Becoming an English Teacher in Postcolonial Pakistan and Australian Classrooms: Negotiating Difference in Postcolonial Settings. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ali, Zahra
• Is Part Of: Changing English. Volume 28:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 45
• Page End: 57
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Autobiographical narratives -- postcolonialism -- dialogism -- identity -- pedagogy and practices; English literature -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; English language -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 410
• DOI: 10.1080/1358684X.2020.1815521
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1358-684X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: One of the consequences of globalisation in recent years has been the unprecedented spread of English as the world's lingua franca. This has particular resonance in postcolonial countries, such as Pakistan and Australia, whose histories have been strongly shaped by English colonisers in contrasting ways. Written from the perspective of someone who has taught English in Pakistan and Australia, this essay presents my own personal stories of learning as an English language student in Pakistan and Australia. As a student of English, I felt my own voice and identity were often suppressed in the service of a curriculum that valued compliance with external standards over meeting the needs of learners. I explore how my own stories of becoming have shaped my current practices and identity as an English educator in Australian and Pakistani classrooms.