PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 179-190 179 Towards a Discourse for Criticism in Language Teach ing: Analysis of Sociocultural Representations in Mass Media Hacia un discurso para la crítica en la enseñanza de la lengua: análisis de representaciones socioculturales en medios de comunicación Margarita Rosa Vargas Torres* Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Colombia This article states that in order to exercise citizenship with responsibility, language teach ers need to popularize a discourse for criticism in which students and teach ers transcend tacit knowledge and common sense due to meta-cognition and argumentation and reach systematic knowledge and pro- cedures posed by experts in the different disciplines. As illustrated inside, the source and objective of analysis by means of which this discourse can be contextualized in language teach ing is the language of mass media and all the sociocultural and signifying practices that it invokes. We conclude that through the analysis of mass media it is possible to educate students with the basic knowledge and skills neces- sary to interact critically in the world. Key words: Discourse for criticism, citizenship, public counter-sphere, mass media. El artículo plantea que, con el propósito de ejercer su ciudadanía, los maestros de lenguas deben popularizar un discurso para la crítica en el cual los estudiantes y los profesores trasciendan el conocimiento tácito y el sentido común mediante la argumentación y la metacognición, y alcancen conocimiento y procedimientos sistemáticos planteados por expertos en las diferentes disciplinas. Como se ilustra en el texto, la fuente y objeto de análisis mediante el cual se contextualiza este discurso en la enseñanza de la lengua es el lenguaje de los medios de comunicación y las prácticas socioculturales y de significación que este provoca. Concluimos que a través del análisis de los medios es posible educar a los estudiantes con conocimientos y habilidades básicas necesarias para interactuar en el mundo. Palabras clave: discurso para la crítica, ciudadanía, contraesfera pública, medios de comunicación. * E-mail: margaritarvt@hotmail.com This article was received on November 4, 2009, and accepted on April 6, 2010. 180 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Vargas Torres Introduction Nowadays foreign language learning is a broadly discussed subject in academic settings due to the national policies that aim to have a bilin- gual Colombia by the year 2019. This discussion is given in the frame of economic internationaliza- tion and tries to respond to the demands of the era of globalization and the increasing development of the industries of communication that circulate knowledge in the foreign language. However, policymakers do not seem to be inter- ested in the complexities of our educational system that has very heterogeneous contexts. These con- texts go from those bilingual schools attended by students of middle classes, mainly who have a high socioeconomic status and live in an academic envi- ronment due to their parents’ educational level. They have opportunities to go abroad and experience the culture of the target language. These students have what Bourdieu (1967) calls cultural capital and could have good possibilities of social mobility. The other group corresponds to those students of public schools. Within this group there is also a wide range of varieties. Students belonging to it do not have the mentioned cultural capital because they come from communities that are at risk, with many socioeconomic problems, with an average language exposure time of 3 hours a week without extra practice outside the classroom. They live in a non-academic environment because their parents and relatives are not professional and their socio- cultural environment experience is one of violence, exclusion, discrimination and poverty. Their oppor- tunities to go abroad are scarce or non-existent. From my point of view, an English teach er in the Colombian context has the ultimate objective of generating the conditions for all students to think, value, and act with responsibility in the exercise of their citizenship, understood as the awareness of the obligations and rights that citizens have in the public sphere1. Students and teach ers need to be able to have clear positions about the hetero- geneous situation described before and manifested in issues of public interest such as displacement, pollution, discrimination, and elections. A Discourse for Criticism to Achieve the Construction of the Public Counter-Sphere The thesis that I defend in this article is that in order to exercise citizenship with responsibil- ity, teach ers need to popularize a discourse for criticism in which, thanks to meta-cognition and argumentation, students and teach ers transcend tacit knowledge and common sense and achieve systematic knowledge and procedures used by experts in different disciplines. In my view, the source and objective of analysis by means of which this discourse can be contextualized in language teach ing is the language of mass media and all the sociocultural and signifying practices that it in- vokes. Through the analysis of mass media it is possible to help students think critically i.e. pro- vide them with the basic knowledge and skills nec- essary to interact in the world they have to live in and enable them to interpret the intention of the messages sent by the industries of communication. There has been a trend of thinking whose main interest is working for the popularization of the discourse of criticism. For instance, Giroux (1990) states that there are two basic conditions for popular pedagogy to be real: one is having a language of crit- icism (concepts and meta-concepts to be selective, documented and informed) and the other is having a language of possibility (recognition of opportuni- 1 The concept of public sphere is taken from Eagleton (2001) and is understood as the collective commitment of citizens with the democratization of society. The public sphere or counter-sphere as he calls it is the association of a documented public opinion able to op- pose dominant ideologies with justified reasons. PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 179-190 181 Towards a Discourse for Criticism in Language Teaching... ties that can give origin to new, alternative projects) and both exist in the context of schools taken as cul- tural institutions in which the social surpasses the individual and education is considered a public dis- course. In the same direction, Gee (1989) states that for literacy to be critical and liberating, students need to be involved in a secondary discourse (addi- tional to the primary discourse commonly learned at schools through formal instruction) that goes be- yond instrumental practices and that contests and opposes dominant discourses. Gee (2002) continues explaining that in order to achieve more documented and informed ar- guments, this discourse has to popularize the language and procedures used by experts in the evaluation of problems of knowledge. Thus, it requires a meta-language (concepts, values, at- titudes) particular of the community using it. In the case of language teach ing from a sociocultural perspective concerned with the analysis of cultural manifestations coming from mass media, this dis- course would contain concepts such as culture, discrimination, diversity, inclusion, exclusion, bias, fallacies, argumentation, power, hegemony, ideology, identity and difference, among others. This discourse is to be used inside and outside the classroom, in public forums, in research reports, in film clubs, and in any academic practices that contend for the analysis of media. From this perspective, language teach ers should start understanding students’ conceptions, ideas, and ways of learning in order to grasp the way students think and their subjectivity in lan- guage teach ing. Research in this field should be promoted by educational institutions. However, as Bruner (2000) explains, knowing students’ ideas is not enough. It is necessary to know what students think about the way they learn and the reasons for doing it. This is the meta-cognitive gift that leads students to self-regulate their learning, to be auton- omous and to monitor the way they learn. This also has an advantage and it is that students think about knowledge, about how it is produced, its logic and they gain skills to identify bias in its production. Bruner (2000) suggests following a contrastive approach aimed to reach procedures of experts. In the first place, students’ common sense, sub- jectivity, wishes, and affective implications should be approached because that is where systematic knowledge is rooted. As Lipman (1987), Bruner also asserts that children are able to understand abstract issues and to follow logical patterns in order to acquire knowledge. Traditionally, it has been believed that students learn by imitating adults, by self-initiating practices and by didactic exposure. However, Bruner (2000) highlights another aspect that is very relevant in the construction of a discourse for criticism and cannot be neglected: the importance of interaction, solidar- ity, collective aims, dialogue and inclusion. This last one is understood as recognition and respect for dif- ference in communities. Teach ers and students con- tending for the creation of a public counter-sphere need to have collective alternative projects. Bruner explains that from very early stages children need to look at their mothers, to interact and to form part of a group. To explain this insight, he reports an experience in the United States in which a group of educators worked with communities at risk and were able to reduce the rates of criminality, raise the intelligence quotient (IQ), and increase inclusion and integration. This was a collective and collabora- tive project in which students had a clear problem to solve (oil spilling) and they aimed to reach a final product (addressing multinational companies with a proposal) by means of argumentation, collabora- tion and commitment. In the previous experience there are three fun- damental issues for my proposal: argumentation, collaboration and project-work (Harris, 2003; 182 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Vargas Torres Jolibert, 2003; Lipman, 1987; Perelman, 1988; Vy- gotsky, 1978). The first one has to do with the de- velopment of procedures for students to identify fallacies or weak arguments, and to question them with counter-arguments supported by reasons that can be obtained independently or with the help of others. The second is about the cooperation of students working together and encouraged by the wish to achieve shared goals that have to be pur- sued collaboratively. Finally, the third one deals with students solving a problem that requires the consultation of different sources and the develop- ment of a plan with stages and steps that require being followed systematically in order to answer a question or achieve a common goal. The idea is that by using procedures and a dis- course for criticism, teach ers and students start varied projects in which debate and reasoning about mass media take place in