Antisocial Language Teaching

Writing in a forceful but engaging style that is just as often memoir as it is polemic, Gerald pulls no punches and joins a growing and increasingly assertive community of critical scholars who are challenging the very foundations on which the ‘teaching of standardized English’ is constructed. This makes for compelling, even if (for some of us) unsettling, reading. * Scott Thornbury, formerly at The New School, New York, USA *
Brimming with insights from research, practice, and personal experience, Gerald makes a passionate case for demolishing the status quo in English language teaching. In witty and refreshingly candid prose, he integrates critical perspectives on racism and disability justice to imagine a different system – one that is more prosocial, inclusive, and above all else, honest. * Neda Maghbouleh, University of Toronto, Canada *
Combining key insights from critical race theory and disability studies, JPB Gerald provides a stunning overview of how racial ideologies shape language teaching in ways that consistently privilege whiteness. Weaving personal narratives with astute theoretical insights, Gerald provides a guide for creating a more just system of language learning. * Victor Ray, University of Iowa, USA *

Using the APA’s criteria for antisocial personality disorder to ‘diagnose’ ELT as suffering from a medical condition is, in my view, a very effective framework for presenting Gerald’s thesis. It allows Gerald to turn the tables on ELT, by presenting something that is usually regarded as healthy and innocuous as being, in fact, seriously unwell and very destructive [...] there is still relatively little published literature that is concerned with the concept of whiteness in ELT, which makes this an important book in terms of its contribution to the wider discourse problematizing deeply embedded structures and ideologies [...] the author’s account of his own course, ‘Decentering and Decoding Whiteness’, provides a useful template that teacher educators can follow to bring anti-whiteness education into their own practice. The syllabus and overall approach are very informative, and could perhaps be adapted and used in a wider range of contexts.

* Steve Brown, University of Glasgow, UK, ELT Journal, 2024 *