Positionality & Privilege
Before starting this research project, I have to admit I was slightly unaware of my privilege in regard to English as my first language: a form of cultural capital highly valued throughout the world. Both of my parents are native speakers, so I grew up learning and speaking the language without fully processing what was happening. As I’ve written about before, I studied the Spanish language for years and struggled enough with that; I know that English is one of the hardest languages to learn because of all its nuances. I have taken my English language skills for granted, which I am now able to realize is problematic.
https://makeameme.org/meme/english-english-everywhere
Our current political climate and the increasing usage of the terms “nationalism” and “nationalist” along with my increased knowledge through Colby’s education department about Westernized ideologies shed light on the international implications of the United States’ culture, and all that goes along with that culture. Reading through our data I began to understand what a profound impact the English language and the Western world has on TES in Taiwan, specifically the United States’ influence. As an international “American” school, parents pay tuition for their children to be immersed in the English language in their schooling experience with an end goal of sending these elite students to Westernized countries, especially the United States. Students, parents, and teachers alike describe the idea of becoming globalized through this process – with one student defining what it means to be a global citizen as “Americanized.” The frequent repetition of American ideals makes me uncomfortable, as I grapple with this idea of students separating themselves from their native culture in order to join one that is viewed as superior and providing more opportunities for success. As I am American, I am part of a culture deemed successful, and I am now forced to question the benefits and complications that come along with it.
I have begun to wonder about Bourdieu’s idea of “outsiders within” in relation to this research – as these Taiwanese students begin to abandon their own culture to align themselves with the standards and expectations of Western culture, how do they hold onto their senses of self as they lose pieces of their identities? As they become “global” and begin to travel internationally to Westernized countries, do they feel like outsiders within a culture they have tried to become a part of? While I agree with beneficial qualities of being bilingual, I struggle to understand why English is becoming seemingly necessary to succeed in our modern world.
