1st Edition
Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education Critical Language Pedagogy in Theory, Research and Practice
This edited volume provides innovative insights into how critical language pedagogy and taboo topics can inform and transform the teaching and learning of foreign languages.
The book investigates the potential as well as the challenges involved in dealing with taboo topics in the foreign language classroom. Traditionally subsumed under the acronym PARSNIP (politics, alcohol, religion, narcotics, isms, and pork). By examining how additional controversial topics such as disability, racism, conspiracy theories and taboo language can be integrated into conceptual teaching frameworks and teaching practice, this edited volume draws on examples from literary texts and pop culture such as young adult novels, music videos, or rap songs and investigates their potential for developing critical literacies. The book considers foreign language teaching outside of English teaching contexts and sets the groundwork for addressing the integration of taboo topics in foreign language education theory, research, and practice.
Filling an important gap in educational research, the book will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and students of foreign language education, critical pedagogy, and applied linguistics. It will also be useful reading for teacher trainers and educators of foreign language education.
Chapter 1 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.taylorfrancis.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Funded by the University of Bamberg.
1. Approaching Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education Christian Ludwig and Theresa Summer PART I: Theoretical Considerations and Insights 2. Between Recognition and Redistribution – The Political Economy of Taboos in Foreign Language Education John Gray 3. Facing the Invisible – Taboos as Texts and Cultural Learning in English Language Education Daniel Becker 4. Integrating Critical Approaches into Language Teacher Education David Gerlach and Mareen Lüke 5. Taboo or Not Taboo? To Talk or Not to Talk? These Are the Questions Grit Alter and Stefanie Fuchs 6. Promoting Resilience in the Foreign Language Classroom – A Basic Requirement for Working with Taboo Topics Aline Willems PART II: Empirical Inquiries 7. Learner Perceptions of Taboo Topics in English Language Teaching Theresa Summer and Jeanine Steinbock 8. Taboos in Language Teacher Education: A Survey of Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes Theresa Summer and Christian Ludwig 9. Teaching "13 Reasons Why": A Study on the Importance of a Pedagogical Alliance in ELT Christine Gardemann PART III: Specific Taboos and Practical Examples 10. Swear/Taboo Words in English Rap Lyrics: Linguistic Analysis and Implications for Foreign Language Education Valentin Werner 11. Disability Awareness Education in ELT: Addressing Disability through Short Animation Films Katrin Thomson 12. #mentalhealthmatters – Exploring Borderline Personality Disorder in ELT through Poetry Slams Christian Ludwig and Veronika Martinez 13. Let’s Talk about Sexting: Discussing Erotic and Sexually Explicit Messaging in Foreign Language Education Charlotte Haskins and Christian Ludwig 14. Making the Unseen Seen: Exploring Human Trafficking through Comics and Graphic Novels in ELT Christian Ludwig 15. I’m Not Racist! – Addressing Racism in Predominantly White Classrooms with Cooperatively Designed Multimodal Text Ensembles Silke Braselmann 16. Critical Animal Pedagogy and Global Education in the EFL Classroom Maria Eisenmann 17. Death, Extinction, and the Limits of Literacy Roman Bartosch 18. Cultural Taboos from a Sri Lankan Perspective: Developing Taboo Literacy with Feature Films Anchala Amarasinghe and Susanne Borgwaldt 19. La pobreza, las drogas y el sida: Using Series Like Élite as a Means of Making the Unspeakable Speakable Janina Reinhardt 20. Addressing South African Perspectives on Taboos and Tricky Topics in European Literature Classrooms Sandra Stadler-Heer 21. Addressing Taboo Topics in Translator and Interpreter Training Eva Seidl Conclusion 22. International Perspectives on Taboos in Foreign Language Education Tyson Seburn
Biography
Christian Ludwig is Visiting Professor of Teaching English as a Foreign Language at the Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.
Theresa Summer is Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Foreign Language at the University of Bamberg, Germany.
