Reclaiming the indigenous knowledge(s): English curriculum through ‘Decoloniality’ lens

ABSTRACT

When government announced removal of the Goodbye Mr. Chips from intermediate-level English textbooks in one of the provinces of Pakistan, the public and media response was overwhelming. Students in particular took a sigh of relief because many believed it was a boring story by a foreign author, depicting a foreign setting. Drawing on this development as a reference point, this article examines the perspectives of students and teachers about the teaching of English literature in part of Pakistan. The method used combines semi-structured interviews with a questionnaire survey. Using Coloniality and Decoloniality as conceptual frames, the paper discusses the significance of participants’ perspectives at theoretical, ideological and implementational levels. Findings suggest a paradigmatic shift from the Anglo-normativity. Participants call for an overhaul of the current English literature-dominated curriculum. Their alternative paradigm is more pluralist, which should: reclaim the indigenous/local knowledge, be firmly grounded in students’ sociocultural ecologies, and take into consideration students’ cognitive engagement and identity investment. We interpret their reflective agency as a significant epistemic break from the normative deterministic logic of the unassailable position of English, and their voices as robust intellectual tools. Symbolically, these voices seek to liberate academia from the yoke of coloniality.

KEYWORDS:

• Coloniality
• decoloniality
• local/indigenous knowledge
• cognitive engagement and identity investment
• socioculturally embedded curriculum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Syed Abdul Manan

Syed Abdul Manan holds PhD degree in Applied Linguistics. He presently serves as Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University Nur-Sultan (Astana) Kazakhstan. His areas of research are general sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, language and education, mother-tongue based bi/multilingual education, bi/multilingualism, linguistic human rights, language revitalization, linguistic landscape, and World Englishes. His research work (journal articles and book chapters co-authored) have been published in various prestigious Web of Sciences indexed journals such as Language and Education, Language Policy, World Englishes, Language Problems and Language Planning, International Journal of Multilingualism, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Asian Englishes, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Journal of Language identity and Education, Multilingua, Current Issues in Language Planning, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language Sciences, The Language Learning Journal, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, and Teaching in Higher Education.

Khadija Tul-Kubra

Khadija Tul-Kubra holds Master degree in Applied Linguistics. She works as a lecturer in the Department of English at BUITEMS, Quetta Pakistan. Her research published in following research journals: International Journal of Multilingualism and Language Sciences.