Vijay A Ramjattan
Biographic Data
| ID | 365178 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vijay A Ramjattan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vijay A |
| FAMILY NAME | Ramjattan |
| SIGNATURE | RAMJATTAN V A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7571-9835 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Intelligibility and white aurality
The Oxford Handbook of Language and Prejudice
This Handbook explores various connections between language and prejudice. Rather than simply detailing how prejudice is directed at language and language users, which is known as linguistic prejudice, the Handbook extensively explores how language acts as a technology of prejudice and actively shapes prejudice itself. Working against the dominance of Global North knowledge production on matters of language and prejudice, this edited volume featu…
Oxford Handbook of Language and Prejudice
Accented Epidermal Thinking
This conceptual article introduces the notion of accented epidermal thinking, which refers to the ways in which the perception, voicing, and discussion of vocal accent all reinforce or accent the idea of race being a visual construct. The article explores how accented epidermal thinking manifests itself in three areas. First, such thinking operates in individual perceptions of accent, whereby the sound of an accent is “determined” upon viewing a …
Engineered accents
International teaching assistants (ITAs) are criticized for having ‘unintelligible’ accents for professional communication in Global North English-medium universities. Furthermore, this criticism takes a racist form as it is frequently directed at racially minoritized ITAs. This article complicates this narrative by considering how the disciplinary cultures in which ITAs work influence racist perceptions of and expectations about their accents. D…
The Accent Work of International Teaching Assistants
“Accent work” is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as “liabilities” for communication‐based tasks in English‐medium universities in the Global North, their accent work entails ensurin…
International students and their raciolinguistic sensemaking of aural employability in Canadian universities
International students in Canadian universities are deemed valuable immigrants for the Canadian nation as they are equipped with formal credentials easily recognizable for local employers. Despite having desired technical skills and knowledge, the English of these students is perceived as hindering their ability to voice this expertise. This then forces international students to think about how language can affect their employability during their…
Accenting racism in labour migration
This paper concerns how speech accent accents or reinforces racism in the context of labour migration to the English-speaking Global North. It specifically outlines three functions of accent in racial capitalist systems that require the labour of migrants and their acceptance of their “linguistic deficiencies.” First, accent functions as a labour control mechanism that pushes racially minoritised migrants into low-paying work. Second, as evidence…
The “Foreign TA Problem” as a Demand for Aesthetic Labor
Racializing the problem of and solution to foreign accent in business
Given the desire to attract skilled immigrants to English-speaking countries in the Global North, business environments in these nations may see the increased presence of workers who speak English with a foreign accent. While organizations may tout this linguistic diversity, there is a concern that a foreign accent interferes with successful business communication. This apparent issue can result in a lack of employment opportunities for foreign-a…
The transracial aesthetic labour of an international teaching assistant
Purpose This paper introduces the concept of transracial aesthetic labour to understand why and how an international teaching assistant (ITA) vocally changes meanings of his racial identity. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a narrative analysis to detail instances of transracial aesthetic labour. Findings For the ITA, this labour involved orally distancing from or aligning with particular Indian stereotypes for specific contexts. Resear…
The white native speaker and inequality regimes in the private English language school
Private English language schools market the language as a tool that helps one connect with others from different cultures. Despite their promotion of English aiding in intercultural communication, these institutions may believe that only the white native speaker is the ideal teacher of the language. This valuing of the white native speaker can consequently act as an organisational inequality regime that marginalises nonwhite teachers. Using quali…
Racist nativist microaggressions and the professional resistance of racialized English language teachers in Toronto
English language teaching upholds racist nativist notions that competent teachers are white native speakers of English born in majority-white countries. These notions manifest when international students, expecting to be taught by these speakers, are skeptical about having a racialized instructor, who may be seen as non-native to English and the nation where it is natively spoken. Rather than overt, this skepticism may appear in the form of micro…
Lacking the right aesthetic
Purpose – Expertise in English language teaching (ELT) is determined by being a white native speaker of English. Therefore, ELT is a type of aesthetic labour because workers are expected to look and sound a particular way. As nonwhite teachers cannot perform this labour, they may experience employment discrimination in the form of racial microaggressions, which are everyday racial slights. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what types of…
Racist nativist microaggressions and the professional resistance of racialized English language teachers in Toronto
English language teaching upholds racist nativist notions that competent teachers are white native speakers of English born in majority-white countries. These notions manifest when international students, expecting to be taught by these speakers, are skeptical about having a racialized instructor, who may be seen as non-native to English and the nation where it is natively spoken. Rather than overt, this skepticism may appear in the form of micro…
The white native speaker and inequality regimes in the private English language school
Private English language schools market the language as a tool that helps one connect with others from different cultures. Despite their promotion of English aiding in intercultural communication, these institutions may believe that only the white native speaker is the ideal teacher of the language. This valuing of the white native speaker can consequently act as an organisational inequality regime that marginalises nonwhite teachers. Using quali…
The Accent Work of International Teaching Assistants
