Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Stereotypes in Teaching English

As a construct of social psychology, a stereotype is a simplified fixed belief about characteristics of a social group. Essentialism , a similar notion seen in cultural studies, is an assumption that unique features of a social group exclusively define its members. Institutional and everyday discourses shape stereotypes and essentialist ideas about the socially constructed categories of race, ethnicity, and culture, which are often conflated. These categories intersect with language and other differences, forming and imposing identities. Research suggests that learners accommodate, negotiate, or resist stereotypes, such as the model minority and reticent Asian students. Students also hold stereotypical and essentialist images of their peers, teachers, and target language speakers in general, reinforcing the superiority of Whiteness and native speakerness. It is necessary for teachers and students to become critically aware of stereotypes and essentialism and pursue a vision of antiracism and antilinguicism. Institutional practices should also follow this vision.