Implementing Critical Literacy In Chinese Senior High School English Course

As a new literacy instructional approach, critical literacy had been extensively studied in various educational fields such as Language Arts and Social Studies, and applied in many English-speaking countries like Australia and Canada. Nevertheless, it seemed that studies, especially practical ones related to critical literacy, were scarce in Chinese mainland. Therefore, I conducted this research and tried to introduce critical literacy into Chinese senior high school English course.This study occurred in a time frame of about three and a half months and was divided into two phases:the first phase was from May,2015 to June,2015 and the second from September,2015 to November,2015. The participants of this research were composed of myself and 89 senior high school students, covering 45 eleventh graders and 44 tenth graders. All of them came from Jinhua No.6 Middle School. Under the guidance of Allan Luke and Peter Freebody’s (1999) Four Resources Model, I attempted to lead these students to read beyond the literal level of English texts and interpret them with critical lenses, by providing them supplementary reading materials and posing critical questions.The purpose of this study was to examine these Chinese senior high students’ attitudes towards critical literacy practice and the potential factors that might impact their attitudes. In particular, three research questions were raised:(1) What attitudes may Chinese senior high school students hold towards the implementation of critical literacy in senior high school English course? (2) What factors may influence these students’attitudes towards critical literacy practice? (3) What challenges and difficulties may I encounter in my attempt to implement critical literacy in senior high school English course?Data of the present study was collected through classroom observations, audio tapes, memos, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and teaching logs. Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, three results were achieved:(1) both the eleventh and tenth graders generally held a positive attitude towards the implementation of critical literacy in Chinese senior high school English course; (2) the factors that influenced these students’ attitudes towards critical literacy practice included:English tests, students’low English proficiency, students’interest in the supplementary reading materials and critical literacy practice’s positive influence on the students’ thinking ability; (3) the challenges and difficulties I met in my attempt to implement critical literacy in senior high school English course were:institutional constraints, inadequate instructional materials appropriate for critical literacy, my limited teaching competency and students’traditional language learning beliefs.This study not only offered insights into Chinese senior high school students’ attitudes towards critical literacy practice and the possible influence factors that might affect their attitudes, but shed enlightenment on the implementation of critical literacy in Chinese senior high school English course regarding the instructional materials, English teachers’competency and assessment system of English education.