Contests over Meaning in a South African Classroom: Introducing Critical Language Awareness in a Climate of Social Change and Cultural Diversity

This paper describes an action research project which took place at the Johannesburg College of Education in the period immediately before and after South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. Student teachers from diverse social and cultural backgrounds were introduced to Critical Language Awareness theory (CLA) and encouraged to read texts critically and differently – to make new meanings in what was a radically changed social, political and educational context from their previous school experiences. Students produced multiple readings of the same texts and what ensued were intense struggles over meaning in a range of other contexts as well. The writer of this paper shows how a discourse analysis of student journals helped to describe and explain these contests over meaning, some of which involved issues around new teaching methodologies, social identities and fear of change. She also describes how she attempted to create a more productive learning environment in which diverse meanings could be accommodated and accepted.

openalex:W1969102661 mag:1969102661