tolerant, democratic, chal- lenging and demanding environments which pave the way for the creation of a counter-public sphere able to oppose the way in which cultural industries shape ideologies, ways of thinking, and acting. A Discourse for Criticism in Language Education: The Analysis of Sociocultural Representations in Mass Media Figure 1 outlines the main strategies suggested in this section in order to implement a pedagogi- cal proposal toward the construction of a critical discourse in language learning and teach ing. The diagram shows that without neglecting students’ subjectivities, identities and signifying practices, and through critical analysis of socio-cultural representations of mass media, teach ers can create discursive practices leading to interaction, collaboration and argumentation that question dominant ideologies and promote democratic, committed and inclusive ways of student thinking. The proposal is that mass media comprise the text which gives context within the classroom. In ad- dition, the symbolic, ideological and subtle com- plexity of its messages makes it worthy of analysis. This methodology has the purpose of identifying stereotypes, biases, fallacies, and prejudices. It also allows going to denotative, connotative and ideo- logical levels of interpretation about marginal cul- tural manifestations so that students and teach ers can build social, alternative projects. This paper proposes using mass media for the text to be analyzed and meaningful context to provoke critical analysis in language learning and teach ing processes. But, why mass media? Because in mass media the symbolic and the political are connected and through them it is possible to un- derstand the way students feel, think and act; that is, students’ identity. If a public counter-sphere with an alternative proposal for education is able to appeal to students’ subjectivities, affective im- plications and signifying practices, it can consti- tute a strong political force in the field of education (Eagleton, 1984). Critical thinking is a source for teach ers and students to defend themselves against the manipulations of mass media and to Pedagogical strategies Autonomous and critical students committed to the transformation of society Build a public counter-sphere based on mass media analysis Consider students’ subjectivities, identities and signifying practices Build social projects cooperatively and collaboratively Approach denotative, connotative and ideological levels of analysis Reverse stereotypes Visibilize marginal cultural manifestations Figure 1. Towards a discourse for criticism in language classrooms. PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 179-190 183 Towards a Discourse for Criticism in Language Teaching... react conscientiously, but also it is a tool for iden- tifying students’ signifying practices (Bernstein, 1996; Gee, 2005; Gee & Allen, 2001). Consequently, students require analytical tools to question and read these texts critically. The pro- cedures include reversing stereotypes by means of transcoding and approaching denotative, conno- tative and ideological levels of analysis; designing social and interdisciplinary projects that will allow students to work collaboratively; and selecting ma- terials that introduce alternative cultural manifes- tations in the classroom. Hall (2003) states that the terrain of cultural studies to which media analysis belongs is an open field for teach ers as intellectuals to contribute to the democratization of society. This is due to the fact that recalling Gramsci’s words (1976), “in a bourgeois democracy, hegemony is accomplished by means of persuasion and consent of the mar- ginal or contesting groups of society and not only by force and authority of the dominant classes” (p .80). Therefore, it is argued that cultural indus- tries have to consider the reactions, preferences, and identities of marginal communities in order to be hegemonic in Gramscian terms. In this sense, Fiske’s contributions (1987) toward the theory of reception are valid. He explains that television audiences are not passive and participate actively in the cycle of communication; they are consum- ers but with their reactions, they circulate mean- ings, and can even become producers. In language learning, the agency of students is evidenced when they select the language and style they want to use to present their arguments. In many cases, they have to contest or struggle with academ- ic discourses and choose their own rhetoric or style, thus constituting themselves performatively through discourse (Canagarajah, 1999). Hall (2003) illustrates this situation with the reversal that British producers had to make on the decision of ending with the series Cagney and Lacey (Barbara & Barbara, 1982) because, suppos- edly, one of the characters promoted lesbian be- haviour. The women’s movement in Great Britain campaigned against this measure because they loved seeing women playing the roles of men and the series continued being broadcast. As such, there are different manifestations of audiences e.g. slash literature that lead producers to respond to audi- ence preferences. Hall (2003) and Van Dijk (1997) also suggest different procedures for identifying and reversing stereotypes or false generalizations about given communities as they are presented in popular culture (films, publicity, television, press, internet, etc.). One is trans-coding or re-signifying previous beliefs that students may have. For example, in a language class the problem of racism in the United States can be approached by appealing to denotative and connotative