A presentation on why and how to decolonialize and transform ELT.

1. TAKING THE DECOLONIAL TURN:
RESISTING AND TRANSFORMING
COLONIALITY IN ELT.
LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
BA IN SPANISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
YAMITH JOSÉ FANDIÑO PARRA

2. 1. INTRODUCTION
Watch Aliyah Hasinah talk about
biased histories, dehumanizing
practices and perpetuated lies that we
still believe in today’s world.
Following her line of thinking, what
untrue stories do you think we believe
in ELT education? How do they still
live on? Why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=NooGomxp
CI8

3. 2. DECOLONIAL
THEORY OF LIFE
AND HISTORY
(NDLOVU-
GATSHENI, 2016)
Decolonial theory is ranged against various epistemological, ideological,
political and social projects and processes imposed on the modern world by
Euro-North American-centric modernity after 1492 (p. 38).
It is a theory of life that it is founded on the need to decolonize being, to
decolonize knowledge, and to decolonize power, which are imbricated in
denial of life to those who were pushed into the zone of non-being (p. 37).
o Being was colonized through racial profiling, classification, and
hierarchization of the human population. (p. 37).
o Knowledge was colonized through epistemicides and appropriations of
other knowledges while pretending that the only valid knowledge came
from Europe and North America (pp. 37-38).
o Power was colonized in various ways including usurpation if not theft of
world history and its rearticulation through the prism of Hellenocentrism,
Eurocentrism and Westernization (p. 38).

4. 2. DECOLONIAL
THEORY OF LIFE
AND HISTORY
(NDLOVU-GATSHENI,
2016)
Hellenocentrism Westernization Eurocentrism
It instantiates that: ‘All
start in Greece’. It is
an Athens-centric
conception of human
history (p. 38).
It is as a process of
imposing Euro-North
American-centric
values on other
people accompanied
by the displacement
of some values and
the expropriation of
others (p. 38).
It is the label for all the beliefs
that postulate past or present
superiority of Europeans over
non-Europeans.
It is propelled by a deliberate
forgetting ‘through disdain
ignorance of everything that
was achieved by other
practically, politically and
theoretically’ (p. 39).
1. Colonialism: A country’s domination of other countries or people
through aggressive actions.
2. Imperialism: A country’s political and/or economic control over other
countries or people.

5. 2. DECOLONIAL
THEORY OF LIFE
AND HISTORY
(NDLOVU-GATSHENI,
2016)
European
colonialism and
western
imperialism as a
world-system
- Domination and
control.
- Subordination and
punishment.
- Hegemony and
superiority.
- Hierarchy and
inequality.
- Centers and
peripheries.- First class and wealthy
countries vs. second class and
poor counties.
- Coercion and exploitation.
- Homogeneity and one-
dimensionality.
- Violence and
discrimination.
- Classism,
racism, sexism,
xenophobia, etc.

6. 2. DECOLONIAL
THEORY OF LIFE
AND HISTORY
(NDLOVU-GATSHENI,
2016)
Decolonial theory helps one
re-interpret history so one
can reveal and resist all
forms of fundamentalisms
and egocentrisms.

7. 2. DECOLONIAL
THEORY OF LIFE
AND HISTORY
(NDLOVU-GATSHENI,
2016)
Decolonial theory helps
one re-interpret history so
one can reveal and resist
all forms of
fundamentalisms and
egocentrisms.

8. 2. DECOLONIAL
THEORY OF LIFE
AND HISTORY
(NDLOVU-GATSHENI,
2016)
Decolonial theory helps
one re-interpret history so
one can reveal and resist
all forms of
fundamentalisms and
egocentrisms.

9. 3. INTERSECTION
Watch Ramón Grosfoguel talk about
colonialized forms of being and
knowing in our world.
Following his line of thinking, what
decolonial practices of being and
knowing can you think of exist in ELT?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XWNEzUCqL8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d6Mn8plgX
8

10. 4. THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF ELT
In 1888, Commissioner of Indian Affairs J. D. C. Atkins declared that English
instruction would provide a method to educate Indians out of their barbarous
ways: The first step to be taken toward civilization is to teach them the English
language.
To Hsu, his sentiment captures the complex relationship between colonialism,
English language teaching, and racialization.
“The colonial construction of Self and Other, of the ‘TE’ and ‘SOL’ of TESOL
remain in many domains of ELT” (Pennycook,1998, p. 22). Thus, the realities of
colonial conquest are still present in the field through continuing structures of
colonial othering.

