Scrutinizing Critical Literacy Pedagogy in the Institutionally Developed Foundation English Textbooks for Thai Undergraduate Students
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper examines critical literacy pedagogy in two institutionally developed foundation English textbooks used in a public university in Thailand. The study has two main objectives: 1) to investigate the essential features of critical literacy pedagogy within the textbooks, and 2) to assess the extent to which these textbooks promote critical literacy among Thai undergraduate students. Instructional activities in these textbooks were analyzed using a critical literacy pedagogical framework through qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that these textbooks embodied three essential features of critical literacy pedagogy including engaging, guiding, and expanding students’ thinking pertaining to societal issues and unequal power relations. The intermediate-level English textbook contained more activities that provided greater opportunities for students to critically reflect on social issues compared to the pre-intermediate textbook. This paper highlights the importance of critical literacy in English language courses and offers valuable implications for the development of English language textbooks and materials for Thai undergraduate students.
Article Details
References
Adunyarittigun, D. (2017). Building a culture of peace through critical literacy with the net generation. PASAA, 54, 235-263.
Adunyarittigun, D. (2022). Fostering university students to deal with conflict through critical literacy in EFL reading class. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 19(2), 398-413. http://dx.doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2022.19.2.1.398
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Seabury Press.
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. Bergin & Garvey.
Gray, J. (2013). Introduction. In J. Gray (Ed.), Critical perspectives on language teaching materials (pp. 1-16). Palgrave Macmillan.
Gray, J., & Block, D. (2014). All middle class now? Evolving representations of the working class in the neoliberal era: The case of ELT textbooks. In N. Harwood (Ed.), English language teaching textbooks: Content, consumption, production (pp. 45-71). Palgrave Macmillan.
Janks, H. (2013). Critical literacy in teaching and research. Educational Inquiry, 4(2), 225-242. https://doi.org/10.3402/edui.v4i2.22071
Janks, H. (2014). The importance of critical literacy. In. J. Z. Pandya & J. Avila (Eds.), Moving critical literacies forward: A new look at praxis across contexts (pp. 32-44). Routledge.
Jitpranee, J. (2020). An analysis of speaking activities in local Thai English textbooks. The New English Teacher, 14(1), 1-13.
Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Cambridge University Press.
Kalantzis, M., Cope, B., Chan, E., & Dalley-Trim, L. (2016). Literacies (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Khamratana, S., & Adunyarittigun, D. (2021). Critical pedagogy for transforming literacy education at border schools in Thailand. Journal of Mekong Societies, 17(3), 100-120. https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/mekongjournal/article/view/257153/171228
Labtic, I. G. C., & Teo A. (2020). The presentation of sources of culture in English textbooks in Thai context. English Language Teaching, 13(5), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n5p15
Luke, A. (2012). Critical literacy: Foundational notes. Theory into Practice, 51(1), 4-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2012.636324
Luke, A. (2014). Defining critical literacy. In. J. Z. Pandya & J. Avila (Eds.), Moving critical literacies forward: A new look at praxis across contexts (pp. 19-31). Routledge.
McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. L. (2004a). Critical literacy as comprehension: Expanding reader response. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(1), 52-62. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.48.1.5
McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. L. (2004b). Critical literacy: Enhancing students’ comprehension of text. Scholastic.
Mills, K. A. (2016). Literacy theories for the digital age: Social, critical, multimodal, spatial, material and sensory lenses. Multilingual Matters.
Morrell, E. (2008). Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation. Routledge.
Pornsakkul, S. (2015). An investigation of teacher opinions on the effectiveness of an English textbook for grade 1 students [Master’s independent study, Thammasat University]. Thammasat University Digital Archive. https://ethesisarchive.library.tu.ac.th/thesis/2015/TU_2015_5721040268_4753_2919.pdf
Richards, J. C. (2014). The ELT textbook. In S. Garton & K. Graves (Eds.), International perspectives on materials in ELT (pp. 19-36). Palgrave Macmillan.
Saemee, K., & Nomnian, S. (2021). Cultural representations in ELT textbooks used in a multicultural school. rEFLections, 28(1), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v28i1.251027
Shor, I. (1999). What is critical literacy? Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice, 1(4), Article 2. https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/jppp/vol1/iss4/2
Srisunakrua, T., & Chumworatayee, T. (2019). Readability of reading passages in English textbooks and the Thai national education English test: A comparative study. Arab World English Journal, 10(2), 257-269. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no2.20
Tomlinson, B. (2015). Key issues in EFL coursebooks. ELIA, 15, 171-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/elia.2015.i15.09
Ulla, M. B. (2019). Western-published ELT textbooks: Teacher perceptions and use in Thai classrooms. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(3), 970-977. http://dx.doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2019.16.3.13.970
Wallen, N. E., & Fraenkel, J. R. (2001). Educational research: A guide to the process. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Wichanee, T., & Thongrin, S. (2024). Critical consciousness development through teaching English reading: A context of EFL students in Thailand’s northeastern area. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 17(1), 440-466.
Wongsantativanich, M., Thongrin, S., & Hoy, T. (2018). An analysis of identities of characters and ideologies in four series of English textbooks for Thai beginners: From past to present. Humanities Journal, 25(2), 86-115.
