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Language and Literacy Education

A section of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).

Following special issues within this section are currently open for submissions:

• Advancing Second Language Learning and Teaching through Innovative Technologies and Digital Tools (Deadline: 31 October 2024 )
• Implications of Artificial Intelligence Pedagogy for Hope, Inclusion and Diversity in Multilingual Classrooms (Deadline: 23 November 2024 )
• Fostering Global Citizenship and Intercultural Education “Otherwise” (Deadline: 31 December 2024 )
• Second Language Learning: Theories and Practices (Deadline: 31 December 2024 )
• Supporting Multilingual Students in Schools: Perspectives, Challenges, and Opportunities (Deadline: 15 January 2025 )
• Language and Literacy Education in the Early Years: Practices and Principles for Dynamic and Diverse Contexts (Deadline: 20 January 2025 )
• Smart Technology and Language Education (Deadline: 31 January 2025 )
• Rethinking Pedagogical Paradigms in Foreign Language Education: Multifaceted Approaches in a Globalized Context (Deadline: 30 June 2025 )
• Language Learning in Multilingual, Inclusive and Immersive Contexts (Deadline: 15 July 2025 )

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Language and education : Journals

• Educational linguistics Educational Linguistics aims to provide an international platform for cutting-edge research in the field of educational linguistics. The journal promotes the building of empirical understanding and critique of theories that relate to the interrelationship of language, education and other related social science disciplines. Contributors are encouraged to pay close attention to the multi-layered complexity and highly contextualized nature of language issues in education, for which education policy, language planning and pedagogical innovations are constructed, actualized, negotiated and disputed in the social, cultural, economic and historical conditions.
• Annual review of applied linguistics The Annual Review of Applied Linguistics publishes research on key topics in the broad field of applied linguistics. Each issue is thematic, providing a variety of perspectives on the topic through research summaries, critical overviews, position papers and empirical studies.
• Bilingual research journal "The Bilingual Research Journal is the National Association for Bilingual Education’s premier scholarly, peer-reviewed research publication. Bilingual Research Journal delivers in-depth coverage of education theory and practice, dealing with bilingual education, bilingualism, and language policies in education."
• Foreign language annals "Foreign Language Annals (FLA) is the official refereed, scholarly journal of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Dedicated to the advancement of language teaching and learning, the journal seeks to serve the professional interests of classroom instructors, researchers, and administrators who are concerned with the learning and teaching of languages, particularly languages other than English at all levels of instruction."
• Journal of language, identity, and education The Journal of Language, Identity, and Education is an international forum for original research on the intersections of language, identity, and education in global and local contexts. We are interested in interdisciplinary studies that examine how issues of language impact individual and community identities and intersect with educational practices and policies.
• Journal of linguistics "Journal of Linguistics has as its goal to publish articles that make a clear contribution to current debate in all branches of theoretical linguistics. The journal also provides an excellent survey of recent linguistics publications, with book reviews in each volume and review articles on major works marking important theoretical advances. The journal includes a Notes and Discussion section for briefer contributions to current debate."
• Journal of second language writing "The Journal of Second Language Writing is devoted to publishing theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions that represent a significant contribution to current understandings of central issues in second and foreign language writing and writing instruction."
• Language culture and curriculum " Language, Culture and Curriculum is a well-established journal that seeks to enhance the understanding of the relations between the three dimensions of its title. It welcomes work dealing with a wide range of languages (mother tongues, global English, foreign, minority, immigrant, heritage, or endangered languages) in the context of bilingual and multilingual education and first, second or additional language learning. It focuses on research into cultural content, literacy or intercultural and transnational studies, usually related to curriculum development, organisation or implementation."
• Language learning "Language Learning is a scientific journal dedicated to the understanding of language learning broadly defined. It publishes research articles that systematically apply methods of inquiry from disciplines including psychology, linguistics, cognitive science, educational inquiry, neuroscience, ethnography, sociolinguistics, sociology, and anthropology."
• Language learning journal: journal of the Association for Language Learning "The Language Learning Journal (LLJ) provides a forum for scholarly contributions on current aspects of foreign language and teaching. LLJ is an international, peer-reviewed journal that is intended for an international readership, including foreign language teachers, language teacher educators, researchers and policy makers."
• Language teaching "Language Teaching is the essential research resource for language professionals providing a rich and expert overview of research in the field of second-language teaching and learning. It offers critical survey articles of recent research on specific topics, second and foreign languages and countries, and invites original research articles reporting on replication studies and meta-analyses."
• Language testing "Language Testing is an international peer reviewed journal that publishes original research on foreign, second, additional, and bi-/multi-/trans-lingual (henceforth collectively called L2) language testing, assessment, and evaluation. Since 1984 it has featured high impact L2 testing papers covering theoretical issues, empirical studies, and reviews. The journal's scope encompasses the testing, assessment, and evaluation of spoken and signed languages being learned as L2s by children and adults, and the use of tests as research and evaluation tools that are used to provide information on the language knowledge and language performance abilities of L2 learners."
• Linguistics and education "Linguistics and Education is an international peer-reviewed journal that welcomes submissions from across the world that advance knowledge, theory, or methodology at the intersections of linguistics and education. The journal is concerned with the role played by language and other communicative/semiotic systems in mediating opportunities for learning and participation in a globalized world."
• Studies in second language acquisition "Studies in Second Language Acquisition is a refereed journal of international scope devoted to the scientific discussion of acquisition or use of non-native and heritage languages. Each volume (five issues) contains research articles of either a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods nature in addition to essays on current theoretical matters."
• TESOL quarterly TESOL Quarterly, a professional, refereed journal, was first published in 1967. The Quarterly encourages submission of previously unpublished articles on topics of significance to individuals concerned with English language teaching and learning and standard English as a second dialect.
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The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles. Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values.

The SJR is a size-independent prestige indicator that ranks journals by their 'average prestige per article'. It is based on the idea that 'all citations are not created equal'. SJR is a measure of scientific influence of journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals where such citations come from It measures the scientific influence of the average article in a journal, it expresses how central to the global scientific discussion an average article of the journal is.

Evolution of the number of published documents. All types of documents are considered, including citable and non citable documents.

This indicator counts the number of citations received by documents from a journal and divides them by the total number of documents published in that journal. The chart shows the evolution of the average number of times documents published in a journal in the past two, three and four years have been cited in the current year. The two years line is equivalent to journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters) metric.

Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. Journal Self-citation is defined as the number of citation from a journal citing article to articles published by the same journal.

Evolution of the number of total citation per document and external citation per document (i.e. journal self-citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. External citations are calculated by subtracting the number of self-citations from the total number of citations received by the journal’s documents.

International Collaboration accounts for the articles that have been produced by researchers from several countries. The chart shows the ratio of a journal's documents signed by researchers from more than one country; that is including more than one country address.

Not every article in a journal is considered primary research and therefore "citable", this chart shows the ratio of a journal's articles including substantial research (research articles, conference papers and reviews) in three year windows vs. those documents other than research articles, reviews and conference papers.

Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those not cited during the following year.

Evolution of the percentage of female authors.

Evolution of the number of documents cited by public policy documents according to Overton database.

Evoution of the number of documents related to Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. Available from 2018 onwards.

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Open Access Journal of Education & Language Studies

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Pubmed Indexed Articles

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• Global Journal of Addiction & Rehabilitation Medicine --> Inter-scan Reproducibility of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Derived Myocardial Perfusion Reserve Index in Women with no Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease.

