Critical Literacy

 

Critical Literacy and Second Language Learning

A Sociocultural/Sociological Approach

“Critical literacy is the use of texts to analyse and transform relations of cultural, social and political power.” (Luke & Dooley, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 856). This approach is a sociological, sociocultural and critical linguistic analysis of how texts can create social power and identity. TESOL students can develop identities outside the classroom such as in “third spaces” when students use their first language with peers, graffiti and in emails and the emergence of hip hop culture (Luke & Dooley, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 859).

 Paulo Freire (Luke & Dooley, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 860), proposed working with learners, where “learners become teachers of their everyday understandings and experiences, and teachers becoming learners of these same contexts” and where opportunities for “authentic exchange around issues of moral, social and cultural significance” can occur. In schools and universities this approach involves students working on projects looking at environmental and local issues, depending on the student’s age and analysing popular cultural texts such as news and the internet. “The aim is to give voice to ESL students who have been historically silenced, and to encourage the formation of new social identities” (Luke & Dooley, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 861). A criticism of this pedagogy was that it did not cover the need to master different genres of text, particularly scientific texts. 

Genre models (Luke & Dooley, 2011, p. 861) focus on scaffolded and explicit instruction of texts. Critical discourse analysis (CDA), (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997/2004, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 862) involves teaching students to analyse a range of texts including academic and literary, looking at the grammatical forms, ideological information and discourses. Janks states (1999, 2009, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 862), “CDA is committed to social change through human agency in the use of language."

Wallace (2002, 2003, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 862) used the critical text approach for UK university level English studies teaching. The aim was to allow students access to “powerful” English to help prepare them for using English in the community. The approach “bridges local texts and practices with regional, national and global discourses and practices” (Luke & Dooley, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 862). Students first gain critical awareness of literacies in their British home-stays. They acquire critical views of the texts by analysing the text and then apply what they have learnt to a wider social context, in the community such as at the shops or in a restaurant.

Huang (2011) conducted a study which explored critical and conventional literacy. The research occurred in an English Reading and Writing course in 2009 for non-English majors at a university in Taiwan and included thirty-six students.Students were taught critical literacy by focusing on the writer’s purpose, the topic and and whose interests are served by the text. Conventional writing skills were also taught, including conventions of writing an essay. “The study found that students understood critical literacy as conscious reading that helped them to uncover hidden message and consider multiple perspectives” (Huang, 2011, p. 150). It also motivated the students and helped their reading and comprehension. A result of the study was that all the students said that their writing improved, including how to write a paragraph and how to write in different genres. Their confidence in writing in English improved as well. The studies conclusion was that the combination of critical and conventional literacy learning benefited the EFL students.

Applying the critical literacy approach to the scenario.

The students from different language backgrounds can work on projects collaboratively, looking at local issues and using popular texts and current topics that they have found on the news and on the internet. Students gain critical views and opinions on a range of texts and then apply this knowledge when in settings in society, such as shopping, but also when communicating with friends or family on social media and through texting. Including the use of critical discourse analysis, (CDA), a genre model of teaching, also helps the students learn how to analyse the grammatical features and ideologies of a range of texts. Students are also taught conventional writing skills such as how to write a paragraph.

References

Hinkel, E. (2011). Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (Vol. 2). New York:Routledge.

Huang, S. (2011). Reading "Further and beyond the text": Student perspectives of critical literacy in EFL reading and writing. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(2), 145-154.