Education, ethnicity and equity in the multilingual asian context

Abstract

unheard stories of sojourning White teachers in China, some of which might reflect poorly on ELT professionals, even including herself. Despite the book’s strengths, there are several concerns. The study includes only a small number of site visits for ethnographic work, and the voices of local students, teachers, and/or administrative-level staff are limited. It also does not include Black teachers, who might have different experiences in Chinese society, as participants. Another concern is an overemphasis on the negative portrayals of the teachers as constructed through Chinese discourses without considering their potentially positive influences on Chinese students, colleagues, and the institution, which might cause a generalisation or stigmatisation of Western teachers in China and other similar contexts. As a Korean ELT professional, I have witnessed what Stanley reported in Korean college settings, but I also believe that having a local lens is imperative to have a balanced understanding. I suggest that readers learn from Chinese scholars’ different perspectives toward ELT and L1 English teachers in China (e.g. Huang, 2018). It would also be encouraging to see further studies that examine race and racial injustice in China and elsewhere (see Vessup, 2017). Although this book was published in 2013, it discusses the enduring problems generated by desire for Whiteness and Western cultures through its robust presentations and discussions of the complex realities of White foreign teachers and their experiences teaching English in China.