levels of the language. Appendix 1 illustrates other meth- odological proposals or language teach ing activi- ties that can be used in the language classroom to put into practice a socio-cultural perspective on language teach ing. Students are provided with im- ages of black people taken from different sources that entail elements of history, geography, and culture as they are presented in mass media. For example, with the analysis of the images of black people in photography such as the ones presented in the British Press (Hall, 2003) in films such as Bowling for Columbine (Moore, 2002) on televi- sion and in advertising, students start describing them denotatively by referring to the explicit el- ements in those artifacts. Then, in a process of argumentation, students describe them conno- tatively, reporting on contextual elements, emo- tions, meanings of images, etc., and, finally, they have to reach the ideological level in which they have to identify political elements related to power relationships and their consequences for society. 184 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Vargas Torres Different projects about the diversity of language in Anglo-speaking countries and in Colombia can give origin to alternative projects that deal with the problem of identity and difference. In this context, the analysis of cultural mani- festations of mass media, the heterogeneity within and across schools can be managed by taking ad- vantage of the contact that all students have with the views and perspectives that circulate on tele- vision, radio, publicity, newspapers and all those sources of mass media that Hall (2003) calls popu- lar culture2. To enable students to be critical of all the messages that mass media are permanently sending is a teach er’s obligation that we cannot ne- glect. The information coming from these sources is a medium with which to contextualize language topics by making them meaningful and attractive. A didactic trend that has had great importance in the implementation of foreign language learn- ing programs is the project-work methodology (Harris, 2003; Jolibert, 2003). This practice encom- passes a sociocultural perspective because it fo- cuses on meaning and language use rather than on form. This approach facilitates an interdisciplin- ary perspective because different subject matters are taught in the foreign language, and transversal projects that integrate a problem of knowledge can be introduced. For example, the problem of pollu- tion could be seen from different disciplines, such as social studies, sciences and language; conse- quently, multiple sources have to be consulted and reported inter-textually. In this sense, the selection of pedagogical ma- terial for language teach ing and for any area of knowledge has ideological and political implica- tions. Whether teach ers are aware or not of these implications, any time they select given material 2 Popular culture is understood as artifacts produced indus- trially and that are received massively by social groups (Hall, 2003). they are opting ideologically. In her article about the construction of identity in bilingual schools, Truscott (2002) reports that children in bilingual schools have stereotyped views about British, American and Colombian citizens. They believe that the British are polite, educated, red-haired, and drink much tea, and Americans are superficial and their views about Colombians are quite negative (irresponsible, not very honest, etc.). These perceptions might be the consequence of ste- reotyped instruction understood as the repeated false generalization of partial features of those peo- ple who shape a hegemonized ideology3, consider- ing no other possibility than the values fostered by the people with power in the society. A proposal towards bilingualism should take into account varied material and those marginal manifestations should be fore-grounded because the messages that circulate among the industries of communication and that are received massively by our students are partial, biased and homog- enized. They belong to and represent the domi- nant ideology. Students face them spontaneously and most of the time are permeated by their influ- ence and repeat uncritically what the media show. Mass media have a double function: cognitive and ideological. With mass media people are informed (cognitive level), but they are also persuaded, ma- nipulated and led to feel a particular way (ideo- logical level). It is necessary to incorporate the possibility to contrast and make visible what mass media hide. For example, commercial movies from Holly- wood should be contrasted with alternative expres- sions that show how minorities in Anglo-speaking countries live, feel and value. For instance, Tamahori 3 The concept of ideology as it is being used in this paper is that of Van Dijk (1999). It has to do with the principles upon which beliefs, social representations and ways of interpreting the world are constructed. PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 179-190 185 Towards a Discourse for Criticism in Language Teaching... (1994) portrays the life of a marginal community in the movie Once Were Warriors (about the Maoris in New Zealand). Other examples are those of Parker (1999) in Angela’s Ashes, about poor people in Ireland; or Lee (1989) in Do the Right Thing, a controversial movie about racism in the United States. This kind of stories can be useful to question students’ perspectives and reverse stereo- typed views that have been shaped by the domi- nant ideology shown in commercial movies. Additionally, music and its juvenile