 25. 3. 65-68.
Hammond. M.. Howarth. J.. & Keat. R. ( 1991). Understanding phenomenology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.
2 8 9 Haney Lôpez, I.F. (1995). The social construction of race. In R. Delgado (Ed.), Critical race theorv^: the cutting edge. Philadelphia: Temple University Press
Hancock, C.R. (1994). Cultural roots and academic achievement: Is there a problem in foreign language study? In G.K. Crouse (Ed.), Meeting new challenges in the foreign language classroom: Selected papers from the 1994 Central States Conference (pp. 9-19). Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.
Hannaford, 1. (1996). Race: The historv o f an idea in the West. Washington, D C.: The Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
Harpending, H. (2000, September). [Review o f the book Taboo: Whv Black athletes dominate sports and whv we’ re afraid to talk about itl. Population and Environment: .A. Joumal o f Interdisciplinary Studies, 22, 1, 83-89.
Harris. D P. (1969). Testing English as a second language. New York: McGraw-Hill.
I lartman, P. L., & Judd, E. L. ( 1978). Sexism and TESOL materials. TESOL Quarterly. 12.4, 383-393.
1 le. Hong ( 1996). Chinese students’ approach to learning English: Psvcholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives. Unpublished master's thesis, Biola University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 397 651).
1 lelms, J.E. ( 1994a). The conceptualization o f racial identity and other "Racial" constructs. In J. Edison, R. Trickett, J. Watts, & D. Birman (Eds.), Human diversity: Perspective on people in context (pp.285-311 ). San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.
______( 1994b). Racial Identity in the school environment. In P.Pederson, & J. C. Carey (Eds.), Multicultural counseling in schools: A practical handbook (pp. 19- 37). Needham Heights, Massachusetts: A Division o f Paramount Publishing.
( 1996). Toward a methodology for measuring and assessing racial as distinguished from ethnic identity. In G.R. Sodowsky & J.C. Impara (Eds.) Multicultural assessment in counseling and clinical psychology (pp. 143-192). University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.
Hendrix, K.G (1995a, February). Professor perceptions o f the influence o f race on classroom dynamics and credibility. Paper presented at the Armual Meeting o f the Western States Communication Association. Portland, OR. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 381 827).
2 9 0 ( 1995b. November). Student perceptions o f the influence o f race on professor credibility. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting o f the Speech Communication Association. San Antonio. TX. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 391 190).
Holliday. .A. ( 1994). .Appropriate methodology and social context. New York; Cambridge University Press.
Holtzman. L. (2000). Media messages: What film, television, and popular music teach us about race, class, sender and sexual orientation. Armonk. NY: M.E. Sharpe. Inc.
Hopkins. L.T. (1992). Expanding the canon: Afro-German studies. Unterrichtspraxis. 25. 2. 121-126.
Horsman. R. ( 1999). Superior and inferior races. In M. Bulmer & J. Solomos (Eds.) Racism (pp.45-49). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Reprinted from Race and manifest dcstinv: The origins of American racial anglo-saxonism by R. Horsman. 1981. Cambridge. MA. Harvard University Press.)
Hubbard. L. ( 1968). Modem foreign languages for the racially disadvantaged. Modern Lanauauc Joumal. 52. 3. 139-140.
(1975). Foreign language studv and the black student. College Language .Association Joumal. 18.4. 563-569.
______( 1980). The minority student in foreign languages. Modem Language Journal. 64. 1. 75-80.
I luber. B. ( 1990). Incorporating minorities into foreign language programs: The challenge of the nineties. .ADFL Bulletin. 21.2. 12-19.
Husserl. E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology. New York: Collier Macmillan Publishers. (Original work published in 1913)
Institute for Intemational Education (2000). Open doors. New York: .Author.
Jackson. O ( 1991 ). Black Korea. On Death certificate [CD]. Los .Angeles: Priority Records.
Jackson. S. M. ( 1978). .Afro-Hispanic literature: .A valuable cultural resource. Foreign Language .Annals. 11.4. 421 -
Jacobson. R.L. ( 1989. January 4). Racial violence Hares in Nanjing as Chinese. .African students clash. The Chronicle o f Higher Education. p.A41. .A44.
291 (1989. January 4).Tensions between Chinese and African students worsen in China. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A39. A41.
Jin. L.. & Cortazzi. M. (1998). The culture the learner brings: a bridge or a barrier? In M. Byram & M. Fleming (Eds.). Language learning in intercultural perspective (pp. 98-18). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson. C. ( 1994). Participatory rhetoric and the teacher as racial/gendered subject. College English. 56. 4. 409-419.
Johnson. K.R. (1997). "M elting pot" or "Ring o f fire"?: Assimilation and the Mexican- .-\merican experience. California Law Review. 85. 1259-1313
Johnson. R.K.. (Ed.). (1989). The second language curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kaehru. B.K.. ( 1992). The other tongue: English across cultures. (2nd ed.). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
______. & Nelson. C. (1996). World Englishes. In S. Lee McKay & N.H. Homberger (Eds.) Sociolinguistics and language teaching (pp.71-102). New \'ork: Cambridge Universit)' Press.
Kaehru. Y. ( 1994). Sources o f bias in SLA research: Monolingual bias in SLA Research. TESOL Ouarterlv 28. 4. 795-800.
Kang. J.G.. & Morgan. M. (1988). Culture clash: Impact o f U.S. television in Korea. Journalism Ouarterlv. 65. 431-438.
Kearney. R. ( 1992). Reconcilable differences: Issues in .African .American-Japanese relations. New York: Japan Society. Inc.
______( 1998). .-Mrican .American views o f the Japanese: Solidaritv or sedition? .Albany. NY: State University o f New York Press.
Keating. .A. (1995). Interrogating "Whiteness". (De)Constructing "race". College English. "57 . 8.901-918.
Kim. H.H. & Valdez. J.R. ( 1995). Reexamination o f the model minoritv stereotype: .An analysis o f factors affecting higher education aspirations o f .Asian American students. Paper presented at the .Annual Meeting o f the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Orlando. FL (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 391 417).
2 9 2 K.im. K.C.. & and K.im. S.. (1999). The multiracial nature o f Los Angeles unrest in 1992. In K.C. Kim (Ed.), Koreans in the hood: Conflict with African Americans (pp. 17- 38). Baltimore. MD: The Johns University Press.
Kim. Y. ( 1994). Multi-culturalism in Los Angeles: .A personal perspective. In E. Yu ( Ed.). Black-Korean Encounter: Toward understanding and alliance (pp. 4-9). LA: Institute for .-\sian American and Pacific Asian Studies. California State University. Los .Angeles.
Kincheloe. J.L.. Steinberg. S.R.. Rodriguez. N.M.. & Chennault. R.E. (Eds.). (1998). White Reign: Deploving whiteness in America. New York. St. Martin's Press
King. J.E. ( 1991 ). Dysconscious racism: Ideology, identity, and the miseducation o f teachers. Joumal o f Negro Education. 60. 2. 133-146.
Kinney. T. (2001. .April 10). Police shooting sparks outcries in Cincinnati. The Columbus Dispatch. 130. 283. 4C
Ko\ ach. C.R. 11995). .A qualitative look at reminiscing: Using the autobiographical memory coding tool. In B.K. Haight & J.D. Webster (Eds.). The art and science o f reminiscing: Theorv. research, methods, an applications (pp. 103-122). Washington. D C.: Taylor and Francis.
Kramsch. C. & Von Hoene. L. (1995). The dialogic emergence o f difference: Feminist explorations in foreign language learning and teaching. In D.C. Stanton & .A.J. Stewart (Eds.). Feminists in the academv (pp. 330-357). .Ann .Arbor: University o f Michigan.
Kuo. E. W. ( 1999). .Analysis o f ESL course offerings in community colleges. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 427 795.
Larsen-Freeman. D.. & Long. M. H. (1992). .An introduction to second language acquisition. New York: Longman.
Lashley. L.M. ( 1995). Television and the .Americanization o f the Trinbagonian youth: .A study o f six secondant schools. In H.S. Dunn (Ed.). Globalization, communications, and Caribbean identity (pp. 83-97). New York: St. martin's Press.
Lassiter. L.E. ( 1989). The relationship between race and attitudes o f students toward foreign language studv at selected universities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University of Mississippi.
Leitner. G. ( 1983). The social background o f the language o f radio. In H. Davis & P. Walton (Eds.). Language, image, media (pp. 50-74). Oxford: Basil Blackwell Publisher Ltd.
2 9 3 Lippi-Green, R. (1997a). English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States. New York: Routledge.
______(1997b). WTiat we talk about when we talk about Ebonics: Why definitions matter. The Black Scholar. 27. 2. 7-11.
Lin. W.. (1983. November 16). Students from Africa accuse Chinese o f racial prejudice. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p.30.
Lincoln. V.S.. & Cuba. E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park. C.A.: Sage Publications.
Liu. J. ( 1999). Nonnative-English-Speaking Professionals in TESOL. TESOL Ouarterlv. 33. 1. 85-102.
LoCasiro. V. ( 1996). English language education in Japan. In H. Coleman (Ed.). Societv and the Language Classroom (pp.40-58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lomangino. H.W. (1982). Black college students' foreign language needs and interests. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University o f Mississippi.
Lucas. R. T. {1995). The role o f beliefs and anxietv in the attrition o f .African-American students in foreign language studv. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The Ohio State University.
Maciones. J.J. (1998). Societv: The basics (4'*’ Ed.). Upper Saddle River. NJ: Prentice Mall.
Malde. S. ( 1988. Februarv ). Guided autobiography: .A. counseling tool for older adults. Joumal o f Counseling and Development. 66. 290-293.
Manning. .\. ( 1996. December 20). Schools to recognize black "Ebonics'. USA Todav. p. 3 A).
Marshall. C. & Rossman. G.B. (1995). Designing qualitative research (2"'^ ed.). Thousand Oakes: Sage Publication.
Matsuda. M. J. ( 1991 ). Voices o f .America: .Accent, antidiscrimination law. and a jurisprudence for the last reconstruction. The Yale Law Joumal. 100. 5. 1329- 1407
______. Lawrence III. C.R.. Delgado. R.. & Crenshaw. K. W illiams ( 1993). Words that wound: critical race theorv. assaultive speech, and the First .Amendment. Boulder. CO: Westview Press.
2 9 4 Maxwell. J.A. (1996). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousands Oaks: Sage Publications. Inc.
Maykut. P.. & Morehouse. R. (1994). Beginning qualitative research: A philosophical and practical guide. London: The Falmer Press.
McIntyre. .\. ( 1997). Making meaning of whiteness: Exploring racial identity with white teachers. .Albany. NY: State University o f New York Press.
McKay. S.L.. & Wong. S.C. (1988). Language teaching in nativist times: A need for sociopolitical awareness. The Modem Language Journal. 72. 4. 379-388.
McLaren. P. (1998). Life in schools: An introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education. New York: Addison Wesley Longman. Inc.
