Embodied Whiteness and Pathologization in EFL

Abstract

This essay seeks to examine the ways in which pathologization and the centering of whiteness are intertwined in the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry writ large, with a particular focus on the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) subfield in Japan. The author connects the hierarchization inherent to whiteness with the ways that the English teaching field creates and perpetuates oppression, with guidance as to how readers can help combat these inextricable issues.