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The Open Access Journal of Education & Language Studies (OAJELS) stands as a forward-looking and progressive publication that delves into the intricacies of both education and language studies. With an expansive reach that transcends geographical boundaries, OAJELS serves as an essential platform for educators, researchers, and professionals to collectively share their profound insights within the realms of pedagogy, linguistics, language acquisition, and educational methodologies. This dedication to advancing the fields of education and language studies underscores the journals pivotal role in fostering academic progress and innovation. The journals comprehensive coverage encompasses a wide array of topics, including but not limited to Pedagogical Innovations that drive transformative teaching practices, Linguistic Exploration that delves into the nuances of language structures, Language Learning strategies and techniques that facilitate effective language acquisition, as well as Educational Psychology which examines the psychological dimensions of learning and instruction. Additionally, OAJELS delves into Assessment Strategies that inform evaluation processes, and Language Teaching and Learning methods that empower educators and learners alike. Teacher Training and Professional Development are addressed as critical components of effective education, while Language Policies and Planning are explored to understand the socio-linguistic aspects of education systems. Moreover, the journal highlights the importance of Literacy Studies and offers a platform for discussing diverse Educational Research Methodologies. OAJELS actively invites a diverse range of submission types to cater to the multifaceted nature of education and language studies. Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to contribute Original Research Articles that present novel findings, Literature Reviews that synthesize existing knowledge, Case Studies that provide real-world context, Theoretical Analyses that explore conceptual frameworks, and Letters to the Editor that facilitate direct exchanges of viewpoints. This inclusive approach ensures that a spectrum of perspectives is shared, enriching the discourse and advancing collective understanding. Authors, educators, and researchers are warmly invited to contribute their valuable work to OAJELS, recognizing the journal as a premier platform for the dissemination of impactful research. By sharing their insights, they contribute to the global discourse surrounding education and language studies, thereby elevating the standard of excellence in these crucial fields.

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Colonialingualism in Education and Policy

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• First Online: 08 August 2024
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• Paul John Meighan 2  

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Colonialingualism

Colonialingualism is the privileging of dominant colonial languages, knowledges, and neoliberal valorizations of diversity.

Introduction

The benefits of multilingualism are widely accepted and encouraged (May, 2014 ; Ortega, 2019 ). Translanguaging and plurilingual approaches have been important for envisaging more equitable (language) education and policy and have received much attention in recent years (García & Otheguy, 2020 ; Piccardo et al., 2021 ; Wei, 2022 ). While they have both been significant in disrupting the harms of monolingual and monocultural bias, inequities persist. The languages implemented in translanguaging or plurilingual classrooms still predominantly reflect and privilege the knowledge and belief systems of dominant, nation-state, official, and colonial languages as opposed to those of endangered and Indigenous languages (Ball & McIvor, 2013 ; Meighan, 2023a , c ; Pennycook & Makoni, 2020 ; Phyak, 2021a , b ).

The ongoing privileging...

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Meighan, P.J. (2024). Colonialingualism in Education and Policy. In: Encyclopedia of Diversity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95454-3_620-1

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Introduction, language teaching: more than teaching language, introducing the books, critical thinking, taboos and controversial issues in foreign language education, gender diversity and sexuality in english language education, antisocial language teaching: english and the pervasive pathology of whiteness, social justice and the language classroom, final thoughts, the reviewer, beyond elt: more than just teaching language.

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Most people would agree that the world is currently facing significant problems: we have not yet recovered from a global pandemic, wars are killing thousands every day, climate change is starting to damage people’s livelihoods and well-being, wealth inequality is increasing, minority groups are being oppressed for a variety of reasons, the spread of disinformation and fake news makes it increasingly difficult to know what is true and what is not—the list goes on. While these issues are causing real concern for people’s current welfare and for the future of the planet, and are the focus of everyday discussion all around the world, whether they have a place in the ELT classroom seems to be a different matter. There have long been calls—including from academics within the native English-speaking ‘inner circle’—for issues such as these to be incorporated into ELT curriculum content (see, for example, Pennycook 1989 ), but these calls have tended to be stifled by an ostensible desire for the ELT profession to remain ‘politically neutral’. In recent years, however, the extent of the problems facing the world, and the sense of urgency that something needs to be done to reverse the current trajectory, have allowed discourses advocating more transformative pedagogies to move closer to the mainstream. To this end, a number of books have been published recently that explore some of the bigger issues of concern in the world today, and how they can (and, more to the point, should ) be addressed in ELT. This survey review examines five such books, offering individual reviews of each one and considering the contribution they make towards a significant shift in ELT—one that moves away from the preservation of the status quo, and becomes focused on the promotion of a critically aware, transformative, social-justice-oriented agenda.

As Pennycook (2021) suggests, since its emergence as an academic discipline, the dominant view in applied linguistics in the United Kingdom and the United States—which has tended to play a significant role in informing English language teaching practice—was that it was, or should be, a ‘value-free’ discipline. As such, it drew on theories in SLA to develop language teaching approaches and methodologies from a position of what was claimed to be ‘political neutrality’. This desire for an ‘unbiased’ approach manifests itself in the content of many widely recognized ELT teacher training courses, which historically have focused on methodology and classroom processes, but which devote less attention to discussion of, or reflection on, the impact that English language teaching can have on wider society. This ostensibly neutral position is also adopted by some of the bigger global publishing companies that produce ELT materials, which tend to focus on rather bland topics that are likely to be acceptable for discussion in any context or culture, such as sport, travel, and shopping. Rather than selecting topics that learners can critically engage with, the main focus has tended to be on developing understanding of systems of language, providing and practising lexical items that are deemed most likely to be of some use to people’s everyday, academic or professional lives, and developing skills that allow learners to use this language and lexis within some kind of meaningful context.

However, an alternative school of thought within applied linguistics and ELT is that a position of political neutrality is in fact impossible, let alone preferable. For Pennycook, wherever in the world it is being taught, ‘English is bound up in a wealth of local social, cultural, economic and political complexities’ (Pennycook 2017: 7), making the inclusion of such complexities within the curriculum unavoidable. The question, then, is not whether social and political issues should be incorporated into ELT, but which ones. Besides, the practice of communicating across cultures, which is, after all, the main purpose of learning an additional language, brings with it ‘the opportunity for emancipation from the confines of learners’ native habitat and culture, with the development of new perceptions and insights into foreign and native cultures alike’ ( Byram 1988 : 15). This implies that any kind of language learning should entail some critical engagement with cultural norms and values, with a view to developing the learner’s understanding of their position within society.

The above argument suggests, then, that there is more to language teaching than teaching language. Language cannot be taught in a vacuum; there needs to be content, and decisions need to be made about what that content should be. These decisions determine what learners are (and are not) able to talk about most proficiently in the language they are learning. What is more, if the same content is being used across the world through the use of globally published textbooks, or if ELT is required to comply with global outcomes and standards, the likelihood is that the world’s English-learning population will become highly proficient in using English in some contexts, and hugely deficient in using it in others. Littlejohn claimed that ‘one of the most worrying aspects of standardisation and centralisation is that by setting out what needs to be done, what should not be done is simultaneously dictated’ ( Littlejohn 2012 : 294). Given the narrow range of topics and issues that tend to be covered in most ELT curricula, it is fair to assume that the ELT profession is very effectively preparing people to talk about their favourite room or their last shopping trip, to write a short description of information presented in a chart, or successfully chair a business meeting. However, when it comes to critically engaging with issues that are having a damaging impact on people or the world, or exploring ways to transform society in ways that will address the problems we currently face, it seems that our profession is less effective. This is not to say that ELT textbooks fail completely to include some mention of social justice issues, or to allow scope for teachers to incorporate such discussions into their teaching if they wish to. However, such affordances are a far cry from making these big issues central to the learning process, and pushing them to the periphery of the curriculum—or erasing them altogether (how many trans people are represented in published ELT materials, for example?)—is, in itself, a political act. As Freire famously put it in his seminal book Pedagogy of the Oppressed : ‘washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral’ ( Freire 1996 : 122).

