The political and the ethical in language teaching

Byram, Michael

Abstract

Having known Claire Kramsch for many years I find it odd to refer to her as ‘Kramsch’, and since this is an invitation to write a ‘comment’ I would prefer to refer to ‘Claire’; but although this is a personal comment, perhaps that is too informal and so I will use ‘CK’. Academic writing conventions are not always comfortable.As a ‘comment’ and not a ‘review’, I have chosen to juxtapose CK’s account of ‘the political’ in language teaching with that of people with whom I have worked. I hope this is not interpreted as egocentrism. In the spirit of compara­tive education analysis, I am seeking to notice what would otherwise be taken for granted in either position.My first comment is that CK starts from an empirical problem and builds up a convincing argument of original and stimulating insights, an approach which I have always admired. Perhaps not surprising either, in view of her emphasis for many years on the importance of ‘symbolic competence’ as part of intercultural competence, CK ends in a position which demonstrates how symbolic competence is political. It is with this notion of ‘the political’ that I shall begin, and then move to ‘the ethical’.

Citation

Byram, M. (2022). The political and the ethical in language teaching. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 16(3), 394-402. https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.21088

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Aug 19, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 6, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice
• Print ISSN: 2040-3658
• Electronic ISSN: 2040-3666
• Publisher: Equinox Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 394-402
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.21088