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.