Christian and Critical English Language Educators in Dialogue

Mary Shepard Wong is Associate Professor and Director of the graduate Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) Field-based Programs at Azusa Pacific University. She is past chair of the Christian Educators in TESOL Caucus (2004-2005). Suresh Canagarajah is Kirby Professor of Language Learning at Pennsylvania State University. He is the editor of the journal TESOL Quarterly.

• Table of Contents: Foreword Earl Stevick with Carolyn Kristjansson Preface Contributors’ Spiritual Identification Statements 1. Introduction Can We Talk? Finding a Platform for Dialogue among Values-based Professionals in Post-Positivist Education,Suresh Canagarajah Part I. Setting the Tone: Dialogue and Discourse 2. Nonjudgmental Steps on a Road to Understanding,Julian Edge 3. Is Dialogue Possible? Challenges to Evangelicals and NonEvangelicals in English Language Teaching,Bill Johnston 4. The Neutrality Myth vs. Religious Reductionism: The Mediation between Missionary Language Agencies and their Secular Critics,Michael Chamberlain 5. A Survey of Christian English Language Teachers in Countries that Monitor Religious Activity,Karen Asenavage Responses 6. Is Dialogue Possible? Anti-intellectualism, Relativism, Politics and Linguistic Ideologies,Alastair Pennycook 7. Dialogue and Discourse,Robert Phillipson 8. Questioning religious ideals and intentionalities: Staving off religious arrogance and bigotry in ELT,Vaidehi Ramanathan 9. TBA:, William Eggington Discussion Questions Part II. Ideological and Hegemonic Dilemmas Chapters 10. Deconstructing/Reconstructing the Missionary English Teacher Identity,Mary Shepard Wong 11. English and Education in Anglophone Africa: Historical and Current Realities,Sinfree Makoni Sibusisiwe Dube 12. Confronting the Empire: Language Teachers as Charitable Guests,Myrrl Byler 13. Christian English Teacher’s Presence: Reflecting Constantine or Christ,James Stabler-Havener Responses 14. A Former Missionary Kid Responds,Stephanie Vandrick 15. Caught between poststructuralist relativism and materialism or liberal and critical multiculturalism?,Manka Varghese 16.The English language and the Word of God,Zoltan Dornyei Discussion Questions Part III. Pedagogical Dilemmas Chapters 17. The Courage to Teach as a Non-native teacher: The Confession of a Christian Teacher,John Liang 18. English Teachers, Language Learning, and the Issue of Power,Don Snow 19. Christian Witness and Respect for Persons,Brad Baurain 20. Classroom Guidelines for Teachers with Convictions,Kitty Purgason Responses 21. The Pedagogical Dilemmas of Faith in ELT: A Spirited Response,Brian Morgan 22. Power and Change in ELT:Thoughts from a Fellow Traveler,Dana Ferris 23. Reconsidering Roadside Assistance: The problem with Christian approaches to teaching the English language,Terry Osborn Discussion Questions Part IV. Spiritual Dilemmas Chapters 24. Spiritual Dimensions in Language Teaching: A Personal Reflection,Ryuko Kubota 25. Spiritual Lessons from a Language Teacher,Chris Bradley 26. The Spiritual Ecology of Second Language Pedagogy,David I. Smith 27. Truth in Teaching English,Richard Robison Responses 28. Imperatives, Dilemmas, and Conundrums in Spiritual Dimensions of ELT: H. Douglas Brown 29. Additive Perspective on Religion or Growing Hearts with Wisdom--Ahmar Mahboob 30. A Question of Priorities,Andy Curtis 31. TBA –Mary Ann Christison Discussion Questions Conclusion

"Remember, never talk about politics or religion." This well-meaning advice to keep peace among those who are likely to disagree is thankfully ignored in this daring foray into a minefield of conflicting opinions. The book examines an emotionally explosive controversy in ELT: Should evangelical Christians use their teaching role as a way to evangelize? The book does not stop with the initial question but recasts the controversy to define a new area of scholarship regarding the impact of spiritual values on ELT teaching. Using articles written by evangelical ELT teachers and Critical practitioners, the book opens a valuable dialogue on both the importance of spiritual values in teaching and the danger of mixing religious beliefs with political goals. For evangelical ELT teachers, the book is an essential part of their professional training. It includes sympathetic writers who raise important issues as well as writers who are not sympathetic yet ask questions that can’t be ignored. For non-evangelical teachers, the book is equally important in the way that it focuses on the central role of the teachers’ faith and values in the classroom. The book raises more questions than it answers, but it is for this reason that it is so valuable. As a teacher trainer who has worked with many evangelical ELT teachers, I have sympathy for them, but little sympathy for some of the practices for which they are criticized in this book. I also respect the critics and their work, and appreciate their shining a light on unsavory practices, but some of their criticisms seem to reveal the self-righteousness they so rightly condemn in others. I suspect that there are many TESOL educators like me who are very interested in the religious issues raised in this volume. We take our faith seriously, we largely respect the faith traditions of others not like us, and we take seriously our vocation as teachers and the opportunity teaching gives to make an impact on the world. This book will offer a forum to confront these questions in our teacher training programs, where the role of our values (religious and otherwise) should be discussed openly.John Levis, Associate Professor, TESL/Applied Linguistics, Iowa State UniversityAt first blush, Christianity, Critical Pedagogy, and English Language Teaching seem to make unlikely bedfellows, but in this post-modern era where the relationship between religion and politics captures public attention, this anthology is a timely and welcome volume. The some thirty authors comprise a remarkable group of well-known language scholars, applied linguists, and experienced language teachers who argue for very different perspectives about the role of "Christians" in the teaching of English as a global language. Despite the incisive opinions that are expressed, I am impressed with the authors' appreciation of opposing viewpoints. In this age when talking at captures more attention than talking to, I applaud this collection of diverse and thought-provoking dialogues on what represents the heart of our teaching.Thomas Scovel, San Francisco State University