Journal Article Critique #10 (CCU)

Citation: Linares, S. M. (2016). Othering: Towards a Critical Cultural Awareness

in the Language Classroom*. HOW. 23. 129-146. 10.19183/how.23.1.157

This study aims to seek to summarize the literature on the notion of othering and its pedagogical possibilities to promote critical cultural awareness rising in the language classroom. The purpose then is to bring society to the classroom setting for pupils to face it and learn first-hand how to negotiate othering manifestations and seek further understandings on its context of production and reproduction.

I think the findings on the article are appropriate with the common issues in EFL classroom because it needs critical cultural awareness to live with other society in diversity. Then, language classrooms constitute perfect sites to provide new educational and cultural opportunities for students to empower themselves and learn how to critically read, interpret, reflect, evaluate, and reinterpret new meanings of the Other’s social identity. In this sense, pedagogical tools such as cultural products, critical cultural incidents, qualitative research methods, and role-plays serve as engaging instruments to make students cross-culturally aware and avoid reductionist and essentialist cultural visions, this by letting them experience a diversity of perspectives and realities embedded within the culture of the target language.

Journal Article Critique #10 (CAR)

Citation: Fahrurrozi. (2017). Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery by Using Total Physical Response. English Language Teaching. 10. 118-127. 0.5539/elt.v10n3p118

This article aimed to know how TPR method can improve vocabulary mastery in the third grade students of elementary school Guntur 03 South Jakarta, Indonesia. The background of this study was because of the basic problems of the teacher in teaching English to the students which is lack of method in the way they deliver the material. One of the methods that can be applied by teachers in an effort to improve the competence of students in learning English, especially in the mastery of vocabulary is by applying the method of Total Physical Response (TPR).

The study implemented to in the classroom to improve learning outcomes of students; vocabulary of students physically, activates students through role-modeling that can be translated to students as the meaning of a word in the English language so that the students' understanding of vocabulary increases. Besides the application of TPR in the classroom, it can also make English language learning of students who previously daunting for even more fun so that students can follow the learning process to the optimum result.

I think this method is used by commonly teacher for teaching young learners because they usually learn something by using an action.