Critical Language Awareness and the Second-language Classroom

Instituto Cervantes Manchester and Leeds presents a new lecture series: “Acquiring a Second Language: Why do we find it so difficult?”, coordinated by Idoia Elola (Texas Tech University) y Ana Oskoz (University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), a forum aimed at teachers, language studentes, parents and the general public, which will consider how we learn a second, or a heritage language. Presenters will discuss various elements and difficulties that come with second-language acquisition including: myths and realities surrounding language acquisition and age, the effect of explicit knowledge and how it can affect learning, the use of language according to the context in which it is spoken, and the effect of education on our ability to learn a second language.

First talk: "Critical Language Awareness and the Second-language Classroom", by Diego Pascual y Cabo (University of Florida).

In a relatively short amount of time, the field of Spanish language learning and teaching as a second language has experienced a huge evolution, moving from a traditional approach based on translation and memorization of grammatical rules to a more active, communication-centric style of learning. The so-called “Social Turn” in the field of language acquisition at the end of the twentieth century, enabled the emergence of new pedagogical approaches more committed to change and social transformation. Since then, previously concealed (but not invisible) issues in the field, such as the prejudice and discrimination suffered by minority groups due to their linguistic practices, have come to light and discussion. The emergence of the Critical Awareness of Language (Leeman, 2005; Loza & Beaudrie, 2021) theory is perhaps the clearest example of this change in the paradigm. This teaching model, which takes Freire's Critical Pedagogy as a starting point and which also draws on current theoretical perspectives such as translanguage or raciolinguistics, seeks to drive the transition to a more just and tolerant society through dialog and reflection upon our own linguistic attitudes and practices. The objective of this presentation is to explore what Critical Language Awareness is and understand how we can enhance its application in the classroom.