The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico
This article highlights two relationships in regards to neoliberalism and second language. First, it examines the connection between English and neoliberalism. It focuses on the idea of English as a global language and the linguistic instrumentalism (Kubota, 2011; Wee, 2003) of English as a necessar...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2015-01-01
|
| Series: | L2 Journal |
| Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27t3v8st |
| _version_ | 1819048391281213440 |
|---|---|
| author | Funie Hsu |
| author_facet | Funie Hsu |
| author_sort | Funie Hsu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article highlights two relationships in regards to neoliberalism and second language. First, it examines the connection between English and neoliberalism. It focuses on the idea of English as a global language and the linguistic instrumentalism (Kubota, 2011; Wee, 2003) of English as a necessary tool for economic viability in the globalized market. Second, it explores this relationship by tracing English in the contemporary neoliberal context to the history of English as an element of overseas colonial rule. It employs Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano’s notion of coloniality of power (2000) to illustrate that the colonial context of neoliberal global English serves not merely as a historical legacy but as an enduring structure of oppressive power that continues to establish hierarchical difference through linguistic othering.
This article highlights the historical context of colonial English instruction to demonstrate how English imposition served as the foundation for the neoliberal privileging of English as a global language. Specifically, it presents the cases of American colonial English instruction in Puerto Rico and the Philippines as a developmental link to the current neoliberal status of global English. It illuminates how American colonial administrations established English instruction in a manner that mystified its imposed nature and the context of conquest. This article thus depicts both how English is bound with neoliberalism and how claims of global English’s neutrality belie the historic colonial inequalities, which created the conditions for its existence. It concludes with an examination of the coloniality of global English and the enduring colonial structures of hierarchical difference established through English. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T11:15:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3162ba920c3040ff9c72f7b5f9b402e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1945-0222 1945-0222 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T11:15:31Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | eScholarship Publishing, University of California |
| record_format | Article |
| series | L2 Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-3162ba920c3040ff9c72f7b5f9b402e42022-12-21T19:05:55ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaL2 Journal1945-02221945-02222015-01-0173123145The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto RicoFunie Hsu0UC DavisThis article highlights two relationships in regards to neoliberalism and second language. First, it examines the connection between English and neoliberalism. It focuses on the idea of English as a global language and the linguistic instrumentalism (Kubota, 2011; Wee, 2003) of English as a necessary tool for economic viability in the globalized market. Second, it explores this relationship by tracing English in the contemporary neoliberal context to the history of English as an element of overseas colonial rule. It employs Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano’s notion of coloniality of power (2000) to illustrate that the colonial context of neoliberal global English serves not merely as a historical legacy but as an enduring structure of oppressive power that continues to establish hierarchical difference through linguistic othering. This article highlights the historical context of colonial English instruction to demonstrate how English imposition served as the foundation for the neoliberal privileging of English as a global language. Specifically, it presents the cases of American colonial English instruction in Puerto Rico and the Philippines as a developmental link to the current neoliberal status of global English. It illuminates how American colonial administrations established English instruction in a manner that mystified its imposed nature and the context of conquest. This article thus depicts both how English is bound with neoliberalism and how claims of global English’s neutrality belie the historic colonial inequalities, which created the conditions for its existence. It concludes with an examination of the coloniality of global English and the enduring colonial structures of hierarchical difference established through English.https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27t3v8st |
| spellingShingle | Funie Hsu The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico L2 Journal |
| title | The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico |
| title_full | The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico |
| title_fullStr | The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico |
| title_short | The Coloniality of Neoliberal English: The Enduring Structures of American Colonial English Instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico |
| title_sort | coloniality of neoliberal english the enduring structures of american colonial english instruction in the philippines and puerto rico |
| url | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27t3v8st |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT funiehsu thecolonialityofneoliberalenglishtheenduringstructuresofamericancolonialenglishinstructioninthephilippinesandpuertorico AT funiehsu colonialityofneoliberalenglishtheenduringstructuresofamericancolonialenglishinstructioninthephilippinesandpuertorico |