Applied linguists have increasingly focused on how the lives of English language teachers and learners are shaped by race and its intersections with other marginalized identities (e.g. Von Esch et al, 2020). Curiously overlooked, however, are the experiences of one particularly stigmatized group in English-majority countries: Muslim women veiled in niqab or hijab. In a global climate wary of displays of Muslim identity, such women are particularly visible, misunderstood and disproportionately targeted. The present study explored ESL classroom-based experiences of Islamophobia in the stories of twelve Saudi women sojourning in New Zealand. Presented here are stories related to encounters with classmates that were perceived by the women to be hostile or discriminatory. Analysis included a focus on recurring features of interactional conduct, which were interpreted as expressions of underlying discourses and ideologies. Among other findings, the women reported condescending interrogations of their lives and Muslim identities, with appeals to discourses such as that of ‘imperiled Muslim women’. Also reported were incidents
of verbal aggression, whether bald or masked as ‘joking’. While arguing for tolerance, the authors urge the importance of recognizing, monitoring and addressing classroom-based Islamophobia.