Exploring the ideologies of English on a Taiwan-based online tutoring platform

As English has attained unprecedented global status, studies have shown that language ideologies surrounding English learning and teaching can contribute to discrimination against non-native English speakers and non-standard varieties. While previous research has mainly examined the reproduction of such ideologies in physical classrooms, online English-learning platforms remain underexplored. This study addresses that gap by investigating ideologies of English in social-media promotional materials produced by a popular Taiwan-based online tutoring platform. A dataset of 116 short tutoring videos from the platform’s Instagram and YouTube accounts was analyzed using content analysis and critical discourse analysis. The findings identify four recurring ideological themes: (1) structuralist and discrete views of teaching, (2) American and British English as normative standards, (3) Taiwanese English as an inferior variety, and (4) native English speakers as insensitive interlocutors. The study highlights how digital ELT platforms may reproduce and intensify traditional Standard English ideologies in contemporary media environments.