Content area
Abstract
EFL students are capable of thinking critically and would benefit from curricula designed to encourage them to take a critical stance toward reading and writing. However, language classrooms often lack the important goals of promoting critical literacy and connecting students' interests, life and multiple ways of knowing with learning.
This study took place in a university EFL composition course in Taiwan and utilized an action research approach which involved using pre-writing strategies as “small scale interventions”. In addition, 37 participants were given guide questions to deconstruct a variety of sign systems. Sign systems were also employed to help participants gain easier access to their thoughts and recognize the power of their own written words. The data collection included 770 writings which were interpreted using a clear, repeated cycle of procedures including discussions, thematic categories, a typology for critical literacy and dominant peer review categories.
The research produced evidence that participants had numerous social concerns, were accustomed to using multiple sign systems to learn English outside of the classroom, and had a preoccupation with using English correctly. The study also found that the use of multiple sign systems generated metaphorical and analytical thinking and greater self disclosure in participants' writings, written texts tended to illicit a retelling of what was read rather than a reflective response and that critical literacy is concerned with much more than the interrogation of texts. These findings are significant because they impact classroom practice and support the belief that foreign language learners are capable of taking a critical literacy approach to language learning.
Recommendations for future action/teacher research include: Avoid the deadly finality of EFL writing. Allow for collaborative writing. Make use of everyday texts. Provide time for oral discussion. Discuss differences in cultural understandings of classroom practice and negotiate how the learning community can best work together to meet the goals of the course and function most effectively for all involved. Provide a variety of sign systems for pre-writing strategies and allow students to choose the ones they are most comfortable using.
