'In-between' Asia and Australia: On the politics of teaching English as the 'other'

'In-between' Asia and Australia: On the politics of teaching English as the 'other'

• Koh, Aaron Dept. of English, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Discourse, 33(2), 167-178, 2012

Routledge

2012

• G Curriculum, Teaching & Learning: Specific Disciplines
  • GB English Language
• P Social Context of Education
  • PB Comparative Education

Racism Comparative Analysis Hong Kong Student Teacher Relationship University English Racial Attitudes Personal Narratives Student Attitudes Cultural Interrelationships Teaching Experience Autobiographies Academic Staff English Teachers Australia Postsecondary Education University Students

• Australia
• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

This article mobilises story-telling to narrate the authors lived experience of teaching English as a minority academic in one Australian university. Positioning himself as living 'in- between' two cultures and as an 'Other', the author tells his story of how he has been 'racialised' and 'Othered' because he does not look White, and his spoken English is distinctly accented; hence, his legitimacy of teaching English is held suspect. The author's story contributes to the theorising of the sociology of the in-between with the argument that while living in-between culture can be a space of negativity, it can also be a space of empowerment if one exercises choice and agency by forging new spaces. The authors ends his story-telling with a happy ending by presenting a contrasting story of how his run-away from Australia to (a new space in) Hong Kong to teach English has reaffirmed his cultural capital as he morphed into a different 'Other'.
[Copyright of Discourse is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2012.666073]

• English

Journal Articles

• 01596306

• 10.1080/01596306.2012.666073

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/cf679b29

2014-01-18