Globalization, Corporatism, and Critical Language Education

This article explores the impacts of economic and cultural globalization on language and language education. It acknowledges the spread of English and the negative impacts of this upon other languages and language communities. The case is made that new conditions of economic dominance by multinational corporations raise the stakes for schooling and language education. These conditions have established a "new Latin" of technocratic English that services and obscures the corporate order. It argues for the continuing importance of the state and state schooling and the expansion of the definitions and practices of critical language and literacy education.

Recent developments in artificial intelligence have resulted in significantly increased interest and concerns regarding its application in language education. However, research is limited regarding the implications of using artificial intelligence–assisted language learning to foster the democratisation of language education in the new global context. For this purpose, this chapter examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of artificial intelligence–assisted language learning, analysing 60 articles published between 2013 and 2023. As for the strengths, findings show that these tools are accessible and practical for users, promote social equality, and facilitate personalised learning. Regarding the weaknesses, they are unequally accessible and restricted to standard language uses, have accessibility problems concerning age and disabilities, and require adequate digital skills. Several opportunities are also identified, such as the support of ubiquitous, adaptive, flexible learning and the provision of settings where access to native speakers is not possible. Conversely, these tools also require high financial investment and present limited accessibility. Ultimately, the chapter encourages the use of artificial intelligence to support all types of students and improve a pluralistic, democratic, and critical language education in the new global context.

Reflexivity is often treated as a sign of methodological rigor meant to signal being “serious” (e.g., rational, careful, credible) while leaving the politics of knowledge-making intact. This article argues that reflexivity is central to critical language education because it recenters the who of representation: who speaks, from where, with what responsibilities, and toward which ethical ends. We conceptualize reflexivity as a lifelong praxis with four entangled facets (i.e., positioning, criticality, awareness, reciprocity) and situate this praxis within Indigenous-informed orientations that foreground relational accountability and the de/re-centering of the self. Tracing reflexivity across critical, feminist, contemplative, and Indigenous epistemic traditions, we critique Western Cartesian logics that privilege objectivity, binary reason, and extractive representation, including the ontological severance of humans from nature. Against epistemic demands for coherence and neutrality, we argue that reflexivity reframes messiness, contradiction, and in-betweenness as evidence of power, history, and entanglement rather than problems to be resolved. We also model reflexivity through disclosures of complex transnational and mixed-race positionalities as ethical labor that unsettles who is authorized to know in language education. We conclude that reflexivity is an ongoing practice of unlearning and relearning that ethically reorients language education amid persistent coloniality and rapidly changing ecologies.

Based on an ethnographic research study involving Brazilian teachers from different educational contexts in the city of Salvador, Brazil, this paper aims to approach and discuss the dialogic relationship between critical pedagogy and language education, within the context of English as a global lingua franca. The main goal of the original work was to investigate how EFL teachers see themselves as language professionals in the contemporary world, how aware they are of the implications related to the condition of English as an international language or a global lingua franca, and to what extent they conceive teaching the language under a critical intercultural pedagogy. Data were generated through a questionnaire, class observation sessions, and video recordings of semi-structured group interviews in which issues like the globality of English, culture teaching, interculturality, and critical (language) pedagogy were approached and debated. Results have shown that participants are aware of the implications of the global status of English and that teaching the language in these current times cannot happen in a neutral and/or uncritical way. It was also revealed that teachers find difficult to systematize the teaching of culture in their EFL classes, as much as it is challenging for them to see themselves as critical intercultural professionals who can engage in critical pedagogy in their specific educational settings.

Research in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), that is the medium of communication between people who come from different linguacultural backgrounds, has created a rich body of work in various areas. This article focuses on a more recent development of this research for teachers and teacher educators in the perspective of critical language education (CLE). We explore how ELF research, both the linguistic/discourse-oriented one and the pedagogic-oriented one, can benefit from its links to CLE, with its understanding of teaching for social change. We then refer to aspects of critical transformative theory that become relevant in designing and implementing ELF-aware teacher education programmes, focusing especially on three recursive (non-linear) components, i.e. the phase of exposure, the phase of critical awareness and the phase of development of actions that teachers can implement in their teaching. We finish by exploring the critical role of assessment in language education and conclude by inviting teachers and educators to become involved in ELF research for CLE.

