A critical world Englishes Pedagogy: Investing in learner and Hong Kong English user identities

This article examines the impact of a critical pedagogy informed by the World Englishes and investment frameworks on one second language (L2) learner in Hong Kong who claims to use ‘Hong Kong English’ (HKE). Taking a critical and pro-active stance, we seek to counter insidious (neo)colonial ideologies and practices through our pedagogical investigation in an undergraduate course. Multimodal output during the intervention were jointly analyzed to gauge the impact of the pedagogy on one learner’s investment trajectory. The findings revealed that participant-learner developed the ability to invest in multiple intertwined identities as Hongkonger, legitimate HKE user and ESL learner. A transformation was observed in the participant, as she transitioned from a passive knowledge-keeper with exonormative orientations to becoming an invested, self-reflective learner who endorses and embodies endonormative norms in her local English. Overall, the study highlights tasks that create spaces for students to actively resist colonial representations of English. Copyright © 2023 HKERA-APERA.