Doctoral student Wonguk Cho gave an online presentation at the 2023 EPIC-Lang Conference held at UCLA under the agenda of Reimagined Critical Pedagogy: Resistance and Solidarity in Language Classrooms.

Abstract

Despite the extensive discussion on Critical Language Pedagogy (CLP) and its application in various contexts in the last decades, critically oriented English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching in Chinese colleges has been seldom examined. Employing the framework of CLP, I investigated the feasibility of successfully introducing and implementing CLP in a large four-year university in China that has been administered and funded by the Chinese central government. I also investigated the forms of resistance to the oppressive social structure, power dynamics, and unfair/unequal situations that my students encountered on campus, in school, and in the community. More specifically in this study, I analyzed my students’ PowerPoint slides which they created for a persuasive speech task. Employing Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, the study explored how the students hedged, conformed, and framed themselves through utilizing multiple semiotic forms/structures, including language use, visual elements, and personal anecdotes. The findings indicate that the students successfully engaged in the task and voiced what was wrong around them, but the majority of them avoided and were reluctant to identify who was responsible for the problematic situations, conforming to those in power, and in the hierarchy.