varieties can be another source of analysis. Language class- rooms have to be open to students’ likes and expec- tations and debates and discussions about them so that students are invited to bring, present, analyze and defend their favorite bands in front of their classmates, regardless of the genre they choose. The rest of the class must tolerate and respect their classmates’ preferences. Some activities that can be implemented in lan- guage classrooms from a socio-cultural perspective have to do with the use of the ability that Lomas (1999) calls semiological competence; that is, read ing images and interpreting the polyphonic and poly- semic messages of mass media, mainly publicity. He suggests that teach ers should unfold a meth- odology to identify aspects such as denotation and connotation. It means starting from the descrip- tive, general level of explicit elements in images. At this level, consensus is easily reached. Students are given an image of publicity and have to enumer- ate the general and evident characteristics. For in- stance, some features could be an evening dress or a woman wearing make-up who is slim, beautiful, etc. And then they have to go to the stage of the con- notative level in which students are to express their feelings and emotions towards the pictures and give the conventional value assigned by our culture to those elements; for example, the evening dress means ‘elegance’ and the make-up, vanity. Mórtola (2001) includes the ideological level in this analysis. At this stage, students can ap- proach issues regarding female roles in society, sex, gender or male chauvinism, for example. It is im- portant that, depending on the proficiency level of the students and their socio-cultural backgrounds, the teach er has to grade the complexity of the task, select the language items to be used, determine a scoring system coherent with the methodology and the complexity of the task. If necessary, code switching can be used with beginners but without losing the perspective that the most important issues in the activity are meaning, language use and cultural awareness. Conclusion This paper has proposed a comparative ap- proach to media discourse that starts from students’ personal views, feelings and emotions and continues with analysis and interpretation of mass media contents. Students may thus develop criti- cal thinking skills and tolerance towards opposing views. This process fulfills one of the main respon- sibilities of education: giving students strong social and participatory skills to react, interpret and make reasonable decisions in a society that demands se- lective citizens with autonomy of opinion. The insights presented imply a view that lan- guage classrooms must go beyond teach ing the four communicative skills. Teach ers are to create a dem- ocratic environment for all students in which a par- ticipatory model of language, didactics and culture that takes mass media representations as sources of information and analysis is implemented. For this reason, an academic approach to media discourse is necessary to understand its language and look at its contents critically, with the view that the overall education of our students for language teach ing cannot neglect this responsibility. 186 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Vargas Torres Throughout this paper we have defended the idea that teaching a language is teach ing a cul- ture, a way of living, acting and valuing, and our responsibility as English teach ers is to create a trend of thought that can counteract instrumental perspectives in language teach ing and contrib- ute to the transformation of society and the gen- eration of alternative projects. This can only be achieved by working collectively and collabora- tively, making real Freire’s assertion (1989) that every educative act is also political, which in this context means that instrumental views in language teach ing have been proved insufficient and more integral perspectives committed to the transfor- mation of society are required. References Barbara, A., & Barbara, C. (1982). Cagney and Lacey [Tele- vision broadcast]. United States: CBS Broadcasting. Bernstein, B. (1996). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique. London: Taylor and Francis. Bourdieu, P. (1967). Los estudiantes y la cultura. Barcelona: Editorial Labor. Bruner, J. (2000). La educación, puerta de la cultura. Madrid: Visor Distribuciones. Canagarajah, S. (1999). On EFL teach ers, awareness, and agency. ELT Journal, 53(3), 207-214. Eagleton, T. (1984). The function of criticism. London: Verso. Eagleton, T. (2001). La idea de cultura: una mirada política sobre los conflictos. Barcelona: Paidós. Fiske, J. (1987). Television culture. New York: Methuen. Freire, P. (1989). Alfabetización: lectura de la palabra y lec- tura de la realidad. Barcelona: Ediciones Paidós. Gee, J. P. (1989). Literacy, discourse and linguistics. Journal of Education, 171(1), 5-17. Gee, J. P. (2002). El nuevo orden laboral: lo que se oculta tras el lenguaje del neocapitalismo. Maçanet de la Selva: Ediciones Pomares. Gee, J. P. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London: Routledge. Gee, J. P., & Allen, A. R. (2001). Language, class and identity: Teenagers fashioning themselves through language. Linguistics and Education, 12(2), 175-194. Giroux, H. (1990). Los profesores como intelectuales: hacia una pedagogía crítica del aprendizaje. Barcelona: Paidós. Gramsci, A. (1976). La alternativa pedagógica. Barcelona: Editorial Nova Terra. Hall, S. (2003). