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| Subject: FINAL WORK- UNIT 5-REVISED by the Group | |
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Author: Ludmila |
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Date Posted: 19:28:19 09/14/10 Tue Revised version Unit 4 Critical Literacy is part of English teachers’ performance Critical Literacy is a dream of a new society against the power now in power, as Freire (1970) proposed. Things we say and do can define us as we are. As teachers and society transformers, we are addressed to produce the different identities our students will carry forward in life. Although Critical Literacy (CL) is not a new discovery, it still is one theory that is usually not adopted by English teachers in Brazil. It seems that those teachers generally choose the communicative approach for teaching. That is to say CL theory is not applied for teaching English in Brazil and working with CL seems to be part of the role of other teachers’ subject, like Portuguese, Literature, Geography and History. English teachers’ unfamiliarity with CL is one of the reasons for this theory to be excluded from the practice. Based on that assumption, Brazilian English Language teachers should be more familiar with Critical Literacy (CL) theory, in order to create activities beyond communicative competence and help students to develop a more critical perception of the language. Before clarifying the meaning of Critical Literacy and the importance of this theory towards English practice in Brazil, it is relevant to review the concept of some terms. Beginning with Literacy, that is defined by Soares (1998) and Kleiman (1995), as the capacity that one has to interact with written texts in different genres and to participate effectively in literacy practices shared by the same members of a community in which one is inserted. Thus, if the definition of Literacy suggests that one is able to participate in various types of experiences in which reading and writing are involved, Critical Literacy on the other hand, requires that one is able to use language in a critical way. In other words, in a way that he or she is able to do a reinterpretation of his or her reality, but free of ideologies imposed by others. According to Scholes (1985) the pedagogical practice which adopts the principles of Critical Literacy, enables students to have their own way of reading the world, and through that teachers also change the way they usually teach. In CL teachers become helpers and encouragers of the learning process. For Freire (1991) critical literacy implies a less naïve reader, and a reader who has the power and ability to choose and criticize what is offered. In the educational field, CL is responsible not only for students’ ability to understand and “comprehend” the news they read on papers, magazines, but also to build their own conception and critical point of view of what is being analyzed. Through CL, students may also have a critical view of novels they read as well as interviews or political speeches they watch. In Critical Literacy the context and the aims of teaching English can be shifted from teaching a language for expression and communication purpose only, to teaching the communicative aspects of a language to promote students’ critical perception. English Teachers need to understand CL principles in order to engage the theory towards the practice. But above all, they need to change their conception which doesn’t seem to connect this theory with the subject they teach. When understanding the value of CL, and perceiving the theory as a way of examining the whole society as well as the language they promote, they will then be able to change their role as teachers, as pointed by Scholes (1985). From the moment that English teachers become critically involved in their classroom practice, it will be easier to help students to read the world and to produce knowledge on the same time. For instance, teachers who adopt CL will develop students’ ability to read texts in a reflective way, and they will also be able to better understand power, inequality and injustice in human relationship. When familiarizing with CL, English teachers in Brazil would be able than to connect communicative activities (such as: reading, writing, listening and comprehension), with activities which also promote students’ capacity to question what is being offered. In order to confirm that Matos and Valério (2010) gave an example of one audiovisual activity where students needed to listen and watch a funny video, then answer to some questions related to the situation. This experience involved the communicative abilities of the language and also promoted students’ critical capacity, to analyze other aspects of the same situation. In this particular experience, CL was raised through questions that lead to reflection of the situation that was being presented. English teachers have a great amount of tools to develop and adapt material, in order to promote Critical Literacy in their students. By adapting pedagogical methods that are usually used for communicative abilities, English teachers can create space for discussion of many relevant issues. For instance, popular song lyrics can be used as supplementary texts in order to engage students in discussions about race, gender issues, religion and politics. Another tool can be advertisements, where a large number of contexts are implicit on their messages and images. Comic books are also very helpful to develop critical sense in the classroom, because they use many expressions, to mean an objective as well as the pictures. Norton and Toohey (2003) refereed to Comic books as a good source to illustrate for readers real situations they face daily, this is especially true when those readers are children and adolescents. Movies, sitcoms, interviews and the internet, which play a major role in the society, can all be more explored in the context of an English class in order to raise students’ critical sense towards those media. In contrast to what was demonstrated before, some authors had expressed about possible risks when teachers are in charge of applying Critical Literacy in the classroom. That was pointed by Morgan (1997) as a dangerous situation, where CL discourse can become authoritative and arrogant, because with this theory, teachers are seen as agents of empowerment and emancipation. Another problem pointed by her is that students’ ideology might differ from teacher’s dogma, and since teachers are the authority in the classroom, therefore students can feel intimidated by that. The author’s point of view is different from what was proposed by Freire (1970), who supports that the learning process has the power to free any individual from an oppressive situation, and through that he or she is able to take action to change his or her belief. Freire mentioned that the learning process has the ‘power’ to free any individual, and not to the power that teachers have over students, like Morgan (1997) mentioned. When teachers propose to use CL in their English class, they won’t intimidate students with an oppressive discourse, different from that, they will help students to build or find their own discourse through English language, so students will be more qualified to see things by their own perspectives. Critical Literacy is a method which helps to develop students as critically thinking citizens who use language to question knowledge, experience, and power in society. In relation to the Educational field, it can be applied in any studying area, with the objective to go beyond the simple understanding or comprehension of any topic. When English teachers in Brazil become more familiar with CL, they will then be able to take action towards their practice in their classroom and adapt and create materials that are usually used for communicative purpose. Although there is still a lot of prejudice and differences in our society, through our teaching way, we can redefine ourselves and help society to think with their own minds, that is the job of an educator. English teachers should not only teach the language, but also help the education process of their country, while teaching students to speak another language. REFERENCES FREIRE, P. A educação na cidade. São Paulo: Cortez Editora, 1991. FREIRE, P. Pedagogia do oprimido. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1970. KLEIMAN, A. B. Os significados dos Letramentos. Campinas, SP: Mercado das Letras, 1995. MATTOS, A. M.; VALÉRIO, K. M. Critical Literacy and Communicative Teaching: gaps and intersections. Belo Horizonte: Faculdade de Letras da UFMG; Revista Brasileira De Linguística Aplicada. Vol. 10, n.1, 2010. MORGAN,W. Critical Literacy in the classroom: the art of possible. London: Routldge, 1997. NORTON, B.; TOOHEY, K. Critical Pedagogies and Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. SOARES, M. B. Letramento: um tema em três gêneros. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 1998. SCHOLES, R. Textual power: literary theory and the teaching of English, New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, 1985 Group 2 members: Francisco Hélio Diógenes Ludmila Ameno Ribeiro Marília Batista Defraigne Tânia da Consolação Martins Pereira Viviane Soares de Oliveira Belo Horizonte, 2010 [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: FINAL WORK- UNIT 5-REVISED by the Group | Vivi | 12:22:36 09/15/10 Wed |