Looking beyond the essentialization of culture through EL teachers' voices

Abstract

This research studies English language (EL) teachers’ narratives in regard to their cultural subjectivity (re)construction. From a socio-critical perspective, this study addresses the essentialization of culture in ELT as a discourse that exerts symbolic power over EL teachers’ cultural subjectivity (re)construction. Considering post-structuralism as my epistemological angle, this study presents resistance by making EL teachers’ voices visible, since their cultural subjectivity (re)construction is based on their lived experiences instead of static information about culture. In the same line, from the commonalities between the socio-critical perspective and post-structuralism, in this research I visualize language and culture through the relation among knowledge, power, and subjectivity. From these perspectives knowledge focuses on the interpretation of individuals’ self-reflection. Moreover, according to Greene (1992) from a post-structuralist view, knowledge is constructed from theory and genuine practices. By the same token, the more knowledge individuals get, the more empowered they are. Since they make sense of their own voices (Foucault, 1978) and decide either to resist or perpetuate the symbolic power that the discourse of the essentialization of culture exerts over them. From a socio-critical approach, I consider individuals are subjects of their thought being able to discuss their own world vision (Freire, 2010). EL teachers get knowledge and power from their self-reflection, as a consequence, they (re)construct their cultural subjectivities through the relation between social discourses and the positions they adopt.

Bearing this in mid, throughout this study, the EL teachers were encouraged to narrate their experiences and reflections with the focus on producing an introspective activity vis-à-vis making meaning of their stories regarding culture, considering their academic, personal, and professional profiles. Data interpretation revealed that EL teachers’ cultural subjectivities are (re)constructed through a transition they make from an imposed cultural idealization to their own discourses based on lived experiences. On the other hand, data showed that EL teachers develop their agency when experiencing a tension between their voices as cultural actors and silencing forces. This study intends to be a contribution to a vision of culture that breaks its essentialization in English language teaching (ELT) since it revendicates EL teachers as active culture builders.