“Accent work” is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as “liabilities” for communication‐based tasks in English‐medium universities in the Global North, their accent work entails ensurin…
Lacking the right aesthetic
Purpose – Expertise in English language teaching (ELT) is determined by being a white native speaker of English. Therefore, ELT is a type of aesthetic labour because workers are expected to look and sound a particular way. As nonwhite teachers cannot perform this labour, they may experience employment discrimination in the form of racial microaggressions, which are everyday racial slights. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what types of…
The transracial aesthetic labour of an international teaching assistant
Purpose This paper introduces the concept of transracial aesthetic labour to understand why and how an international teaching assistant (ITA) vocally changes meanings of his racial identity. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a narrative analysis to detail instances of transracial aesthetic labour. Findings For the ITA, this labour involved orally distancing from or aligning with particular Indian stereotypes for specific contexts. Resear…
Lacking the right aesthetic
Purpose – Expertise in English language teaching (ELT) is determined by being a white native speaker of English. Therefore, ELT is a type of aesthetic labour because workers are expected to look and sound a particular way. As nonwhite teachers cannot perform this labour, they may experience employment discrimination in the form of racial microaggressions, which are everyday racial slights. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what types of…
Racist nativist microaggressions and the professional resistance of racialized English language teachers in Toronto
English language teaching upholds racist nativist notions that competent teachers are white native speakers of English born in majority-white countries. These notions manifest when international students, expecting to be taught by these speakers, are skeptical about having a racialized instructor, who may be seen as non-native to English and the nation where it is natively spoken. Rather than overt, this skepticism may appear in the form of micro…
The white native speaker and inequality regimes in the private English language school
Private English language schools market the language as a tool that helps one connect with others from different cultures. Despite their promotion of English aiding in intercultural communication, these institutions may believe that only the white native speaker is the ideal teacher of the language. This valuing of the white native speaker can consequently act as an organisational inequality regime that marginalises nonwhite teachers. Using quali…
The transracial aesthetic labour of an international teaching assistant
Purpose This paper introduces the concept of transracial aesthetic labour to understand why and how an international teaching assistant (ITA) vocally changes meanings of his racial identity. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a narrative analysis to detail instances of transracial aesthetic labour. Findings For the ITA, this labour involved orally distancing from or aligning with particular Indian stereotypes for specific contexts. Resear…
Accenting racism in labour migration
This paper concerns how speech accent accents or reinforces racism in the context of labour migration to the English-speaking Global North. It specifically outlines three functions of accent in racial capitalist systems that require the labour of migrants and their acceptance of their “linguistic deficiencies.” First, accent functions as a labour control mechanism that pushes racially minoritised migrants into low-paying work. Second, as evidence…
The “Foreign TA Problem” as a Demand for Aesthetic Labor
Racializing the problem of and solution to foreign accent in business
Given the desire to attract skilled immigrants to English-speaking countries in the Global North, business environments in these nations may see the increased presence of workers who speak English with a foreign accent. While organizations may tout this linguistic diversity, there is a concern that a foreign accent interferes with successful business communication. This apparent issue can result in a lack of employment opportunities for foreign-a…
Engineered accents
International teaching assistants (ITAs) are criticized for having ‘unintelligible’ accents for professional communication in Global North English-medium universities. Furthermore, this criticism takes a racist form as it is frequently directed at racially minoritized ITAs. This article complicates this narrative by considering how the disciplinary cultures in which ITAs work influence racist perceptions of and expectations about their accents. D…
The Accent Work of International Teaching Assistants
“Accent work” is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as “liabilities” for communication‐based tasks in English‐medium universities in the Global North, their accent work entails ensurin…
International students and their raciolinguistic sensemaking of aural employability in Canadian universities
International students in Canadian universities are deemed valuable immigrants for the Canadian nation as they are equipped with formal credentials easily recognizable for local employers. Despite having desired technical skills and knowledge, the English of these students is perceived as hindering their ability to voice this expertise. This then forces international students to think about how language can affect their employability during their…
The Oxford Handbook of Language and Prejudice
This Handbook explores various connections between language and prejudice. Rather than simply detailing how prejudice is directed at language and language users, which is known as linguistic prejudice, the Handbook extensively explores how language acts as a technology of prejudice and actively shapes prejudice itself. Working against the dominance of Global North knowledge production on matters of language and prejudice, this edited volume featu…
Oxford Handbook of Language and Prejudice
Accented Epidermal Thinking
This conceptual article introduces the notion of accented epidermal thinking, which refers to the ways in which the perception, voicing, and discussion of vocal accent all reinforce or accent the idea of race being a visual construct. The article explores how accented epidermal thinking manifests itself in three areas. First, such thinking operates in individual perceptions of accent, whereby the sound of an accent is “determined” upon viewing a …
Intelligibility and white aurality
Sociology (10 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Linguistics (7 works) · Pedagogy (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Racism (6 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (5 works) · Narrative (4 works)