Psychology of Learning and Learning Disabilities
Designed and taught by Prof. B. Dendrinos, this elective course is open to senior students of the Faculty in the form of a seminar. The two core courses of the programme are prerequisites for this course, which addresses a number of questions with a view to denaturalising commonsense knowledge as this is being constructed in mainstream ELT.
In exploring the complex concept of 'pedagogic discourse' as this is connected with foreign language education in Europe and especially with ELT as an academic subject and professional field, the course attempts to raise and answer questions such as the following: What is the nature of discourse as disciplinary knowledge? Which are the discourses of language-related disciplines and of the foreign language education enterprise? Which is the discourse of English, and what is the nature of the discursive practices of the English language teaching (ELT) field? How does one build on the notion of pedagogic discourse? Which is the mainstream pedagogic discourse of ELT, and how is it shaped by the (cultural) politics of English? How does the pedagogical discourse of ELT figure in the politics of the European promotion of plurilingualism? Which are the foreign languages legitimated as official school knowledge, and which are those delegitimated by their exclusion from school curricula? What are the ideological underpinnings in ELT curricula and syllabuses, and which are the pedagogic practices promoted therein? How can we trace the ideological meanings in classroom practices, textbooks, other teaching materials and assessment procedures? What type of pedagogic relations do ELT practices foster, and what type of pedagogic identities do they construct? What type of foreign language literacy are pedagogic practices of traditional forms of foreign language teaching promoting?
On the basis of the questions raised, a number of theoretical issues are posed. However, discussion in class is consistently of practical value. Ultimately, a basic goal of the seminar is to motivate alternative ways of thinking about foreign language literacy in Europe, which needs to create a cohesive sociality by respecting the linguistic and cultural heterogeneity of its member states. There is no single textbook to cover all the issues to be dealt with in this course, and so students are asked to read a series of relevant papers and articles. Reading assignments involve students in a variety of tasks which, when successfully completed, are assessed for extra credit. There are also some out-of-class assignments requiring extra reading.