Abstract:
Colonialism and imperialism play an indispensable role in shaping the
experiences of people from postcolonial nations like the Philippines. While the
Philippines is a major contributor in the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry,
Filipino ESL tutors still experience unpleasant working conditions due to their NNES
status, causing them to resort to various impression management strategies in their
organizations. Guided by Gardner and Martinko’s framework for impression management
in organizations, Bhabha’s postcolonial theory on mimicry, and Ray’s critical theory of
racialized organizations, my study aimed to critique the role of online NNES Filipino
ESL tutors’ impression management in preserving Western colonial and imperial power.
I used a critical phenomenological qualitative research design and conducted
semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 3 former ESL tutors. Findings revealed that
ESL companies were active communicators of native-speakerist and racist ideologies and
influenced tutors to mimic NES in their impression management strategies. Although this
mimicry negatively affected the tutors’ self-perception and sense of control, it ironically
also had the ambivalent effect of making them feel empowered and able to resist Western
colonial and imperial power. This research contributes to a critical understanding of the
dynamics within the ESL industry and calls for further interventions to address the
challenges faced by online NNES Filipino tutors.
