فهرست مطالب امید استاد

The incentive behind conducting the present study was initially ignited by the curiosity to examine the extent of Iranian EFL teachers’ familiarity with the concept of “critical literacy”. This qualitative contribution was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, an open questionnaire was developed and compiled after reviewing the literature, analysing existing questionnaires and gathering feedback from academics in the field. Qualitative data was then collected from 29 EFL teachers and analysed using an open questionnaire followed by an interview. The obtained data allowed the development of 23 questions for the interview part, which was accompanied by observing the online courses of all teachers by the researchers throughout the semester. It was concluded that the participants displayed very low levels of knowledge of Critical Literacy along with little, if any, application or incorporation of it. These findings may assist stakeholders in education, including second/foreign language (L2) policy makers, teacher educators, teacher recruitment institutes and material developers. They need to take appropriate action to enhance the critical literacy of L2 teachers before and during employment, thus promoting the implementation of this key concept in the pedagogical context of the process.

In the present climate, Critical Literacy has become an area gathering momentum more than ever before, tantamount to an ‘invisible gem’ as almost many education systems have attempted, but failed, to incorporate it into their curricula. To address this elusive notion, this study aimed to investigate the obstacles in the way of possible dilemmas, challenges, constraints, and limitations Iranian EFL teachers face in the process of implementing critical literacy in their online classes. This qualitative research study was conducted in two phases. First, an open-ended set of questions was developed after reviewing the literature, scrutinizing the existing questionnaires, and collecting data from experts in the field. To do so, after reviewing the literature, a list of questions was composed. Subsequently, qualitative data were collected (and analyzed) from 29 EFL teachers through an open-ended questionnaire and interview. The framework and elicited data led to the development of 23 items for the interview part. Accordingly, the online classes of all the teachers were observed by the researchers for an entire term. From what has been discussed, the following conclusion may be drawn that critical literacy needs to be part of the language teaching curricula in Iran. The finding can potentially aid the key educational stakeholders, including second/foreign language (L2) policymakers, teacher educators, authorities in charge of recruiting teachers, and materials developers, to take appropriate measures to increase pre- and in-service L2 teachers’ critical literacy and, as a result, encourage the implementation of this key concept in the instructional contexts.