Intersectionality in English Language Teaching Studies in Abya Yala (Latin America), 2015-2025

Abstract

This article presents studies on intersectionality in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Abya Yala (Latin America) published between 2015 and 2025. Drawing on studies from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Cuba, Ecuador and Venezuela, it maps how intersectional perspectives have been mobilized to examine teacher identity, classroom practices, gender and sexuality, coloniality and decolonial pedagogies, multiliteracies, social class, migration, and global citizenship. Across the region, intersectionality has been closely tied to decolonial thought and critical pedagogy, particularly in studies with Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, while narrative and qualitative methodologies dominate the field. The systematic review identifies major contributions of this perspective, including the expansion of intersectionality beyond its Black feminist origins to encompass local epistemologies and the lived realities of teachers and learners in multilingual, racialized, and socially classed contexts. At the same time, limitations emerge: the concentration of research in a few countries, the underrepresentation of Central America and the Caribbean, the scarcity of comparative cross-national studies, and the limited exploration of categories such as disability, age, or digital inequalities. This paper points out that intersectionality in Abya Yala ELT is both important and uneven, advancing decolonial understandings of identity and power while also facing challenges of methodological innovation and geographic scope. It concludes that Abya Yala should not only be seen as a context of application, but also as a site of theoretical production, offering critical insights that can reshape global debates on intersectionality in language education.