Vijay Ramjattan

Check out my latest article, which explores how vocal accent acts as another mechanism to reinforce the problematic idea that race is something that we see. It is open access, so there is no excuse not to read it: doi.org/10.1111/ijal.1…

teaching young children who live in poverty to show ‘grit’ is a classic, individualistic victim-blaming narrative which deflects attention away from structural injustices and pins responsibility on the most marginalised members of our society to undo their own oppression.

I had a great conversation with Sarah and Katherine of L&D Loves Languages, where we talked about a variety of topics ranging from race and accent to the labour of language teaching/learning. Listen/read here: loveslanguagespodcast.podbean.com/e/13-vijay-ram…

Tell your libraries to order this in or purchase it yourself if you have some budget to spare. What a great book by a great scholar #appliedlinguistics #accents #sociolinguistics

My book is now officially available to order! Workable Accents critically explores how international teaching assistants vocally fashion and contest aspects of their academic labour. Please ask your university or local library to order a copy: shorturl.at/MfGLQ

This is a reminder that intelligibility is not a trait, but rather an interactional accomplishment.

An accent is just as much a mechanism of racialization as skin colour.

Let's just say that white supremacy comes in all colours.

"Sounding white" can be a survival strategy for racially minoritized workers. It can also operate as an organizational requirement. Think of a transnational call centre worker, for instance.

According to university policies and curricula in the Global North, there is the problematic assumption that "international student" is synonymous with "nonnative speaker of English."

"Accentless English" is a marketing gimmick of accent reduction companies, not a linguistic reality.

Reporter: “Why do you think so many countries and governments around the world are just ignoring what’s happening in Gaza?” Greta Thunberg: “Because of racism.”

Signal boosting!

I will be facilitating a workshop on rethinking the teaching of listening in relation to anti-racist pronunciation pedagogies at the TESL Toronto 2025 Conference: bit.ly/TOSCON25program Hope to see some of you there!

If you want a sneak preview of my book, Workable Accents, please click this link to read a chunk of the introductory chapter: shorturl.at/MfGLQ Please remember to ask your university or local library to order a copy and share this post widely! Thanks in advance!

There is no such thing as an inherently "intelligible" or "unintelligible accent" because intelligibility is something that is *created* through interaction.

13 hours left to purchase from our bundle ! itch.io/b/2965/crips-f…

Vijay A. Ramjattan’s work delves into the complex realities of international teaching assistants, exploring how they shape their accents to navigate academic labor. More than just communication, a "workable" accent is a strategic adaptation both reinforcing and resisting norms.

Whether they are treated as commodities by universities or positioned as scapegoats for various socioeconomic issues, international students are always dehumanized.

"Standard English" is an ideology used to police other Englishes.