Critical Reflection and the Foreign Language Classroom / Edition 1

by Terry A. Osborn

Overview

This book introduces pre-service and in-service foreign language teachers to the basic concepts of critical educational study as applied to the sociological position occupied by foreign language education in the United States. Although contemporary foreign language teachers typically know about second language acquisition and instructional methodology, they are not prepared to understand issues of power in relation to, for example, language variety, language status, and education.

The author addresses issues such as the supposed failure of foreign language education, the educational filter role played by language classes, the concept of foreignness as seen in national standards, language curricula and textbooks, and the implications of these issues in terms of power relationships and cultural mediation both in and out of the classroom. The reader is encouraged to analyze the forms of cultural struggle which can be found within the foreign language classrooms of the United States including the likely impact those struggles have on members of the dominant and subordinate cultures. Teachers are led through the development of skills in critical reflection and pedagogical application geared to social justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897896818
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/28/2000
Series:	Critical Studies in Education and Culture Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)

About the Author

TERRY A. OSBORN is Assistant Professor, Secondary Education and Youth Services, Queens College, CUNY.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Beyond Methodology
Language Education and Culture
The Language of Critical Pedagogy
How to Reflect, Critically
The Foreignness Agenda
Transforming Foreignness
Toward a (Re)new(ed) Professional Vision

Editorial Reviews

Osborn (secondary education and youth services, Queens College, CUNY) explains the role of language teachers in a societal context, offering both discussion of critical reflection and a collection of critical reflections on the foreign language classroom. Examines the concept of foreigness in foreign language curricula and textbooks, specifically in terms of how it may play an important role in the production and reproduction of social inequality in the US. Assists US language educators in examining diverse elements of curricula in terms of power structures outside the classroom that underlie and support them. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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