“There’s no separation of Church and state”, a metaphorical analysis of Muslim native speaker teachers’ representations of English language teaching and Islam in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

ABSTRACT There has been an increased interest among researchers concerning the relationship between faith and English language teaching (ELT) in the context of the global spread of English; however, to this date, very few studies have focused on ELT and Islam. Considering the wider sociopolitical, ideological or religious issues connected to the global spread of English, this study draws on the experiences of five Muslim native English-speaking teachers (MNESTs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by qualitatively investigating their representations of Islam and ELT. Based on a non-realist analysis of metaphors, the study explores the participants’ worldviews and positionalities as MNESTs in the KSA, thereby exploring how Islam impacts their professional practice. The study concludes that ELT is inextricably intertwined with broader issues such as religion, and argues that these links need to be explicitly addressed in the field.