37.473, Calls: Critical Inquiry in Language Studies - "Special Issue: Critical Inquiry into Trans-speakerism" (Jrnl)

Tue Feb 3 19:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-473. Tue Feb 03 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.473, Calls: Critical Inquiry in Language Studies - "Special Issue: Critical Inquiry into Trans-speakerism" (Jrnl)

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Date: 03-Feb-2026
From: Takaaki Hiratsuka and Luis Javier Pentón Herrera [takaakihiratsuka at gmail.com]
Subject: Critical Inquiry in Language Studies - "Special Issue: Critical Inquiry into Trans-speakerism" (Jrnl)

Journal: Critical Inquiry in Language Studies
Issue: Critical Inquiry into Trans-speakerism
Call Deadline: 01-Mar-2026

Guest Editors: Takaaki Hiratsuka and Luis Javier Pentón Herrera
Critical Inquiry in Language Studies (CILS) invites abstracts for a
special issue entitled “Critical Inquiry into Trans-Speakerism.”
Trans-speakerism is a stance in language education that replaces
‘native-speaker’ privilege with fair recognition of all
speakers/teachers. In practical terms, it means focusing on effective
communication and professional competence by referring to speakers,
including teachers, as individual professionals rather than
native/nono-native labels (Hiratsuka, 2024a).
In this sense, trans-speakerism acts as both an empowering ideological
stance and an evolving practice. As an ideology, it is committed to
advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion for all language speakers
irrespective of their linguistic origin. As a practice,
trans-speakerism enables individuals to use, learn, speak, sign, and
write with their full linguistic identity repertoires (Hiratsuka,
2024a). It constitutes a personalized and contextualized approach that
dynamically champions who language speakers are and what they do
currently, as well as who they can be and what they can do in the
future, by prioritizing their respective strengths, interests, and
uniqueness—as Global Speakers of Englishes (GSEs), Global Teachers of
Englishes (GTEs), and Global Englishes Researchers (GERs) (see Anand
et al., 2025; Hiratsuka, 2024a, 2024b, 2025a, 2025b).
Although this definition foregrounds speakerhood as a key site of
critique, trans-speakerism is not restricted to oral speech or
narrowly defined speaker identities. Rather, it puts forth a wider
framework for interrogating how legitimacy, authority, and
participation are distributed across communicative roles and
modalities, including writing, listening, interaction, assessment,
evaluation, and institutional recognition. Building on long-standing
critiques of native-speakerism and its experiential, pedagogical,
material, ideological, and institutional consequences in language
education (e.g., Calafato, 2019; Holliday, 2006; Jenks & Lee, 2019;
Kim & Cho, 2022; Ruecker, 2011; Selvi et al., 2023; Yazan et al.,
2023; Yuan, 2019), this special issue endeavors to advance critical,
empirically grounded, and theoretically generative engagements by
proposing trans-speakerism as both an analytical lens and a
justice-oriented praxis (see Canagarajah, 2023).
Recent scholarship has underlined the need to progress past binary and
hierarchical categorizations of language users by foregrounding
professional expertise, Global Englishes knowledge, intercultural
awareness, and situated practice (Baker, 2012; Coombe et al., 2020;
Galloway & Rose, 2015; Losey & Shuck, 2021). At the same time,
parallel developments in translanguaging, translingualism,
raciolinguistic inquiry, and disability studies have drawn attention
to the persistence of linguistic stratifications, symbolic violence,
ableist norms, and institutional exclusions across educational,
social, professional, and cultural domains (see García & Li, 2014;
Dovchin, 2022, 2024, 2025; Dovchin et al., 2023; Dovchin & Wang, 2024;
Kangas, 2014; Sah, 2020, 2022; Sah et al., 2026; Tarrayo et al., 2021;
Wang & Dovchin, 2023). Trans-speakerism aspires to promote these
affordance-oriented presumptions and contests these deficit-oriented
discourses by accentuating access, accommodation, and the legitimacy
of multifaceted linguistic identities. Furthermore, trans-speakerism
resonates strongly with Indigenous and decolonial perspectives that
counter colonial language orderings, epistemic erasure, and
monolingual or monocultural standards of authority and instead
highlight pluralism, reciprocity, and experiential knowledge (see
Albury, 2015; Kubota & Miller, 2017; Meighan, 2023; Pennycook, 2022;
Shin, 2011). Responding to these converging strands, this special
issue explores how trans-speakerism can inform theory, research,
