This edited volume extends current voluntourism theorizing by critically examining the intersections among various forms of work-leisure travel and language learning/teaching. The book’s contributors investigate volunteer tourism and its cognates such as working holidaymaking, international internships, and gap year labor, as discursive fields in which powerful ideas about language(s), their speakers, and pedagogical practices are propagated worldwide. The various authors’ chapters shed light on the hegemony of global English, the social consequences of linguistic commodification and neoliberal rationalities, the ways in which speaker identity positions can alter the exchange value of languages, and how language competencies are tied to power in the labor market, among related topics. This volume will be of interest to readers in Applied Linguistics, Critical Sociolinguistics, Educational and Linguistic Anthropology, Tourism and Leisure Studies, Migration and Mobility Studies, and Language Teaching and Learning.

Language standardization is problematic because it imposes the dominant group’s linguistic variety as the only correct one and promotes the idea of unit thinking, i.e., seeing the world as consisting of bounded, internally homogeneous units. This volume examines intentional practices to subvert such processes of language standardization (what we call counter-standardization practices) in language education and other contexts. By suggesting alternative classroom pedagogies, language reclamation processes for indigenous populations, and discourses about (mis)pronunciation, this volume explores more liberatory approaches: the post-unit thinking of language.

“Incompetence” is not an objective state lacking competence nor a kind of deficiency that needs to be filled. Rather, it is a constructed state that is productive, working in tandem with its opposite, “competence.” Perception of incompetence/competence works as what Michel Foucault (1977) calls a technology of “normalization” that pushes individuals to aspire to follow a shared norm, while hierarchically differentiating individuals according to their proximity to the aspired norm. The notion of incompetence is thus “productive” in that it turns individuals into specific kinds of “subjects” (Foucault 1977). The Politics of “Incompetence”: Learning Language, Relations of Power, and Daily Resistance further investigates other productive processes around the perception of “incompetence” specifically through its intersections with various ideologies—“academic achievement,” teacher-student hierarchy, “native speaker” ideology, normative unit thinking, and privilege of vulnerability—as such intersections generate new knowledge, new reflection on one’s assumptions and privilege, new space for marginalized language, and more. This volume opens up a new area of study—productive cultural politics of “incompetence”—by focusing on language learning in diverse contexts: Japanese as a Foreign Language classrooms in US colleges, Italian language tourism in Italy, and indigenous Māori language revitalization at an Aotearoa/New Zealand school.

This volume takes a critical look at teaching and learning English across the globe. Its aim is to fill a gap in the literature created by the omission of the voices of those engaged in the everyday practice of teaching and learning English; those of students, teachers, and specialists. Three unique characteristics give this book broad appeal. They include - its inclusion of the perspectives and experiences of students and educators involved in the everyday practice of English language teaching and learning - its inclusion of the experiences of students and educators in both core and non-core English-speaking countries - its basis on original, qualitative studies conducted by scholars in different parts of the world including Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas Of particular interest to applied linguists, scholars from diverse fields such as English as a Foreign/Second Language, English as an International Language, anthropology and education, English education, sociolinguistics, and bilingual education will also find value in this book. Written in accessible language, it can be used in such courses as Applied Linguistics, Second Language Classroom Contexts, Bilingualism and Multilingualism, English Around the World, Research Methodologies in Second Language Acquisition, and Research in Second Language Pedagogical Contexts. In addition, by focusing on presenting research experiences that adopt several epistemological and theoretical approaches, the book provides teachers of research with a great tool to examine varied applications of qualitative methods, data collection, and analytic techniques. Thus it could also be used for courses in Field Research and Qualitative Methods. ENDORSEMENT: “As a scholar and educator who has consistently explored the social implications of the teaching and learning of English, I applaud this book’s concern with documenting the previously unheard voices of language learners and teachers around the world. The book is unique in the manner in which it focuses on the everyday experiences of marginalized English teachers and learners in various contexts around the globe. It also is unique in the manner in which it brings together researchers, teachers and learners to qualitatively investigate a great diversity of local language learning contexts. This book is a must read for anyone concerned with the current spread of English and its implications for individuals not typically foregrounded in language learning and teaching research.” — Dr. Sandra Lee McKay, Professor Emeritus, San Francisco State University, USA

"This book is a collection of essays that can easily be used for professional development purposes. It has multiple perspectives in term of author identities and positions within "elite" schools and blend of research and experience made accessible for practitioners"--

"This year, over ten million people will go abroad, eager to find the perfect blend of adventure and altruism. Volunteer travel can help you find your place in the world--and find out what you're made of. So why do so many international volunteer programs fail to make an impact? Why do some do more harm than good? Learning Service offers a powerful new approach that invites volunteers to learn from host communities before trying to 'help' them. It's also a thoughtful critique of the sinister side of volunteer travel; a guide for turning good intentions into effective results; and essential advice on how to make the most of your experience."--Amazon.com.

What draws people to study abroad or volunteer in far-off communities? Often the answer is romance – the romance of landscapes, people, languages, the very sense of border-crossing – and longing for liberation, attraction to the unknown, yearning to make a difference. This volume explores the complicated and often fraught desires to study and volunteer abroad. In doing so, the book sheds light on how affect is managed by educators and mobilized by students and volunteers themselves, and how these structures of feeling relate to broader social and economic forces.