This article presents a summary of research conducted on the visual representation of indigenous cultures in four English textbooks produced for lower secondary schools with the aim of investigating the extent to which images of indigenous people contribute to, or contradict, the general cultural aims of the English language learning curriculum in Norway. Over 800 textbook images were analyzed using the methods of visual content analysis and semiotic image analysis. A qualitative analysis of two photomontages also provides a more holistic approach to the study and helps to more clearly explain the quantitative results. The results from the research show a strong trend to focus on traditional aspects of indigenous people, a tendency to represent indigenous people in a lower position of power than the viewer, and to distance the viewer. Comparatively, the images of white people more frequently invite the viewer to interact and empathize with the participants. Consequently, the research concludes that the images in the four EFL textbooks analyzed are, to a large degree, potential carries of ideologies in direct contradiction to the general cultural aims of English language learning in Norway. The implications of these findings are that images and how they position readers should be a part of EFL teaching.
This article provides a theoretical exploration of the connections between critical literacy and symbolic competence with some pedagogical examples from an empirical study. More specifically, we argue that critical literacy can be utilised as an approach to develop symbolic competence, and, by extension, encourage intercultural learning. Our interest is in teasing this out through a synthesis of ways of approaching intercultural learning through critical literacy. Drawing on four major critical literacy models, the article attempts to show how critical literacy can provide a basis for addressing symbolic competence as an essential part of intercultural learning in increasingly complex and super-diverse societies. The article concludes with some specific pedagogical implications for using critical literacy in the language classroom to foster the type of intercultural learning which takes into account the diversity between and within cultures, and the role of meaning-making in the creation and re-creation of cultures.
This article reports on a study that investigated Norwegian upper secondary pupils’ visual stereotypes, as well as their awareness of and willingness to challenge these stereotypes before and after participating in an educational intervention. In the intervention, critical visual literacy was introduced as one approach to teaching about culture in English foreign language (EFL) teaching. Over the course of 16 weeks, the pupils were engaged in tasks that required them to reflect on visual stereotypes embedded in commonplace ways of representing the world, the origins of these stereotypes, their socio-political consequences, and ways of promoting social justice through taking informed action. Focus group interviews conducted with 30 pupils before and after the intervention comprise the main data set for the current article. These were supplemented by texts produced by the pupils during the intervention. The results of the study showed that the pupils were less inclined to explicitly stereotype based on ethnicity or religion after the intervention. The pupils also displayed an increased awareness of stereotyping as a process, which led some of the groups to challenge specific stereotypes and one group to challenge the process of stereotyping in general. These findings are encouraging for EFL teaching, where one of the aims is to encourage greater understanding between people with different cultural backgrounds.
The aim of this article is to argue for the relevance of critical visual literacy (CVL) in relation to intercultural learning in ELT and present a redesign task that has been implemented with secondary school EFL learners in Norway. CVL is an approach to reading images which acknowledges that all texts are constructed, rather than neutral, and that they work to position the reader to accept a particular view of the world. Redesign tasks encourage learners to engage critically with these positions and create alternative texts that better reflect their personal worldviews. Through presenting examples of learner redesigns of a multimodal advertisement created in a different cultural context, we discuss how the task facilitated critical reading, exploration of multiple perspectives and engagement with sociopolitical issues. Such critical reading skills are crucial for navigating the increasingly more complex visual and intercultural landscapes the learners encounter in their everyday lives.
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