چكيده
Abstract
The focus of teaching English as a foreign language in EFL contexts such as Iran has been on training students to be proficient in language skills. This emphasis leads to the neglect of a more important goal in language education; that is to think and act as a critical reader and writer. Considering the great importance of critical literacy for students as members of the society, it is significant to fill the gap in EFL contexts by including critical literacy in language teaching courses. Therefore, teaching critical literacy-oriented writing helps students realize that writing is a process in which the writer deals with a text in a social context. Exploring the development of critical literacy in an EFL writing class at the University of Kashan, the present study aims to see how Iranian EFL learners reflect on the development of critical literacy in a writing course, how an EFL teacher incorporates critical literacy in a writing class, and what are the effective factors contributing to the Iranian EFL learners' development of critical literacy in an English writing course. Analyzing students' reflective essays based on Fairclough’s (1992) Three-Dimensional Model of Discourse, this study evidenced students’ growth in critical consciousness, as students were able to display more and more liberatory discourses in their reflections during the course. Findings of the questionnaire show that the majority of students generally held a positive view toward critical literacy-oriented teaching, believing that this course helped them write critically and improved their thinking. At the same time, gender and level of English language proficiency played an important role among EFL learners. In spite of having well-background knowledge and expertise in critical discourse analysis, findings obtained from instructor's interviews show that the instructor experienced a change from transmission teaching to transactional teaching in his teaching (Neilsen, 1989) and had a positive attitude towards such a course.
