Approaching Controversial Issues Through Critical Discussions in an EAP Classroom

Description

Language teachers and educational institutions are often intimidated by controversial topics in classrooms for different reasons. However, avoiding, ignoring, or deflecting from them essentially deprives learners of the opportunities to practice critical thinking and enhance their language proficiency in their academic study and participation in global conversations. Therefore, discussing important, though possibly controversial, social issues drawing on critical pedagogy in EAP classrooms is necessary. This presentation starts by illustrating how appropriately approaching controversial topics benefits students’ critical thinking skills, then presents examples of how critical discussions can be implemented in classrooms based on case studies and my own language teaching experiences, and finally, concludes with current limitations and future suggestions for EAP teachers and researchers.

Period	6 Jun 2023
Event title	Flying Solo: Fostering Learner Autonomy: School of Languages at XJTLU: Symposium 2023
Event type	Conference
Location	Suzhou, ChinaShow on map