<i>Disrupting Colonial Normativities in ELT Classroom</i> : Insights From an Action Research in Pakistan

Abstract The decolonial turn in applied linguistics and English language teaching calls for dismantling the colonial legacies, such as monoglossic ideologies, native‐speakerism, and monolingualism, and instead foregrounds multilingualism, local knowledges, and linguistic diversity that value teachers' and learners' lived realities in the Global South. Although decoloniality as a discourse has garnered increasing scholarly attention, decoloniality as a practice has remained on the margins. There is scant evidence of teacher educators' engagement in decolonial pedagogy. The present study reports on action research that aimed at raising pre‐service teachers' critical language awareness (CLA) and self‐reflexivity to disrupt colonial legacies in a mainstream teacher education program in a university in Pakistan. The data was obtained from pre‐service teachers through language learning histories (LLHs) ( n = 22) and semi‐structured interviews ( n = 18) at the start and end of semester, respectively. LLHs were obtained from the participants in the first week of the course. Analysis of LLHs showed monoglossic perspectives with native‐speakerist predispositions among participants. These were used to plan an intervention that introduced participants to World Englishes, translanguaging, and post‐method principles, and engaged them in readings and practical and reflective tasks to raise their metalinguistic awareness and sensitize them to the context‐specific nature of English Pedagogy and use of indigenous resources to teach English. This intervention was followed by semi‐structured interviews at the end of the semester which revealed a heightened CLA: participants developed critical awareness of diverse Englishes and appreciation for their indigenous languages, enhanced self‐reflexivity: they developed yet a critical understanding of their role as English teachers, and of the complexities of teaching English in multilingual settings. Findings also revealed an enduring persistence of native‐speakerism. The study has implications for CLA, critical language teacher education and ELT in the postcolonial multilingual settings.