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: The Open University. Harris, J. (2003). Literacy and project work. Illinois: Mid- west Association for the Education of Young Children. Jolibert, J. (2003). Formar niños productores de textos. San- tiago de Chile: J. C. Saez. Lee, S. (Director). (1989). Do the right thing [Film]. United States. 40 Acres & Mule Filmworks. Lipman, M. (1987). Thinking in education. New York: Cam- bridge University Press. Lomas, C. (1999) Cómo enseñar a hacer cosas con las pala- bras: teoría y práctica de la educación lingüística. Bar- celona: Paidós. Moore, M. (Director). (2002). Bowling for Columbine [Film]. United States: United Artists / Alliance Atlantis. Mórtola, G. (2001). Estrategias para explorar los medios de comunicación: la formación de ciudadanos críticos. Buenos Aires: Novedades Educativas. Parker, A. (Director). (1999). Angela’s ashes [Film]. United States: Universal Pictures. Perelman, C. (1988). El imperio retórico: retórica y argu- mentación. Bogotá: Editorial Norma. Tamahori, L. (Director). (1994). Once were warriors [Film]. New Zealand: Fine Line Features. Truscott de Mejía, A. M. (2002). Power, prestige and bilin- gualism: international perspectives on elite bilingual education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Van Dijk, T. A. (1997). Racismo y análisis crítico de los medios. Barcelona: Paidós. Van Dijk, T. A. (1999). Ideología. Una aproximación multi- disciplinaria. Barcelona: Gedisa. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 179-190 187 Towards a Discourse for Criticism in Language Teaching... About the Author Margarita Rosa Vargas Torres is an English teach er at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. She holds a Masters in Education with emphasis on university teach ing from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional and a Masters in Applied Linguistics to the teach ing of English as a foreign language from Universidad Distrital. Currently her research interest is on the critical analysis of mass media and its use in language teach ers’ education. 188 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Vargas Torres Appendix 1: Language Teach ing Activities in a Sociocultural Perspective Thesis Statement Language learning can be promoted by means of critical analysis of mass media representations. Taking them as a source in language teach ing facilitates the creation of discursive practices leading to critical thinking, interaction, collaboration and argumentation about the sociocultural aspects of language. 1. Stereotypes: a. Revealing Stereotypes (Mórtola, 2001). – Instruction: Describe the groups that appear in the images. – Who are these people? – Where do they live? – What is their daily routine? – Where do they work or study? b. Reversing Stereotypes (Hall, 2003; Mórtola, 2001) Questions to transcode, reverse and denaturalize: stereotypes – At denotative levels: What elements are there in the scene? – At connotative levels: What do they mean to me? – At ideological levels: What values and ideologies do they transmit? PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 179-190 189 Towards a Discourse for Criticism in Language Teaching... 2. Production of Media (Mórtola, 2001; Gee, 2005): a. Writing the front page of a newspaper and reflecting on the differences among students’ versions. Students are invited to analyze and produce media. Students identify foregrounding and backgrounding strategies in discourse production. b. Persuasive Strategies: Repetition, Omission, Substitution Students are invited to identify the reasons some aspects are repeated, others are omitted or substituted in media production. 190 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Vargas Torres 3. Writing Biographies: What do the gazes, gestures, clothes and body postures say about women? a. Instruction for Writing Biographies – Write a brief biography of the women in the images. Talk about their professions, studies, free time activities, favorite music and TV programs. – Then, the teach er compares the different biographies produced by students, writing down on the board the repeated features. – Why are there many similarities in the biographies written? 4. Argumentation (Lipman, 1987): This methodology has the purpose of identifying stereotypes, biases, fallacies, prejudices. It is achieved by going to connotative and ideological levels of interpretation passing through denotative ones. Controversial argument with frequent students’ stereotypes about black people. Black people are guilty of violence in the United States, they are good at sports but low performers at schools, very good lovers, they are lazy and that’s why they rob, kill and destroy in order to survive. a. Strategies for Argumentation in an Oral Debate – Elicit points of view and opinions: Why do you think this scene is particularly interesting? Is it striking for you? Why? – Clarify and reformulate: What you mean is…, what you are saying is that…, correct me if I am wrong… – Explain points of view: At which point in what you have said would you emphasize? – Interpret: If what you say is correct, how would you explain that… – Be coherent in the use of concepts: Previously, when you used this term, you said that… didn’t you use it differently? – Identify presuppositions: Aren’t you taking for granted that…, what you are saying is based on the belief that…? – Unveil fallacies: Isn’t there a contradiction in what you are saying?… that’s not a real reason… – Ask about reasons: Why do you think so? Could you provide an argument to support your affirmation? – Examine other alternatives: Some people think that…, what would you answer if someone suggests that…?