Module II

ELT Theories and Approaches

Grammar Translation Method (GTM)

Almost sixty percent of today's world population is said to be multilingual. In many a

perspective, bilingualism or multilingualism is the norm rather than the exception.
Today asEnglish is the world's most widely studied foreign language; five hundred
years ago it was Latin, which was the preferred language of education, commerce,
religion, and government in the West.French, Italian, and English gainedimportance in
the sixteenth centuryas a result of political changes in Europe. As a result, Latin
gradually became displaced as a language of spoken and written communication.

As "modern" languages began to enter the curriculum of European schools in the

eighteenth century, they were taught using the same basic procedures that were used
for teaching Latin. Textbooks consisted of statements of abstract grammar rules, lists
of vocabulary, and sentences for translation. Speaking the foreign language was not
the goal, and oral practice was limited to students reading aloud the sentences they
had translated. These sentences were constructed to illustrate the grammatical
system of the language and consequently bore no relation to the language of real
communication.

By the nineteenth century, this approach based on the study of Latin had become the
standard way of studying foreign languages in schools. A typical textbook in the mid-
nineteenth century thus consisted of chapters or lessons organized around grammar
points. Each grammar point was listed, rules on its use were explained, and it was
illustrated by sample sentences. This method is known as the Grammar Translation
Method or GTM, one of the earliest and most practiced methods of English Language
teaching (Richards and Rodgers 5).

The Direct Method (DM)

The direct method of teaching was developed as a response to the Grammar-

Translation method. It sought to immerse the learner in the same way as when a first
language is learnt. All teaching is done in the target language, grammar is taught
inductively, there is a focus on speaking and listening, and only useful ‘everyday'
language is taught (https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/direct-method).

Richards and Rodgers (12) present eight principles involved in the DM.
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1. Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language.

2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences were taught.

3. Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression

organized around question and answer exchanges between teachers and
students in small, intensive classes.

4. Grammar was taught inductively.

5. New teaching points were introduced orally.

6. Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects and

pictures; abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.

7. Both speech and listening comprehension were taught.

8. Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasised.

This method had a few drawbacks as it required teachers who were native
speakers or who had native-like fluency in the L2. It was largely dependent on the
teacher’s skill, rather than on textbook, and not all teachers were proficient enough in
English to adhere to the principles of the method.It is wrong for the DM to assume
that a second language can be learnt in exactly the same way as a first, when in fact
the conditions under which a SL is learnt are very different.

Structural- Situational Method(Oral Approach)

This method gives importance to language as a system of structurally related

elements of phonemes, morphemes, words, structures and sentence types to encode
and decode the meaning. The procedures, principles and techniques took a more
systematic approach than DM. In this approach, new language points were
introduced and practised situationally. Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar is
regarded as crucial, and errors are to be avoided at all costs (Richards and Rodgers
41).

The SLT is an approach developed by British applied linguists between the 1930s

and the 1960s. SLT is based on a structural view of language. Speech, structures and
a focus on a set of basic vocabulary items are seen as the basis of language
teaching. SLT emphasises on the presentation of structures in situations.SLT is
characterized by two major features:
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1. Focus on both vocabulary and reading is the most salient trait of SLT.  In fact,
mastery of a set of high-frequency vocabulary items is believed to lead to good
reading skills.

2. An analysis of English and a classification of its prominent grammatical structures

into sentence patterns (also called situational tables) is believed to help learners
internalize grammatical rules.

The objectives of SLT involve accurate use of vocabulary items and grammar rules in
order to achieve a practical mastery of the four basic skills. Learners must be able to
produce accurate pronunciation and use of grammar. The ultimate aim is to be able to
respond quickly and accurately in speech situations with an automatic control of basic
structures and sentence patterns.

SLT syllabus is designed upon a word list and structural activities. Grammar teaching
involves a situational presentation of new sentence patterns and drills to practice
these patterns. The teacher moves from controlled to freer practice of structures and
from oral use of sentence patterns to their automatic use in speech, reading, and
writing.

According to SLT, a lesson starts with stress and intonation practice followed by a
revision and a presentation of new materials (mainly structures or vocabulary). The
teacher then proceeds to oral practice and drilling of the elements presented. Finally,
the lesson ends with reading activity or written exercises.

Audio-Lingual Method (ALM)

The Audio-lingual Method (ALM), also known as the Army Method, gained attention in

the 1950s, largely in the USA. It shared several aspects with the DM. Both were a
reaction to the perceived failures of the GTM. Both ban the use of mother tongue, and
both prioritize listening and speaking skills over reading and writing
(https://www.tefl.net/methods/audiolingual.htm).

ALM is nevertheless different in several ways. It drew on early-20th century beliefs of

1) behaviourism that anything could be learned through conditioning; and 2)
structuralism and structural linguistics that emphasized grammatical structure. In
ALM, grammar is prioritized over vocabulary, and accuracy over fluency, giving
learners few opportunities to produce errors, which are seen as potentially
"contagious". Ultimately, the learner will speak "automatically".
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Audio-lingual language teaching method treats language as a kind of human

habit, it is the speech that is supposed to be spoken by language speakers rather
than written out by them (Xia 561). So we need to teach language itself, not
knowledge.

