Unaddressed Journeys: Saudi Western-trained Scholars’ (Re)engagement with Their Local English Language Teaching

Maryumah H. Alenazi

doi:10.34069/AI/2022.52.04.32

Maryumah H. Alenazi Northern Border University, College of Education and Arts, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5250-7693

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.52.04.32

Keywords: local knowledge, re-engagement, higher education, language, classroom pedagogies.

Abstract

Western-trained scholars often come back to their countries of origin with a new set of knowledge, epistemologies, ideologies, language and classroom pedagogical practices. Upon their return and reentering academics at home, they often have to re-engage with the dominant local knowledge shaping English language policy, research, teaching and learning. This process needs more scholarly attention, particularly in language issues in comparative education. Through semi-structured interviews, this qualitative case study paper explores the ways in which two Western-trained Saudi professors re-engage with the English teaching and learning of their university in Saudi Arabia. It argues that the oscillation between (i) a strong desire for belonging to the global knowledge economy and becoming globally competitive, and (ii) a tension of preserving local knowledge and thoughts have led Western-trained Saudi professors to enter into multiple cross-roads, including self-negotiation, self-consciousness, and ambivalent positions throughout their classroom pedagogical practices. The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications and recommendation for further research.

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Author Biography

Maryumah H. Alenazi, Northern Border University, College of Education and Arts, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Associate professor in English Language Teaching Northern Border University, College of Education and Arts, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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