Exploration of critical literacy with an English graphic novel among year four pupils / Preena Nair Unnikrishnan

Preena Nair , Unnikrishnan (2020) Exploration of critical literacy with an English graphic novel among year four pupils / Preena Nair Unnikrishnan. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

To be critically literate is considered one of the crucial objectives in an era in which we have instant and unrestricted access to a variety of information. Individuals should be able to reflect, evaluate and critique whatever information received instead of being passive recipients. However, current research in the field suggest that even tertiary level learners in different countries of the world lack the ability to read in between the lines and to think critically. Therefore, developing learners who are critically literate is a major concern in the current educational research. Employing the dimensions of disrupting the commonplace and interrogating multiple perspectives from the Four Dimensions Critical literacy framework developed by Lewison, Flint and Sluys (2002), this study examine how critical literacy is facilitated during the English Language Arts lessons in the Malaysian primary school settings. Using qualitative data from audio recordings of the classroom lessons, pupils’ interviews, teacher interviews and pupils’ artefacts in the form of reflective notes and work samples, this study provided detailed examples of how Malaysian primary learners responded to the two dimensions of critical literacy when they were guided by their teacher during the class discussions and activities revolving The Jungle Book graphic novel. The findings of the study suggest that with various forms of support, learners, even at a young age are already capable of handling critical literacy work. This study also suggests possibilities of how examining young learners’ responses as they disrupt the common place and interrogate multiple viewpoints in the text can provide information to education practitioners to better support young learners in their development of questioning, challenging, and evaluating the meanings and purposes of texts from an early age.

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