Over the years, concepts such as linguistic imperialism, native-speakerism, and, more recently, translanguaging have exposed some of the more problematic underpinnings of applied linguistics and led to the emergence of critical applied linguistics ( Pennycook 2021 ) as a kind of parallel discipline. Yet much of the teaching practice that goes on in ELT still seems inclined to take a very cautious approach towards anything that might challenge learners’ existing beliefs and attitudes. This makes ELT something of an outlier in the field of education. While the ELT profession has, by and large, sought to avoid ‘controversial’ issues in the classroom, ostensibly so as not to upset learners’ sensibilities, the world of teacher education beyond TESOL has a more sophisticated understanding of the non-neutral nature of education, and it is widely accepted that the adoption of some kind of ideological position is unavoidable. Schiro (2013) identifies four different ideological positions that can be taken in teacher education: a scholar academic position, which promotes the transmission of cultural knowledge via the institution’s academic disciplines; a learner-centred position, which supports learners developing according to their needs and interests; a social reconstruction position, which is concerned with developing an understanding of social issues, with a view to transforming society; and a social efficiency position, which focuses on creating competent individuals who can meet the social and economic needs of the society in which they live. It is accepted, though, that subjective partiality is a requirement in any educational approach. Any attempts to ‘remove’ ideology or ‘political interference’ from education and focus instead on evidence-based ‘facts’ (see, for example, Morris 2014 ) are merely attempts to impose one ideological position over others.

It is curious, then, that the myth of neutrality should be so prevalent in ELT. After all, it is well documented that education has been complicit in the Eurocentric colonization of thought, and the resulting epistemicide, or eradication of alternative thought systems, that has taken place in the Global South as a result of this colonization ( de Sousa Santos 2014 ). One might expect an area of education with such a global reach as ELT to take more interest in its own—potentially very damaging—ideological position in global society. In a context in which the impact of corporate globalization on societies and the climate is facing widespread criticism, such critical examination might lead to a more social-transformation-oriented approach in ELT, rather than an approach that has tended to facilitate, rather than challenge, the spread of neoliberal ideology ( Block et al . 2012 ).

With this in mind, it does seem that things are changing. As the precarious nature of humanity highlighted above in the introduction requires the legitimacy of the status quo to come under increasing scrutiny, many ELT professionals and academics have started to reject the fallacy of a politically neutral pedagogy. As dominant ideologies are exposed as having a damaging impact on the ELT profession and wider global society, there are increasing calls for the adoption of a position that seeks to effect positive social change, in line with Schiro’s (2013) social reconstruction position. It is in this climate, then, that this survey review is presented, covering five recently published books, all of which challenge the premise that language teaching is ‘simply’ a question of ‘teaching language’. Instead, these books all hold the view that ignoring key issues in global society is, to a large extent, a dereliction of duty. Like all educators, language teachers, materials developers, and curriculum planners have a responsibility to include within their content the development of capacities to gain a critical understanding of the world, with a view to transforming it for the better.

The first book in this review is Critical Thinking , by Gregory Hadley and Andrew Boon. Unlike the other books, this one focuses on a specific learning skill which, the authors argue, should be incorporated into ELT in all its forms. I then move on to provide reviews of two edited books: Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education , edited by Christian Ludwig and Theresa Summer, and Gender Diversity and Sexuality in English Language Education: New Transnational Voices , edited by Darío Luis Banegas and Navan Govender. Each of these books explores various ways in which ELT can incorporate issues that have hitherto been marginalized in most ELT contexts. This is followed by a review of Antisocial Language Teachi ng: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness by J. P. B. Gerald, a single-author monograph which uses the construct of whiteness as a lens through which to analyse the ELT profession. Finally, I review Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart’s Social Justice and the Language Classroom: Reflection, Action and Transformation , which explores language teaching from a social justice perspective. I conclude by drawing together some of the common themes in the five books and reflecting on the contribution that they make to the ELT profession.

Before I begin this review, it is perhaps important to make a clear distinction between critical thinking and critical theory. Critical theory is an ontological position that views reality as socially constructed by hegemonic forces designed to locate power in ways that privilege some groups over others. Critical thinking (CT), on the other hand, is a discipline that is concerned with analysing data, claims, arguments, etc., with a view to identifying their underlying premises and assumptions, and, therefore, the extent to which they can be believed. Although CT is often applied by critical theorists, CT does not necessarily support critical theory, and can even be applied to critique it. Although critical theory heavily informs the epistemological assumptions underpinning the other books in this review, Hadley and Boon’s Critical Thinking is less concerned with adopting a specific epistemological or ideological position in ELT. Rather, the focus is on giving students the skills to understand the logic—or lack of logic—underpinning the texts and other sources of language content that they are exposed to. This book is part of a series entitled ‘Research and Resources in Language Teaching’, which seeks to bridge the often-criticized gap between research and language teaching practice. Although the series and book titles do not specify this, it is very much a book for teachers of English, with references made to English language, ELT, and EAP at various points throughout. Compared to the other books in this review, it has a very practical focus. Its main aim is to provide ideas for encouraging critical thinking among learners within a language teaching context, following what it calls on the back cover a ‘dynamic framework’.

As with all the books in this series, this volume is organized in four parts. Part I, ‘From Research to Implications’, starts with an introduction that offers a definition of critical thinking followed by a section that answers some common questions about CT, allowing the authors to address common sceptical views that readers may have about the importance of including CT within the language curriculum. Three key issues in CT are then addressed: argumentation, logical fallacies, and the role of problem-solving in externalizing or actualizing CT. These sections provide an overview of the research underpinning the principles of CT, with diagrams and tables supporting examples of different types of argumentation and analysis. Part II, entitled ‘From Implications to Application’, then takes some of the concepts and frameworks for CT introduced in Part I, and provides no fewer than 93 practical activities that aim to introduce these various concepts to learners.

Part III, ‘From Application to Implementation’, is concerned with methodology, and how the activities introduced in the previous part can be integrated into the curriculum. Two possible approaches are presented: first, how to create a self-standing CT course for English language learners; and second, how to supplement an existing course with CT activities. It also offers suggestions for adapting the activities to suit specific contexts and incorporate critical thinking more broadly into the teaching and learning process. A final section in this part offers some ideas for teachers to develop their own CT materials. Part IV, entitled ‘From Implementation to Research’, presents research and practice as part of a cycle and encourages teachers to use their own teaching to contribute to literature on the role and use of CT in ELT. This part offers a robust, mixed-methods research approach that teachers can apply to their own contexts, and offers some ideas for how to share their research findings. This part highlights the non-measurable nature of CT, and how an oversimplified, quantitative approach to research can only provide a partial, incomplete understanding of the phenomenon. It is a useful reminder that research into critical thinking is far from straightforward.

Although this book differs from the others in terms of its content and practical application, it still fits within the remit of this review as it is grounded in the principle that English language teachers have a responsibility to teach beyond language—to develop skills in critical literacy and analysis so that students can deal more effectively with the vast body of information that is thrust at them on a daily basis. ‘Our world’, the authors tell us in the introduction, ‘is experiencing a crisis of the mind’ (p. 4). They go on to say that ‘whether online, on the street, at home, or in the marketplace, we encounter arguments and propositions intended to prey upon those with an undeveloped sense of critical thinking’ (p. 5). As you might expect, this claim is then backed up with a solid, evidence-based argument which illustrates not only the prevalence of false or misleading information that is out there; it also reveals how CT features a lot less in education than it used to. In short, CT is needed more than ever, but it is being taught less.

