Home

Accepted book reviews

Book Review Editors

Books Available for Review

Contributors' Guidelines

---

Contacting Us

Osborn, Terry A.
Mahwah, NJ
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
2006
Pp. ix + 190
ISBN 0-8058-5075-9 (pbk): $ 28.95

This book is mainly intended for critical language educators and teacher educators “dissatisfied with the status quo of our profession” (p. 1) interested in exploring new ideas or desiring to participate in reforming the field. It is described as a companion methodology, which is simply defined by the author as “a set of underlying principles and rules for conducting inquiry into teaching world language for social justice” (p. 14) rather than a “pedagogical end in itself” (p. 29).

The book is very well structured and all chapters are sequenced in a way that effectively scaffolds its complex agenda. The first chapter exposes the principal aim of the book, which is to provide a trampoline to stimulate important reforms that could enrich the foreign language curriculum by proposing a practical framework that could allow foreign language (FL) teachers to engage learners in critical explorations using issues related to social justice as overarching themes. As the first chapter clearly posits, the type of change Osborn’s work calls for must begin with the acknowledgement that the field is not apolitical; rather schooling, in general, is subject to the rules of the marketplace which explains why it so often fails to assist individuals in the acquisition of the skills and content knowledge necessary for maintaining democratic ideals (McLaren, 2003). This idea echoes the social constructivist view of knowledge and critical educational theorists’ view of the role of schooling, which both represent overarching theoretical frameworks and assumptions that appear to be at the heart of Osborn’s reflection regarding the field.

Osborn’s practical plan of placing problem posing at the center of foreign language instruction so that critical inquiry can become the engine of the language learning adventure is succinctly exposed in chapter two and then elaborated all throughout the rest of the book. In order to accomplish his goal of empowering FL teachers in their quests of challenging the current status quo in the field, Osborn, building on the influential work of Freire, Horton, and Grundtvig, proposes to combine the use of a process of inquiry he calls the critical inquiry cycle (CIC) with the National Standards framework. The CIC, a process of exploration “which does not presuppose an overly specific research question or a predictable outcome” (p. 33), provides a ground for learners and teachers to question their taken-for-granted existence and/or profession, confront common prejudices, and by that way can help them become active participants in the shaping of their reality.

If utilizing critical inquiry as an engine to stimulate educational change is not in itself an original proposal, the marriage of a specific process of inquiry such as the CIC with the National Standards framework is an intriguing and appealing new idea. By choosing to appropriate the standards structure already in place and utilize it to engineer change in the field, Osborn departs from traditional critical pedagogues who usually oppose the use of standards considered to be the tools of the oppressors (Freire, 2000).

The National Standards first published in 1996 was a milestone in the adventure of change as it formally recognized language study as an interdisciplinary field and, by that way, underscored the importance of broadening the scope of FL curricula so as to integrate non-linguistic content (e.g., cultural, historical, socio-political content). Nevertheless, regardless of the type of change the National Standards were meant to stimulate, the reforms it called for have not yet become reality. Osborn recognizes the untapped potential of this framework and proves that it can be appropriated by critical language educators to make both language and social justice two primary and, therefore, equally relevant instructional foci when it comes to language learning and teaching.

In chapter three, to prove his point that “a revolutionary pedagogy in the sense articulated by critical pedagogues is possible within the standard-crazed classrooms of the United States” (p. 44), Osborn begins by identifying teacher education as a potential catalyst for social and pedagogical change. In this chapter, Osborn goes on to provide concrete examples of how the ACTFL Program Standards for the preparation of FL teachers, the most widely accepted and recognized reference for program evaluation, can be utilized to support FL teachers’ new roles in working for social justice. All following activity-based chapters elaborate on this idea by illustrating how the standards for foreign language learning (the 5 C’s first introduced in 1996 with the publication of the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project) can be combined with the CIC to support a type of instruction that could allow FL teachers to assist learners in the process of emancipation that Freire defines as conscientization: “learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions--developing a critical awareness--so that individuals can take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (Freire, 2000, p. 19).

