Contextualizing College ESL Classroom Praxis

Contextualizing College ESL Classroom Praxis: A Participatory Approach to Effective Instruction provides pre-service and in-service teachers with a model for engaging in effective instruction with the variety of students encountered in college English as a second language or foreign language classrooms. Along with the model, the text is designed to help readers develop the tools to use it within a participatory approach. This approach, based on the principles of Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, is combined with multicultural education and the general tenets of a communicative approach to language teaching. From the philosophical to the theoretical to the practical, these strands are combined into a cohesive whole.

The underlying premise is that the best way to develop an understanding of a participatory approach is to engage in it. Throughout the book, readers are asked to apply problem-posing--a learning process that begins with naming issues, reflecting on them and possible solutions, and acting upon one's ideas. Questions addressed include:

*What is the nature of process over product?

*Is a new definition of effective instruction necessary?

*What are the factors that can affect second language acquisition?

*What do teachers believe about effective language instruction?

*What do students believe about effective language instruction?

*What makes pedagogy effective?

*How do teachers and students relate in the classroom?

*What does instruction mean for students?

*How can effective praxis be adapted to various contexts?

Each chapter includes Pre-Reading Questions, Post-Reading Questions, a topic for a Reflective Journal, and Follow-Up Activities. These provide opportunities to enhance comprehension of the material, to co-construct new knowledge with classmates, and to review personal beliefs and ideas in an effort to modify or reinforce them in one's own developing model for effective language instruction.