M cMillen. L. (1997. January 17). Linguists find the debate over 'Ebonics' uninformed. The Chronicle o f Higher Education, pp. .A16-.A17.
McWorther. J.M. (2000). Losing the race: Self-sabotage in black .America. New York: The Free Press.
McNeil. .A. ( 1994). Some characteristics o f native and non-native speaker teachers o f English. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 386 067).
Medgyes. P. ( 1992). Native or nonnative: Whose worth more? ELT Joumal. 46. 4. 340- 349.
( 1994). The non-native teacher. London: Macmillan.
Merriam. S.B. ( 1988). Case studv research in education: .A qualitative approach. Thousands Oakes. C.A: Sage Publications.
Michaels. S. ( 1981 ). "Sharing time": Children's narrative styles and differential access to literacy. Language in Societv. 10. 3. 423-439.
______. & Cazden. C. (1986). Teacher/child collaboration as oral preparation for literacy. In B.B. Schieffelin & P. Gilmore (Eds.). The acquisition of literacy: Ethnographic perspectives (pp. 132-154). Norwood. NY: .Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000 [Computer software]. (2000). United States of .America: Microsoft Corporation.
M iller. K.C. ( 1953). The teaching and learning o f modem foreign languages in colleges and universities for negroes. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The Ohio State University.
2 9 5 Miles. M.B. & Huberman. A.M . (1994). Qualitative data analysis: .An expanded sourcebook (2"‘* éd.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication.
Min. P.G. (1996). Caught in the middle: Korean merchants in America's multiethnic cities. Berkeley: University of California Press.
______. & Kolodny. .4. (1999). The middleman minority characteristics of Korean immigrants in the United States.. In K.C. Kim (Ed.), Koreans in the hood: Conllict with .African Americans (pp. 131-155). Baltimore. MD: The Johns Universitv' Press.
Moeller. .A.. & .Ashcraft. M. (1997). Creating a culturally relevant environment for the .African .American learner in the foreign language classroom. In R. Di Donato. G. K. Crouse. & D. Backman (Eds.). Building community through language learning. Selected Papers from the 1997 Central States Conference (pp. 59-76). Lincolnwood. IL: National Textbook Company.
Moriarty. P. (1998). Learning to be legal: Unintended meanings for adult schools. In T. Smoke (Ed.) .Adult ESL: Politics, pedagogy, and participation in classroom and community pro- grams (pp. 17-40). Mahwah. New Jersey: Lawxence Erlbaum .Associates. Publishers.
Mosse. G. ( 1999). Eighteenth-century foundations. In M. Bulmer & J. Solomos (Eds.) Racism (pp.40-44). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Reprinted from Toward the llnal solution: .A historv o f European racism by G.L. Mosse. 1985. Madison. Wisconsin. Univcrsit}' of Wisconsin Press)
Moustakas. C. ( 1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Nakayama. T.K.. & Krizek. R.L. (1995). Whiteness: .A strategic rhetoric. Ouarterlv Joumal o f Speech. 8. 291-309.
Natanson. M. ( 1973). Phenomenology and the social sciences. In M. Natanson (Ed.) Phenomenology and the social sciences (pp.3-44). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
National .Archives and Records .Administration (1997. June). Remarks at the Universit}' o f California San Diego commencement ceremony in La Jolla. California. Weekly Compilation o f Presidential Documents. 33. 25. 876-881. Washington. D.C.: Office o f the Federal Register.
Naylor. L. ( 1998). .American culture. Westport. CT: Bergin & Garvey.
Nero. S.J. 11998. October./November). Parallel perceptions o f world Englishes and Ebonics. TESOL Matters 8. 5. 15. 2 9 6 Nolan. J. (2001a, April 11). Police shooting spurs looting. Fires violence in Cincinnati. The Columbus Dispatch. 130. 284. lA .
______(2001b. April 12). Cincinnati may call National Guard. The Columbus Dispatch. 130. 285. 1 A.
Norment. L. (1997. November). Wesley Snipes on his hot career. Black women. interracial relationships, and his multimillion dollar hide a wav. Ebonv Magazine. 53. 1. 188-190. 192. 215.216.
Norrel. R.J. (2000). The Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Microsoft Encarta Encvclopedia 2000 [Computer software]. United States o f .America; Microsoft Corporation.
Norton. B. ( 1997). Language, identity, and the ownership o f English. TESOL Ouarterlv. 31. 3.409-429."
Nunan. D. (.VimusTSeptember 1993). Challenges in EEL classrooms. TESOL Matters. 3. 4.7.
Okihiro. G. Y. (1994). Margins and mainstreams: Asians in .American historv and culture. Seattle. W.A: University o f Washington Press.
Omi. \L . & Winant. H. (1994). Racial formation in the United States (2"‘' ed.). New York: Routledge.
Ong. C.W ( 1996. .April). Asian second-language educationalists' views on gender- inclusive English. Paper presented at the Southeast .Asian Ministers o f Educational Organization Regional Language Center Seminar. Singapore. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED395 471).
Osborn. T..A. (2000). Critical reflection and the foreign language classroom. Westport. CT : Bergin & Garvey
Owens-lbie. N. (2000). Programmed for domination: U.S. television broadcasting and its effects on Nigerian culture. In R. Wagnleitner & E. Tyler May (Eds.) "Here, there, and everywhere": The foreign politics o f .American popular culture (pp. 132-146). Hanover. NH: University Press o f New England.
Paikeday. T.M. ( 1985a). May 1 k ill the native speaker? TESOL Ouarterlv. 19. 2. 390-395.
______( 1985b). The native speaker is dead! Mississauga. Ontario. Canada: Paikeday Publishing Inc.
Patton. M.Q. ( 1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park. C.A: Sage Publications
2 9 7 Peel. R. (2000). Introduction. In R. Peel. A. Patterson, & J. Gerlach (Eds.). Questions o f Enulish: Ethics, aesthetics, rhetoric, and the formation o f the subject in England. .Australia and the United States (pp. 1-35). London: RoutledgePalmer [sic].
Pennycook. .A. (1989). The concept of method, interested knowledge, and the politics of language teaching. TESOL Ouarterlv. 23. 4. 589-618.
______(1990). Critical pedagogy and second language education. Svstem. 18. 3. 303-314.
______( 1994). The cultural politics o f English as an intemational language. Harlow. Essex: Longman Group UK.
Perry. T.. & Delpit. L. (Eds.). ( 1998). The real Ebonics debate. Boston: Beacon Press.
Phillipson. R. ( 1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pigott. R. L.. & Cow en. E.L. (2000. March/.April). Teacher race, child race, racial congruence, and teacher ratings o f children's school adjustment. Joumal o f School Psvcholoav. 38. 2. 177-195.
Polkinghorne. D.E. (1989). Phenomenological Research Methods. In R.S. Valle & S. I lulling (Eds.). Existential-phenomenological perspectives in psychology: Exploring the breath o f human experience. New York: Plenum Press.
Porreca. K. L. (1984). Sexism in current ESL books. TESOL Ouarterlv. 18. 4. 705-724.
Prabhu. N.S. ( 1992). The dynamics o f the language lesson. TESOL Ouarterlv. 26. 2. 225- 241.
Public Broadcasting Service (Producer) (1993). L..A. is burning: Five reports from a divided ci tv [Videotape]. Boston. MA: PBS Video.
Puente. M. ( 1996. December 23). War of words over ’Ebonics'. USA Todav. p. 3 A
Rampton. M.B.H. ( 1990). Displacing the "native speaker": Expertise, affiliation, and inheritance. English Language Teaching Joumal. 44. 2. 97-101.
Richardson. L. ( 1990). W riting strategies: Reaching diverse audiences. Newbury Park. C.A: Sage publications. Inc.
Romney. M. (1998a. .April/May). Caucus status approved for International Black Professionals and Friends in TESOL. TESOL Matters. 8. 2.
______( 1998b). Issues o f employment conceming Intemational Black Professionals and Friends in TESOL. TESOL Placement Bulletin 298 Royster. J.J. (1996). When the first voice you hear is not your own. College Composition and Communication. 47. 1. 29-41.
______& Taylor. R.G. (1997). Constructing teacher identity in the basic writing classroom. Joumal o f Basic Writing. 16. 1. 27-50.
Russell. J.G.. (1991. October-December). Narratives o f denial: Racial chauvinism and the Black other in Japan. Japan Ouarterlv]8. 4. 416-428.
. ( 1996). Race and refiexivity: The Black other in contemporary Japanese mass culture. In J.W. Treat. (Ed.). Contemporary' Japan and popular culture (pp. 17-40).
Sahgal. .A. ( 1991 ). Patterns o f language use in a bilingual setting in India. In J. Cheshire (Ed.). English around the world: Sociolinguistic perspectives (pp.299-306). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scales. G. F. (1981 ). Motivation and foreign language studv among black students at historically Black Texas colleges and universities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University o f Texas at Austin.
Schenke. .V. ( 1996). Not just a "social matter": Teaching feminist in ESL. TESOL Ouarterlv. 30. 1. 155-159.
Schmalleger. F. ( 1996). Trial o f the century: People o f the State o f California vs. Orenthal James Simpson. Upper Sadddle River. N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Schwarte. B. (2000. October/November). What does TESOL stand for? TESOL Matters 10. 4. 3-4
Scott-Childress. R.J. (1999). Introduction. In W.E. Cain (General Ed.) & R.J. Scott- Childress (Vol. Ed.). Race and the production of modem American nationalism (pp. vii-xxiv). New York: Garland Publishing. Inc.
Seaton. C.E. ( 1992). Looking back to help see the future: A proposal for the use o f guided autobiography with dying children. In G.R. Cox & R.J. Fundis (Eds.). Spiritual, ethical, and pastoral aspects o f death and bereavement (pp.147-160). .Amityville. N.Y.: Baywood Publishing Company. Inc.
______( 1996). The ioumev: Self-understanding through guided autobiography. Langley. B.C.: University Printers.
Semali. L. ( 1998). Perspectives o f the curriculum o f whiteness. In J.L. Kincheloe. S.R. Steinberg. N.M. Rodriguez. & R.E Chennault (Eds.) White Reign: Deploving whiteness in .America (pp.63-75). New York: St. Martin’s Press
2 9 9 Sexton, B. (1986, July 2). .A.frican-Chinese student confrontations lead to full-blown diplomatic incident. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p.19, 21.
Shen, F. ( 1989, December). The classroom and the wider culture; Identity as a key to learning English composition. College Composition and Communication, 40, 4, 459-466.
Shoemaker, C.L. (1996, June). Results o f survey o f community college ESL programs. Paper presented at the 48'*’ Annual Conference o f NAFSA: Association o f International Educators, Phoenix, AZ. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 397 882).
Simpson, VV., & Erickson, M. (1983). Teachers' verbal and nonverbal communication patterns as a function o f teacher race, student gender, and student race. American Educational Research Joumal, 20, 2, 183-198.
Smith, E. ( 1991 ). Ethnic identity development: Toward a development o f a theory within the context o f majority/minority status. Joumal o f Counseling and Development, 70. 1, 181-188.