Chapters four through nine all explore different lenses that can be used to “move from standards to local curricula” (p. ix) and that Osborn identifies as essential. These lenses take readers on what I would define as a critical pilgrimage, that is, various intellectual journeys aimed at questioning how the field is currently shaped. For instance, in chapter four, Osborn invites readers to begin questioning the use of sterilized textbooks whose choices in terms of language (vocabulary and grammar) and thematic presentation are political in nature and embed multiple hidden agendas. In chapter five Osborn moves on to questioning the place that literature occupies in the world language classroom and the effectiveness of approaches conventionally used in the field allowing him to introduce readers to alternative approaches better suited to “help reveal issues of power and privilege, or powerlessness, that could be beneficial in term of awareness of issues of social justice” (p. 85). Other chapters explore the potential of

• media literacy education as a possible framework to transform FL curricula so that they can be better adapted to the needs of 21st century learners;
• interdisciplinary work to “move beyond the formula of ‘four-skills plus culture’ to include issues of the ways in which language function in a sociocultural context such as the U.S. democracy” (pp. 115-116);
• new technologies such as the Internet and web authoring projects to support learning in the world language classroom.

In his work Osborn refrains from offering simple answers to complex questions; rather, throughout the reading of this book, the reader is invited to construct his or her own definition of social justice as well as explore possible alternatives to conventional approaches to foreign language education, which, even though they have long been discredited for lacking effectiveness, are still resilient and dominate the field. In this way, Osborn’s work represents a wonderful addition to the library of any critical pedagogue-language educators and teacher educators alike convinced that the field of foreign language education has much more to offer to individual citizens of democratic states than what it currently does.

In addition to being of interest to any curious FL teachers desiring to explore new possibilities, this book is also an essential read for any undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation program endeavoring to provide beginning teachers as well as more experienced ones with opportunities to critically explore issues and challenges pertinent to the FL teaching world. It is a required reading in a core method course in our M.Ed. Plus Certification in Foreign Language Education Program at the University of Georgia (UGA), which has been developed within a framework of critical pedagogy emphasizing the importance of exploring and experimenting with varied pedagogical and alternative curricular approaches. Osborn’s work has provided a ground for in-class critical reflections regarding the role the field should play within the overall educational arena. As such, this book has become what it originally claimed to be, that is, a companion methodology that has helped trigger many constructive reflections as well as passionate debates. Among the many questions the book chapters led students to raise, struggle with, and learn from are: What is the role of the FL teachers beyond the acknowledged transmission of linguistic knowledge? Can one teacher be the agent of change? Can a teacher safely stray away from the expertise of the textbook curriculum? How can teachers be progressive within conservative environments? In other words, can one resist pressures from the many communities that comprise and define their educational environment? And should one resist such sources of influence? Is it really the role of FL teachers to introduce politically charged themes within the classroom? And, probably the most burning one of all, “should a critical language educator attempt to work within existing standards structures or should she or he reject the standards completely based on their positivistic, educationally conservative, or political premises?” (p. 43).

As a final word, “Teaching world language for social justice” should be consulted and considered by any FL professional development programs especially those that place critical reflection at the core of their pedagogical approach and believe that teacher agency matters. It is also a great resource for doctoral seminars aimed at exploring curricular alternatives and new ways of conceiving the teaching and learning of world languages. All in all, it is a courageous attempt at broadening the scope of the field so that it can finally become what it ought to be, that is, the engine of educational change.

References:

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group.

McLaren, P. (2003). Life in schools: an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundation of education (4th ed.).Arlington, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

National Standards in Foreign Language Education. (1996, 1999). Standards for foreign language learning in the 21st century. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc.

Laurent Cammarata, Assistant Professor
Department of Language & Literacy Education
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
Email: lc@uga.edu