practice, and policy across the heterogeneous landscape of language
education and language studies, including—but not limited to—teacher
education, professional development, leadership, curriculum design,
digital learning environments, and institutional transformation.
Prospective authors may elucidate various aspects of trans-speakerism
as both ideology and practice, including its implementation across
diverse sociopolitical and educational contexts. In line with the
journal’s critical and inclusive mission, we particularly encourage
submissions from scholars from the Global South and/or Indigenous
backgrounds, as well as scholars working within those contexts.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
 - Philosophical underpinnings of trans-speakerism
 - Institutional case studies
 - Professional development program design
 - GSE, GTE, and GER identity construction
 - Teaching approach implementation
 - Integration with linguistic justice theories, human rights,
raciolinguistics, and critical applied linguistics
Abstract submissions are limited to 250 words (excluding references)
and must clearly identify the type of manuscript (empirical article,
forum piece, or book review) as well as articulate the primary
emphasis and intellectual contribution of the proposed manuscript.
Contributors conducting empirical research should detail their
theoretical underpinnings and methodological framework, elaborating
how their work enriches the current understanding of trans-speakerism.
The timeline follows these dates:
 - Abstract submission deadline: March 1, 2026
 - Notification of acceptance: March 15, 2026
 - Manuscript submission to online system: July 15, 2026
 - Articles sent out for peer review: August 15, 2026
 - Peer review feedback returned to authors: October 15, 2026
 - Revised manuscripts due: December 15, 2026
 - Manuscripts due to CILS editors: January 15, 2027
 - Final submission for editorial review: March 15, 2027
Submit abstracts to takaakihiratsuka at gmail.com and
luis.penton at gmail.com. Include author name(s) and affiliation(s),
emails, a brief bio (75 words), and 3-5 keywords.
References:
Albury, N. J. (2015). Objectives at the crossroads: Critical theory
and self-determination in indigenous language revitalization. Critical
Inquiry in Language Studies, 12(4), 256–282.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2015.1096732
Anand, S., Siriwardana, L. S., & Pentón Herrera, L. J. (2025).
Textualizing our journeys: Dialogic explorations of trans-speakerism
as diversity, equity, and inclusion. In T. Hiratsuka (Ed.),
Trans-speakerism: A collection of empirical explorations (pp. 19–32).
Routledge.
Baker, W. (2012). From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness:
Culture in ELT. ELT Journal, 66(1), 62–70.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccr017
Calafato, R. (2019). The non-native speaker teacher as proficient
multilingual: A critical review of research from 2009-2018. Lingua,
227, 102700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2019.06.001
Canagarajah, S. (2023). Decolonization as pedagogy: A praxis of
‘becoming’ in ELT. ELT Journal, 77(3), 283–293.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccad017
Coombe, C., Anderson, N., & Stephenson, L. (Eds.). (2020).
Professionalizing your English language teach¬ing. Springer.
Dovchin, S. (2022). Translingual discrimination. Cambridge University
Press.
Dovchin, S. (2024). Beyond translingual playfulness: Translingual
precarity. Language in Society, 54(4), 609–636.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404524000708
Dovchin, S. (2025). Heritage language anxiety and racialized
linguistic shame. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2025.2593820
Dovchin, S., Gong, Q., Dobinson, T., & McAlinden, M. (Eds.). (2023).
Linguistic diversity and discrimination: Autoethnographies from women
in academia. Routledge.
Dovchin, S., & Wang, M. (2024). The resistance to translanguaging,
spontaneous translanguagers, and native speaker saviorism. Critical
Inquiry in Language Studies, 21(4), 429–446.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2024.2336469
Galloway, N., & Rose, H. (2015). Introducing Global Englishes.
Routledge.
García, O., & Li, W. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism
and education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hiratsuka, T. (2024a). Native-speakerism and trans-speakerism:
Entering a new era. Cambridge University Press.
Hiratsuka, T. (2024b). Native-speakerism and trans-speakerism in ELT:
Interpretations, manifestations, and ramifications. System, 128.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103543