The book introduces and uses a large amount of terminology about argumentation and different ways of analysing the truthfulness of certain statements. This is simultaneously very useful and somewhat bewildering to those readers who are not familiar with it (I include myself as one of those readers). Terms such as logical fallacy, false dilemma, and circular reasoning are used throughout the book, and may take some getting used to. However, these terms are clearly explained, and examples demonstrate that they relate to common features of everyday discourse—features that most readers will already be familiar with. The use of this terminology to describe strategies for argumentation and analysis highlights that CT is very much an established discipline in and of itself. It is clearly very useful, and in some ways reassuring, to know that teachers can draw on and apply these concepts in their teaching. The theory and research-focused parts of the book are supported with useful diagrams and figures that clearly illustrate the concepts being introduced and explored.

However, this book goes well beyond providing a theoretical overview of CT. The sheer number and range of ready-made practical activities make it very useful for any teacher who wishes to incorporate critical thinking into their practice. A possible problem with this is that it makes the book very lopsided in its structure, which is likely to affect how it is used by readers. Parts I, III, and IV make up a combined total of just 68 pages; in fact, Part III, which is concerned with how to implement CT into the ELT curriculum, is only eight pages long. By contrast Part II, which contains all the practical activities, is 226 pages long. This means that there may be a tendency for teachers to treat the book as if it was just a collection of activities: they might skim through Part I, select practical activities from Part II as stand-alone materials to supplement their own teaching, and never get to Parts III and IV. But the fact is that the book is much more than a collection of supplementary activities, and Parts I, III and IV are arguably the most valuable as they allow teachers to get a deep understanding of the importance of CT and its application to ELT. These parts also encourage teachers to develop their own skills in contributing to a more CT-oriented approach to ELT, by offering a research framework and practical tips on sharing ideas and findings. It would be a shame if these features of the book were to be overlooked. Perhaps the more theoretical and research-oriented ideas could have been woven throughout the practical section. This might have helped readers to develop an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings within each activity, and could also have illustrated how teachers themselves can contribute to the cycle from research to practice and back to research again.

Having said that, it would be unfair to criticize the book for being too practical—its practical application is a key strength in many respects, and it also distinguishes this book from the others in this review. Whether they read it all or dip into certain parts, this book offers scope for teachers to develop their capacities to understand and apply CT themselves, to introduce ready-made activities into the classroom to develop the CT of their students, to incorporate CT more coherently into their curriculum, and to conduct research related to CT in their own practice. The argument that the authors provide in Part I for incorporating critical thinking into ELT is a compelling one, and it justifies the book’s contribution to the field.

As previously mentioned, a long-standing criticism of ELT has been its tendency to avoid topics and issues that could be regarded as controversial or offensive. This tendency is compounded by a global approach to methodology and materials design; many large publishing corporations produce textbooks and other materials that aim to appeal to as wide a market as possible, in as many areas of the world as possible. The result of this is a tendency for ELT materials not only to follow a similar format and teaching approach, but also to stick to a very narrow range of topics. Materials published for a global market tend to avoid any mention of what are commonly referred to as the PARSNIP topics: politics, alcohol, religion, sex, narcotics, isms, and pork ( Gray 2002 ). An obvious problem with this universal, one-size-fits-all approach is that topics and issues which are not taboo in many parts of the world (and in some cases central to everyday life) are often omitted because they could cause offence in other countries or regions. For example, while the mention of pork may offend the sensibilities of many learners in the Middle East, it is a key element of people’s diets in a large number of other countries. In China the pig is even regarded as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Another example, from my own experience teaching ESOL learners in the United Kingdom, is the topic of narcotics. There is widespread, often public use of drugs in many areas of the United Kingdom, including areas where my learners were living, and a lot of these learners were unaware of the legalities and implications of drug use, addiction, and dependency. The social impact of drugs therefore became an important topic in our syllabus, as it gave the learners necessary knowledge to understand what was happening in their own neighbourhoods, to make informed decisions themselves, and to advise and give appropriate guidance to their children.

Another key problem with this controversy-averse approach to materials design is that the avoidance of issues such as politics, religion, racism, or gender discrimination guarantees that any discussion of these social issues, which could motivate engaged discussion, lead to effective language development, and provide opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, is effectively removed from the curriculum. This erasure is even more problematic when examined through the lens of critical pedagogy, which seeks to create ‘an informed, critical citizenry capable of participating and governing in a democratic society’ ( Giroux 2011 : 7). In order to become informed in this way, it is necessary for classroom discussions to incorporate these issues, challenge existing beliefs, and explore alternatives. This requires a focus on developing critical literacies: connecting with the learners’ own experiences, applying critical consciousness within the context of those experiences, and responding with follow-up action.

The relevance of critical literacies to language teaching is, or should be, self-evident, as it creates scope to teach useful language at the same time as focusing on content that is necessarily relevant to learners’ lives, and the area of critical language pedagogy has emerged as a field in its own right ( Crookes 2021 ). This book applies the principles of critical language pedagogy to explore how taboos and controversial issues can—and should—be incorporated into language education.

The book starts with an introductory chapter from the editors, followed by twenty chapters from contributing authors, which are divided into three parts. The introduction provides an overview of critical language pedagogy, a key tenet being ‘that beliefs and practices in society, which are related to power and the domination of certain groups over others, should be questioned and challenged’ (p. 5). It then discusses the PARSNIP policy in ELT materials design, before proposing the concept of ‘taboo literacy’ (p. 11), offering a pedagogic framework that can guide teachers towards effective incorporation of taboo topics into their teaching.

Part I (Chapters 2–6) is entitled ‘Theoretical Considerations and Insights’. It starts with a chapter by John Gray on the political economy of taboos, which explores how the ‘erasure’ or proscription of some topics, particularly sexual orientation, race, and class, allows the unfettered promotion of a more easily marketable, neoliberal world-view. This is followed by a chapter by Daniel Becker which presents a case for making taboos visible in the English language classroom. David Gerlach and Mareen Lüke present ideas for bringing critical approaches into language teacher education, and Grit Alter and Stefanie Fuchs provide a chapter discussing what constitutes a taboo topic in the first place, and analysing some ethical and practical issues that emerge in regard to their use in the foreign language classroom. The final chapter, by Aline Williams, focuses on the importance of resilience as a prerequisite for the application of critical language pedagogy.

Part II, ‘Empirical Enquiries’, consists of three chapters that present research related to taboo topics in language education. A chapter by Theresa Summer and Jeanine Steinbock presents findings from a study of adolescent learners’ perceptions of taboo topics in the English language classroom in Germany. In this study, participants broadly agreed that it is necessary for educators not only to include such topics in the curriculum, but also to pay attention to what the learners themselves have to say about them. Then Theresa Summer and Christian Ludwig, the book’s editors, provide a chapter on a survey of pre-service teachers’ attitudes to taboos in language teacher education which reveals that, while student teachers support the inclusion of taboo topics in the ELT curriculum, they also identify numerous challenges in doing this. These findings imply a need for a more systematic approach in teacher education that addresses the challenge of incorporating taboo and social justice issues in ELT. With this in mind, the following chapter by Christine Gardemann presents a study related to developing a pedagogic alliance in the ELT classroom between teachers and learners—‘a reciprocal relationship of mutual trust’ (p. 93).

Part III, entitled ‘Specific Taboos and Practical Examples’, is the longest section of the book, with twelve chapters exploring different taboo topics and their application in the language classroom. The range of topics discussed in these chapters is broad, and includes some that may not immediately spring to mind as taboo. Chapters on the issues of disability (by Katrin Thomson), mental health (Christian Ludwig and Veronika Martinez), swearing and taboo language (Valentin Werner), racism (Silke Braselmann), and human trafficking (Christian Ludwig) provide useful insight into how these issues can be incorporated into the language classroom. Other chapters are concerned with topics that are, in a sense, so taboo that they are unlikely to even be named as taboo topics, such as Maria Eisenmann’s interesting discussion of critical animal pedagogy and the incorporation of animal rights as a taboo topic in foreign language education, and Roman Bartosch’s chapter on death and extinction. Other chapters focus on taboo topics more generally and their application in different contexts or using certain media, such as Anchala Amarasinghe and Susanne Borgwaldt’s chapter using feature films to develop taboo literacy in the Sri Lankan context, a chapter from Sandra Stadler-Heer on taboo topics for South African students of European literature, and Janina Reinhardt’s chapter on using television series to legitimize discussion of taboo topics. Part III ends with a chapter from Eva Seidl that is concerned with translator and interpreter training and the role of taboo topics in developing agency.

