Abstract This response engages with Khodi's commentary on relational safety in TESOL classrooms. We clarify that our study does not propose replicating therapeutic communities, but highlights how language, emotion, identity, and context become intertwined in relationally safe environments. We argue that a later‐learned language can function as an embodied linguistic space, enabling the renegotiation of self with some distance from trauma. We also point to ongoing teacher development workshops exploring how these insights can inform pedagogical practice.
Cook et al. (Mon,) studied this question.