How to Foster Critical Literacy in Academic Contexts: Some Insights from Action Research on Writing Research Papers

Abstract

This chapter attempts to identify problem areas and suggest possible remedial means to rectify critical literacy deficits of students who write research papers in Cultural and Media Studies (CMS) at the Institute of English Studies of Opole University, Poland. Despite sufficient levels of English proficiency and ever easier access to CMS sources, students report daunting problems in selecting and framing their research objectives, stating their positions, and arguing for them. They also find it hard to evaluate materials in terms of relevance and credibility. In brief, they often lack what can be described as critical literacy—a set of skills to interrogate the social, institutional and ideological aspects of academic discourse. Critical literacy in academic contexts involves specific cognitive strategies of information processing, but, above all, it requires overcoming affective filters and cultural habits that constitute obstacles to criticality. This chapter follows action research methodology in exploring how critical literacy could be fostered at university level by (1) reviewing the contents of the current English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum, (2) consulting student-reported problems connected with writing CMS research papers, (3) reviewing some approaches to criticism, such as those derived from Critical Discourse Analysis and Critical Language Awareness, and (4) suggesting an intervention in the form of an elective subject called Critical Literacy for Academic Purposes (CLAP).