A final chapter by Tyson Seburn, entitled ‘International Perspectives on Taboos in Foreign Language Education’, provides a conclusion to the book, drawing key themes together and discussing the relevance of critical pedagogy in foreign language teaching. This chapter ends with a call for both global and local teacher education programmes to incorporate these practices in order for ‘those in our profession, including our learners, to tackle injustice and build connections through communicative critical pedagogy’ (p. 259).

A key strength of this book is its logical layout and the way the chapters are grouped and sequenced. The theoretical overview of critical language pedagogy that the editors provide in the introduction, followed by the presentation of a framework for developing taboo literacy, is a helpful starting point that makes the book accessible to teachers who may be interested in incorporating a wider range of topics and issues in their teaching, but are unfamiliar with the background to the teaching of critical literacies. An awareness of the theoretical underpinnings is developed further throughout Part I, meaning that readers arrive at the research chapters with a clear understanding of the background informing the studies. The chapters that make up Part III could be dipped into individually by readers who are interested in specific taboos or learning contexts, but reading them all highlights the broad range of topics that currently tend to be omitted from the language curriculum, as well as providing useful insights into how it is not only possible, but highly beneficial, to bring discussion of these issues into our teaching. The diverse issues and contexts covered in Part III are supported by practical examples that are clearly and explicitly grounded in the principles of critical language pedagogy, demonstrating its universal relevance and applicability.

The closing chapter enhances the cohesion of the book further, stressing the need for critical pedagogy to be incorporated into teacher education. This message is prevalent throughout the book and is an important one. For the contributors to this book, the effective use of taboos and controversial issues is not simply a question of replacing the usual bland topics with racier ones. It involves adopting different pedagogies, and applying a new mindset from that which tends to be prescribed in most language teaching contexts. Keep things light, don’t cause offence, keep the students happy—mantras like these are drummed into language teachers from their initial training onwards, leading to the belief that any methodology designed to explore social problems, challenge existing beliefs, or encourage community action seems like a dangerous act of subversion. As this book convincingly argues, however, critical language pedagogy not only develops learners’ critical understanding of social issues, but also enriches and develops capacities for language development in areas that are highly relevant to their needs and, sadly, neglected in many language learning contexts.

Issues related to gender and sexuality in ELT have been a source of debate for quite some time. ELT textbooks in particular have been criticized for presenting only stereotypical gender roles and failing to represent people whose lifestyles and relationships do not conform to hetero- and cis-normative values. The narrow representation of gender and relationships in ELT materials has been highlighted as extremely unhelpful—to say the least—in most contexts, for a number of reasons. For John Gray, LGBTQ+ invisibility ‘means that lesbian and gay [and other] students are either silenced or forced into challenging the ways in which they are positioned’ ( Gray 2015 : 187). The failure to confront and criticize sexist attitudes and patriarchal structures has a similar impact with regard to gender identity, reinforcing beliefs and behaviours that perpetuate gender inequality while at the same time delegitimizing any challenge to the heteronormative, patriarchal status quo. Also, for migrant learners of English who have moved from socially repressive countries to new environments where LGBTQ+ and women’s rights are enshrined in law, the need to incorporate discussion of these issues and their social acceptability in the classroom is self-evident, and their failure to do this makes many popular ELT textbooks inappropriate for this context ( Brown and Nanguy 2021 ).

The lack of inclusion of a wider range of sexualities and gender roles in most popular ELT materials also affects teaching methodology, legitimizing the unhelpful narrative that discussing lifestyles which challenge some students’ beliefs, or have the potential to cause offence, is a bad idea and must be avoided at all costs. These materials encourage teachers to play safe through the use of innocuous topics, pandering to normative values that may be dominant but are also damaging. A new book that explores the issues of gender diversity and sexuality in ELT, which aims to develop queer critical literacies in teachers, and which offers ideas for their incorporation into the English language classroom, is therefore very welcome.

Although the contents page presents an introduction followed by twelve separate chapters, the editors tell us in their introduction that the book chapters are organized into three parts: ‘Teaching for Gender and Sexuality Diversity’, ‘Navigating Gender and Sexuality Diversity’, and ‘Interrogating Resources for Gender and Sexuality Diversity’. The first part includes chapters that cover initial teacher education in South Africa and Scotland (by Grant Andrews and Navan Govender), post-secondary education (Antonella Romiti and Jessie Smith), ELT in primary education (David Valente), and the teaching of younger learners in the private sector (Germán Canale). The chapters on navigating gender and sexual diversity present studies as wide-ranging as Gulsah Kutuk’s exploration of the effects of stereotyping on male Turkish learners, Lian Cao’s study of online dating as a source of informal language learning in Canada, and Shin-ying Huang’s analysis of Taiwanese university students’ reflections on, and reactions to, representations of gender and sexuality that seek to shape their identities. The final part, which is concerned with materials and resources, contains two chapters on gender and sexuality in ELT textbooks. The first, by Suha Alansari, focuses on gender representation in global textbooks and their localized versions, and finds that both versions are primarily concerned with promoting ‘the neoliberal conception of the global citizen’ (p. 156). Chris Richards then presents findings from a study that included a quantitative multimodal analysis of gender and sexuality representations in course materials, followed by the qualitative analysis of data collected from interviews with teachers. This study corroborates findings from previous research in identifying stereotypical gender representations and exclusively heteronormative presentations of relationships and families, although it does identify a progression towards more positive representation of women and a desire among teachers to adapt or subvert the negative representations they encounter. This chapter is followed by a critical analysis of language teacher education in Germany by David Gerlach, and a study of gender diversity in an online ELT programme in Bangladesh by Sayeedur Rahman and Mohammad Hamidul Haque. Joanna Pawelczyk’s final chapter is entitled ‘New Transnational Voices on Gender Diversity in English Language Education: Moving Forward’. This chapter refers back to some of the studies presented in the previous chapters, stressing the promotion of dominant ideologies surrounding gender roles and sexuality in ELT materials, and the concurrent erasure of non-heteronormative values and lifestyles. This creates a ‘transnational struggle to recognize a diversity of gender and sexual identities in English language education systems’ (p. 212), reflecting the global nature of some studies, the role of intercultural communication, and the fact that English language education needs to be ‘a truly diverse and inclusive space for all students’ (p. 216).

A small but important criticism of the book relates to the contents page, which does not separate the chapters into the three parts identified by the editors in the introduction. Doing this would allow readers to easily identify the book’s structure, making it more accessible. Nevertheless, there is a lot to commend this book for, not least its diversity of content. The editors state very clearly in the introduction their intention to ensure the book offers perspectives that go beyond those that are normally found in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) countries. This is certainly achieved, with writers from a wide range of backgrounds and the inclusion of studies conducted in countries as diverse as Taiwan, Bangladesh, and Argentina. The diverse contexts add to the richness of the content, allowing the book to convey the complexity and variety of the issues and concepts it seeks to address. The inclusion of diverse contexts also demonstrates how different issues have different degrees of relevance in specific locations; this all helps to make the book a very interesting read. However, it also presents a challenge for the book as a whole to maintain a consistent message. Highlighting the range of issues to consider in different teaching contexts is, of course, a useful message in itself, especially when a key underpinning point of queer critical literacy is that gender diversity and sexualities are far more complicated than the traditional binary identities (male/female, gay/straight, married/single, etc.) that the heteronormative patriarchy has socially conditioned us all to accept. But it does mean that the ideas being conveyed in some chapters could be seen as not particularly relevant to the book’s overall message. For example, Gulsah Kutuk’s study into the impact of gender stereotyping on the listening performance of male Turkish university students relates to the perception that women are better at learning languages than men, and is concerned with exploring whether this leads to negative self-perceptions and diminished performance among male learners of English. Although there may be evidence for this, concerns that male learners are victims of gender stereotyping seems—to this reader at least—to be rather low priority compared to the extent to which stereotyping affects women and people with queer and/or trans identities in society. Similarly, although Suha Alansari’s study of global, regional, and localized (Saudi) ELT textbooks throws up some interesting findings—in particular the prevalence of neoliberal values in all three—readers in societies that broadly accept the principles of gender equality may wonder if it might be more useful to explore the lack of representation of sexualities in these materials.