Smitherman, G. ( 1997). African American language. In C..-\ Grant & G. Ladson-Billings, (Eds.). Dictionary o f multicultural education (pp. 8-9). Phoenix, ,-\Z: Orvx Press.
Snowden, F. ( 1999). Images and .Attitudes. In M. Bulmer & J. Solomos (Eds.) Racism (pp.21-30). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Reprinted from Before color prejudice: The ancient view of Blacks, 1983, by F. M. Snowden, Cambridge, MA, Flarvard University Press.)
Sniderman, P.M., & Carmines, E.G. (1997). Reaching bevond race. Cambridge, M A: Harvard University Press.
Snyder, T.D., Hoffman, C.M., & Geddes, C.M. (1997). Digest of education statistics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics.
Spickard, P.R. ( 1992). The illogic o f .American racial categories. In M.P.P. Root (Ed.), Racially mixed people in America (pp. 12-23). Newbury Park, C.A: Sage Publications
Sridhar. S. N. ( 1994). .A realitv check for SLA theories. TESOL Ouarterlv 28, 4, 800-805.
( 1996). Toward a svntax o f South Asian English: Defining the lectal range. In R.J. Baumgardner (Ed.), South .Asian English: Structure, use, and users (pp. 55-69). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
3 0 0 Stake. R. E. ( 1995). The art o f case studv research. Thousands Oakes. CA; Sage Publications.
Stanger. C. {1987). The sexual politics o f the one-to-one tutorial approach and collaborative learning. In C. L. Caywood. & G. R. Overing (Eds.). Teaching writing: Pedagogy, gender, and equity (pp. 31-34). Albany: State University o f New York Press.
Stewart. E. (1994). Communication between African Americans and Korean .Americans: Before and after the Los Angeles Riot. In E. T. Chang & R.C. Leong (Eds.). Los .Angeles— struggles toward multiethnic community; Asian .American. .African .American, and Latino perspectives (pp. 23-54). First University o f Washington Press.
Sunderland. J. (Ed.). ( 1994). Exploring gender: Questions and implications for English language education. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Takaki. R.. ( 1998). Strangers from a different shores ( Rev.ed.). Boston: Little. Brown and Company.
fan. .A.S.. Li. S.. & Simpson C. (1986). American TV and social stereotypes o f .Americans in Taiwan and Mexico. Journalism Ouarterlv. 63. 809-814.
______. & Suarchavarat. K. (1988). .American TV and social stereoty pes o f .Americans in Thailand. Journalism Ouarterlv. 65. 648-654.
. Tan. G.K. and Tan. .A.S. ( 1987). .American TV in the Philippines: .A test of cultural impact. Journalism Ouarterlv. 64. 65-72. 144.
Taylor. L.K. ( 1997). Contingent belonging: "Race", culture and nation in ESL pedagogy. Unpublished master's thesis. University o f Toronto. Canada.
Tettegah. S. ( 1996. Spring). The racial consciousness attitudes o f white prospective teachers and their perceptions o f the teachability o f students from different racial/ethnic backgrounds: Findings from a California study. The Joumal o f Negro Education. 65. 151-163.
Thomas. L.. & Wareing. S. (Eds. ). (1999). Language, societv. and power: .An introduction. New York: Routledge.
Tobash. L. (.August/September 1996). Sociopolitical concerns addressed at TESOL '96. TESOL Matters 6 . 4. 22.
Tollefson. J.W. ( 1991). Planning language, planning inequality. New York: Longman Inc.
301 Totten, G.O.. III. & Schockman. H.E. (Eds.). (1994). Community in crisis: The Korean community- after the civil unrest o f April 1992. Los Angeles: Center for multiethnic and Transnational Studies. University o f Southern California.
Totten. S. ( 1992). Educating for the development o f social consciousness and social responsibility. In S. Totten and C.M. Hurlbert (Eds.). Social issues in the English classroom (pp.9-55). Urbana. Illinois: National Council o f Teachers o f English.
Tsuda. Y. ( 1992). The dominance o f English and linguistic discrimination. Media Development. 39. 1. 32-34.
______( 1994). The diffusion o f English: Its impact on culture and communication. Keio Communication Review. 16. 49-61.
Tuan. M. ( 1998). Forever foreigners or honorare whites?: The .Asian ethnic experience todav. New Brunswick. N.J.: Rutgers Univeersity Press.
Tunstal. J. ( 1977). The media are .A.merican. New York: Columbia University Press.
\'andrick. S. ( 1994). Feminist pedagogy and ESL. College ESL. 4. 2. 69-92.
______(1995). Teaching and practicing feminism in the university ESL classroom. TESOL Joumal. 4. 3. 4-6.
( 1998). Promoting gender equity in the postsecondary ESL class. In T. Smoke (Ed.) .Adults ESL: Politics, pedagogy, and participation in classroom and community programs (pp.3-15). Mahwah. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum .Associates. Publishers.
______( 1999) The case for more research on female students in the ESL/EFL classroom. TESOL Matters. 9. 2. 16.
W'achlel. P.L. ( 1999). Race in the Mind o f America: Breaking the vicious circle between Blacks and Whites. New York: Routledge.
\Vadden. P. ( 1992. .April/May). The dark side of employment at Japanese universities: On discrimination against foreign teachers. TESOL Matters 2. 2. 17.
W'agatsuma. H.. ( 1968). The social perception o f skin color in Japan. In J.H. Franklin (Ed.I. Color and race (pp. 129-165). Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company.
W allace. D.L.. & Bell. .A. ( 1999). Being black at a predominantly white universitv'. College English. 61. 3. 307-327.
West. C. ( 1999). The Cornel West Reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books
3 0 2 (1993). Race matters. Boston. M A: Beacon Press.
West, T. ( 1997). The Racist other. JAC: A Joumal of Composition Theorv. 17. 2. 215- 226.
Widdows. S.. & Voiler. P. (1999). Open minds: Exploring global issues through reading and discussion. .Ann .Arbor. MI: University' o f Michigan.
Wilbershied. L.. & Dassier. J. P. (1995). Increasing the number of minority FL educators: Local action to meet a national imperative. The Modem Language Joumal. 79. 1. 1-14.
W illett. J. ( 1996). Research as gendered practice. TESOL Ouarterlv. 30. 2. 334-347.
Wong. L.. & Thomas. J. (1992). Nativization and the making of meaning. In M.N. Brock & L. Walters (Eds.). Teaching composition around the Pacific Rim: Politics and pedagogy (pp. 15-27). Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
\'amashiia. S.O.. ( 1996). Ethnographic report o f an .African .American student in Japan. Joumal of Black studies. 26. 6 . 735-747
\'epez. M. ( 1994). .An observation o f gender-specific teacher behavior in the ESL classroom. Sex Roles. 30. 121-133.
\'in . R.K. ( 1994). Case studv research: Design and method (2"'' ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication.
3 0 3 Appendix A
Consent Form Regarding the Participation of Instructors
I consent to participating in the study entitled “Lifting the veil of silence: An inquiry into race as a feature of the pedagogical and social dimensions of the ESL classroom “ Marinas Stephan, the investigator, has explained the purpose o f the study, the procedures to be followed, and the expected duration o f my participation. Possible benefits o f the study have been described as have alternative procedures, if such procedures are applicable and available.
1 acknowledge that 1 have had the opportunity to obtain additional information regarding the study and that any questions I have raised have been answered to my full satisfaction.
1 understand that interviews that are part o f the study w ill be audiotaped and that I can decline to be interviewed or withdraw consent for audio taping at any time without
prejudice to me. Furthermore, I understand that I am free to withdraw consent from
participating in the study proper at anytime without prejudice to me.
Finally. 1 acknowledge that 1 have read and tlilly understand the consent form. 1 sign it
freely and voluntarily .A. copy has been given to me.
Date: Signed:
(Participant)
Signed:
(Investigator)
3 0 4 Appendix B
Socio-Politics and Language Teaching: Perceptions of Foreign and Second Language Instructors Dear Instructor:
The purpose o f this questionnaire is to learn more about the perceptions o f second and foreign language instructors with regard to a number o f socio-political issues set against the backdrop o f their profession. It should take only about twenty minutes for you to complete the questionnaire, which is divided into two parts. Part la and Ib (items I-I7 ) consists o f a series o f statements meant to elicit aforementioned perceptions. Part 2 (items 18-25) requests some demographic information about you. To assure confidentiality, you are requested not to put your name or any other personal identification on the form.
Please note that for this survey to be valid, it is important that you complete all items and do so taithfullv and in accordance with the directions provided. Should you, for whatever reason, be reluctant to respond to a particular item, I would appreciate it if you w ere to complete it in spite o f your reluctance. Use the space provided at the end o f the questionnaire to express your reservations in responding to one or more items (please identify those items by referring to their number). In addition, you may use that space to clarify your response to one or more items as well as to voice any concerns you may have with respect to this survey. Your comments w ill be taken into account when the survey is processed and, depending on their significance w ill be reported along with the outcome o f the sur\ ey
\'o u r help in this research means a lot to me since it is part o f my doctoral dissertation study Therefore. I thank you in advance for your time and valuable input
Sincerely.
