Critical Pedagogy and College English Reading

李永仙

Abstract：Critical Pedagogy is a teaching philosophy， an attitude to and a practice of teaching and learning. It situates language teaching and learning in a socio-cultural context and places power at the center of teaching and learning. Integrating China English is to apply Critical Pedagogy in an EFL context to empower English learners in China of the English they are closely connected to， China English， and to prepare them for critical thinking ability in reading.

Key words：Critical Pedagogy； China English； College English Reading， critical readers

1 Introduction

中圖分類號：H319 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1672-1578（2016）06-0003-02

1 Introduction

Critical Pedagogy（CP）， emerging in 1970s， flourishing in L2 teaching and learning around the late 1980s and early 1990s， is a teaching philosophy and "a way of doing teaching and learning"（Canagarajah， 2005， p. 932）. According to Canagarajah （2005）， it is difficult and actually dangerous to define Critical Pedagogy using any static theories， because "[t]heories can narrow down the perspectives from which the learning activity should be interpreted"（p. 932）. This indicates that language teaching and learning activities should be situated in a broader social context rather than isolated classrooms， and that "language learning and teaching is more than learning and teaching language"， language education is to connect the word with the world and to link the text to socio-cultural contexts （Kumaravadivelu， 2006， p. 70）. Critical Pedagogy is neither a set of ideas nor another method for L2 teaching. "It is a practice motivated by a distinct attitude toward classrooms and society" （Canagarajah， 2005， p. 932）. CP challenges students and teachers to think critically and to construct more reasonable， equitable social environments for a better and more humane life. As Brown （2007） conveys it might be inappropriate now if teachers skirt around sensitive issues concerning power， religion and politics in language teaching practices （p. 513）. Therefore， the core characteristic of CP is to "place issues of power at the center of considerations of education and social justice" （McArthur， 2010， p. 494）.

Kumaravadivelu（2001）conceptualizes postmethod pedagogy as "a pedagogy of particularity"， "a pedagogy of practicality" and "a pedagogy of possibility"， which are very important principles of the implementation of Critical Pedagogy. Particularity means any language teaching programs or activities must be "sensitive to a particular group of teachers teaching a particular group of learners pursuing a particular set of goals within a particular institutional context embedded in a particular sociocultural milieu"（emphasis added， p. 538）. This particularity engages teachers and students in defining their goals， and it links classroom context to the world. Practicality pertains to the relationship between theory and practice and it encourages teachers to be both a practitioner and a theorizer. On the one hand， this notion liberates teachers from the passive knowledge-consumer role， and on the other， it gives them a sense of responsibility to justify theories and to produce knowledge for theory development. Possibility is to stress participants' （teachers and students） subject positions and to empower them to critically reflect on their situations.

Critical Pedagogy considers learners as the center of teaching practices and their life experiences as an important learning content. Teaching/learning materials should be authentic and related to learners' cultural and linguistic background， such as Newspapers， magazines and TV news. In Chinese college reading context， what students read in English classes are materials from Inner Circle countries， mainly from the US and the UK. According to He and Miller （2011）， 75.4% of the participants in their research have reported that American English and British English are the varieties of English used in their textbooks（p. 434）. Whose voice is missing in this context？ Is this mono-model of English teaching sensitive to the particularity of students， teachers and the situation？

2 Integrating China English into College English Reading

He and Li（2009） define China English as a performance variety of English， which is based on standard Englishes and has Chinese characteristics in terms of phonology， lexis， syntax and discourse pragmatics， which appropriately express Chinese culture and things of China by means of transliteration and loan translation （p. 83）. Today， even though there is no codified reference of China English， it is an undeniable fact that China English does exist and it is spoken by a large number of Chinese people. Several scholars and researchers （e.g， Kirkpatrick & Xu， 2002； Yang， 2005； He & Li， 2009） have documented distinctive features of China English that present pedagogical implications for teachers to integrate it into English teaching and learning. On the one hand， China English is the voice and identity of Chinese English learners； on the other hand， it has not received official recognition yet. CP will play its role in addressing the issue of inequality of linguistic rights in an English reading course.

