Why does critical literacy hit a snag in the Iranian EFL setting? (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?
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.
Multidisciplinary journal of educational research, 2020
To be literate, students need to able to think critically and read between the lines to find the implicit meanings and ideologies. To help Iranian English language learners learn writing as a social action and not independent of social (in)justices and (in)equalities, we included critical literacy in a writing course at the University of Kashan. We intend to illuminate teacher's narration about raising students' awareness towards (mal)practices, (in)justices, and (in)equalities of the society in their writings. To do so, all 52 undergraduate 3rd-year-EFL learners of English Literature and Translation participated in our writing class. The teacher was also an associate professor (50 years old) with critical literacy as his main area of research. Students were required to write essays as mid-term and final exams. The teacher's reflection on the course in general and on the EFL learners' reflective essays highlighted that teaching writing through critical literacy helped students realize that writing is a process dependent on different social and political issues. Students' growth in critical consciousness through their writing reminds teaching practitioners, policy-makers, and teacher educators to provide innovation in their classrooms to empower language learners with teaching methodologies contrary to what they are accustomed to during their learning. It is rare to find such a practice in a higher education context in Iran where all K-12 school teachers and university instructors are highly advised to stick to the predefined syllabi while the world of teaching and learning practice is changing.
CONAPLIN 2017, 2017
This article attempts to frame critical literacy practice in EFL Classroom in Indonesia since it is known that critical literacy should be implemented by higher education in the 21st century to answer the need of transformative pedagogy. Using descriptive qualitative analysis, the study was focused on two prominent points. Firstly, it examined how a higher education teacher in EFL classroom put critical literacy into practice and challenged her students to be critical learners. Further, applying Critical Language Awareness (CLA) strategies, this paper took a deeper discussion on how CLA could enhance student’s critical consciousness in reading a text. Secondly, this study described the challenge of teaching English Language using critical literacy perspective for higher education in EFL classroom.
Addressing challenges in the practice of critical literacy in EFL classrooms: A new framework
Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2020
The practice of critical literacy in EFL contexts answers the need for EFL pedagogy that considers the complex social and political dimensions of foreign language learning. Many teachers are still discouraged from practicing critical literacy due to the many challenges they encounter. In this paper, we outline a practical framework that can help teachers navigate the complexity of practicing critical literacy in EFL contexts. The framework consists of four resources of critical literacy practice, namely curriculum and standards, students’ experiences and background, local social issues, and text selection. The classroom activities include text analysis and critique, bridging the word and the world, and social action. Particular issues in EFL pedagogy are addressed with implications for the practice of critical literacy.
A review of critical literacy beliefs and practices of English language learners and teachers
Critical literacy has been studied extensively for the four decades since the 1980s in varied contexts of schooling, vocational, higher and adult education in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. However, the application of critical literacy in countries whose native language is not English seems to have become evident only at the beginning of the 21st century, with empirical studies being conducted on the critical literacy beliefs and practices of English language learners (ELL) and teachers. This review first defines critical literacy in terms of both critical text and critical pedagogy. This review then identifies common theoretical frameworks and pedagogical foci in recent research involving secondary and tertiary ELLs. It highlights the possibilities and challenges experienced by both ELL students and teachers as they practise critical literacy in English language classrooms. Finally, this review gives recommendations for future studies on critical literacy that can strengthen the English language learning curriculum and enhance our understanding of the competing interests present in the teaching and learning of English.
11.Implications of Critical Literacy for Language Classroom
The present study is aimed at examining how critical literacy helps the students in using language efficiently and exploring new ways of reading any text. The study focuses on gauging the place of critical literacy at graduate level and also checks the awareness of students and teachers to this productive way of using language. This study also tries to find out about the gap that exists between the objectives of critical literacy in Pakistan and our present curriculum. For this purpose both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. Finally it brings the results that in Pakistan curriculum dominantly focuses the structural level of language and does not give students sociopolitical insight. The learning of students is more bookish and does not enable the learners to employ their language skill in understanding the ways of the world.
Critical Literacy in an EFL Setting: Lecturers’ Perception
Journal of Language Teaching and Research
This study intended to determine lecturers' understanding of critical literacy, how they applied it in reading class, and their reasons for continuing to teach critical literacy to students. This study involved five English lecturers as the subjects of the study. The researchers used various techniques to obtain data, namely interviews, documentation, and observation. The collected data were analyzed qualitatively using the interactive data analysis model. This study found that the lecturers' have different ways of defining critical literacy. However, their understanding of critical literacy aligns with the concept of critical literacy in general. Furthermore, lecturers' understanding influences their strategies to promote critical literacy in their English as a foreign language class. Thus, they applied various teaching strategies to ensure that the students could improve their critical literacy. In addition, they also have strong reasons for promoting critical literacy...
Implications of Critical Literacy for Language Classroom
The present study is aimed at examining how critical literacy helps the students in using language efficiently and exploring new ways of reading any text. The study focuses on gauging the place of critical literacy at graduate level and also checks the awareness of students and teachers to this productive way of using language. This study also tries to find out about the gap that exists between the objectives of critical literacy in Pakistan and our present curriculum. For this purpose both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. Finally it brings the results that in Pakistan curriculum dominantly focuses the structural level of language and does not give students sociopolitical insight. The learning of students is more bookish and does not enable the learners to employ their language skill in understanding the ways of the world.
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