[Webinar] ‘English or Speaking About Everything?’: Essential Sociopolitical Awareness in English Language Education

Zoom link: https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/98630943755

Meeting ID: 986 3094 3755

Advocating the idea that English language education (ELE) should be responsible and responsive in terms of social and cultural dynamics rather than merely obsessed with instrumental language skills, this presentation highlights sociopolitical awareness as a crucial aspect of ELE. Based on a brief sketch of the related literature and relying on snapshots of my own research within the past 15 years, I discuss how such awareness can be realized in practice and how it can be further understood through congruent research. Specifically, I provide an overview of one of my earliest publications, which explored ‘critical pedagogy in ELE’, as well as one of my latest studies, that focused on ‘bridging ELE and New Literacy Studies’. On this basis, I argue that sociopolitical awareness is to be viewed as part of the essence of ELE practice and research. In practice, teaching and learning…