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Doing Critical Language Pedagogy in Neoliberal Spaces

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Doing Critical Language Pedagogy in Neoliberal Spaces DOING CRITICAL LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY IN NEOLIBERAL SPACES: A MATERIALIST NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS OF ENGLISH IN A KOREAN HAGWON A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE STUDIES DECEMBER 2014 By Gordon West Thesis Committee: Graham Crookes, chair Elizabeth Gilliland Christina Higgins Keywords: critical pedagogy, neoliberalism, narrative analysis, Korea, hagwon Abstract Critical language pedagogy has been practiced in many contexts, but there have been few reports of critical pedagogy being practiced in neoliberal spaces of private language education. In this thesis, I document critical English language teaching initiatives using the specific case of a South Korean English private language school (hagwon) to demonstrate the possibilities of such an approach in a private institution. Using a critical practitioner research perspective (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009), I collected data from my classes at a hagwon over a 15-month period in the form of artifacts (ballots, student surveys, etc.), images, and student writings. I use emplotment (Polkinghorne, 1995) as a means of creating a narrative from non-narrative data and a materialist analysis (Alaimo & Hekman, 2008) to examine the data. Student resistance, negotiating syllabi, and learner-created materials, and critical episodes in three classes, illustrate the possibilities, need for, and limitations of critical pedagogy in neoliberal spaces. ii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Key Concepts in the Development of a Critical Pedagogy and the Hagwon Context .................. 10 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Defining Critical Pedagogy ................................................................................................. 11 1.3 Contexts of Critical Pedagogy ............................................................................................ 14 1.4 Resistance and Critical Pedagogy ....................................................................................... 18 1.5 Neoliberalism and Korean Education ................................................................................. 24 1.5.1 Defining Neoliberalism ................................................................................................ 24 1.5.2 Privatization of English Language Education in Korea ............................................... 25 1.5.3 Contesting Neoliberalism............................................................................................. 29 1.6 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 33 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 35 Site, Data, and Towards an Appropriate Methodology ................................................................ 35 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 35 2.2 Universal Language School ................................................................................................ 36 2.3 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 43 2.3.1 Evolution of Methodology ........................................................................................... 44 2.3.2 Practitioner Research ................................................................................................... 46 2.3.3 Critical Practitioner Research ...................................................................................... 50 2.4 Research with Young Learners ........................................................................................... 52 2.5 Data ..................................................................................................................................... 53 2.6 Analysis............................................................................................................................... 55 2.6.1 Narrative Analysis ....................................................................................................... 56 iii 2.6.2 Materialist Analysis ..................................................................................................... 61 2.6.3 Materialist Narrative Analysis ..................................................................................... 63 2.6.4 Layers of Analysis ....................................................................................................... 65 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 66 Student Resistance ........................................................................................................................ 66 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 66 3.2 Instances of Student Resistance .......................................................................................... 68 3.3 Summary of Emplotment .................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 91 Democratizing English Language Learning ................................................................................. 91 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 91 4.2 Democratizing ULS Classes ............................................................................................... 91 4.3 Learner-created Materials ................................................................................................. 108 4.5 Summary of Emplotment .................................................................................................. 117 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 119 Critical Moments ........................................................................................................................ 119 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 119 5.2 The Protest ........................................................................................................................ 119 5.3 The Debates ...................................................................................................................... 124 5.4 Summary of Emplotment .................................................................................................. 134 Chapter 6 ..................................................................................................................................... 136 Reflection and Discussion........................................................................................................... 136 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 136 6.2 Can critical pedagogy be done in neoliberal spaces? ........................................................ 136 6.3 Using Materialist Narrative Analysis................................................................................ 138 6.4 Hagwons as a Site of Struggle .......................................................................................... 139 6.5 Constraints of Hagwons .................................................................................................... 143 6.6 Call for Action and Conclusion ........................................................................................ 145 References ................................................................................................................................... 147 iv List of Tables Table 1. Description of classes used for data collection…………………………………………45 Table 2. List of classes studied and data sources gathered from those classes………………….59 v List of Figures Figure 1. Wall in classroom #11……………………………………………………………...74 Figure 2. Student graffito #1 Middle B, November 2011……………………………………..75
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