Marinus H. Stephan
3 0 5 Socio-Politics and Language Teaching: Perceptions of Second and Foreign Language Instructors
Part lA
Directions: With respect to items I and 2, rank order the options given in each category. You are strongly encouraged to provide valid responses, which means that you may circle each ranking onlv once Here are three different examples o f what may be considered valid responses:
Valid response Valid response Valid response
2""* 4 ''* 1 ” g rd ^ Ih p i 2"'^
p i gril _jih p i ■jnd ^ i h pi 2""^ 3'''* Q
p i -)nd _^lh p i ■jnd g r d 2"'* 3'’'^ 4'**
p i ->nd g r d 2"'* 3'’** 4'h p: g r d _jlh
Here are three different examples o f what may be considered invalid responses:
Invalid response Invalid response Invalid response
^nd 4 306 1 Below are a number of issues that tend to be quite sensitive within American society and generally spark off heated debates. Please rank order these issues as you perceive their sensitivity from 1st through 7th, with 1st meaning “ the most sensitive” and 7th meaning "the least sensitive” . ^ n d -»rd 4>i> 5Ü, 7th (a) .Abortion 1“ J 6* ^ n d -»rd 5 U, 7th (b) Gender issues (e g. inequality in terms of job 1“ 4'" 6* opportunities or payment, sexual harassment) ■^nd -»rd 50, 7* (c) Gun control r J 4-^ 6'*’ -^nd m rd 5th 7Ü, (d) Homosexuality 1" J 4-h 6 * -^nd 3 rd 5 0 , 7Ü, (e) Illegal immigration r 4»> 6 * -^nd ^ rd 4‘h 5 0 , 7Ü, (0 Issues of race (e.g., affirmative action, racial r J 6 "" profiling, i e , targeting someone as a potential culprit because of his/'her race/skin color, other forms of racial discrimination) -^nd -*rd (g) Prayer in the public school r J 4=^ 5'*’ 6 “^ 7 * 2 Below are a number of social factors that may cause some students to challenge the authority and expertise of their ESL/FL instructor. In your perception or experience, how influential is each of these factors? Please rank order the list of factors from 1st to 8th, with 1st meaning "o f major influence” and 8th meaning “ of minor influence” The instructor’s; Importance Factor Ranking 3 rd 7 th gd, (a)Gender 1“ 5" 6“’ -)ttd mrd 3 rd, Td, gd, (b) Geographic origin (i.e , whether she/he comes 1" J 4’-’’ 6’-’’ from .Africa. .Asia, Europe, Xorth .America, etc.) ^nd 3 rd rdt 3d. (c) Life experience 1" 4"' 6'-“- S'-*’ 3 rd 4d. zth 7d, gd. (d) Linguistic background 1" ,nd 3 rd 4 th 7d, g* (e) Nationality (i e., whether she/he is an .American, 1“ 6'^ a Belgian. Korean. Mexican, or Nigerian, for example) 3 rd 4d, 3 d. ?d. gd. (f) Personality traits 1“ 2'“^ 6^' 2<- 3 rd 3« 7 th gd. (h) Se.xual orientation (i e., whether the instructor is 1“ 2"^ 4^ 6^ (perceived as) a heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual) 307 Part IB For items 3-17, please say whether you would tend to fully agree, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or totally disagreewith each o f these statements. You do so by encircling either the number 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 that at end o f each item. Note that: 1= fully agree 2= agree somewhat 3= disagree somewhat 4= totally disagree In my perception and experience: 3 Professional ESL/FL preparation programs in the 1^ 3^^* 4'*’ U.S. do not adequately equip teachers to present social issues such as gender, race, class, and sexual orientation in the classroom. 4 It is the task o f the ESL/FL instructor to U' 2"^ 3'^‘* 4* contribute to the breaking down o f prejudices and inequalities in society in general and .American society in particular. 5 The race o f the ESL/TL instructor has little or no P' 2"‘^ 3'^'^ 4'*’ impact on their students' perception o f her or him as an authoritative and knowledgeable professional. 6 ESL/FL instruction should give students the P‘ 2"‘' 3'^‘* 4'*' opportunity to learn about the experiences and perspectives o f the socially disadvantaged within the host nation, in this case the U.S. 7 The ESL/FL classroom is not an adequate forum 1'' 2"*^ 3'^‘* 4’“' for the discussion o f social issues such as gender, race, class, and sexual orientation. 8 ESL/FL instruction should promote P‘ 2"‘* 3"^^* 4* understanding o f otherness in terms of, for instance, gender, race, class, and sexual orientation. 9 ESL/FL instruction ought to help students P‘ 2"‘^ 3'^'* 4* acquire interest in and a critical attitude toward social issues such as gender, race, class, and sexual orientation 10. ESL/FL instruction should give students an P^ 2"‘* 3'”'* 4* understanding o f their own gender, racial, and ethnic identity 11 Teaching ESL/FL is, or should be, a political P^ 2"‘* 3"^ 4“’ activity. 12. It is necessary to a certain extent to expose P^ 2"*^ 3'^'^ 4'*’ E S LTL students to material (texts, videos, web sites) that discuss social issues such as gender, race, class, and sexual orientation. 308 13 Issues such as gender, race, class, and sexual 1"* 2"*^ 3"' 4'*’ orientation have little or no impact on the philosophy of teaching of most ESL/FL instructors. 14. Developing and maintaining a good teacher- 1^ 2"‘* 3'^'* 4'*’ student relationship is easier i f the race o f the ESL/FL instructor matches that o f most o f her or his students as opposed to when it does not. 15 It is the task o f the ESL/FL instructor to present 2"*^ 3'^‘* 4*^ a realistic and truthful image o f the host culture and society, in this case the United States. 16 The gender o f the ESL/FL instructor has no U' 2"*^ 3‘^‘* 4'*' impact on students' perception o f them as an authoritative and knowledgeable professional 17 Most ESL/TL students are interested in learning V' 2"‘* 3^^* 4'*’ about and discussing such social issues as gender, race, class, and sexual orientation. Part 2 Directions: With reference to items 19-26. please check one ( 1 ) option only 18 lama U S citizen by birth naturalized U S citizen. permanent resident t'oreign national (please specify) ______ [fvo ii are a naturalized U.S. citizen, a perm anent resident, or a foreign national please go on to item 19; if not, go on to item 20. 19 1 have been in the United States for 1 - 5 years 6 - 10 years. 11 - 15 years. more than 15 years. 20 Mv native country is 21 1 am a male. female 22 1 identify myself as a person o f ,\sian/.Asian .American heritage. BlacL'Black .American heritage. Hispanic/Hispanic American heritage 3 0 9 White/Anglo American heritage, multi-racial heritage, namely __ I am _ younger than 30 years o f age _ 30-35 years of age. _ 36-40 years of age, _ 41-45 years o f age. _ 46-50 years o f age. _ older than 50 years o f age. 24. I have been employed at this institution for 1 - 3 years. 4 - 6 years. 7 - 9 years. more than 10 vears. have been an ESL/FL instructor for 1 - 5 years. 6-10 years. 11-15 years. 15-20 years, more than 20 vears. Please use the space below to add any other information or comments you believe might contribute to a better understanding of your ideas and opinions. If necessary, you can continue on the reverse side o f the page. I f you are referring to (a) specific item(s), please be so kind as to indicate the number o f that item or those items. This concludes the survey. Thank you for your time and valuable input. 3 1 0 Appendix C Questions related to Interview # 1 Interview Protocol #1 On the Emergence of Racial Awareness Time of interview; Date of interview: _ Place of interview: Interviewer: Marinus Stephan Interviewee: Questions: 1. Please describe the neighborhood in which you grew up, particularly in terms of its racial make up. That IS. what was it predominantly populated by a particular racial group or was there a relatively even mixture of various racial groups? 2. Can you recall a critical incident during your childhood, preferably one that you personally experienced, and which, perhaps in hindsight, might be considered characteristic of the racial ditTerences and tensions within the community in which you grew up? If so, could you please talk about it if you will? You might begin by telling how old you were and where the incident occurred. 3. Were the racial differences in your neighborhood or community ever explained to you by your parents and or significant others— e.g., relatives, teachers, clergy- during your childhood? If not, could you think of a reason or reasons why they did not? If they did, do you remember what you w ere told and w hat feelings and emotions you experienced at the time those explanations were given'!’ -t. Grow ing up, did you have a racially diverse circle of friends? If not, can you explain why? What impact did the fact that you had'did not have such a circle of friends have on your view and understanding of race relations in your community? 5. Grow ing up, did you at any time wish you were bom within a different racial group? Put differently, did you ever thought of what it would be like to be a(n) .A.siaa'BlackTIispanicAVhite individual'!’ Why (not)? 6. What significance do you currently attach to your racial identity? That is, what does it mean for you to be a(n) .Asian. Blaclc' Hispanic/White individual ? What factors have been influential on 311 Appendix D Questions related to Interview # 2 inierv lew Protocol =2 Racial attitudes attd expectations in the second/foreign language classroom Time of interview: 4:00 p.m. Date of interview : Friday, October I. 1999 Place of interview ; Interviewee: 1 Is there anything you wish to add or clarify regarding the points you raised during the first interview? 2. Would you mind telling me what prompted you to become an ESL foreign language professional. Please be as explicit and detailed as you can. 3. Please provide a brief description/outline of your career as an ESL foreign language instructor thus far (i.e.. when you started your career as an ESL/FL instructor, where you have worked, how long you've worked there, your current title, and what you currently teach). 4 You got your job in ■ i i . • in a very curious yet interesting manner. Could you talk about some? 5 Could you give me a profile of a typical class that you teach here at (i.e.. a break down in terms of the type o f students, age range, gender, etc.)? 5 Could you give a brief description of the syllabus you are currently working with? .Are you satisfied with all aspects of this syllabus? Why (not)? If not, what changes would you like to make or like to see being made? 6 . Please outline your philosophy o f teaching, i.e., what are some of the beliefs you hold about teaching in general and the teaching o f ESL in particular. Please include in your explanation where each o f these beliefs come from or what they are based on. " To w hat extent do the racial perceptions and believes you hold, and the racial experiences that you may have had throughout your life influence what and how you teach in the second foreign language classroom? 8. In general, how would you describe your relationship with your students? i l l 9a. Have vou at any time in your career e.xperienced any stereotyping or even overtly racial attitudes on the part ot one or more of your students towards you? [w ait for confirmation/denial]? Then (depending on the response): b. WTiat are some o f the stereotypes they ascribe to you? c. How does this affect the way you approach and deal with students in general? d \^Tiat strategy strategies do you employ to break down the stereotypical images the students hold of youc 10 VV as there ever a time in your career as an ESL instructor in the Philippines that you felt you were given preferential treatment because of the color of your skin? 1 la. Have you ever caught yourself stereotyping your students'’ [wait for confirmation/denial]? Then (depending on the response); b What are some of the stereotypes you ascribe to them? c. To what extent do vou experience these stereotypes you ascribe to the students as a hindrance in having a good rapport with the students? d. What strategy strategies do you employ to break down the stereoty pical images you hold of your the students? 12a. Has, in your perception, your authority and your knowledge as a second, foreign language instrucfor ever been challenged by one or more students on account o f your race, either in or out of class, e.g. in student evaluations? Please provide some details if you would. b. How did you react and what feelings did this/these incident(s) arouse in you? c. How did this, these incident(s) influence your rapport with your students in general? 1. W ould you say that in general ESL instructors o f color "have to try harder" to demonstrate their linguistic and teaching competence in the ESL classroom than White ESL instructors? 14. To w hat extent do you experience the relationship with students of your racial background differently from that o f students with other racial backgrounds? 313 Appendix E Excerpt of Interview #1 with Mukembe M = Marinus; Mk = Mukembe M: Would you be so kind as to describe the neighborhood in which you grew up, particularly in terms o f racial make-up. Was it predominantly populated by a particular racial group or was there a relatively even mixture o f racial groups, you know!’ How was it'’ Mk The setting I grew up in was basically composed o f Black people o f my own tribe. That's in my childhood. Then I moved to another place where there were Blacks but with different ethnic groups, different tribes. .And as I grew up, you know, I was moving from one place to another and the further I went the more, you know, the more mixture o f ethnic groups I met. So, in general I would say that although f had seen different races, basically white people, they were such a minority that they didn't make a big impact in my childhood. I grew up in a mission, you know, a catholic mission where I went to school. So there, there were whites, as I said priests mostly, and some whites who worked in the administration or in the plantations or in industries But as I say, we were not so close, you know. They were a different social class so to speak in addition to being white. So, they were teachers, we could talk to them, we could relate to them as teachers, especially at high schools, but a part from that we didn't have so much contact. M: .And did you have ... Were there any white kids in the schools. 3 1 4 Mk: I remember studying with just one, one kid. .And that was high school. I remember my sister had a white classmate at elementary school, that was it. What the whites did mostly, they had to sent their kids home you know, to their home country in Europe to study. They didn't want their kids to study at home. But if you went to the capital city, that's a different story. There were schools were kids, white kids and black, you know, went to school together but not in the countryside. M. Okay, so you grew up in the countryside then. Mk: Exactly. M Okay .And was there any time that you moved to the capital city to study'!* M K \'eah, 1 was twenty years old when 1 moved to the capital city to go to a college. M .And 1 presume that there you met more white students then. MK: .Again, when 1 went to college there, the situation was almost the same as in the countryside 1 don't remember having white classmates in the capital city. I don't. M: Oh. that's interesting, because given what you have just said about there being more Whites in the capital city you would expect them to also be in the school. MK: Yeah, in the capital, there were schools, elementary schools and high schools for both whites and blacks. But at university, at the college level, for some reasons, the Whites didn't want to go to school in the capital. So mostly they went back for college. M Okay Can recall a critical incident during your childhood and preferably one that you personally experienced, which in hind sight might be considered characteristic of racial differences or maybe in your case more ethnic differences within the community in which you grew up. 3 1 5 Mk My father, who was a teacher, had to leave our native village another village to work. We had a farm and we would see our sheep, or goats, or pigs, you know, with wounds, if not killed. And my mother quickly attributed that to, you know, some sort o f racism because we were not, we didn't belong to the group so people didn't like us, but my father said, "Well, no, it could be something else." But we could sometimes feel that we were, you know, not accepted so easily, yeah. M So. this leads me to the next question. Were these, in your case ethnic differences, were they ever explained to you during your childhood by your parents or other significant others Mk Yes. especially my mother was very, very keen about ethnic differences. She was the one reminding me. "Hey, look, we are not at home here. So, watch out when you play w ith other kids Don't, you know, don't, don't say things, you know, that may lead them to take it negatively because we are a minority here so pay attention." So my mom especially reminded me all the time to pay attention, you know, because we were in a strange land, so to speak. My father, I don't recall that much. But he was conscious about the fact that we were far away from home. But he was such a ... He was like a missionary', very diplomatic, you know. He would solve the problem with these people, and he would be the judge, the teacher, [and] the counselor, so he minimized, so to speak, these racial or ethnic differences. It was not a big deal for him. M .And did you react when your mother explained those differences to you'^ What was your reaction'’ Mk .As a child I didn't care. I said, "Okay", but sometimes when we saw things, like I said. cow. sheep, killed, that made an impact. I said, "Okay " But, uh, still it was ditTicuk for me to make the link between, you know, the killing o f a sheep and ethnic or racial motives. But I was moved sometimes. 116 M: Okay, let's move up a number o f years, still on the same topic. You went abroad, I remember from previous conversations that we’ve had that you lived in Europe for a while and now you are in the US, so definitely you have had some exposure to groups other than either than your ethnic group or your own race. Black people. Did you have any negative experiences, or experiences that you look at and you say in hindsight you would say that these had racial characteristics, you know, that you were racially discriminated against. Mk Yeah. In Belgium, for example, the fact that a Black person cannot walk without his ID him or her, that, that, made me think that's the most racist country I've ever been. So whenever, as a Black person whenever you go out, you know, in Belgium you must have your passport or ID on you, because the police, I think they have a special unit, you know, to check only dark skinned people. Well, that was my impression anyway. Uh, so. that, that, I didn't like that. M But wasn't that a rule for foreigners in generaU Whether you are white, green, black. Mk; But if you are White, okay, and in a country of Whites it is difficult to know whether you are native, or, you know, or a stranger. But with the color, it's obvious that you are not Belgian, so they would come after you. M And how did you learn about this rule'’ Was it somewhere, uh, regulated*’ Mk: It was not It was not written but it is so obvious, you know. I remember being stopped more than five times in a day, you know, by the police and the Black community in Belgium takes it for granted that there is a police to monitor only Blacks. O f course it's difficult to find it written somewhere but the facts are there. The Black people are checked upon every time. Then I went to France, and we were driving with a friend in the car and we stopped some place and we saw a car ... Another car came and just stopped and people shouted at us, "You Negro, go back home" .And they went off. I thought to myself, "No, I cannot live in these places," 317 especially not in Belgium and France. But I spent two years in the UK, I had never seen anything like what I've just described. No check, no, people shouting at you because you are Black. I didn't see that in the LK. And Also I would say that to some extent I have the same impression here in the US. I haven't seen, you know, such open attitude of. o f racism but they are kind o f sneaky behaviors or, you know, attitudes o f people, you know, racist attitudes. M Could you describe one o f those"’ Could you describe some o f those"’ Mk; Not later than yesterday. I was at Kinko’s I was in the line, waiting. But the people behind the counter would serve other people who came later, who were behind me. .A.sk the question, "What do you want"’ ," and that was their end. Nobody took care o f me. So, what does that mean’ M Growing up, did you have an ethnically, again in your case, diverse circle o f friends’ Mk Oh yeah, oh yeah, definitely, definitely. Even today I have friends who are not o f the same ethnic group as I am but we are still good friends. So, it's not a problem to me The thing is. I can ... I know how to handle, you know, because there are issues, ethnic, related to ethnic groups which are so sensitive that we wouldn't dare to talk about So if you want to be friends you better not bring up those issues. M: What sort o f impact did it have on you, looking back, what sort o f impact did it have on you, maybe at the time, but perhaps even today, having this circle o f friends, this diverse ethnic circle o f friends. How did it impact your understanding o f ethnic/race relations in your community"’ Mk; There are, you know, the stereotypes. 1 think it's inherent to any human being to have some kind o f stereotypes. In my own case, or in my country, we know, well, there are sayings then, this tribe is this way. You know, they are this, this, this, and that. Okay’ So we grow up with all those stereotypes. So when you have friends, or 3 1 8 especially when ... it comes to marriage, people go to marriage with those, you know, lists o f stereotypes about each ethnic group, ,4s far as I am concerned, I think that stereotypes are one thing and reality, you know, is a different thing. And my wife is not o f the same ethnic group as I am, so ... and I am the happiest man in the world [laughs]. M; What significance do you attach to your racial identity. That is, what does it mean for you to be a Black person, or should I say maybe an African in the first place and than in a black person or vice versa. Mk: I think that I am first a Black and then an African. And I am ... so conscious, so much aware o f this and I am proud o f it. No matter what, there is a saying, you know, "There's no place like home", which means you can not be better than what you are, okay I think it's nonsense to say that if I were a White I would have been in a better position. It is not the color that makes you to be what you are. But it is what you are which is, which is important because we never decide only on what we want... to be White or Black. But this doesn't mean that since you don't have what you... you like, you have to like what you have. No, What I mean is that I take it seriously the fact o f being Black and ,A.frican, and I thank God for that. No matter what people say about .•\frica where people are at war with one another, you know, but still I cannot deny my countn,- because o f the war, because o f what's going on. That's my, my basic philosophy of what I am. M When you say you are ... you are proud o f being Black or you are very conscious, how does that manifest itself^ M K: Okay I have background which I cannot remove, for example, my accent, the way I speak, the way I eat... You see, if I show you what I have hear [points toward his food cabinet] I don't eat McDonald or whatever, I live African, I live Black. There is no way I can change overnight. I've been here for eight years but still speak my English with this heavy .-Mrican accent and I am proud o f it [laughs], 3 1 9 Appendix F Excerpt of Interview #2 with Mukembe Note: M = Marinus; M k = Mukembe M Could you tell me then what prompted you to become an ESL instructor'’ Mk Okay, first I think that it could be something like. I would say something innate because my father was a teacher, so I grew up in a family o f teachers so to speak, so I developed a taste for teaching. .And as far as English is concerned. I've found out that I was good at languages. In addition to French, I could learn French easily and when we had English I found that it was also easy for me, so I choose to be teacher o f English, so combining what I like and what I saw from my parents. M: Could you give me a brief description o f your career as an ESL instructor thus far. So, where you stared your career, and when, and where you worked, and how long, and so on Mk: O K I started teaching English as a second and foreign language in 1974. So I had just graduated from the teacher's college, with an .Associate degree. .After that I worked for one year teaching English at the secondary school. Then the next year. I went to college to complete my Bachelor's degree. .And after that I worked for three years. I worked for three years with a Bachelor's degree at high school. Then I was hired as a lecturer at college, teaching English literature, teaching English grammar. Then I went to Europe, got a diploma and went back home, teaching English at College level, that was 3 2 0 in the early 80's. Then I came to the United States in the early 90's, got a master degree in linguistics and start teaching English composition at [San Christobal State University], since 1995 to the present. M Could you please outline your philosophy o f teaching in general and teaching ESL in particular'^' \Ik : 0 K If 1 have a philosophy, 1 would say that teaching is one o f the most challenging jobs It's a low paid job, challenging, hard and yet it is an enjoyable one. It's an intriguing kind o f situation You know, teaching is hard, not well-paid but it is, good, it's enjoyable. \'ou get to meet people. For example, every quarter you have different students. And in one year, 1 don't know how many people you w ill have met. So. that is very, very exciting When you teach, it is also a pleasure for me to be able to, maybe I can use the word "shape", which is not the appropriate. To shape someone's knowledge means, imagine somebody, whom you met the first time in your class, who can hardly speak a word in English. But after three months, this person is able to interact with you. Don't you feel good about thafi' So, that's the feeling that I have when 1 can. That's why I used the word "shape" 1 can make somebody speak the language that he did not know before. So, it's my pleasure 1 think that teaching in addition to what we have learned at school, such as methodology, communicative teaching or whatever, but basically being practical is most important. In the sense that you just figure out, how to, you know, solve a problem. Vou see, 1 remember, 1 had at some point students, who could not even write, you know, in their own language. So, 1 had to combine literacy and ESL here, in the United States. 