Of course, by forcing readers to ask themselves questions such as these, the book is achieving its aim of encouraging the development of critical literacies. From my own (WEIRD) perspective, some of the issues explored in the book may seem somewhat out of step with the liberal and inclusive values that are widely accepted in my context. In the United Kingdom, for example, debates about gender equality tend to centre around how to remove barriers to achieving it, rather than whether or not it is a good idea. By developing my understanding of important gender and sexuality issues in other parts of the world, the book has helped me to identify different locations of struggle. This in turn encourages me to be less intolerant of other perspectives. Readers with similar backgrounds to mine are likely to benefit from the book in similar ways, while others will appreciate having the issues that are relevant to their contexts incorporated into this important discussion. This can lead to Pawelczyk’s call for action in the final chapter to go beyond creating discourses about normalizing diversity, and instead to start ‘talking about doing normalizing diversity in English language education … [which] … needs teachers and educators who are equipped with critical skills … to include and respect the (intersectional) identities of all students’ (p. 216). These critical skills and inclusive approaches have not traditionally been the focus of TESOL education courses, and this call for action is a refreshing change.

While the first three books in this review offer some analysis of why certain issues or skills are absent or poorly dealt with in ELT, they are mostly concerned with filling a gap in the discourse by offering ideas and examples for incorporating new content that benefits learners in ways that go beyond the development of linguistic and communicative competence. I now turn to a book that is primarily focused on exploring how a socially constructed phenomenon has had (and continues to have) a damaging impact on ELT. By the far the most polemic of the five books being reviewed, J. P. B. Gerald’s Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness explores the concept of whiteness and its role in shaping ELT as a field that supports discourses of white supremacy, while at the same time delegitimizing blackness. To do this, the author draws on critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, and disability critical race studies to offer a (re)presentation of ELT that many people within the profession’s establishment will be uncomfortable with, and some may be reluctant to accept.

As a concept, whiteness goes beyond the notion of belonging to a specific racial group. In the United States, in particular, it also includes various characteristics and behaviours that tend to be associated with being part of that racial group. Unlike the concept of ‘race’, which limits itself to categorizing people according to perceived physical and (ostensibly) inherited behavioural differences, whiteness focuses on specific characteristics and behaviours, commonly associated with dominant social groups, which are widely presented as neutral—the default or norm from which others deviate—meaning it can be a difficult concept for white people to grasp. Through the lens of whiteness, deviation from this ‘norm’ implies deficiency as well as difference. According to Olcoń, ‘Whiteness therefore implies a power structure, an ideology and a racial identity which confers dominance and privilege’ ( Olcoń 2023 : 4). The area of scholarship known as critical whiteness studies is primarily concerned with exploring the concept of whiteness and exposing its damaging social impact, both in history and in contemporary life. In defining the key concepts of Antisocial Language Teaching , the author equates whiteness and white supremacy, saying there is no functional difference between the two and that ‘whiteness was created to be supreme, as a protection from the oppression that others deserve because of the groups into which they have been placed’ (p. 6).

The main focus of the book is on pathologizing whiteness in ELT. Gerald does not just explore examples of whiteness and problematize their impact on the profession. He presents whiteness as an illness, a disorder that has had a chronically debilitating effect that ‘renders the industry callous, corrupt and cruel’ (back cover). To do this, Gerald uses the American Psychology Association (APA)’s seven criteria for diagnosing antisocial personality disorder to analyse the ideologies and institutions that shape the global ELT profession. According to the book these criteria are used as a rhetorical device, but in effect they form an analytical framework for identifying ‘symptoms’ of whiteness. The use of this framework allows Gerald to present ELT as imperialistic, elitist, racist, dishonest, irresponsible, immoral, and a number of other things besides.

There are three main parts to the book. Part 1 is entitled ‘Disorder’, with seven chapters that mostly provide a historical overview of the social construction of whiteness, its associations with capitalism, its contrast with the (also socially constructed) concept of blackness, and its role in the hegemony of white varieties of English as ‘standard’ and other varieties as ‘inferior’. Part 2 uses the APA’s seven criteria to ‘diagnose’ ELT as an antisocial practice. These criteria are:

Failure to conform to social norms concerning lawful behaviors, such as performing acts that are grounds for arrest.

Deceitfulness, repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for pleasure or personal profit.

Impulsivity or failure to plan.

Irritability and aggressiveness, often with physical fights or assaults.

Reckless disregard for the safety of others.

Consistent irresponsibility, failure to sustain consistent work behavior, or honor monetary obligations.

Lack of remorse, being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated or stolen from another person. (pp. 63–109, passim ).

In his analysis, Gerald draws on a mix of existing literature and anecdotal evidence to critically examine common practices in ELT such as the hiring of unqualified teachers based on their ‘nativeness’, the exploitation of teachers through discrimination and deprofessionalization, the ELT profession’s platitudinous response to the Black Lives Matter movement, its role in the spread of colonialism and linguistic imperialism, and the use of ‘standard’ English to pathologize all other varieties and their speakers. Part 3 is entitled ‘Treatment’, and contains just two chapters followed by a conclusion. The first of these chapters offers, as a specific example of how to ‘treat’ ELT, an account of a course that Gerald developed and delivered during the Covid-19 pandemic, entitled ‘Decoding and Decentering Whiteness’. This is followed by a chapter called ‘Prosocial Language Teaching’, which presents seven ideas for decentring whiteness in ELT.

Using the APA’s criteria for antisocial personality disorder to ‘diagnose’ ELT as suffering from a medical condition is, in my view, a very effective framework for presenting Gerald’s thesis. It allows Gerald to turn the tables on ELT, by presenting something that is usually regarded as healthy and innocuous as being, in fact, seriously unwell and very destructive. In ELT, native-speaker varieties of English are idealized, heterosexist lifestyles and cis-gendered identities are normalized, neoliberal ideology and myths of meritocracy are presented uncritically, and racist perceptions of teachers who ‘don’t look like native-speakers’ are pandered to by employers. In this antisocial reality, any alternative positions are seen as subversive and potentially damaging: the acceptance of ‘non-native’ models of English will lead to a loss of standards; the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues in materials will upset cis-gendered heterosexual learners; questioning the belief that hard work leads to success devalues individualism and entrepreneurialism; and recruiting teachers who do not conform to the idealized (i.e. white ‘native-speaker’) English teacher may lead to financial loss. The use of antisocial personality disorder traits to deconstruct the ELT exposes it as a particularly damaging profession–one that not only fails to address what is wrong with the world, but is actively complicit in causing harm. The idea behind this rhetorical device is good and it is, to a large extent, successful. However, the use of whiteness as the main focus of the book’s critique means that the author is less able to explore areas of ELT that do not easily fit into the APA’s seven criteria, or are less directly related to whiteness. Some of the chapters in Part 2 do not focus on aspects of ELT that you might expect. For example, it is not particularly clear why ‘standard’ varieties of English are the main focus of the chapter relating to reckless disregard for the safety of others. Certainly, negative perceptions of ‘non-standard’ or racialized varieties of English create discriminatory environments that could cause harm to users of those varieties, and I do not intend to belittle this issue. I do feel, though, that other practices, such as publishing companies’ delegitimization of gay people in order to increase market share, is surely a more obvious example of powerful forces in ELT having a reckless disregard for the safety of others. In addition to the symptoms that Gerald attributes to the damaging influence of whiteness in ELT, there are other symptoms that could perhaps be more effectively examined if other factors were more central to the discussion.