Hiratsuka, T. (2025a). Native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) on
trans-speakerism in Japan. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2025.2579269
Hiratsuka, T. (Ed.). (2025b). Trans-speakerism: A collection of
empirical explorations. Routledge.
Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60(4), 385–387.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl030
Jenks, C. J., & Lee, J. W. (2019). Native speaker saviorism: A
racialized teaching ideology. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies,
17(3), 186–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2019.1664904
Kangas, S. E. N. (2014). When special education trumps ESL: An
investigation of service delivery for ELLs with disabilities. Critical
Inquiry in Language Studies, 11(4), 273–306.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2014.968070
Kim, H. K., & Cho, H. (2022). Transnational teacher educators’
critical reflection on multilingualism. Critical Inquiry in Language
Studies, 19(3), 264–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2022.2086551
Kubota, R., & Miller, E. R. (2017). Re-examining and re-envisioning
criticality in language studies: Theories and praxis. Critical Inquiry
in Language Studies, 14(2-3), 129–157.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2017.1290500
Losey, K. M., & Shuck, G. (Eds.). (2021). Plurilingual pedagogies for
multilingual writing classrooms: Engaging the rich communicative
repertoires of US students. Routledge.
Meighan, P. J. (2023). Colonialingualism: Colonial legacies, imperial
mindsets, and inequitable practices in English language education.
Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 17(2), 146–155.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2022.2082406
Pennycook, A. (2022). Critical applied linguistics in the 2020s.
Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 19(1), 1–21.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2022.2030232
Ruecker, T. (2011). Challenging the native and nonnative English
speaker hierarchy in ELT: New directions from race theory. Critical
Inquiry in Language Studies, 8(4), 400–422.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2011.615709
Sah, P. K. (2020). Reproduction of nationalist and neoliberal
ideologies in Nepal’s language and literacy policies. Asia Pacific
Journal of Education, 41(2), 238–252.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1751063
Sah, P. K. (2022). English as a medium of instruction, social
stratification, and symbolic violence in Nepali schools: Untold
stories of Madhesi children. In L. Adinolfi, U. Bhattacharya, & P.
Phyak (Eds.), Multilingual Education in South Asia: At the
intersection of policy and practice (pp. 50–68). Routledge.
Sah, P. K., Rakhshandehroo, M., & Oo, M. K. (2026). Feeling race in
English language teaching: Racialized emotions in Japanese higher
education. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2026.2616308
Selvi, A. F., Yazan, B., & Mahboob, A. (2023). Research on “native”
and “non-native” English-speaking teachers: Past developments, current
status, and future directions. Language Teaching, 57(1), 1–41.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444823000137
Shin, H. (2011). Rethinking TESOL from a SOL’s perspective: Indigenous
epistemology and decolonizing praxis in TESOL. Critical Inquiry in
Language Studies, 3(2-3), 147–167.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2006.9650844
Tarrayo, V., Ulla, M. B., & Lekwilai, P. (2021). Perceptions toward
Thai English: A study of university English language teachers in
Thailand. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18(4), 374–397.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2021.1919113
Wang, M., & Dovchin, S. (2023). “Why should I not speak my own
language (Chinese) in public in America?”: Linguistic racism, symbolic
violence, and resistance. TESOL Quarterly, 57(4), 1139–1166.
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3179
Yazan, B., Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Rashed, D. (2023). Transnational
TESOL practitioners’ identity tensions: A collaborative
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https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3130
Yuan, R. (2019). A critical review on nonnative English teacher
identity research: From 2008 to 2017. Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development, 40(6), 518–537.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1533018

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics

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