1 never had a course, how to teach me to combine literacy and ESL. So, 1 was there on the spot, confronted with the situation. So, what 1 did, 1 just told these people to write their name, or to take notes, to copy whatever I was writing on the board. .And after three months, believe me, Marinus, these guys could write and speak to me in English So, 1 just figured it out; as 1 said, it is just a matter of being practical, common sense. What w ould 1 have done if I were in a different situation as supposed to a 321 classroom situation. You see, we tend to believe that everything we do in class, we must have learned it. No, I think being practical and appealing to common sense and problem solving skills, you know these... M: In our previous interview, you talked about your racial experiences that you had. I remember you talking about some experiences that you had in Belgium. You talked about some o f the racial attitudes. And I am wondering to what extend do those experiences and those perceptions and maybe racial beliefs that you hold and that have influenced you throughout your life. To what extend do they interfere, they influence what and how you teach ESL’’ Mk: O K That is a hard question, because racial attitudes outside the classroom are as I explained to you last time. What 1 experienced was utterly open. So, people would yell at you, as .A.trican, black or whatever, but in a classroom situation you don't hear thmgs like this I f they are, they are hidden. You can’t detect this. You can only speculate on what you get from the student. For example, if the student is impolite to me, it's hard to say whether it is because o f racial motivation or just because o f anything else. So you see, so that is my attitude. So, when 1 am in class, 1 don't take this into account because it is ditTicult to say what it is. O f course it is easy to make a quick judgment, when something goes wrong in class to say these students are doing this to me, because I am black. That's as 1 say easy, and it's difficult to prove that. So, that's why my attitude as far as race is concerned when 1 am in class, 1 prefer not to bother about that. So, 1 consider myself as a teacher and on the other side they are students, no matter what color they are, they have to know that if 1 am front o f them, this means that 1 am capable. 1 am able to teach them, so they must accept me. M; But don't you believe then that the students have certain racial attitudes that they don't leave them outside the door. They may camouflage them. But don't you assume that they come inside with those attitudes? Mk; Yeah, but I wouldn't focus on that so much, although I must be aware. I say, "Well ue are not in the ideal world. There are racial problems but I would not teach with that in mind, you know, being obsessed by the racial factor. Well, at least that is my attitude. I focus on my proficiency as a teacher, my knowledge and my background, my education, and 1 said, well, let's go. So, if I am sure that there is some kind o f behavior based on racism, which so far I haven't detected yet. I have seen things, but I still refuse to admit that it's because o f race, because it would be difficult to prove. In case you know, we ha\ e to go to a hearing or a court or something, it would be embarrassing for me to prove the case M O K let me ask the same question a bit differently. Do you bring into the classroom things that, techniques, topics, pieces o f writing, whatever that you bring in with your knowledge o f your awareness o f your racial identity'^' Mk Yes. yes I remember bringing a text in class o f which the title was: "Why I got married to a White person" So. it was written by a black woman who was experiencing, who was married to a white guy She wrote in, 1 guess. Ebony magazine, how she feels about that .Yfter the class some black students came to me and said that, and asked me why 1 had chosen that text. I said why not. They said: "Well someone, some o f them said you embarrassed the white guys. They felt so uncomfortable." I said, "I didn't notice that." They said, "W ell did you notice that when you asked a white lady to answer what she thought about that. She said she had no opinion because she didn't want to say anything that you would consider negative. I said: "Well, I didn't mean to embarrass anyone ■' To me it was a text I thought would produce a lot o f discussion. So, from that time on. I said: "Hey. watch out. it is not good to bring up, you know, issues like this, because it would embarrass other people. So. that is just an example. M: Do you view the ESL classroom as not so good a forum to present these kind o f Mk: It all depends on what the policy o f the school or the program is. O f course you can introduce racial issues, but what is the purpose‘s What is the purpose o f doing that? Are you teaching racial differences? Are you, it all depends on the motives, what are the motives for doing so'’ M: What was your motivation then o f bringing in that particular text that you just talked about'!' Mk: 1 wanted to make the class more lively, to take a very controversial issue and present it so that the students could speak and express themselves. But it failed so 1 quit. M: Would you do this a second time, a third time'’ Mk No, no. M: .A.nd the reason being"’ Mk: The reason being that 1 don't want to embarrass anyone and who knows, maybe some students may be so offended that they may complain, you know, to a hierarchy and when It gets at a point you never know what may happen. So 1 just try to be cautious about issues like this. M: Would you like to see these issues being addressed more in’ Mk: Within the curriculum, yes. For example if the textbook that 1 am using has an issue like that, 1 would take the opportunity to discuss about it, making sure not to introduce my own biases in it. So, that 1 would because it is part o f the curriculum. M: But you would maybe never again bring in your own text or you would be very cautious do so, 1 suppose. 3 2 4 Mk: Exactly, that is, given my own experience. M: .Any techniques that you use that are based on your racial identity, your Africanness, that you bring in to your teaching, to make your students understand what you are saying'^ Mk: O K. the only strategy that I have is avoidance strategy. M: Is that particular .African'’ Mk \'eah. 1 avoid bringing in issues, you know, racial issues which may be very controversial So, avoidance is my strategy. .And if there is I try to be as neutral as possible 1 remember once a student asked me: "What was your opinion about, interracial marriages." or something." I said, "I have no comment on that." But further on I said. " Well 1 think that the problem is not the skin color, but it is in there [in the mind]. It depends on whom you meet as a partner. It doesn't depend on the skin but it depends on the character So that was my cautious comment .Although I may think otherwise but in such a setting I would say something right. M It is interesting because if I remember from the survey that you filled in, you thought that race was one o f the reasons why students would have problems with their instructor Mk : 1 am aware o f that. .As I said being aware is one thing but talking about it openly is another thing So I am aware, I am very cautious when I walk in the classroom. I know that 1 am this and they are what they are but apart from that I don't focus on that. M: .And as for your avoidance, it was it the result o f the one experience that you had'’ "S'our avoidance strategy not to bring in those kind o f texts, was that the direct result o f the experience that you had with that one text or .. 325 Mk; Yeah, not only that one text, but ... As I said it is easy to conclude from one incident, you know, this is because o f racism. That is a painful situation to be in. A ll the time [having to be] sensitive about this racial factor. Uh, so in order not to be haunted by that I try to avoid it altogether. M O K still on this topic. I want to refer to page 3 of the transcript of our first interview On pages 3 and 5 you talked about the kind o f racial experiences that you had back home as well as in the United States and then on page 7 you say and again on the bottom of page 7 Let me break this down in a couple o f questions. First o f all: "What kind o f reactions do you notice among students when you introduce yourself as their ESL instructor and I ask this again from a point o f racial identity. You walk into the class, have you ever experience your student reacting in a way that makes you think that they are not happy with you because you are black"’ Mk In the first place I would say no, but as time goes on I realize later on that there are some racial, there are some behavior from the students that is motivated by racial factors 1 have a case 1 had a graduate student from ,Asia. She was a very good student. .And when I saw her again, some months in the street, after she had completed the course, she asked me why there are foreigners teaching English. Her idea is that she came here to study English as spoken by native speakers, not by foreigners who are themselves struggling to speak English themselves. It was at that moment that I realized that maybe this student did not accept me as a teacher. So, I was very, very disappointed. But she was one o f my best students. So, as I say unless they show it openly like this student who expressed her concern but otherwise I couldn't tell. M Other than this incident, have you ever experienced racial stereotyping on the part o f your students .And by experiencing I don't necessarily mean, you know, they come out and say but that you have the feeling that things are, their behavior, their attitudes is motivated bv race. 326 Mk: Yeah, I remember once, I guess five o f my students dropped the class in one and the same day. When I introduced myself: "I am your teacher and I w ill be teaching this class." It was undergraduate class, so, the next day five o f the students dropped class. So. my feeling was, '‘Maybe they didn't like me, because I am black or I am foreigner. “ .And as a matter o f fact, I noticed that those students, many o f them, it was their first time to be taught by a black man. I realized that later on, because I was worried about this. I noticed that they were very young, many o f them, in their late teens, early twenties. .And it was their first experience abroad, so they had just left their country to come to the U.S. .And what they met in front o f them to teach English was a black guy who was not an •American either. So, I don't say that they dropped the class because o f this but the connection is easy to make. M How do these feelings, these emotions that you go through, probably not knowing whether it is you being a foreigner, you being black, you being .African. How do these atTect your relationship with the students'^’ Mk: Oh. yeah, o f course it has an impact. .An impact is to take this stance and the stance is: "Be cautious with these guys." You are different culturally so don't behave in such a way to frustrate them. Do the right thing. So, that's the motto. Don't say anything that may sound inappropriate. Do your job Teach what you are supposed to and that's it. Don't go beyond or so that's how I regulate my behavior vis a vis the students because o f my identity M: Do you think that as a black ESL instructor you have a harder time than you white colleagues'i’ Mk: I think so, 1 think so. It's obvious. Uh, they may have different problems. But I think that basically, their attitude is well: "This is my home, this is my language, you come to me, and you go by my rule. So, I teach you the language, you like you or not." That is 327 what you accepted. But I think that I am not in a position to behave that way. M y other position is; "I know the stuff I am going to teach you, no matter what the color o f my skin is. .A.S long as I will be in front o f you, assume that I know the subject. So accept it. M: And do you have the feeling that they do over alH Mk: Oh. 1 would say 60%, yes. Yes. M. Staying on that subject. What does it mean to be both black and African and stand in front o f a class consisting predominantly o f Asian students in the U S . a predominantly white culture'"’ Mk: It is hard because it is a triple challenge; that is why the words "caution, cautious" are my keywords. In whatever 1 do, I must find the right balance in between these three categories You see, you have the .Asians, who are in the U.S. and who are being taught by an .