Abstract
Curriculum development and empirical research in the field of second language acquisition could benefit the field of critical language pedagogy (CLP) and its practitioners. This article reviews central concepts in the organization of curriculum in CLP and compares them with another major curricular initiative in second language teaching, namely task-based or task-supported approaches, with particular emphasis on task-based language teaching. Content itself (as in activities or materials) and the role of metacognitive instruction are considered. A real-world example of a task-based or task-supported short-term program is reviewed as exemplifying some areas of contact or benefit.
Highlights
Background and QuestionsWhat connections can be made between critical language pedagogy (CLP) and taskbased language teaching (TBLT)—and why ask this question? In this paper we pose this question (consistent with the theme of this Special Issue) mostly from the CLP side [1], with the thought that the development of CLP (as an important but minority perspective in L2 pedagogy) would benefit from considering the extent to which it interacts with, draws on, benefits from, takes for granted, or in some cases dismisses this important mainstream perspective on L2 teaching, curriculum, learning, and use
All of the above leads to the questions, “How does this ‘task as a unit of instructional design’ position compare with critical language pedagogy (CLP)?” and “Is CLP sufficiently engaged with the real-world tasks students need?” In other words, to what extent might CLP benefit from adopting a more task-based approach to supporting language learning and development, while still maintaining a critical focus? Seeking to address these questions, we consider how critical content and tasks might synergistically function in the L2 classroom
CLP initially orients to the matters students need to talk about in terms of themes, it has a pragmatic outlook which clearly recognizes that there are things students need to do with language, such as engage in job applications, write letters, complain to a job supervisor in a factory, and many other things that sound like real-world tasks to us
Summary
What connections can be made between critical language pedagogy (CLP) and taskbased language teaching (TBLT)—and why ask this question? In this paper we pose this question (consistent with the theme of this Special Issue) mostly from the CLP side [1], with the thought that the development of CLP (as an important but minority perspective in L2 pedagogy) would benefit from considering the extent to which it interacts with, draws on, benefits from, takes for granted, or in some cases dismisses this important mainstream perspective on L2 teaching, curriculum, learning, and use. It could be argued that mainstream perspectives in L2 teaching, such as TBLT (drawing, as it does, on mainstream conceptions of L2 learning), depend on conceptions of the language learning person, that is, on how the learner is theorized or conceptualized; such conceptions are logically inconsistent with those of CLP, since (historically at least) those of TBLT are the same as those of general cognitive learning theory In other words, they do not orient to the learner as a person located in society with race, class, and gender being relevant to learning; in this case, perhaps there may be some points at which CLP will not pursue the relationship
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