The purpose of this paper was to provide a theoretical outline of why critical media literacy (CML) should be included in Korean English education teaching practices and teacher training curricula. CML is a pedagogy designed to sensitize students to ideological meanings embedded in media that socialize people into specific values, beliefs, and behaviors. This paper begins with a review of theoretical foundations of CML including the symbolic nature of human consciousness signification and the processes of socialization, which are theoretically encapsulated within the dialectic among post-structural theories of discourse and representation. A review of literature on CML and its application to English as a foreign language (EFL) is then presented. Applications of CML include situated inquiry, discussion, creation of group multimodal projects suggests, how it fosters the development of critical thinking skills, the acquisition and use of new vocabulary idioms, and transforming student perceptions of themselves and their society.

Many Korean scholars have praised progressive initiatives in the current Korean National Curriculum (KNC) and Korean National English Curriculum (KNEC), although they also state that the actual teaching practices have changed little. With each new iteration of the KNC it is apparent that the Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) is encouraging a pedagogical agenda that reflects the necessities of situated learning and ‘student-centered’ approaches to teaching and learning. The MOE’s inclusion of ‘micro-teaching’ in tertiary teacher training program reviews also illustrates its increasingly active measures to affect educational change in Korea. Concomitant with the recent MOE initiatives, there has been a growing interest in practices of critical literacy/pedagogy in English education over the past 15 years in Korea. The purpose of critical literacy is to educate students to be knowledgeable, creative, and active participants in a democracy for the purposes of increasing social justice and agency. Thus, it becomes possible, and desirable, to undertake a theoretical analysis of the language and intent between the KNC/ KNEC and theories of critical literacy. This paper analyzes the language ant intent of the KNC and KNEC to determine the extent to which they reflect the theories and pedagogies of critical literacy. Results of this analysis indicate that that critical literacy supports the goals of the curricula and suggest that it should be included in tertiary teacher education programs.

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 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.

본 연구는 새로운 소통의 도구로서 미디어의 중요성에 주목하며 비판적 미디어 리터러시(Critical media literacy: CML)와 소수자에 대한 국내외 연구 분석을 통해 CML교육을 디지털미디어 시대에 적합한 다문화교육의 한 대안으로 제시하고자 한다. 구체적인 연구 질문은 다음과 같다. 첫째, CML은 무엇이며 학교문해 교육에서 어떠한 의미를 가지는가? 둘째, 한국 다문화교육에서 미디어의 역할과 의미는 무엇인가? 셋째, 한국 다문화교육에서 비판적 CML교육이 가진 잠재력은 어떠한가? 본 논문에서는 먼저 미디어의 분석, 생산, 기술에 각각 중점을 둔 다양한 유형의 미디어 교육 접근법을 소개하고, 학교 안과 밖을 연결하는 미디어의 역할을 강조하면서 CML의 특성과 교수방법을 논의하였다. 그리고 한국사회에서 미디어를 통한 소수자 재현방식의 문제점, 미디어 교육의 비활성화, 미디어 관련 연구의 성과와 방향성의 문제 등을 짚어 보았다. 끝으로, 창조와 변혁의 주체로서 소수자를 재정의하고 CML의 경계 해체적 특징에 주목하며, CML 기반 다문화 교육은 기존 주류 미디어에 재현된 소수자에 대한 담론을 해체할 뿐 아니라 선주민과 이주민 모두의 다문화적 역량을 강화할 수 있음을 강조한다. 향후 CML기반 다문화 교육을 위한 제언과 다양한 후속 연구의 가능성을 제안하며 논문을 끝맺는다.