LANGUAGE MARGINALIZATION IN THE INDONESIAN HIGHER-EDUCATION ENGLISH PEDAGOGY

Abstract

This study describes the subtle practice of language marginalization in the Indonesian higher-education English pedagogy. Employing an autoethnographic method to scrutinize my personal narratives concerning assumptions, biases, and internalized ideologies, I formulated two research questions to guide the inquiry: 1. How does language marginalization take form in the teacher-student interactions and teachers’ perception toward students in the context of Indonesian higher-education English pedagogy? 2. How do these practices of language marginalization lead to racism in the context of Indonesian higher-education English pedagogy? Through this study, I argue that language marginalization could occur in any English higher-education subject. Language marginalization often happened tacitly in classes where students had to showcase their English production, such as speaking and writing courses, when their English productions were complained and appropriated due to the internalized monolingual and raciolinguisic ideology. Yet, language marginalization could also ensue in any classes whether or not teachers demand students to demonstrate their English productive skills due to the teachers’ attitudes and assumptions, with or without the practice of language appropriation. Finally, I demonstrate how language marginalization leads to language racism under certain conditions in Indonesia’s higher-education settings.