Native‐Speakerism and Race in TESOL: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Counter‐Story

In this article, three TESOL scholar‐practitioners engage in a collaborative autoethnography, analyzing our intersectional professional experiences with native‐speakerism and race. Our discussions center around native‐speakerism, linguistic racism, and critical race theory. A counter‐storytelling approach juxtaposes each of our encounters with native‐speakerism ideology as a “non‐native” English language teacher in Brazil, Asian‐American “native‐speaking” teacher in the United States, and European‐American “native‐speaking” teacher in Turkey. These counter‐stories highlight critical events that sparked a reckoning with native‐speakerism in our professional trajectories and teacher education practices. Our counter‐stories demonstrate how we became aware of racial and accent discrimination, recognized the connections between race and expertise, and resisted native‐speakerism and racial ideologies. We close with a call to action for readers to reflect upon their experiences with native‐speakerism and racism and map out recommendations for expanding inclusivity in our field.