Critical Literacy in an EFL University Classroom : Effects of Implementing Hilary Janks' Framework

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In today’s world, new technologies are providing people with access to a multitude of multimodal texts that are never neutral and work to position the readers, thus being critically literate is essential for students who are constantly bombarded with them. In Colombia, few studies have explored the development of critical literacy in EFL university students. Despite the benefits these critical literacy practices have brought to university students in terms of helping them understand issues of power and approach texts from different perspectives, more efforts need to be done to help them not only develop critical awareness of social and cultural issues such as gender relations, but also gain control of highly valued genres in tertiary level such as expository essays. Hence, this instrumental case study explored the effects of implementing Hilary Janks’s four-dimensional critical literacy synthesis model with a group of EFL students in a private university. To do this, an instructional unit was designed, encompassing the dimensions of power, access, diversity and design; and implemented to help students explore and reflect on the issue of gender stereotype, analyze TV commercials stereotyping women, and write expository essays in response to this. The data collected included samples of students’ work, namely worksheets and expository essays, audio-recorded classes, and interviews with students. Findings showed that most students were able to reflect and discuss the issues of gender stereotyping and the role of women in society. They also gained better control of the widely valued genre of exposition as they were able to write expository essays in which they stated and supported their own stance towards traditionally common gender stereotypes. Likewise, students were also able to value people’s diverse subjectivities and cultural differences in regard to such stereotypes. Finally, students were able to take advantage of their understanding of the power relations portrayed in gender stereotypes, and their control of the genre of exposition, to produce texts that challenge such stereotype.