Teacher’s Narration of Teaching Critical Literacy: It’s a KEY for Raising Students’ Awareness in Iran (original) (raw)
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Criticality in English Language Literacy Teaching in an Iranian English Language Institute
Journal of Studies in Education, 2014
This paper is a qualitative case study which aims at investigating how English language literacy teaching in an Iranian English language Institute can provide an opportunity to bring critical pedagogy into its practices. According to literacy scholars of critical pedagogic theories, research in this field is strong and ever-increasing globally; however, it is rather immature to the field of English language education in EFL contexts and needs a more in-depth analysis. Focusing on excerpts taken from literacy events in classroom interactions, and also interviews, this paper addresses the status quo of English language literacy teaching. Findings revealed that criticality in the classroom is a missed concept and classroom practices in the settings do not make learners critical persons. As a result, the learners are not provided with opportunities to read between the lines and express their voices to address the challenges in their future lives. This study also has some pedagogic recommendations on how the teacher can transform the addressed activity to lead the learners to come into the level of critical pedagogic practice in their classroom interactions.
Why does critical literacy hit a snag in the Iranian EFL setting?
This study sought to elucidate the challenges of critical literacy practice in the Iranian context. The objectives were twofold: (a) to find out which challenges teachers and students face in the practice of critical literacy and (b) to explore the state of critical literacy in language education. To this end, a sample of 12 English teachers and 120 students majoring in TEFL took part in the study. Data collection procedure was based on students’ reflective notes, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. The analysis of the interviews revealed that factors including a) lack of the teachers’ familiarity with the concept and tenets of critical literacy, b) students’ poor English proficiency, c) lack of attention to critical literacy in curriculum and d) political issues were the major challenges. Classroom observations and students’ reflective notes showed that teachers did not encourage students to become involved in ideologies imbedded in the texts.
Why does critical literacy hit a snag?
This study sought to elucidate the challenges of critical literacy practice in the Iranian context. The objectives were twofold: (a) to find out which challenges teachers and students face in the practice of critical literacy and (b) to explore the state of critical literacy in language education. To this end, a sample of 12 English teachers and 120 students majoring in TEFL took part in the study. Data collection procedure was based on students’ reflective notes, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. The analysis of the interviews revealed that factors including a) lack of the teachers’ familiarity with the concept and tenets of critical literacy, b) students’ poor English proficiency, c) lack of attention to critical literacy in curriculum and d) political issues were the major challenges. Classroom observations and students’ reflective notes showed that teachers did not encourage students to become involved in ideologies imbedded in the texts.
Critical Literacy & Critical Literacy Pedagogy: From Theory to Practice
Different approaches to critical literacy have led to educators and researchers on different pedagogies and practices. Critical literacy gives emphasis on understanding and acting upon issues and problems of global world as democratic values. Apart from this general aim of critical literacy, it also aims to active and participatory education through personal and social transformation embodied with real experiences of individuals in educational settings. It is also about becoming social activist and becoming aware of them in the world for reasons which are perhaps sometimes transformative in the sense of being political agent who can be an active citizen. On the contrary, the issue of formal, rule-bounded literacies, critical literacy emphasizes the meaning-making process via texts, media or multi-literacies and lead people to make connection between literacy from different perspectives and people’s lives. In this respect, critical literacy should be implemented in classroom settings to make students critically literate and hopefully take action toward global issues such as injustice, oppression and so on.
The Handbook of Critical Literacies, 2021
In this chapter, we present a brief overview of the sociopolitical and educational context of Iran, followed by a review of the critical scholarship in the field of teaching English as a foreign language. We briefly highlight the lack of a critical literacy approach in Farsi education where critical practice mainly manifests itself in a rather exclusive focus on critical thinking as a cognitive skill. We argue that a combination of Persian cultural tradition and Islamic perspectives can shape the foundations of an alternative local approach to criticality in EFL and Farsi education and enable us to problematize current, Western, conceptualizations of critical literacy. Such foundations, we contend, serve as a prerequisite for moving towards transnational critical literacy work.
Critical Literacy: Conflicts, Challenges, Adaptations and Transformation
This case study explored how the involvement of two ESL instructors in critical literacy research, including master's thesis, made them experience different challenges, ideological conflicts and successes. One of them was teaching ESL in secondary classes when she carried out her thesis about critical literacy. She also cooperated with the researcher in a critical literacy study after she had finished data collection for her thesis. The other participant taught ESL in elementary classes and is currently teaching at universities. The study, which took place in Lebanon, revealed how the varied ideological positions, views and contexts of the two instructors made them go through different transformations. The data suggests that involving teachers and masters' students in critical literacy research constitutes and important platform to train them in the various complex dimensions of critical literacy, particularly in settings where this approach faces significant resistance. Keywords critical literacy and professional development, critical literacy: challenges and transformations of novice and experienced teachers, ideological conflicts in ESL critical literacy classes
Critical Pedagogy for Foreign-Language Writing
L2 Journal, 2020
Despite the vast literature on critical pedagogy in general, a clear understanding of what critical pedagogy entails in foreign-language (FL) writing has not yet been articulated—perhaps due to the field’s pragmatic orientation. In this article, I propose four intertwined key elements of a critical pedagogy for FL writing: relationship, agency, identity,and power. I argue first, drawing on Freire’s theory of education and Bakhtinian philosophy, that the essence of applying critical pedagogy to FL writing lies in carving out a dialogical space in which FL learners can form new self-otherrelationshipsto disrupt their often-marginalized status. Second,inspired mainly by sociocultural approaches to language and literacy studies, I define agencyas individuals’ goal-oriented capacity to act, which lies at the core of the effective application of critical pedagogy in the FL context. Depending on power dynamics, agency may take negative (e.g., resistance) or positive (e.g., investment) forms. Third, identity, defined from the perspective of poststructuralist and narrative practices as individuals’ multiple andevolving relationships with the world, is implicated in each literacy activity; as such, practitioners of critical pedagogy in FL writing should design ways both to validate learners’ existing identities and to expand their identity options. Fourth, power, defined from theperspective of literacies as unbalanced yet pervasive social relations, shapes all human interactions and individuals’ capacity to act as agents. These key elements influence each other, and the contextualized configurations of these interrelated elements provide flexible pathways to critical pedagogy in FL writing. A case study within a creative writing course illustrates all four elements and the effectiveness of such critical pedagogy in FL writing education in developing learners’ agency. It is hoped that this study will encourage further discussion and localized explorations of critical pedagogy in FL writing education.
Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 2019
This paper describes the process English as a foreign language university students and their teacher underwent when engaging in critical literacy practices. Interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, students’ artifacts, and the teacher’s journal were used to collect data in this study. Findings suggest that when students engage in critical literacy practices, they are prone to reflect on the power they have as agents of social change, while developing language skills. However, teachers should be ready to encounter some resistance from students and to struggle with the incorporation of critical perspectives in their lessons, which is understandable considering the emphasis grammar mastering has traditionally had on language teaching and learning.