The short-term objectives include training in accurate pronunciation,

recognition of speech symbols as graphic signs on the printed page, and the ability to
reproduce these symbols in writing. Long-term objectives were to use the language
like a native speaker and to have some knowledge of the second language as it is
possessed by a true bilingualist (Richards and Rodgers 58).

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR was created by Dr. James J Asher based upon the way children learn their
mother tongue. Parents have 'language-body conversations' with their children, the
parent instructs and the child physically responds to this. The parent says, "Look at
mummy" or "Give me the ball" and the child does so. These conversations continue
for many months before the child actually starts to speak itself. Even though it can't
speak during this time, the child is taking in all of the language; the sounds and the
patterns. Eventually when it has decoded enough, the child reproduces the language
quite spontaneously. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the language classroom
(https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/total-physical-response-tpr).

In the classroom the teacher plays the role of parent. She starts by saying a word
('jump') or a phrase ('look at the board') and demonstrating an action. The teacher
then says the command and the students all do the action. After repeating a few
times it is possible to extend this by asking the students to repeat the word as they do
the action. When they feel confident with the word or phrase you can then ask the
students to direct each other or the whole class.

The Silent Way

The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by Caleb
Gattegno. It is based on the premise that the teacher should be silent as much as
possible in the classroom but the learner should be encouraged to produce as much
language as possible. Elements of the Silent Way, particularly the use of colour
charts and the coloured Cuisenaire rods, grew out of Gattegno's previous experience
as an educational designer of reading and mathematics programs. The Silent Way
shares a great deal with other learning theories and educational philosophies. Very
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broadly put, the learning hypotheses underlying Gattegno's work could be stated as
follows:

1. Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers

and repeats what is to be learned.

2. Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects.

3. Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned.

(https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/approaches-and-methods-in-language-
teaching/silent-way/75639151C49CFB9FECC02814BDE9200B)

Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia is a language teaching method originated in the 1970s by Bulgarian

psychologist GeorgiLozanov. The name combines the terms "suggestion" and
"pedagogy", the main idea being that accelerated learning can take place when
accompanied by de-suggestion of psychological barriers and positive suggestion. To
this end lessons take place against a background of soothing music in an emotionally
comforting environment, with the teacher actively planting and unplanting thoughts in
and from the learners' minds (https://www.tefl.net/methods/suggestopedia.htm).

Typical features of a Suggestopedia lesson:

 target language/mother tongue

 teacher-centred

 bright, cheerful classrooms with comfortable chairs 

 soothing background music 

 positive suggestion and negative "de-suggestion" by teacher 

 new identities for learners with TL names and new occupations 

 printed TL dialogues with MT translation, vocabulary and grammar notes 

 reading of dialogues by teacher, rhythm and intonation matched to music 

 reading of dialogues by learners just before sleeping and on rising

(homework) 

 classroom activities based on dialogues, including Q&A, games and song

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Whole Language Approach (WLA)

Whole Language theory is concerned with teaching and learning in the native
language. WLA is closely linked to the Constructivist approach in teaching. Rather
than transmitting knowledge to students, teachers collaborate with them to create
knowledge and understanding in their mutual social context. Rather than seeking to
cover the curriculum, learning focuses on the learners’ experience, needs, interests
and aspirations. Always the focus falls on real and natural events and literature, which
are ‘authentic’.

Community Language Learning (CLL)

Community Language Learning (CLL) is a teaching method developed in the 1970s in

the USA by Jesuit priest, psychologist and educator Charles Curran. Drawing on
principles of counselling therapy, CLL emphasizes the importance of the learners
themselves by calling them "clients" and letting them design lesson content. The
teacher plays the part of "counsellor", while the learners are encouraged to work
together, interacting and helping each other personally in a supportive community.
The method, which aims to alleviate the anxiety and threat so often felt by language
learners, is sometimes described as "counselling learning".
(https://www.tefl.net/methods/community-language-learning.htm)

Typical features of a CLL lesson:

 target language/mother tongue

 teacher/learner-centred

 counselling role for teacher; client roles for learners 

 in-a-circle seating for learners

 recorder inside circle and teacher outside 

 TL dialogue generated learner by learner (helped as necessary by teacher)

 recorded dialogue transcribed by teacher on board

 analysis of dialogue by learners 

 dialogue used in follow-up sessions for other activities 

 movement for learners from total dependence to growing autonomy

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Communicative Language Teaching Method (CLT)

CLT is based on the theory that the primary function of language use is
communication and learners as communicators, are naturally endowed with the ability
to learn languages. Its primary goal is for learners to develop communicative
competence, or simply put, communicative ability. In other words, its goal is to make
use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. (Richards and Rogers 16;
https://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/samplechapter/0/1/3/1/0131579061.pdf).

Some of the characteristics of CLT are the following:

1) Language is a system for the expression of meaning.

2) The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication.

3) The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses.

4) The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural
features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as
exemplified in discourse

CLT does not aim at language as a set of linguistic items, but aims at developing
communicative competence in the learners. It focuses on the meaning and functions
rather than on the form of the language.