One thing that—for me, at least—is missing from this book is an explicit and critical examination of the role of capitalism in ELT. Gerald does make some historical references to capitalism, identifying its links with colonialism and the slave trade. But the role of capitalism in twenty-first-century ELT is connected to many of the problems that Gerald is referring to. A universal and UK/US-centric approach to methodology and materials content has spread globally through accredited, commercial TESOL qualification providers and publishing companies who seek to maximize efficiencies and profits by globalizing their products. The application of (white) ‘native-speaker’ models of English as ‘standard’ is promoted by commercial examining bodies that also aim to have a global reach, and is being exploited by ‘accent reduction training’ entrepreneurs who peddle the myth that it is possible to have a ‘neutral accent’. The motivation to employ white, ‘native-speaker’ teachers is driven by school owners feeling the need to pander to the beliefs and demands of their learners, however misguided and racist they may be. Much of what is wrong with ELT today can quite easily be linked to capitalism and the profit motive. The dismantling of the status quo that the author is calling for, therefore, is unlikely to happen if ELT continues to function within a capitalist paradigm.

Perhaps Gerald would argue that capitalism is itself a symptom of whiteness: a concept devised by white people and designed to control, dominate, and exploit the more vulnerable groups in society. However, the obvious links between whiteness and capitalism are not made as clear as they could be in the book. In fact, Part 3 (entitled ‘Treatment’) seems, if anything, to be largely pro-capitalist. The first chapter in this part presents a course that the author designed and delivered—commercially—online. In this chapter and, seemingly, without any irony, Gerald refers to his students as ‘clients’ (e.g. p. 117). In the following chapter, he proposes that we buy materials from ‘more anti-oppressive companies’ (p. 148), implying an acceptance that we must continue to rely on publishing companies for teaching resources:

The only reason that the publishers continue to create materials that reify these harmful ideas is because they think it’s the most profitable way to operate. Even though we are currently stuck existing within racial capitalism, we do still have the power to band together to affect the almighty market. (p. 148)

Of course, using one’s limited power as a customer to buy less-damaging materials in the hope that this will influence the market is not a bad idea, but only if one believes that consumers can control the market, which entails a belief in neoliberal ideology. It is rather surprising that such a recommendation should be made in a book that, according to one of the testimonials on the back cover, ‘makes a passionate case for demolishing the status quo in English language teaching’. The idea of decentring whiteness while embracing the principles of capitalism at the same time could be seen as rather naive. And in any case, even if market forces did lead to an eradication of ideology associated with white supremacy in ELT materials, other damaging factors associated with the commodification of language teaching would continue to prevail, and the status quo would remain far from demolished.

Having said all of this, there is still relatively little published literature that is concerned with the concept of whiteness in ELT, which makes this an important book in terms of its contribution to the wider discourse problematizing deeply embedded structures and ideologies. Part 2 provides a compelling argument that the ELT profession is seriously unwell, and in need of treatment. What is more, although he does not provide an explicit guide for designing a course that addresses whiteness in the way that Hadley and Boon do for a course in critical thinking, the author’s account of his own course, ‘Decentering and Decoding Whiteness’, provides a useful template that teacher educators can follow to bring anti-whiteness education into their own practice. The syllabus and overall approach are very informative, and could perhaps be adapted and used in a wider range of contexts. This chapter also includes sections depicting how some of the students (or ‘clients’) on this course coped with and reacted to the experience. These sections offer some interesting insights into the application of Freirean principles of critical pedagogy, including some uncomfortable and revelatory critical incidents as students gained a deeper critical understanding of their own positions in society. These accounts suggest that developing their own understanding of whiteness also developed the students' capacities for using antiracist language pedagogies in their own teaching.

Indeed, it may be that my criticism of the book—that it focuses too narrowly on whiteness in ELT and fails to address other, wider issues—exposes my own limited understanding of whiteness as a concept. Coming as I do from a relatively privileged, white British background, it is perhaps difficult for me to appreciate the all-pervasive nature of whiteness, particularly from a North American perspective. I understand white supremacy to be a discriminatory ideology that creates structures which oppress, marginalize, and disadvantage certain people. But the same could be said for heteronormativity, or patriarchy, or ableism, or linguicism. These ideologies can intersect, compounding the extent to which some people are oppressed, but I find it difficult to see how one single ideology, whiteness, is the cause of all the others.

For the final book in this review, I turn to a publication that is concerned with the broad and somewhat nebulous concept of social justice. The issue of social justice and whether it should be a goal in education has proved to be a surprisingly divisive issue. Some educators and policymakers regard the social justice movement as an attempt to indoctrinate learners through the promotion of dangerous ideologies, while others regard it as a means of giving learners the skills to challenge existing, dominant ideologies, which are themselves dangerous in their promotion of structural inequality and oppression. As mentioned elsewhere in this review, ELT has tended to shy away from the inclusion of social justice issues on the basis that they could be interpreted as controversial or create divisiveness in the classroom. Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart’s Social Justice and the Language Classroom: Reflection, Action and Transformation challenges this prevailing attitude by presenting an overview of language teaching for social justice—not simply as a list of topics to focus on now and again, but as an approach that informs all aspects of language education.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I is entitled ‘Language Teaching for Social Justice’, and the four chapters included here introduce key concepts that inform the entire book, particularly hegemony and intersectionality, which are covered in some detail in Chapter 1. Hegemony, the idea that oppressive structures are normalized to ensure that power is retained by those who hold it, is central to the understanding of social injustice as a structural phenomenon, rather than as something that can be attributed to individual behaviours. The main lens through which Ortaçtepe Hart uses to analyse and discuss social justice is intersectionality, a concept used to explore how different features of people’s identities—such as race, gender or disability—combine and influence the types of social injustice they may be affected by. Chapter 2 provides a discussion of social justice education, and introduces an approach to teaching called ‘transformative liberatory education’ (p. 27), which is based heavily on the work of Freire and education for ‘critical consciousness’ ( Freire 2013 ). This approach is all about developing an understanding of the societal structures that locate learners in certain positions in society, and to identify ways of challenging any injustices that they identify. Chapter 3 focuses in on social justice language education, identifying solid justifications for taking a social justice approach to language teaching. These justifications may resonate particularly strongly with readers who are involved in ELT, which has clear associations with colonialism, imperialism, and linguicism. Chapter 4 is concerned with curriculum, exploring the politically charged nature of decisions that affect all aspects of curriculum design and delivery, and justifying the need for social justice to inform all aspects of curriculum rather than being included as a single topic within a syllabus, or tagged on at the end of each lesson.

