This article aims to suggest a model of critical literacy in English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) contexts. The paper will introduce previous critical literacy models in first or second language teaching and learning and those in EFL contexts. Then, several empirical studies based on the models are introduced suggesting important issues to consider in implementing critical literacy in EFL contexts. A model of critical literacy in EFL contexts is, consequently, suggested with the three key elements for successful critical literacy implementation in EFL contexts, language for criticality development, affects and criticality development and citizenship and criticality development. The model pursues balancing conventional literacy education, critical literacy education and citizenship education. The researchers suggest balancing conventional skill-based literacy, affective pedagogy, and citizenship education with the development of critical literacies. Teacher-initiated practice and guidance, incorporation of community-sensitive topics and materials, and students’ active participation are key elements practitioners should consider in their adaptation of critical literacy instruction in EFL contexts.

This study reports Chinese and Korean university EFL students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward online and face-to-face English language learning modes during COVID-19. Few previous studies have focused on how students thought of online and face-to-face learning experiences of subjects regarding new concept learning and delivery of new contents. Research gravitating around English courses showed students' mixed perceptions. The survey was conducted for 302 Korean and 337 Chinese university students who took communication-oriented English courses. Descriptive statistics and qualitative data analysis were used for analysis. Results indicated that students preferred face-to-face English learning with some specific indications of achieving a stronger help and quality for communicative competence in language. Online learning also benefited students with a sense of both flexibility and independence. Positive components of face-to-face learning for language education might be considered for online education while incorporation features such as flexibility and independence to enrich language education during COVID-19.

The purpose of this study is to explore how Korean university students develop their readership in integrated reading classes that address both conventional and critical reading instructions. The two researchers taught university students in Busan and Seoul, alternatively, to read texts in English critically. Fifty-nine students (thirty-two from the researcher A’s class and twenty-seven from the researcher B’s class) participated in the study. The proficiency level of each class was different; one class is much higher than the other. The teachers followed the same teaching procedure of decoding and comprehension, personalizing the reading contents, and critiquing and reflecting on the reading texts and the students were guided to comprehend the texts that they read, analyze reading texts critically, and discuss alternative perspectives of the reading in class. Students’ discussion notes and observation notes of five three-hour class sessions were collected. Data analysis revealed that an integrated approach in reading class was helpful for the students not only to develop their language sensitivity and awareness in critical stance and challenge dominant social assumptions and ideology, but also to develop reading strategies and emotional engagement. Pedagogical implications were discussed.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate a general collaborative model of team-teaching in a university general English program. While positive effects of team-teaching and some suggestions for teamteaching practices have been reported previously, there has been less attention paid to an instructional model where native teachers and Korean teachers collaborate with each other for the best classroom experience for students. A qualitative research guided the design. Twenty teachers’ team-teaching classes were observed and video-taped for analysis. The findings showed that the two teachers’ constant negotiations of meanings in any stage of the lessons and in classes with diverse linguistic goals was helpful to the students’ understanding. Also, in the stage of presenting particular language expressions (duringlesson), complimenting each other with native teachers’ intuition and Korean teachers’ analytic skills was suggested as an important instructional move. When activities were introduced, modeling by the two teachers and bridging roles by the Korean teachers were a tremendous contribution and recommended for model collaborations. An instructional model and educational implications have been suggested.

The purpose of this study is to show how Korean English learners develop a critical lens to analyze graphic novels without much reflection. English as a second language studies have showed the effectiveness of using graphic novels. However, not much research has addressed teaching a critical approach to English reading at the elementary levels in English as a foreign language setting. This study describes how nine elementary school students were engaged in critical literacy practices when they read graphic novels. Their interactions during a 14-week literacy engagement with the researchers were transcribed and analyzed. Students were able to challenge the dominant ideology of the texts, sharing examples that did not fit with the beliefs presented and that represent missing perspectives. These were common reading practices that they engaged in as a means of confronting the dominant cultural representations. Some interactions demonstrated that students suggested alternative worldviews to interpret the texts, so that more democratic and broader considerations of multiple perspectives were represented. This critical literacy activity related to their empathetic connections to cultural minorities.

With globalization, observation was made for the need to challenge cultural homogeneity and to diversify readers’ interpretations, defining this as critical literacy. There was a lack of research on engaging the dominant in developing critical minds. This study investigated reading practices of students from privileged background when they were asked to critique what was hegemonic in a globalized society. Three Korean students were from upper-middle class backgrounds and were successful academic achievers. A qualitative research design guided the data analysis of students’ emerging patterns in reading practices. Readers took complicated paths: students were explicit in current beliefs about poverty, were critical about those naturalized view, and were bought into the dominant belief system. The reading practices that re-visit readers’ cultural view and consider diverse perspectives were suggested. Hybrid literacy practices, as opposed to having ability to read across spaces or not1 was important. Critical positions emerged when including those missing perspectives.