Exploring lived experiences of Black female English teachers in South Korea: understanding travelling intersectionality and subjectivities

Abstract

ABSTRACT English language teaching has become a global phenomenon, involving racially and culturally diverse teachers travelling across national borders. While these transnational teachers bring diversity to host countries, the superiority of White native English speakers continues to be reinforced. This raciolinguistic ideology can uniquely shape the subjectivities of English language teachers of colour who sojourn abroad. Focusing on three African American female teachers of English who were participating in the English Program in Korea (EPIK) to teach in South Korean schools and posting YouTube videos to describe their experiences, this qualitative study examined the nature of their experiences and intersecting subjectivities regarding race, colour, language, gender, and nationality, as well as privilege and marginality as they are expressed online. The analysis focused on how intersectionality, a notion originally developed to describe Black women’s unique experiences in the United States, would be applied to this transnational context. A thematic analysis of a total of 12 videos revealed these EPIK teachers’ multifaceted and negotiated subjectivities as American teachers, victims of racial prejudice, and ambassadors with a mission to educate local people. These subjectivities signify the intersectionality of privilege and marginality, which are embedded in the local and global ideologies and power relations.