This paper focuses on the use of Basque as the language of instruction. In the first part of the article the situation of Basque in the Basque Country is briefly described and the different possibilities regarding the language(s) of instruction are explained: model A with Spanish as the language of instruction and Basque as a subject; model B with both Basque and Spanish as languages of instruction and model D with Basque as the language of instruction and Spanish as a subject. Then, the results of research studies comparing these three models regarding achievement in Basque, Spanish and other areas of the curriculum are analysed. Finally the article considers the new challenges the Basque educational system is facing. One of these challenges is the need to go from bilingual education to multilingual education by teaching in a more effective way languages of wider communication. Another recent challenge is multiculturalism as a response to the increasing immigrant population which is a new phenomenon in the Basque educational system. The need for a more holistic approach towards multilingualism both in teaching and research is proposed so as to face these new challenges.

This article reports an interview with Michael Byram, Professor Emeritus, University of Durham in the United Kingdom, during his visit to Argentina in September 2011. Michael Byram is one of the main international referents in intercultural education. The interview addresses issues such as language education, intercultural and citizenship education, education in general, formal schooling, critical pedagogies, political and economic factors involved in education, teacher education and research in education, among others. Even though Byram specializes in foreign language education and focuses upon language education in particular at certain moments in the interview, the connection with other subjects in the school curriculum surfaces at all times, as does the connection with general aspects of education, which are relevant to all the actors involved in this field. This interview is framed within current understandings of the cultural dimension of language education and education in general. In order to introduce the reader to this framework, the article first addresses the connection between language and culture in a historical perspective, which makes Byram's work relevant to all educators (not only language educators). It goes on to provide an outline of Byram's model of intercultural competence for the description of cultural understanding. Topics of general interest emerge such as the role of emotion, affect and imagination in education as well as the interconnection among culture, language, imagination and literature – something that Byram and his colleagues have put forth. The discussion is permeated by identity issues which are involved in the learning and teaching of any language, and in the learning and teaching, in a given language, of any discipline. The centrality of language in education becomes manifest, and consequently the relevance of Byram's work to all the actors involved in education in one way or another. Throughout the political and ideological dimensions of education are touched upon, along with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of the various theoretical considerations addressed in the article.

Objective – Library anxiety experienced by students has been discussed extensively for many decades. While the phenomenon is widely recognized, little attention has been paid to seeing its specific effect on marginalized sections of the society. The study attempts to understand the library anxiety experienced by students at three different universities in Assam. Assam is the only state in Northeast India to have private, state, and central universities. These universities draw their student populations from several different hill states in Northeast India, all of which face significant socio-political-economic challenges. Methods – A stratified random sample technique was used for the study. A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed equally among the three universities in Assam and found 119 questionnaires were fit for analysis. The study adopted the modified and validated version of the Bostick Library Anxiety Scale developed by Anwar, Al-Kandari, and Al-Qallaff (AQAK) in 2004, with 32 item statements and 4 categories. The questionnaire is divided into two parts: Demographic Variables and the Library Anxiety Scale. The categories used for the study were: Category 1 (Staff Approachability) – 11 statements; Category 2 (Feelings of Inadequacy) – 6 statements); Category 3 (Library Confidence) – 8 statements; and Category 4 (Library Constraints) – 7 statements. Results – The study hypothesized that factors such as gender, the language of instruction, type of university, and caste or community do not influence library anxiety among Northeast India students. However, the study's findings suggest that type of university influences library anxiety among students and its three constructs. Tezpur university students experience a higher level of library anxiety. Although no overall significant difference in the level of library anxiety was observed among students across gender (p=0.278, p> 0.05), the language of instruction (p=0.023, p> 0.05), castes and communities (p=0.223, p> 0.05), there was a significant difference in one construct of library anxiety among students based on gender (feelings of inadequacy), the language of education instruction (staff approachability), caste and community (feelings of inadequacy). Conclusions – Results from the present study provided compelling evidence to suggest that many students, irrespective of their gender, the language of instruction, type of university, discipline, and caste or community experience library anxiety. The difference levels of library anxiety among independent variables indicate a critical lack of information literacy skills. Overall, library anxiety scores among the students were moderate; some categories such as staff approachability, the feeling of inadequacy, and library constraint are the attributes of the students' anxiety. However, the findings of the study also suggest that students are confident in using the library. They are optimistic, enthusiastic, and keen to use library resources.

This article examines the historical and contemporary relevance of critical pedagogy for language education in the digital age. Grounded in Paulo Freire’s conception of education as the practice of freedom, it traces the global evolution of this pedagogical tradition and discusses its encounters with digital technologies and artificial intelligence. Drawing on a conceptual, literature-based analytical approach, the article articulates a clearer research focus by examining how critical literacy, critical digital literacy, and emerging forms of critical AI literacy can inform language learning in technologically mediated contexts. Within this landscape, we explore how AI-based activities can support reflective engagement and serve as mediating resources for contextualized, interest-driven language learning connected to students’ realities. Rather than presenting empirical cases, we propose a pedagogical framework grounded in critical pedagogy for analyzing and designing AI-mediated language practices. Building on Freirean traditions of dialogue, praxis, and critical consciousness, we argue that engaging with AI and digital media, through analysis and pedagogical design, can open new spaces for inquiry and dialogue in language teacher education. The aim is to foreground how critical pedagogy can guide ethical, dialogic, and humanizing approaches to language education in digitally and algorithmically saturated contexts.

