Teaching the English language in Chinese higher education: preparing critical citizens for the global village

ABSTRACT

This paper examines intersecting concerns in global citizenship education (GCE) and English Language Teaching (ELT) in the face of globalisation. While these two educational agendas cannot be assumed to automatically converge, our study signals that promising overlaps emerge from the enactment of dialogic practices in second language education. Drawing upon an ELT reading course in Chinese higher education, we elaborate on how a Freirean informed approach opens up pedagogical encounters and opportunities for undergraduates to become interculturally aware citizens. The pedagogic vignettes presented here challenge the dominance of pragmatic orientations of ELT in mainland China today while instigating a teaching paradigm shift. Though practical language skills have been touted within Chinese universities for decades, we argue for an integration of GCE into teaching and learning English in a dialogic manner, thus developing bilingual and interculturally aware learners who critically engage with the uncharted terrain of an increasingly globalised world.

KEYWORDS:

• English language teaching
• global citizenship education
• dialogic teaching practices
• critical consciousness
• intercultural awareness
• Paulo Freire

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Pseudonyms are used in the manuscript to safeguard the anonymity and privacy of the student participants.

Additional information

Funding

This work was sponsored by the Peak Discipline Construction Project of Education at East China Normal University.