Local Culture As Epistemic Core: Decolonizing English Education Through Intercultural Bilingual Citizenship

Abstract

This article argues that local culture must be repositioned as the epistemic core of English language education in postcolonial and Global South contexts. Drawing on decolonial theory, intercultural philosophy, and critical applied linguistics, it examines how linguistic colonialism continues to shape English language textbooks, curricula, and pedagogical practices, frequently marginalizing local knowledge systems, cultural identities, and community-based epistemologies. Rather than conceiving culture as an illustrative or supplementary element, the article conceptualizes local culture as a legitimate source of knowledge, meaning, and pedagogical authority.

Building on the framework of the intercultural bilingual curriculum, the study advances the notion of intercultural bilingual citizenship as a transformative educational horizon that moves beyond instrumental language learning toward ethical agency, cultural recognition, and critical participation in plural societies. From this perspective, English education becomes a site for the negotiation of identity, power, and belonging rather than a neutral communicative enterprise.

The article also examines the flipped classroom as a pedagogical strategy with decolonial potential when grounded in local cultural narratives, lived experiences, and community knowledge. By reversing traditional hierarchies of content transmission, the flipped classroom enables learners to engage with English through culturally situated inquiry, fostering intercultural competence rooted in dialogue, reflexivity, and epistemic plurality.

Through a critical synthesis of prior research and theoretical contributions, this article advocates for a decolonial reconfiguration of English education—one that challenges linguistic domination, affirms local cultures as epistemic centers, and contributes to the formation of intercultural bilingual citizens capable of inhabiting global languages without renouncing their cultural roots.