The Impact of Intersectionality in Teaching English Language and Literature: A Case Study of Michelle Obama’s “Becoming”

Teaching and learning English can be a very good setting for teaching and learning about social behaviorsand experiences. The main aim of this study was to identify the concepts of intersectionality as one of thesocial experiences, in one of the famous autobiographies (Becoming). The autobiography Becoming iswritten by Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States. In this book, she portrayed her lifeexperiences with her considerations of the prominent moments. To this end, this study discussed the mainissues linked to intersectionality, and then the parts of Becoming in which the author pointed to theexperience of intersectionality have been considered and analyzed by the theory of Intersectionality. Thecontribution of the present study can be linked to the studies on teaching English language and literaturewith the intersectionality embedded curriculum. In other words, teaching English language and literaturecan be guided into more social venues and considerations through which learners can be aware of thepossible social influences and experiences caused by individuals’ and contexts’ structures.

Keywords:

Autobiography , Becoming , English language and literature teaching , Intersectionality