Critical Literacy: A Universal Tool to Empower English Teachers and Learners

Abstract

Language teachers should not only facilitate learners to learn the language but also
facilitate them to realize that every day’s discourses, including language and education, are
socially constructed. This is where critical literacy (CL) plays its role as a frame through
which teachers can actively and autonomously participate in the world around them and
facilitate learners to be able to do so through learning instructions. CL functions as a
universal tool, like bricoleur, one can use to see numerous social phenomena from a critical
stance. It is a different way, lens, or teaching framework, believing that one should question
every day’s discourses instead of just accepting them as they are, with the ultimate goal of
promoting social justice. Hence, this paper explains the importance of CL in empowering
both teachers and learners, how it works to serve this purpose, and some practical
strategies of its implementation in a language class.