Abstract
This paper reports a follow-up study that explored the relationship between EFL learners’ critical literacy practices and the English language proficiency. It investigated four focal EFL learners’ critical literacy practices in their dialogic interaction and also analyzed 39 students’ views on their critical literacy learning. The four focal students’ discussion on a gender-related local news article was analyzed based on the concept of critical discourse analysis; the students’ views on critical literacy learning were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings showed that despite the difference in their English proficiency, the four focal students all demonstrated critical literacy in varying degrees as shown in its previous study, and that critical consciousness of gender and class are raised through dialogic interaction. This study thus corroborates the previous one that English proficiency does not hinder EFL learner’s critical literacy practices. Besides, this study had an additional finding; that is, English proficiency levels do affect EFL learners’ views on critical literacy learning. Therefore, a critical literacy-based class would be more acceptable to students whose English proficiency is high.
Highlights
Critical literacy has gained much importance in literacy education in the western countries for the past few decades (Behrman; 2006; Ko & Wang, 2009)
This paper reports a follow-up study that explored the relationship between English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ critical literacy practices and the English language proficiency
The findings showed that despite the difference in their English proficiency, the four focal students all demonstrated critical literacy in varying degrees as shown in its previous study, and that critical consciousness of gender and class are raised through dialogic interaction
Summary
Critical literacy has gained much importance in literacy education in the western countries for the past few decades (Behrman; 2006; Ko & Wang, 2009). These new media have been used for disseminating counter discourses, for mobilising opposition, for questioning and destabilising power This is the context within which we need to consider the role of critical literacy in education. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that critical literacy aimed at developing students to question and challenge taken-for-granted beliefs or dominant practices has been considered culturally inappropriate for the East Asian contexts Another reason is that many EFL teachers assume that students’ limitations in English will preclude their engagement with complex social and moral issues (Ko & Wang, 2013). It is hoped that the results of this follow-up study would provide more insights on the relationship between English proficiency and critical literacy practices in the EFL context, filling the educational gap in traditional foreign language teaching where a skill-based method is often the mainstream
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