Engaging differences linguistic diversity and critical literacy pedagogy in the classroom

Abstract

This study developed out of my own experiences as a high school English teacher and my engagements with the intertwined issues of language and diversity in the classroom.The study foregrounds the nature of students' and teachers' engagements with linguistic diversity and the role of the teacher in critical literacy. In South Africa there is very little classroom based research which shows how students and teachers are engaging with issues of diversity, power and inequality, post-apartheid. This research focuses on how my students and I interact with issues of linguistic diversity in an English Home Language, Grade 8 classroom context using critical literacy pedagogy as the means by which to engage with these issues.