Critical Consciousness Development through Teaching English Reading: A Context of EFL Students in Thailand’s Northeastern Area
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Abstract
EFL reading in non-English environments often expose students to texts from different cultures. However, reading comprehension alone is inadequate to prepare the students to be critical readers, due to different sociocultural and sociopolitical factors that affect interpretations of EFL students who should be prepared with critical perspectives to read more meaningfully and to be able to demonstrate a desire to challenge and transform perceived socio-political inequities and oppressive structures. This study aimed to investigate the extent of enhanced reading ability and to develop critical consciousness by using critical dialogue-oriented reading instruction. The participants were 30 students majoring in English at a university located in Northeastern part of Thailand. The data were collected by using a self-evaluation questionnaire, reading comprehension pretest and posttest, field notes, students’ reflective journals, and interview transcripts. The findings show an increase of the participants’ reading comprehension abilities, moving beyond the lexical comprehension level, and being able to perform critical literacy through reading to writing practice. Also, their developed critical consciousness was manifested through their awareness of social relations and power, their reflections on ongoing circumstances and living systems, and their action against injustice. The findings suggest aspects of critical literacies that challenge normative practices of reading instructions implemented in hegemonic spheres.
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References
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