Failing Fortunes of Applied Linguistics: Towards Surviving Mastery

Abstract The discourse of mastery is prominent in applied linguistics. The idea of mastery, however, does not remain only on the discourse level: curricula and policies are meant to be implemented, and therefore mastery and all that is associated with it (near perfection, dominance over something, etc.) is also practiced. In this paper, I argue that we might survive mastery by recuperating other ways of being, thinking, and learning. By drawing on examples from the South African higher educational context, I show glimpses of other ways of doing and thinking about language. Drawing inspiration from decolonial theory, I extend the notion of linguistic citizenship by showing that, for applied linguists, vulnerability, relationality, and failure could be points of focus as productive as mastery.