Decolonising CEFR: Resistance by University English Language Teachers in Southeast Asia

Abstract

In Southeast Asia, English language education has been influenced by the import and integration of various curricula and frameworks originating from the west. In response to this, English language teachers at various educational levels have demonstrated how they have had to adapt these imported materials. To critical scholars, this may be viewed as a process of decolonisation. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to examine how university English language teachers responded to the integration of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) through an extent of resistance. To this end, three English language teachers from a Malaysian university and three others from a Thai university were interviewed. Specifically, they reflected on how they reconfigured the framework to be more contextually and locally meaningful. Through the examination of the participants’ reflections, it was found that their resistance was shaped by both their individual perspectives and practices, as well as the context. The former was marked by enacting agency and a reluctance to accept external forces, while the latter was illustrated through structural mismatch and a cultural misalignment. Findings of this study ultimately contribute to our understanding of how western educational frameworks and English language education were decolonised. This study also illustrates how the classroom is a pivotal space for the displacement of dominant forces in education.