Unaddressed Journeys: Saudi Western-trained Scholars’ (Re)engagement with Their Local English Language Teaching

Abstract

Western-trained scholars often come back to their countries of origin with a new set of knowledge, epistemologies, ideologies, language and classroom pedagogical practices. Upon their return and reentering academics at home, they often have to re-engage with the dominant local knowledge shaping English language policy, research, teaching and learning. This process needs more scholarly attention, particularly in language issues in comparative education. Through semi-structured interviews, this qualitative case study paper explores the ways in which two Western-trained Saudi professors re-engage with the English teaching and learning of their university in Saudi Arabia. It argues that the oscillation between (i) a strong desire for belonging to the global knowledge economy and becoming globally competitive, and (ii) a tension of preserving local knowledge and thoughts have led Western-trained Saudi professors to enter into multiple cross-roads, including self-negotiation, self-consciousness, and ambivalent positions throughout their classroom pedagogical practices. The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications and recommendation for further research.