While the main focus of national policy and research has continued to be on foreign language teaching, in the past two decades increasing attention has been given to heritage language learners and to the development of pedagogies which address their particular needs as well as the opportunities available to them. This chapter will chart general developments in language pedagogy beyond communicative language teaching noting both the degree to which they might be considered to apply to both foreign language and heritage language learning and where there are important distinctions to be made. Reference will be made here to groundbreaking work by Claire Kramsch and to the distinction she draws between communicative and subjective/symbolic competence in both language learning and use. It will then go on to set out a number of developments which are proving to have particular significance in the heritage language context, including interdisciplinary perspective (Content-Based Instruction –/Content and Language Integrated Learning –/Project-Based Language Learning ); intercultural/transcultural language learning perspective; multilingual, translanguaging perspective; learner agency and identity investment perspective; multisemiotic and intertextual perspective; digital technology perspective; arts perspective; decolonising, activist citizenship perspective. Finally, it will be argued that, taken as a whole, these developments provide a robust foundation for (a) a much more unified and democratic/ pluralist view of language and literacy education, (b) the development of dialogue between specialists across the spectrum of language education and indeed across the curriculum and (c) fostering closer collaboration between mainstream and community-based sectors.

The study presented in this contribution examines attitudes towards critical foreign language teaching among pre-service and in-service Spanish teachers in Germany within the EU-funded CRITERION project. Drawing on critical pedagogy, critical literacy, and critical discourse analysis, the project aims to integrate social justice and sustainable development perspectives into Spanish language education. Employing a constructivist grounded theory approach, data were collected through interviews, field notes, and questionnaires from university seminars and teacher workshops. The analysis reveals a spectrum of attitudes, ranging from enthusiasm for critical approaches to concerns about institutional constraints and implementation challenges. The study contributes to understanding the challenges of implementing critical language teaching, offering insights into teacher attitudes, institutional factors, and the potential for transformative (Spanish) language education.

It is a truism that language plays a pivotal role in learning and hence in empowering individuals to be both producers and consumers of knowledge. It is likewise obviously true that the choice of the language(s) of instruction has been a thorny issue in Africa since its former colonies gained their political independence. Prejudice and confusion about the role and potential of Africa’s indigenous languages to act as suitable languages of instruction persist and have resulted in these languages being viewed as barriers to successful learning and hence relegated to the back seat with the former colonial languages primarily being the preferred language of instruction. Ouane (2010), drawing on UNESCO’s 2004 Global Monitoring Report on Education for All, which underscores the choice of the language of instruction and language policy in schools as critical for effective learning, argues that low-quality education and the marginalisation of the African continent can be linked to its language in education practices:

The topic of this paper is literacy education and reading engagement in multilingual classes. What facilitates reading engagement in the language of instruction in multilingual classes? In this paper, we analyze reading engagement in a literature-based literacy program in Norway (2007–2011). The design was a research and development project in which teachers, researchers, and librarians collaborated within literacy education. We present pedagogical interventions within the project and analyze subsequent reading engagement among the students, based on a survey. The survey documented that the overwhelming majority of students were engaged readers two years into the project, measured by the students’ amount and frequency of voluntary reading, their attitudes towards reading and library use. The findings indicate that reading engagement in the language of instruction among both first- and second-language learners was facilitated by literature-based literacy education, nonsegregated educational provisions and use of library resources. The study shows that literature-based literacy education may reduce possible negative effects of low socioeconomic status and linguistic minority background on reading engagement in the language of instruction. This requires literacy education, which gives students extensive access to books, voluntary reading of fiction and facts and sharing of literacy events and library use.

Medical education in a multilingual and multicultural world

This study investigates how critical intercultural pedagogy, creative arts methods, inspired by new materialism, can support new forms of language and intercultural learning in contexts of conflict. Columbian university scholarship recipients in pre-service English language education from disadvantaged backgrounds, co-research alongside the researcher/educator to develop drama games for language and intercultural learning directed at teachers and learners in the students' home communities. The transformative, collaborative research approach, drawing on critical pedagogy and ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’, aims to decentre language and intercultural communication education, and promote a social activist stance among students in the face of local and global uncertainties.