The three chapters in Part II each focus on critical themes and frameworks: neoliberalism, social class, and anticlassism; race, ethnicity, and antiracist language pedagogy; and social justice pedagogies for all gender and sexual identities. Each chapter starts with a critical analysis of each theme, and then moves on to present some alternative approaches and models. This is perhaps the ‘meatiest’ part of the book; it deconstructs the themes and exposes them as profoundly unjust, as well as deeply embedded. In Chapter 5 the author argues that the pervasive ideology of neoliberalism and the classless society has erased class from any discussion of social justice. Chapter 6 explores how race and ethnicity are socially constructed, and how racialized ideologies are embedded within the curriculum, while racism itself is often presented as a problem with some individuals, rather than in a structural sense. In Chapter 7, standard representations of sex and sexuality are revealed to be overwhelmingly patriarchal and heteronormative, and therefore repressive and unjust. Once exposed in this way, the author explores ways in which a social-justice-oriented approach to language education can orient learners towards different perspectives of these themes. Ortaçtepe Hart proposes an anti-neoliberal framework, and presents this with a view to dismantling classism. According to the author, antiracist pedagogies can be incorporated through practices that focus on the denormalization of whiteness and that seek to dismantle discriminatory systems and policies. By queering language education, a more inclusive curriculum can give legitimacy to families, relationships, and lifestyles that do not conform to the narrow, heteronormative images that languages learners tend to be exposed to.

Part III consists of a single, concluding chapter, which addresses the challenges we face as language educators when it comes to social justice education, before offering some useful ideas for reflection and practical application. It starts with an acknowledgement of the challenges that language educators are likely to face if they wish to take a social justice approach. These include challenges related to changing the attitudes of other stakeholders, accepting that social justice education requires difficult and sometimes painful discussions to take place in the classroom, and issues related to this such as tolerance, and the creation of ‘safe’ spaces. The author then offers some practical considerations on areas such as assessment for learning and the potential role of technology in social justice language education.

Before I go any further in my evaluation of this book, I should disclose that I am a colleague of the author, and also that I have already written an overwhelmingly positive review of this book for another journal. Sceptical readers may feel that my professional relationship with the author makes a positive review inevitable. However, as someone who cares deeply about ELT and its impact on the wider world, I can honestly say this book really speaks to me. The issue of social justice has, for too long, been neglected in most ELT contexts, and it is pleasing to see Ortaçtepe Hart calling for it to be placed at the centre of the language curriculum. It is the ‘all or nothing’ message that appeals to me the most: social justice is not something you can ‘touch on’ now and again. That would be performative social justice education, turning the whole concept into a commodity that can be incorporated into a neoliberal curriculum. No, social justice language education should drive everything: curriculum, materials, methods, assessment—everything.

Of course, this makes social justice language education seem like an impossible task. Most of us (and I include myself) work in contexts that are affected by profit-orientation, the need for efficiency, assessment criteria, policy, market forces, competition, employer expectations, and many other factors which run counter to the principles of a social justice approach. With this in mind, some people might criticize Ortaçtepe Hart’s book for not offering enough practical guidance on how to turn a ‘regular’ language curriculum into a social justice language curriculum. However, as I mentioned in my previous review, this is precisely the point. One of the key problems with the current model of ELT is that it assumes that a single, commodified approach can be applied by all teachers, to all learners, and in all contexts. For Ortaçtepe Hart, the social justice curriculum needs to be participatory, which means it has to be driven by the issues that are most relevant to the learners in each specific context. While Hadley and Boon provide a series of activities and clear guidelines that teachers can apply directly to incorporate critical thinking into ELT, and Gerald presents his own course as an example that can inspire teachers to find their own ways to counter the damaging impact of whiteness, Ortaçtepe Hart deliberately avoids providing readers with any kind of practical model for teachers to apply, or misapply, in whatever context they happen to be in. While this may seem to some like a frustrating omission, it ensures that the book adheres to the theories and pedagogies that it advocates, and forces readers to critically reflect on their own contexts and learners in adopting a social justice approach to language education.

Another key strength of the book is the use of intersectionality to explore the complexities of social (in)justice. It is the way in which different features of people’s individual identities combine to locate them in certain social positions and to affect their capacities for social mobility that creates social injustice in the first place. Although Gerald views the problems of ELT through the lens of whiteness, an intersectional lens allows Ortaçtepe Hart to incorporate not only race and ethnicity but also class, gender and sexual identity, sexuality, and a range of other issues into the discussion.

If I was to offer one criticism of the book, it would be that it could go into more depth to explore not only why social justice has been so neglected in ELT, but also why there continues to be such resistance to social justice language education in a world that is full of injustice, corruption, and exploitation. The concept of hegemony is used throughout the book to present ideas such as colour-blind pedagogies (which effectively deny the existence of racism), heteronormativity, and language ideologies. Nevertheless, it is the deeply embedded nature of these hegemonies, and the way they are controlled by those (usually profit-oriented) forces that benefit from them, that is, to my mind, the root of the problem. Having said that, the book already covers such a wide range of issues, and it could lose its balance and cohesion if it tried to squeeze in even more critical analysis.

All the books in this review follow the premise that ELT is about more than simply teaching and practising language items, systems, and skills, and therefore challenge the long-held belief that neutrality is both possible and preferable. Whereas Hadley and Boon’s Critical Thinking is primarily concerned with developing skills to assess the veracity of content, both inside and outside the classroom, the other books are more focused on the nature of the ELT curriculum itself. Proposing alternatives to existing models, however imperialistic, colonizing, or racist they may be, could simply give way to a different kind of colonization, particularly if they propose alternative ideologies that are popular in the Global North and seek to impose them on the rest of the world ( Selvi 2024 ). However, these publications all take steps to incorporate a global perspective, either by including chapters from diverse authors working in a wide range of contexts, or by including sections that stress the relevance of the issues to all contexts where critical thinking and critical consciousness can address inequities, injustices, and misinformation.

Of course, reading these books individually could give the impression that the problem with ELT is narrower than it actually is. Hadley and Boon tell us that there is a lack of focus on critical thinking. Reading Ludwig and Summer allows you to identify deficiencies in the range of topics being explored. Banegas and Govender’s book leads us to conclude that we need to do more to address issues of sexuality and gender identity. For Gerald, the problems in ELT are grounded in racism and the hegemony of whiteness. The reality, however, is that all of these problems exist, and they are all interconnected. Only Ortaçtepe Hart attempts to bring these issues together under the umbrella of social justice; this allows her to write about race, gender and sexuality, class, and how hegemonic forces have led to the construction of a pedagogical approach that is devoid of criticality and perpetuates inequity. Perhaps what our profession needs is more literature that aims to develop a clearer understanding of the bigger picture: the wide-ranging nature of hegemony and the fact that rather than exposing and challenging social injustice, ELT has been complicit in its global spread.

In addition to the main themes of each book, a recurring issue is the role of globalization and neoliberal capitalism in our profession. The dominant forces in ELT are motivated more by commercial success than by effective teaching practice. A reluctance to challenge the status quo, therefore, is understandable when the current system yields so much profit for the corporations who are responsible for designing the teacher education courses, creating the materials, and providing the assessments that measure our students’ success.

Nevertheless, the long-prevalent myth of neutrality in ELT, and the concomitant avoidance of critical engagement with real social and environmental problems, is losing credibility as the need for a more critically conscious approach becomes increasingly urgent. These books highlight something that is not discussed often enough in the global ELT profession: the fact that English language teachers are more than facilitators of procedure—we are educators. Of course, the primary purpose is to teach the language. We need to help our students to communicate ideas more effectively in English. But what ideas? And to what end? Are we happy to simply give people the language skills that allow them to play the system to their advantage, when the system itself is failing? These books all encourage us to reflect on our individual and collective responsibility as language educators, to develop our students’ capacities to problematize local and global issues, and to effect positive change in the world. Surely that is the purpose of education, and it is becoming abundantly clear that this is what the world needs more than it ever has before.

Steve Brown has worked in English language teaching since 1993. He started his career as a volunteer before spending several years in private language schools in Central Europe and South Africa. He returned to Scotland in 2001 and had a long career in the further education sector, before moving to higher education in 2018. Steve has held various management, leadership and teacher development positions, and is currently a lecturer in TESOL at the University of Glasgow. His research interests include materials analysis, curriculum design, ESOL policy, and ELT as emancipatory practice.

Email : [email protected]

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