Film, Critical Language Awareness and the English Subject : An Example of Promoting CLA by Using Film as Teaching Material.

This essay argues that an effective means of promoting critical language awareness (CLA) in the English subject in Swedish upper-secondary schools is to use socially critical, realistic film about contemporary social issues as a teaching material. To demonstrate this, the essay conducts a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of scenes from the selected materials drawn from the film This Is England and the TV series Little Britain. It shows how the language features of these film materials reinforce or challenge ideologies and power differences between groups. Furthermore, the essay gives an example of how to incorporate these materials in a lesson promoting CLA. Additionally, the essay advocates using the pedagogical strategy of problem-posing to scaffold and nurture the thought processes required to acquire CLA. Finally, it argues that promoting CLA through the use of film and problem-posing is an effective way to simultaneously accomplish multiple curriculum goals and objectives