USING POPULAR CULTURE TEXTS AND A CRITICAL LITERACY BASED APPROACH TO EXAMINE AND RE-PRESENT GENDER IN A MOROCCAN UNIVERSITY EFL CLASSROOM

Abstract

English as a foreign language (EFL) students in Morocco come from an educational system in which they have had few opportunities to engage with critical thinking or critical literacy (Abdallaoui Maan, 2012; Amrous & Nejmaoui, 2016; Bouziane, 2017; Chouari, 2016; Chouari & Nachit, 2016; Elmouhtarim, 2018; Fareh, 2010; Lazrak & Yechouti, 2017; Nejmaoui, 2018). Furthermore, patriarchy is produced and reproduced through language in Morocco despite the existence of laws to promote gender equality (Sadiqi, 2003), which lends urgency to the need to empower students to understand and critically analyze how language and discourses work. Seeking to address these concerns, this qualitative practitioner-inquiry study investigated the implementation of critical literacy approach in a university EFL class at a private university in Morocco and explored how students engaged with and interrogated dominant discourses related to gender by analyzing popular culture texts and creating response texts. Data was collected in the forms of video recordings of classroom discussions, popular culture texts chosen by students, field notes, student artifacts and response texts, and student final exams. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2012) demonstrated that this approach allowed students to engage in: 1) analyzing text, including understanding genre and purpose; 2) connecting texts to their culture and understanding how texts form discourses; and 3) developing a voice to interrogate social problems and discuss change. In their response texts, students challenged traditional gender roles and advocated for marriage based on mutual compatibility and attraction. This study provides an example of a critical literacy approach used in an EFL course in a context in which gender inequalities exist and are often taken for granted by both females and males. It focuses on how students and teacher engaged in critical literacy practices which led to a deeper understanding of how many popular culture texts re-produce gender inequality.