11. 4. THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF ELT
According to Hsu, ELT still mobilizes long histories of global empire and capitalist
conquest. Publishing houses and European universities directly or indirectly spread
ideologies and epistemologies of the imperial West.
Contemporary ELT still lives an operational process of “linguistic and cultural
colonialism” (Kachru, 1976, p. 228), which delegitimizes third-world Englishes and
idealizes the native speaker over the non-native speaker.
Besides, Hsu contends that ELT tends to both establish a global narrative of English
language supremacy and hegemony through models and to naturalize the current
phenomena of globalization and neoliberalism.

12. 5. SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR LIBERATORY
PRACTICES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
Decolonialize our minds Decolonialize our methods and
curriculum
Decolonialize our professional
education
A reconceptualization of
language and power;
concretely, the effects of
empire and racialization
(white norms, racism,
consumerism, etc.).
A deconstruction of linguistic
and sociocultural ideologies
and hierarchies framed
supremacy and conquest.
A retheorizing of the way we
conceive identity formation:
“Us vs. them”, “the native
speaker vs the non-native
An awareness about oppressive relations
of power at the service of authoritarian
ideologies and the neoliberal global
economy.
A promotion of postmethod pedagogy,
which emphasizes attention to particular
contexts (particularity), integration of
theory and practice (practicality) and
empowerment of learners and teachers
(possibility).
A reconstruction of identities that
challenge language-learner and teacher
labels through work with issues such as
cultural diversity, translanguaging, World
An awareness of the historical realities
English as tied to colonial conquest, and
the related positionality within this
construct.
A rigorous understanding of power and
privilege as practiced through English
language instruction.
Thorough examinations of the
ideological foundations of TESOL and
the need for alternative perspectives.
Use of reflective teaching practices to
prepare teachers to contemplate and
incorporate alternatives and ruptures to

13. 5. SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR LIBERATORY
PRACTICES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
• The decolonial option
An epistemic turn that emphasizes thinking from the positions of marginality and transcends the
confines of colonial geographies and English constructs.
It is a transformational theorizing that shifts our ideological into critical intercultural dialogues and
local-to-local connections in order to open space and room for the local context and the
meaningful life experiences of students and teachers alike.
A curriculum and pedagogy of engagement: “an approach to TESOL that sees such issues as
gender, race, class, sexuality, and decolonialism as so fundamental to identity and language”
(Pennycook, 1999, p. 340). This approach challenges the hegemonic narrative by advocating for
multilingualism: a profound understanding of the local context and the many languages and
knowledge systems exchanged in a community.

14. 6. CRITICAL PEDAGOGIES IN COLOMBIAN ELT
• Clavijo-Olarte and Judy Sharkey (2019) advocate for knowledge and appreciation of students’ daily
realities. Instead of focusing on language as an object of study and ignoring the needs and realities
of learners, Colombian EFL teachers need to have as object of study communication in context for
their language learning curriculum.
• They state there is a disconnect between “la Vida en la Escuela” and “la Vida Cotidiana” in ELT
classrooms. In private schools, EFL teachers must follow textbooks from international publishing
houses. In public schools, EFL teachers are required to follow the curricular standards issued by the
National Ministry of Education, which focus primarily on skills development. EFL are compelled to
follow and do as told, not encouraged to innovate and create programs and lessons that reflect
their students’ interests and realities.
• They propose resorting to critical pedagogies to prevent ignoring the life experience, the history,
and the language practices of students and to promote social transformation and social justice.

15. 6. CRITICAL PEDAGOGIES IN COLOMBIAN ELT
Community-
based
pedagogies
(CBP)
Funds of
knowledge
Community
teacher
Asset mapping
Participatory
action
ELT
EDUCATION

16. 7. REFERENCES
Clavijo-Olarte, A., & Sharkey, J. (2019). Mapping our ways to critical pedagogies. Stories from Colombia. In M.
López-Gopar (ed.), International perspectives on critical pedagogies in ELT (pp. 175-193). Palgrave MacMillan.
Grosfoguel, R. (2018). Descolonizar el conocimiento, descolonizar el ser. Upla TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XWNEzUCqL8
Hasinah, A. (2019). Decoloniality: A home for us all (TedxYouth@Brum2019). TED talks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&reload=9&v=NooGomxpCI8
Hsu, F. (2017). Resisting the coloniality of English: A review of strategies. The CATESOL journal, 29(1), 111-132.
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. Routledge.
Pennycook, A. (1999). Introduction: Critical approaches to TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 33(3), 329-348.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. (2016). The Decolonial Mandela: Peace, Justice and the Politics of Life. Berghahn Books.