Arab TESOL Student’s Experiences of Racialization and
Othering in the United Kingdom looked at five male Muslim Saudi Arab learners
in a TESOL graduate programme at a University in the United Kingdom. The study
looks at racialization defined as “ways in which the idea of race might contribute to an
experience of Othering” for learners. Specifically, how the image of Arabs and
Muslims affect their experiences in the learning community.
The article states that TESOL classes reflect important institutional,
societal and global discourses. I think this is a very important statement. TESOL
practice is neither value-free nor apolitical. As TESOL teachers this is very
important for us to remember and address in our own classrooms. This can affect
our learners in a number of ways and can be very dangerous when students are
subjected to Othering, marginalizing or inferiority based on their cultural to
ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately race has a significant impact on social
organization and identity formation. People see race as a REAL thing and not a
social construction which excludes certain groups in our society.
The article also uses the term “Islamphobia”. This is designed
as an “irrational fear of Muslims and what Islam represents” this has been
around for years but since 9/11 has increased in academia, journalism and all
other forms of media. Many individuals are affected by the discrimination post
9/11 on account of their religious affiliation, physical appearance and
cultural norms and values. This article really made me reflect on my own
conceptions and realize how many of images reinforcing Islamophobia I have seen
in the media. During our last class we watched the documentary discussing the
popular, racist and hurtful image of Arabs in popular media specifically in films.
Aladdin is one of my favorite movies from my childhood. As many other twenty
year olds Disney movies in general were a "right of passage". I
remembered waiting at the door for my mom to return with the newest Disney movie
on VHS tape. Before she was even able to take off her coat my sister and I would have the movie out of her hand and into the tape player sitting only a
couple inches away from the flickering screen.
We were Disney zombies.
Even
today I still enjoy Disney films more than the average six year old. However, I
have recognized and even written papers on the many controversial topics in
these Disney films. It's surprising that I have researched, read
articles on and written essays on the many things wrong in these Disney films but
I have never seen anything that discusses the image of Arabs in Aladdin. As we watched the clip in class I could not
believe how I hadn’t seen it before and how hurtful this image is. These ideas are unheard of in other films
as well and very popular. These movies reflect an image of Arabs, a stereotype that it is rarely challenged.
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| "Irish Crossing" |
The article also included some very personal experience of
participants in their findings. One participant, Saif discussed how he is many
times questioned by others especially about the treatment of women and marriage.
I found his comment shocking and quite sad. For strangers to be questioning him
based off of stereotypes and their preconceived notions is ridiculous. I
tried to think of an example that would be applicable for my own heritage. I am
Irish. A popular image of the Irish that
I have seen through media is that an Irishman is a drunk man, many times getting
into arguments with other drunken Irish man. We even celebrate a holiday in the United States which
while it embraces the Irish heritage, is celebrated with heavy drinking in green clothes. While I have
never been to Ireland, I don't believe this one image accurately reflects the entire culture from my own experience with my family members that are
recent immigrants and better judgment. If
a stranger were to question me about my heritage and family members using only these stereotypes I'm sure I would be offended much like Saif as a
Becoming Black by Ibrahim was also a very interesting
article to read. This article, like the others, discussed the interrelation between
identity and learning. The article looked at a group of French-speaking immigrant
and refugee continental African students entering a school in Canada where they
were expected to fit in the social imaginary already in place. I found this
article very interesting and had not considered this situation before. The research study examined the high school for over six months.
I thought the student background info was presented in a really interesting
way. Students experienced a lot in regards to identity formation. I think this article encourages us to understand,
as teachers, student’s identities and help them. We should incorporate their own voices in our classrooms, not the
prescribed ones and allow them to challenge the status quo while including their
own personal identities in curriculum.
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