\trican So. there are more than three kind o f set o f values interacting with one another: the .African value, the .American value and the .Asian value. So, it is very easy for the three o f them to collide. So one must be an expert in playing the equilibrium in between That is why I say the word: "Cautious, caution," is so important to me. M Do you believe that some o f your, that your being black and .African causes some of your students to question your authority and expertise as an ESL instructor’^’ Mk: \'es. yes M .And how does it manifest itself. Mk: .As I say again. I have no evidence. .Apart from time to time, people say it openly to me Like. 1 miess vesterdav, no Thursdav, I was giving an answer to a student and he 328 asked me: "Is that the answer from the book or is that your own answer'’ " So you see it is obvious that he was questioning my expertise And I said: "There is no difference between the answer o f the book and mine." M: .And how did that student react then’ Mk: Well, he didn't say anything. But again you can be sure of these kinds of things when they are expressed openly. And that is the case. A student who actually shows that he doesn't agree with me and he prefers the answer from the book rather than my answer M: How does this again affect your relationship with students who express these issues or in general Mk 0 K the first reaction is normal. Is just to go ballistic with the student but after that, you know, I get back my composure and the next day life goes on. M So, it doesn't have a long-term or a more lasting impact on your relationship with the students’ Mk: To me it doesn't. .Apart from some, a few case where I had to call the student and sav, " Look if thinus eo on the wav vou have started to go on the wav vou have starting behaving towards me, I think that we want to be in good understanding with you so try to change." .And I have done that three or four times a week with some particular students. I come to this point when I am afraid that things are going to get out o f control. So before I get to that point let me work it out with this particular student. But otherwise incidents come and go and I uh. M Do you believe that your accent may lead some students to question your capabilities as an ESL instructor’ 529 Mk: L'h, it could be, but so far I haven't experienced this. How would I put it. The students as they are foreigners, they are not informed and it would be difficult if I don't tell them that I African, that I am not an American. They would not guess, because they are not able to distinguish accents, you know. I mean the level at which I am teaching. You know, these people, I think that you need to, to get some level o f proficiency in the language to detect, the accent or the style or whatever. So, I think that what prevails to them is to listen to somebody who can convey his thought clearly and it doesn't matter whether the accent is. Does it sound English, .A.merican? That is what I think. But when I tell them that I am not an .American and then they say, "O.K., then your English is not co iT e ct, but before that I don't think they can make that distinction. But that's what I think, at least. M .And when you're talking about students, you are talking about both graduate and undergraduate students or only undergraduate students. Mk: Graduate students have some experience. They have taken courses at college level and they have had... Some o f them have teachers who are not .Americans. So I don't think it is an issue to them For the undergraduates as I say they are not capable o f distinguishing the accents, so to me it is a minor issue. M : So you not worried about your accent interfering with your relationship with the students at all'i’ Mk: No, unless I tell them that I speak with an accent because I am not an American. .And from that moment on they begin, they become sensitive to my accent. M: So, when you tell them that you are an .African and therefore not .American, do they display any visible signs o f shock‘d Mk: No, not at all, not that I know of. I haven't seen anything vet. 330 Appendix G Race in the ESL Classroom: A Survey Dear Scudenc: Currently, a study is being conducted to examine the role of race, or skin color, in the foreign language classroom. The attached questionnaire has been designed to gather your ideas and opinion on the matter. To answer the questions, all you need to do is check the option in each question that best corresponds with your situation, idea, or opinion. The questionnaire should take only about fifteen minutes to complete. The questionnaire is divided into three parts and consists of 44 items spread over 4 pages, numbered 1-3. In part 1 (items 1-6) you are requested to identify yourself; part 2 (items 7-23) inquires after your personal feelings and believes about several matters related to race; finally, part 3 (items 29-44) relates race to your experiences with and feelings about ESL instructors, particularly those you have encountered or .may encounter in ESL classrooms across the United States. At the end of the questionnaire, you have the opportunity to add any other information you believe might be helpful for the researcher to better understand your ideas and opinion. To secure confidentiality, you are requested not to put your name or any other personal information on the answer sheet. In addition, for this survey to be valid, it is important that you complete all items and do so truthfully, upon completion of the survey, please place the survey form in the envelope that your instructor has been provided with. Thank you for your cooperation and input. Stephan j j I Race in the ESL Classroom; A Survey General directions Please read each item you are requested to read and respond to very carefully. Then, check (X) or encircle (0) the option tha: best corresponds with your opinion. Part 1 Directions : For ite.-s 1-5, please check one (1) option only. 1. My horr.e country is: India ____ People's Republic o: China Indonesia ____ Saudi Arabia Japan ____ Taiwan Jordan ____ Thailand Korea______Turkey Malaysia______Other (please specify) 2. I identify nyself as a(n) Arabic person. Asian person. Slack person. Hispanic person. White person. j j32 . az". a male. female. . 1 8JTI 13-22 years old. 23-27 years old. 2 3-32 years old. more chan 3 2 years old. 5. I am a 1st year student (Freshman) . 2nd year student (Sophomore). 3th year student (Junior). 4th year student (Senior) . Graduate student. 5 . I have been in the United States fo: less than a year. one - two years. three - four years. more than four years . Part 2 Directions : For items 7-23, select the response that best reflects your opinion by encircling either the number 1, or 2, or 3, or 4, that follows each item, and where: l=Not true 2=Somewhat true 3=True 4= Very true 7. My feelings and beliefs about race have changed since I came to the United States. 1 2 3 4 3. Outside of class, I frequently talk with others about racial problems in the U.S.. 1 2 3 4 5. I prefer to be around people who belong to my race. 1 2 3 4 1C. I find it difficult to make friends with people who belong to a racial group that is different from mine. 1 2 3 4 11. America is a racist society. 1 2 3 4 12. I have occasionally been discriminated against in m.y home country because of my race. 1 2 3 4 13 . My race is an important part of who I aim. 1 2 3 4 14. People who belong to my racial group are more important to me than people who do not. 1 2 3 4 15. I have occasionally been discriminated against in this country because of my race. 1 2 3 4 15. I like being around people who belong to a racial group that is different from mine. 12 3 4 534 IS . I feel ur.comforCable if I am the only person of my racial group in the company of others. 1 2 3 4 19. I prefer to be around people who belong to a racial group that is different from mine. 1 2 3 4 20. .i. person's race is not important to me. 1 2 3 4 21. Race is not a problem in my home country. 1 2 3 4 22. My life has been affected by the racism in America. 1 2 3 4 23. I have spent time outside of class learning about the history and tradition of: a. Asian Americans. 1 2 3 4 b . African Americans. 1 2 3 4 c. Hispanic Americans. 1 2 3 4 d. Native Americans (i.e., Indians). 1 2 3 4 e. White Americans. 1 2 3 4 24. Outside of the classroom, I have little contact with a. Asian Americans. 1 2 3 4 b. African Americans. 1 2 3 4 c. Hispanic Americans. 1 2 3 4 d. Native Americans (i.e., Indians). 1 2 3 4 e. White Americans. 1 2 3 4 25. I would like to have contact/more contact with a. Asian Americans. 12 3 4 b. African Americans. 12 3 4 c . Hispanic Americans. 12 3 4 d. Native Americans (i.e., Indians). 1 2 3 4 e. White Americans. 1 2 3 4 3 3 0 25. I" general, race is of liccle importance in the United States. 1 2 3 4 27. Some of my close friends belong to a different racial group. 12 3 4 25. I often think about the effects of racism on the lives of those who were born and raised in this country. 1 2 3 4 Part 3A Directions : For items 29-40, select the response that best reflects your opinion by encircling either the number 1, or 2, or 3, or 4, that follows each item, and where: l=Not true 2=Somewhat true 3=True 4=Very true 25. I prefer not to be taught by ESL instructors of certain races. 1 2 3 4 3 0. The race of my ESL instructor has nothing to do with him or her being a good or a bad teacher. 1 2 3 4 31. The race of my ESL instructor does not influence my behavior toward him or her. 1 2 3 4 32. Generally, I prefer a white ESL instructor over one who is not white. 1 2 3 4 33. I would never drop an ESL class because of the race of my instructor. 12 3 4 536 34. I have/would have difficulty developing a good relationship with an ESL instructor who belongs to a racial group that is different from mine. 1 2 3 4 35. I do not pay attention to the race of m.y ESL instructors. 1 2 3 4 36. The race of my ESL instructor has no influence on my relationship with him or her. 1 2 3 4 37. I have dropped an ESL class because of the race of m.y instructor. 1 2 3 4 33. If I had a chance to select m.y ESL instructor, I would never select instructors of certain races. 1 2 3 4 33. Generally, I prefer an ESL instructor who has m.y race over one who has a different race. 1 2 3 4 43. The race of my ESL instructor is important to m.e. 1 2 3 4 Part 3B Directions : For items 41-43, please rank ESL instructors from 1 to 5 in each of the categories below. Assume that all these instructors are native speakers of English, and have exactly the same qualifications, teaching skills, and experience. Note that no ranking may be encircled more than once, so you cannot have two first rankings or three fourth rankings, for instance. 337 Rank the list of ESL instructors according to the degr ee 'wi which you feel/'would feel comfortable with each . Note that : equals "most comfortable'' and 5 "least comfortable" . Arab American 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th As i an / As i an A_mer i can. 1st 2nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th Slack/African American. 1st 2nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th Hispanic American. 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th V.'hite/V.'hite American. 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th Rank the list of ESL instructors acco rding to the degr ee wi which you believe each instructor •wouId be appr'opriate in helping you improve your English., Not,e that 1 equals ''most appropriate" and 5 "least appropriate" Arab American 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th Asian/Asian American. 1st 2nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th Black/A.fricar. American. i s t 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th Hispanic American. 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th Native American. 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th v;hite/White American. 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th 5 th Rank the following list of ESL instructors from 1 to 5 in accordance with your preference cif instructor. Note that 1 equals "most preferred” and 5 "least preferred" . Arab/Arab American Isc 2nd 3rd 4ch 5ch Asian/Asian American. Isc 2nd 3rd 4ch 5ch Black/African American. Isc 2nd 3 rd 4 ch 5 ch Hispanic American. Isc 2nd 3rd 4ch 5ch V.'h ice/ '.Tnice .Arner ican. Isc 2nd 3rd 4ch 5ch Per ice.m 44, please place a check for each of che groups lisced by responding wich eicher “Yes" or "No" . While in che US, I have been Caughc by ESL inscruccors who Arab/Arab American. ___ Yes __ No Asian/Asian American. ___ Yes No Slack/African American. ___ Yes __ No Hispanic American. ___ Yes __ No Whice/Whice American. ___ Yes __ No Please use the space below co add any ocher ir.fornacion you believe cighc be helpful for Che researcher co beccer ur.derscand your responses. Please indicace che nuciber of a n y icem(s) you are referring Co. In addicion, commence, cricicisms, concerns, or suggescions are greacly appreciated, reel free Co wrice on che back of chis page, if necessary. This concludes che survey. Thank you kindly for your parcicipaCion. 