Narratives of English, work and desire in tourism workers in the Himalayas

Research in English language teaching has shown increasing interests in the role of desire in learning and teaching of English to the speakers of other languages. Findings show that language learners’ motivation is mediated... [ view full abstract ]

Research in English language teaching has shown increasing interests in the role of desire in learning and teaching of English to the speakers of other languages. Findings show that language learners’ motivation is mediated by factors that may not primarily be transactional, but imagined and aspirational (Appleby, 2013; Motha & Lin, 2013; Takahashi, 2013). However, these studies have mostly focused on the heterosexual desires of non-Western females toward the West and Western men. The reverse focus – i.e. how non-Western men’s language learning desires are linked to the West— has received little scholarly attention

In this presentation, I discuss English language learning desires of tourism workers in the Himalayas in Nepal. The data come from tourist-guide interactions and interviews with tour guides. Findings from the intercultural encounters show that tourism workers use their claims of interpersonal relationship with foreign female tourists as resources to build and boast their masculine identity among their peers. Interviews with these workers also confirm their aspirations: English indexes both an instrument to communicate with tourists as well a resource to imagine, establish and sustain interpersonal and heterosexual romantic relationships with them. Such relationships are ultimately linked to the participants’ aspirations for better life chances to benefit financially from them, e.g. by receiving more tips, by having their children’s education sponsored, and by getting opportunities to travel to a foreign land. Overall, the presentation contributes to our understanding of the connection between language learning and desire in contexts of intercultural tourism contacts. These findings have implications for TESOL, emphasizing that teaching should not be limited only to its instrumental purpose, but should include social and small talk as a valuable resource for maintaining cross-cultural relationships.