Page 78 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
dispositions137. Language in this view cannot be treated as a medium of communication but as a medium of communication and an instrument of thinking138, therefore learners should be able to use their linguistic repertoire during both linguistic and non-linguistic activities and be able to work in different languages .
Translingualism, which I have already mentioned in previous chapters, contradicts previously defined ways and methods of working. This concept is characterised by openness, practicality, a dialogical approach, sensitivity to the voice and interests of each learner, and an rejection of adopting a single, universal platform for all learners (Jordan, 2012; Canagarajah, 2014). This approach to learning is not new. Vygotsky's models of collaboration (Morita, 2004, pp. 573–603), participatory teaching (Auerbach, 1994, pp. 693–697), and scaffolding have been discussed for many years around the world, including in the context of second language teaching and learning (Lantolf & Thorne 2006). Translingualism, like many critical educators, rejects the use of commercially produced textbooks for language education. Crawford (1978) argues that such materials relieve the learner of responsibility and the opportunity to be creative and active in the language learning process. Publishers' produced language learning materials do not take into account learners' individual language biographies. Canagajarah (2007) refers to language biographies as life narratives – translingual processes in relation to the local context in which language learning takes place139. In this view, language learning should enable the development of personal linguistic competence characterised by a high level of linguistic awareness – critical reflection through co-construction of communicative situations and full empowerment in the process of semiosis – meaning construction (Wilczyńska, 2002, pp. 51–67). The process that allows learners to understand how form and content are combined in the target language, how utterances and texts are constructed, and enables them to achieve communicative goals and narratives that represent their own experiences, was described as early as 1992 by Valdman and called pedagogical grammars, the variable pedagogical norm (Valdman, 1992, pp. 79–97). Citing this theory, Kramsch (2002, pp. 59–80) proposed that it be used with multilinguals.
Crookes (2009) posits that the application of the practical elements of critical pedagogy to second language education and the development of sample language education materials for teachers could contribute to increasing diversity in the classroom and help teachers to become familiar with theories of language education as viewed by critical pedagogy. In addition to sample materials, a framework containing the main principles to be taken into account when designing educational materials could be helpful for teachers and authors of educational materials. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of research related to the development of critical pedagogy materials (Crookes, 2009). After all, there are known cases in the world of creating teaching materials for foreign language learning through the lens of critical pedagogy, specifically critical literacy. One such case is the course written for the Ministry of Education in Brazil by Jordão and Fogaça from the Federal University of Paraná in 2005. The course dealt with English and Spanish as foreign languages. It was a pioneering initiative in Brazil, through which teaching materials were to be introduced in state schools in the southern part of the country (Jordão & Fogaça, 2012). I should add that the publication of the course never happened. The course
137Joldersma & Deakin-Crick, 2012, p. 171.
138 The theory refers to the Reflective-Constructivist Model by B. D. Gołębniak (2019), based on broadly understood progressivist and humanistic foundations, and enriched with didactic implications of L. Vygotsky and J. Bruner. A similar idea, only that in the form of an interpretative-constructivist paradigm, intended to contribute to developmental change in students, was expressed in her book by D. Klus-Stańska (2018).
139 Lier (2010) also writes about this.
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