earticle

영어

The main purpose of this article is to propose awareness campaigns as novel learning projects and to discuss the pilot study that sheds light on their potential utility for critical language classrooms. Because awareness campaigns attempt to positively influence behavior for social improvement, the hypothesis is that they may provide meaningful, transformative learning experiences for participants. The context for this particular study is a small, undergraduate EFL class at a rural university in South Korea. Making use of an initially inductive, mixed-methods approach, consisting of SWOT analyses, a post-experiment survey, student materials, and participant observation, the study seeks answers to the following questions: 1) How does this project provide an impetus for students to engage in actions that promote social change? 2) What evidence is there that students participate in increased critical discourse as a result of this project? 3) How is this project successful at raising awareness of social issues? 4) In what ways does this project induce students to reflect critically on and to challenge assumptions? 5) To what extent do the students' self-report measures suggest that they value awareness campaigns as useful tools for language learning? The initial findings of this pioneering study although tentative, appear promising both for the project's use in language classrooms and for further research.