Baumgardner（2006） contends，"[w]hether in Inner-， Outer-， or Expanding-Circle classrooms， students' sensitivity toward the unprecedented spread and diversification of the English language should be one of all teachers' goals" （p. 668）. The goal of College English reading course is to expose learners to World Englishes to empower them the ownership of their English and meanwhile to respect other English varieties. To do so， teachers should first adopt Kachru's （1983） "polymodel approach" to include China English while teaching dominant English variety/varieties based on curriculum （as cited in Baumgardner， 2006， p. 667）. In order for the authenticity of reading materials， teachers can choose from local English magazines（e.g， China & The World Cultural Exchange， China Today）， newspapers （e.g.， China Daily， Beijing Weekly） and online news（e.g.， Xinhua Net） that discuss Chinese culture， politics， education， etc. Of course， learners are welcome to bring their own reading materials to the class. These authentic reading materials are full of lexis of China English， which are characteristics of Chinese culture and life with their equivalents hardly being found in American or British English. Learning these vocabulary and sentence structures to express the unique culture and things that learners are familiar with endows them the right to speak English to express their identity and pride in their culture.

Second， instead of teaching in a traditional way，"banking education"， teachers should create a dialogic environment for learners to negotiate meanings of lexis of both English varieties （American English/British English & China English）， appropriateness of syntax and discourse. While reading， encourage learners to think critically by responding to such questions as "Who is the writer and who are the readers？" "What is the writer's purpose and attitudes towards the issue？" "What are your attitudes to and opinions on the issue？"

"When will you use China English as an identity marker？" and "When may you need to make adjustment for appropriateness in cross-cultural communication？"etc. Meanwhile， learners have the right to pose their own questions to address their concerns and to share their ideas and life experiences related to the topic with teachers and other learners.

Third， integration of reading with speaking and writing will be beneficial for learners' development of critical thinking. Teachers should try to include everyone in teaching/learning activities like group discussion and debate， teach them strategies to overcome breakdowns in communication， and make it clear to learners that in communication both sides take equal responsibility for mutual understanding. When writing， learners should always keep in mind their readers and choose a proper rhetoric pattern.

Last but not least， it is essential for teachers to engage learners in the work of discovering， negotiating and recording distinctive features of China English based on their real life experiences. This bottom-up approach to China English will make a great contribution to the codification and recognition of China English， and it will make a difference of English teaching/learning across China. Connecting teaching/learning practices with theories， teachers and learners will demonstrate that China English is not broken， bad English， but it is a emerging variety of world Englishes in its own right.

3 Conclusion

Paulo Freire has claimed that education is the heart of a civil society and "a societys potential for ethical development lay in the degree of awareness of educations potential to recreate rather than merely replicate society" （as cited in Byrne， 2011， p. 48）. The goal of education is to prepare learners for moral virtues and critical consciousness of their environment， which enable them to influence others and the environment and to bring a more just and equitable society to all human beings through reflection and action. Critical Pedagogy in L2 is a new perspective of looking at L2 teaching and learning： teaching methods， roles of teachers and learners， function of language and education， relationship between teaching and politics， etc. Language is never neutral， but it is political and socio-cultural， therefore language teaching/learning is responsible for addressing issues of power relations and for transformation of environment. Any sensitive topics related to politics， power， race， gender and social status should not be shied away， but they should be on the agenda of language teaching and learning.

Reading plays an important role in education.We do not only read to know， but we also read to reason， to question and to create. Integrating China English into College English Reading is to apply critical pedagogy in an EFL context in order to empower learners of the English they are using， China English. To do so， English teachers should be sensitive to the complex identities that learners bring to the classroom， be eclectic when choosing/tailoring teaching methods， be open-minded for a new teacher-learner relationship and be critically aware of cultural difference and linguistic diversity. Additionally， teachers should be capable of choosing authentic and meaningful reading materials and be competent for designing effective reading tasks by posing questions that encourage learners to be critical readers.

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