Practices of critical literacy in the elementary school 5th grade course of Turkish language: An action research

In this global world ruled by individuals or groups directly or indirectly interested in media and developed technologies, there is great influence of written, verbal, visual or multi-media texts created especially by these rulers on the thinking ways of individuals and societies. Education plays an important role in giving meaning to written, verbal, visual or multi-media texts. The underlying purpose of the critical literacy applications to be carried out in educational practices is to help students interrogate what they have read, seen and heard; to see the different meanings of what they have been presented; to develop different viewpoints; and to structure the meaning on their own. In this respect, critically-literate students have the opportunity to evaluate what they have read in line with their own experiences, values and thoughts and to think about the purpose of the author. Among the most important courses that will help students acquire the critical literacy skill is the course of Turkish Language.The purpose of the present study was to reveal how applications regarding students? acquisition of critical literacy in the elementary school 5th grade course of Turkish Language were carried out. As the study was based on activities carried out in the context of critical literacy applications in the course of Turkish Language, it was designed as action research, which is among qualitative research models.The study was carried out with 5th grade students at Eskisehir Ticaret Odasi Elementary School in the Spring Term of the academic year of 2008-2009. With the students chosen, sample activities related to critical literacy applications were carried out in the course of Turkish Language, and all the events that occurred in class were taken in to consideration during the transcription and analysis of these sample activities.In the study, the critical literacy applications stared on the 12th of February, 2009 and, following an eight-week application process, ended on the 10th of June, 2009. In line with the purpose of the study, the data were collected via different data collection tools such as researcher?s journal and students? journals, video records, semi-structured interviews and a reading scale. The research data were analyzed with the descriptive analysis technique, and the findings obtained were interpreted depending on the research questions. In the study, the data collected via the Critical Reading Scale were analyzed and interpreted with the help of the package program of SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).Based on the research findings, the results obtained could be summarized as follows:?The activities were planned and applied based on the texts chosen regarding the theme of ?Production, Consumption and Productivity?. In the first phase of the application process, before going on with the activities for reading and interrogating the text, non-critical conversations covering the personal experiences and knowledge of the students were held. These non-critical conversations served as a kind of transition phase for critical class discussions and interrogations.?The application process started initially with non-critical conversations within the scope of the theme of ?Production, Consumption and Productivity? ended with interrogations and critical class discussions for the students to gain a multi-faceted perspective, to reveal the causes of the problems in the text, to put forward related solutions to these problems and to reflect upon the purpose of the text, its social and economic context, its message and upon the perspective of its author.?The application process involved the cycles of deconstruction and reconstruction In the deconstruction phase, the texts were examined critically with questions, and the parts that the students found contradicting with the texts and criticized were discussed with their reasons. These discussions helped not only reveal the problems in the text but also analyze the original meaning and message as well as the behavior of the character that gives that message in the text. In the reconstruction phase, the students mostly suggested opposing or different behavior when compared to the behavior of the characters in the text and viewed the text from a different perspective.?In order to help them develop a critical perspective consciously and purposefully, with such questions as ?how was the message of the text formed?? how differently can others understand this text??, by going beyond the reality in the text and beyond what is presented in the text, the situations causing the text to be perceived in the way the author/scenarist wanted problematized.?During the critical class discussions which allowed interrogations regarding the social and economic context of the text, the students developed an alternative discourse opposing to the message of the text. This situation is explained in the literacy related to critical literacy as ?the opposing attitude of the reader towards the author/scenarist?s text?.?Beyond analyzing and criticizing the texts, the critical literacy applications included transformation of the problems, which is the phase of taking action for solving the problems.?With the applications carried out, the students not only developed their ability to provide answers that require such skills as critical and interrogative thinking skills as conducting analysis and synthesis during the critical class discussions regarding the texts, drawing implications, making decisions and evaluations and providing proof/reasons but also developed their ability to direct questions that require critical thinking.?The students raised their awareness not only of revealing the main idea and the original message hidden behind the apparent message in the texts but also of the fact that what is apparent in texts actually reflects the thoughts and values of the author/scenarist and that the author/scenarist has formed the text in a way to confirm this reflection.