Aiden Yeh

Across Asia, English language teaching has long been shaped by the ideology of native speakerism, which privileges particular linguistic, racial, and national identities in the recruitment and recognition of English teachers. While recent policy shifts across the region emphasize diversity and internationalization, persistent assumptions about who is considered a legitimate English teacher continue to shape hiring practices and professional hierarchies. Taiwan offers a revealing case through which these dynamics can be examined.

This presentation explores the evolving teacher ecology of English education in Taiwan, focusing on how race, teacher mobility, and recruitment structures intersect to shape the composition and experiences of the foreign English teaching workforce. Drawing on a case study approach that combines migration narratives and institutional discourse analysis, the presentation highlights how teachers from different linguistic and national backgrounds occupy uneven positions in terms of professional recognition, employment pathways, and perceived legitimacy. Particular attention is given to the experiences of Black English teachers and Filipino educators recruited through initiatives such as the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program. Although both groups contribute significantly to Taiwan’s English education landscape, their roles often reflect broader racialized and structural hierarchies embedded within global English teaching markets.

Using Taiwan as a case study, this presentation illustrates how teacher recruitment policies, mobility patterns, and language ideologies collectively shape the contemporary ecology of English teaching in the region. The discussion contributes to ongoing debates about diversity, equity, and the future of English language education in Asian contexts.