Critical thinking and critical pedagogy

Reflecting on critical thinking and critical pedagogy in LL2

As I was reading the Casanave , ch. 6, I was stricken by different views on critical pedagogy and critical thinking paradigm. If I had to take a stand, I would say that it is not easy for language teachers to look at language teaching as a neutral activity because language itself (at least English) has never been so. Not only must teachers help learners understand possible ideologies, hidden agendas that drive big languages, they also have to invite them to think about – thanks to their voice in their writing—contributing to positive social changes. Needless to mention big figures in varied domains of the human history who brought in great changes thanks to their written works. An illustrative example would be a glance at the list of Nobel literature prize winners over years. Moreover, by doing so, teachers have an opportunity to re-define and actively play their role in language education policies instead of being mere ‘soldiers’, docile servants of the system or ‘bureaucrats who follow orders unquestionably’( E. Shohamy, Language policy. Hidden agendas and new approaches, 2006, pp. 78-79)