Antisocial Language Teaching

English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness

JPB Gerald author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Multilingual Matters

Published:21st Sep '22

Should be back in stock very soon

This hardback is available in another edition too:

Antisocial Language Teaching cover

Provides a much-needed challenge to the ELT industry and demands a full decentering of whiteness

This book examines major issues with the ideologies and institutions behind the discipline of ELT and diagnoses the industry as in dire need of treatment, with the solution being a full decentering of whiteness. A vision for a more just version of ELT is offered as an alternative to the harm caused by its present-day incarnation.

The centering of whiteness in English Language Teaching (ELT) renders the industry callous, corrupt and cruel; or, antisocial. Using the diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder as a rhetorical device, this book examines major issues with the ideologies and institutions behind the discipline of ELT and diagnoses the industry as in dire need of treatment, with the solution being a full decentering of whiteness. A vision for a more just version of ELT is offered as an alternative to the harm caused by its present-day incarnation. With a unique linkage of discourse on whiteness, language and ability, this book will be necessary reading for students, academics and administrators involved in ELT around the world.

Writing in a forceful but engaging style that is just as often memoir as it is polemic, Gerald pulls no punches and joins a growing and increasingly assertive community of critical scholars who are challenging the very foundations on which the ‘teaching of standardized English’ is constructed. This makes for compelling, even if (for some of us) unsettling, reading. * Scott Thornbury, formerly at The New School, New York, USA *
Brimming with insights from research, practice, and personal experience, Gerald makes a passionate case for demolishing the status quo in English language teaching. In witty and refreshingly candid prose, he integrates critical perspectives on racism and disability justice to imagine a different system – one that is more prosocial, inclusive, and above all else, honest. * Neda Maghbouleh, University of Toronto, Canada *
Combining key insights from critical race theory and disability studies, JPB Gerald provides a stunning overview of how racial ideologies shape language teaching in ways that consistently privilege whiteness. Weaving personal narratives with astute theoretical insights, Gerald provides a guide for creating a more just system of language learning. * Victor Ray, University of Iowa, USA *

ISBN: 9781800413276

Dimensions: 234mm x 156mm x 14mm

Weight: 470g

192 pages