339 Appendix H Teacher-student relationships in Foreign & Second Language Classrooms: A Survey Dear Student: The purpose o f this questionnaire is to learn more about the kind o f relationships ESL students have with their instructors. It should take only about fifteen minutes for you to complete the questionnaire which is divided into two parts. Part 1 (items 1-7) is designed to discover what factors form the basis o f the teacher-student relationship. Part 2 (items 8-15) requests information about you. To assure confidentiality, you are requested not to put your name or any other personal identification on the formPlease note that you have the option o f not completing this survey form without any prejudice to you; this means that not fillin g in the form w ill not affect your relationship with your instructor or any institution within the university. I f you do decide to complete the form, you are consenting to the use o f the information you have provided. If you decide to complete this survey, please note that for it to be valid it is important that you complete all items and do so truthfullv and in accordance with the directions provided. Should you, for whatever reason, be reluctant to respond to a particular item, I would appreciate it if you were to complete it and do so properly in spite o f your reluctance. Use the space provided at the end o f the questionnaire to express your reservations in responding to one or more items (please identify those items by referring to their number). In addition, you may use that space to clarify your response to one or more items as well as to voice any concerns you may have with respect to this survey. Your comments w ill be taken into account when the survey is processed; moreover, depending on their significance, they will be reported along with the outcomes of the survey. Your help in this research means a lot to me since it is part o f my doctoral dissertation study. Therefore, I thank you in advance for your time and valuable input. Sincerely, Marinus H. Stephan 3 4 0 Teacher-student relationships in Foreign & Second Language Classrooms: A Survey Part lA Directions For items 1-8 rank order the options given in each category You are strongly encouraged to provide valid responses, which means that you may circle each ranking onlv once Here are three different examples o f what may be considered valid responses: Valid response Valid response Valid response 0 3'-‘' 4'*> l« 3"' 4"’ r ‘ 2"'^ (3^ 4'" pt grU _|Ih pi 2"'^ 4'h pi 2"‘* 3'''^ Q pi -jnil _|lh pi ->nil ^ril Q 2"'* 3'''' 4'*' pi -)nj gru 01 2""^ 3'"'* 4'*' p' 3^1 4 Here are three different examples o f what may be considered invalid responses: Invalid response Invalid response Invalid response 4>h 2nd -jnd 3'" 4th ^ 2nd 3"i r ' 3"‘ 0 -^nd •) nd 3"' 4"’ r ' 2nd 3"‘ 0 0 3"' 2"d 2nd 4“' 1" 2 nd 0 4ti. r ‘ 3'" 0 2 "d 2nd 3'" 4'" r ‘ ■jnd 3'" A Pi 3'" 1 Suppose that an ESL program within a college in your home country wishes to recruit a number of instructors. In an effort to promote a positive student-teacher relationship from the start, the program wants to learn from its students which instructor characteristics they believe are important for the development and maintenance o f a good teacher-student relationship. Students are given the set o f characteristics listed below. Speaking generally, indicate what kind o f response you think the students would give by rank ordering the characteristics from 1st through 8th, with 1st meaning "the most important” and 8th meaning "the least important” . 341 The instructor's: Importance Factor Ranking (a) academic qualifications (i.e., BA, MA, Ph.D.) f 5* 6 "^ 7* 8* ■jnd grd ^ th ^ch ^ th ^ ü i g th (b) gender (i.e., male/female). >” -jnd ^th ^th ^th -th gih (c) linguistic background (i.e., whether she/he 1" speaks Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish, for example, as her/his native language) (d) nationality (i e , whether she/he is American, f 2"^ 3"* T*’ 5 * 6"^ 7'*’ Belgian, Korean, Mexican, or Nigerian, for example) (e) racial background (i.e., whether she/he is .Asian, f 2"'^ 3"' 4'*' 5* 6 "^ 7'*' 8“' Black, Hispanic, or White). ■jfd ^tn ^th ^ih Tth y tit ( 0 teaching competence (i.e , her/his ability to f' 2"“ 3 transfer her/his knowledge o f the subject to the students) (g) teaching experience (i.e., how long s/he has been f 2'"^ 3'* 4"' 3* 6* 7'-’’ 8'^ teaching ESL) r d | i h c U j ^(h -tit s^flt (h) teaching strategies (i.e.. techniques used by C 2"“ 3 '’ 4 ‘" 5 teachers that enable students to master the second language) 2 Below are a number o f student-related attributes that may influence the relationship between a teacher and one or more o f her or his students. Please rank order these factors t'rom r ' to 5"'. with meaning "the most influential” and 5”' meaning " the least intluential” The student's: -ytld -»rd la) attitude toward the course V J 4 “ ' 5 “ ’ ->nd -»rd q f . lb) expectations for him- or herself related to the V J course ->nd -.rd q m (c) past experiences with ESL course work. L J ->nd -, rd q 'h 5 Ü, (d ) perception o f relevance o f course material. V J ^ n d -,rd q * 3 ^ (e) willingness to accept constructive criticism from V J his or her teacher and peers. 3 To what extent do ESL students perceive the following behaviors o f ESL instructors as a problem :’ Please rank order these behaviors from 1st to 6 th, with 1st meaning “ the most problematic" and 6 th meaning “ the least problematic.” 342 Importance Factor ranking I find it irritating when an ESL instructor; jst -^nd ->rd 4 - h 5 U. (a) answers a question by saying, “ I don’t know. J 6'*’ I’ll find out.’’ jst ^ n d 3 rd 5 th (b) asks students to critique the work o f other 4 th 6'^ students. 1 St -^nd 3 rd 5 th (c) speaks too fast. 6'*’ jst -^nd 3 rd 5 th (d) speaks with an accent that is not similar to that 4 th 6'" o f educated .Americans or British persons, 1 St -^nd -»rd 4 th 5th (e) allows for too much class discussion. J 6"’ jst -jnd -*rd 3 th (f) criticizes students in public. J 4-h 6"’ 4 Suppose four American ESL instructors were to apply for a teaching position at a college in your home country. These instructors are all roughly the same age, and have more or less the same qualifications, teaching experience, and teaching skills. Let us assume that the ESL students at that particular college were given the opportunity to vote on who should get the position. Speaking generally, indicate how you think the students might vote by rank ordering these instructors from 1st to 4th on the basis o f the number o f votes they are likely to get. Note that 1st means "getting the most number o f votes’’ and that 4th means "uetting the least number o f votes” I St -»rd (a) .African .American ESL instructor. J 4>h |Si -»rd (b) .Asian .American ESL instructor. J 4^h |St ^nd 3rd 4th (c) Hispanic .American ESL instructor. I St -,nd -»rd (d) White .American ESL instructor. J 4“’ 5 Suppose an ESL program at some college in the U.S. needs to increase its teaching statT In addition to American instructors, the program is also recruiting the kinds of instructors listed below. To what extent would ESL students prefer these kinds o f ESL instructors'’ Please rank order the groups from 1st to 6 th, with 1st meaning "the most preferred" and 6 th meaning "the least preferred". 343 ESL instaictors who come from; Importance factor Ranking •>nd >rd 4ih - th (a) African countries such as Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone where English is spoken daily by most or many citizens o f these countries. (b) East Asian or Southeast Asian countries such a ->nd %rd /-th Cambodia, China, japan, Korea and Vietnam where English is mainly a subject taught in school. (c) the United Kingdom— this is, England, ■*nd %rd 4 th 5th Schotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland— where English is spoken daily by most or many citizens o f these countries. (d) countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and •ind J-»rd South America, and the Middle East where English is mainly a subject taught in school. >nd >rd (e) South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, 5“’ Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka where English is spoken daily by most or many citizens o f these countries >nd %rd 5Ü. (f) European countries such as France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland and Russia where English is mainly a subject taught in school. 6 To what extent do the teacher behaviors listed below influence the relationship between the ESL instructor and his or her students'!’ Please rank order these behaviors from 1st to 6th, with 1st meaning "o f great influence" and 6th meaning “ o f minor influence " appreciate it when an ESL instructor: js t ^ n d -»rd 5e, (a) Closely follows the syllabus. J 4“’ 6'' jSt -^nd -»rd ( b ) Makes sufllcient use o f the chalk board. J 4’*’ 6'^ js i -^nd rd 3 ch (c) Is organized when presenting the course J 4'*’ 6'" content. |S l ^ n d -*rd 4 ‘ h ( d ) 0 tiers review sessions before exams. J 6* |S t ->nd -»rd ^ ih (e) Gives assignments 2-3 weeks in advance. J 4"’ 6'" jSt -,nd -»rd 4 U, it) Comes to class well prepared. J 5"' 6"' 7 To w hat extent do the social factors listed below influence whether an ESL instructor is seen as a teacher the students can accept and easily work with'^ Please rank order the list o f characteristics from 1st to 6th, with 1st meaning "having the biggest influence" and 6th meaning "having the smallest influence". 344 The instructor's: Importe Ranking (a) gender (i.e., male/female) 1” _ | i h ^ ( h 6* 3rd (b) geographic origin (i.e., whether she/he comes 1” 4* 5* 6'^ from Africa, .\sia, Europe, North America, etc.) (c) nationality (i.e., whether she/he is an American, 1“ 4'*’ 5'*’ 6’"* a Belgian, Korean, Mexican, or Nigerian, for example) (d) racial background (i.e., whether she/he is .Asian, I” 4 d . 5* 6"' Black, Hispanic, or White) ■»nd 3 rd 3d . (e) religious denomination (i.e., whether she or he I" 4* 6-" is a Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, etc.) (f) sexual orientation (i.e., whether she/he is 1“ 4 d , j d . 6'^- heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual) Part 2 Directions. For items 9-14, please check one (1) option only. S. My home country is: India ____Korea _ Taiwan Indonesia Malaysia _ Thailand Japan ____People’ s Republic o f China _ Turkey Jordan Saudi Arabia Other (please write the name of your country) 9 I identify myself as a(n) .Arabic person. .Asian person. Black person. Hispanic person. White person. person o f mixed heritage (please specify; for example, black and white) 10. I am a male. female. am 18-22 years old. 23-27 years old. 28-32 years old. more than 32 vears old. 3 4 5 12 I am a 1st year undergraduate student (Freshman). 2nd year undergraduate student (Sophomore). 3th year undergraduate student (Junior). 4th year undergraduate student (Senior). Graduate student. 13 1 have been in the United States for less than a year. one - two years. three - four years. more than four vears. Directions For each option provided in items 15 and 16. please check ( v ) either "Yes" or "No" 14 In mv home country, I have been tausht by ESL instructors who are of: .Arab oriuin Yes No Black oriuin Yes No .Asian oriuin Yes No Hispanic origin. Yes No White oriuin. Yes No 5 In the U.S., I have been taught by ESL instructors .Arab/.Arab .American Yes No Black,'.African .American Yes No .Asian,'.Asian .American Yes No Hispanic/Hispanic .American Yes No White/White .American Yes No 346 Please use the space below to add any comments that you believe might help the researcher to better understand your ideas and opinion. Please be so kind as to indicate the number o f the item(s) you are referring to. In addition, any comments, criticisms, concerns, or suggestions you may have about this survey are greatly appreciated. You may use the reverse side o f this page i f necessary. This concludes the survey. Thank you for your participation. 3 4 7 Appendix I TESOL’s policy statements Awarding Degree-Granting Credit June 2tXM} October/November 2000 for ESL/EFL Courses Equitable Benefits for Part-Time June 2000 October/November 2000 Instructors ■ Acquisition of Academic Proficiency ' July 1999 October/November 1999 In Englisfi Native Language Support July 1999 October/November 1999 African-American Vernacular English ■ March 1997 June/July 1997 Language Varieties ' ■ October 1996 June/July 1997 Role of Bilingual Education in the October 1992 December 1992/January 1993 Education of Children in the United States Postsecondary ESOL Programs March 1992 June/July 1992 Education of K-T2 Language Minority ’ October 1991 February/March 1992 Students in the United States Preparation of Primary and Secondary • October 1991 February/March 1992 Teachers in the United States , Nonnative Speakers of English and ' / October 1991 August/September 1992 Hiring Practices i Core Standards for Language and October 1984 April 1985 Professional Preparation Programs Source: Schwane, B (2000, October/November) What does TESOL stand for'’ TESOL Matters. 10. 4. 3-4. 3 4 8 Appendix J TESOL’s resolutions English Entrance Exams at Schools 2000 October/November 2000 and Universities Discrimination on the Grounds 1999 June/July 1999 of Nationality Change the Policy of the NCAA on the 1996 February/March 2000 Core English Requirement Support of Academic Credit for 1995 June/July 1995 Secondary ESOL Against Education Exclusion Acts 1995 June/July 1995 (Immigration and Citizenship) Health Benefits for Part-Time Instructors 1994 June/July 1994 in the United States United States K-12 Standards .1993 June/July 1993 United States "Chapter 1" Funding 1993 June/July 1993 Promote AIDS Education Through 1992 June/July 1992 Content-Based ESOL Instmction ESOL Certification, Validation, and 1991 June/July 1991 Licensure 1992 in Public Education Use of Part-Timer Instructors 1988 June/July 1988 United States Immigration Reform and 1988 June/July 1988 Control Acts of 1986 Tuition Fee Surcharges to International 1988 June 1988 Students Granting Credit for ESL in Institutions of 1987 August 1987 Higher Education Language Rights (English-Only) 1987 June 1987 Source; Schwane, B (2000, October/November) What does TESOL stand for"^ TESOL Matters. 10. 4. 3-4. 3 4 9