Postgraduate Students’ Engagement Through Critical Literacy Awareness

Abstract

Being able to read academic texts and think critically is a much sought after skill in today’s globalised work environments. Postgraduate students need to learn how to develop their critical literacy awareness by being able to read and discuss a wide range of texts as it is seen as a response to the social construction of one’s peers, culture, family, classrooms, neighbours, communities and world (Lesley M, J Adolesc Adult Lit 48(4):320–334, 2004). Responding to local concerns about the lack of attention accorded to the development of postgraduate students’ critical literacy awareness, this paper suggests the use of critical literacy strategies advocated by the New London Group (Har Educ Rev 66(1):60–92, 1996) and Kress (Literacy in the new media age. Routledge, New York, 2003) to increase students’ motivation and engagement in multimodal environments. Two course lecturers and 30 MA postgraduate students from two public universities in Malaysia participated in this study. The qualitative data cover two intact classes of each of the lecturers who teach literacy and pedagogy courses. The findings gleaned from the audio-taped student-teacher interactions and focus group interviews suggest that majority of the postgraduate students appreciated the following developmental stages in using the four knowledge processes in classroom activities: situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing and transformed practice. The implications of the study suggest that university lecturers can actively use the critical literacy awareness framework in their classrooms as it can generate active student voices and promote more meaningful learning experiences among their postgraduate students. Such pedagogical strategies can be integrated into current higher education curriculums to enhance active student participation in taught postgraduate classrooms.