Linguistic/ grammatical competence

Grammatical competence refers to the knowledge we have of a language that

accounts for our ability to produce sentences in a language. It refers to knowledge of
the building blocks of sentences (e.g., parts of speech, tenses, phrases, clauses,
sentence patterns) and how sentences are formed. Grammatical competence is the
focus of many grammar practice books, which typically present a rule of gram- mar on
one page, and provide exercises to practice using the rule on the other page. The unit
of analysis and practice is typically the sentence. While grammatical competence is
an important dimension of language learning, it is clearly not all that is involved in
learning a language since one can master the rules of sentence formation in a
language and still not be very successful at being able to use the language for
meaningful communication. It is the latter capacity, which is understood by the term
communicative competence.
(https://www.professorjackrichards.com/wp-content/uploads/Richards-
Communicative-Language.pdf)
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Communicative competence

Communicative competence includes the following aspects of language knowledge:

  Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and functions
  Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the
participants (e.g., knowing when to use formal and informal speech or when to
use language appropriately for written as opposed to spoken communication)
  Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts (e.g.,
narratives, reports, interviews, conversations)
 Knowing how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s
language knowledge (e.g., through using different kinds of communication
strategies)
(https://www.professorjackrichards.com/wp-content/uploads/Richards-
Communicative-Language.pdf)

Krashen’s Monitor Model (Natural method)

Stephen Krashen, specialized in theories of language acquisition and development, is

widely known and well-acceptedfor his theory of second language acquisition, which
has had a large impact in all areas of second language research and teaching.

Krashen's theory of second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:

 the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis;

 the Monitor hypothesis;

 the Input hypothesis;

 and the Affective Filter hypothesis;

 the Natural Order hypothesis

The Acquisition-Learning:  According to Krashen there are two independent

systems of foreign language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned
system'. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a subconscious
process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first
language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural
communication - in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their
utterances, but in the communicative act.
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The "learned system" or "learning" is the product of formal instruction and it

comprises a conscious process which results in conscious knowledge 'about' the
language, for example knowledge of grammar rules. A deductive approach in a
teacher-centred setting produces "learning", while an inductive approach in a
student-centred setting leads to "acquisition".

According to Krashen 'learning' is less important than 'acquisition'. 

The Monitor hypothesis:The monitor hypothesis:explains the relationship between

acquisition and learning and defines the influence of the latter on the former. The
monitoring function is the practical result of the learned grammar. According to
Krashen, the acquisition system is the utterance initiator, while the learning system
performs the role of the 'monitor' or the 'editor'. The 'monitor' acts in a planning,
editing and correcting function when three specific conditions are met:

 The second language learner has sufficient time at their disposal.

 They focus on form or think about correctness.

 They know the rule.

It appears that the role of conscious learning is somewhat limited in second language
performance. According to Krashen, the role of the monitor is minor, being used only
to correct deviations from "normal" speech and to give speech a more 'polished'
appearance.

Krashen also suggests that there is individual variation among language learners with
regard to 'monitor' use. He distinguishes those learners that use the 'monitor' all the
time (over-users); those learners who have not learned or who prefer not to use their
conscious knowledge (under-users); and those learners that use the 'monitor'
appropriately (optimal users). An evaluation of the person's psychological profile can
help to determine to what group they belong. Usually extroverts are under-users,
while introverts and perfectionists are over-users. Lack of self-confidence is frequently
related to the over-use of the "monitor".

The Input hypothesis: The Input hypothesis is Krashen's attempt to explain how the

learner acquires a second language. The Input hypothesis is only concerned with
'acquisition', not 'learning'. According to this hypothesis, the learner improves and
progresses along the 'natural order' when he/she receives second language 'input'
that is one step beyond his/her current stage of linguistic competence. For example, if
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a learner is at a stage 'i', then acquisition takes place when he/she is exposed
to 'Comprehensible Input' that belongs to level 'i + 1'. Since not all of the learners can
be at the same level of linguistic competence at the same time, Krashen suggests
that natural communicative input is the key to designing a syllabus, ensuring in this
way that each learner will receive some 'i + 1' input that is appropriate for his/her
current stage of linguistic competence.(https://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash-english.html)

Task-BasedLanguage Teaching (TBLT)

TBLT is an educational framework for the theory and practice of teaching second or
foreign languages. TBLT is primarily a student-centred approach. It originated from
the Communicative Approach, but has since developed its own distinct principles.It
can be seen as a response to more traditional teacher-led, grammar-oriented,
presentation-practice-production (PPP) approaches of language instruction. 

Here are some examples of the growing criticism the PPP method has received. 

 It assumes that language learning is linear, that grammar points can be learnt
one after the other. However, just because a structure has been taught, it
doesn’t mean it has been learnt.

 Activities offer opportunities to practise the target language, but can lack real
purpose and meaning.

 Learners may be able to produce the target language during controlled

activities, but this doesn’t necessarily transfer to more spontaneous
interaction. 

In TBLT, activities are designed around the learner’s real life needs. They focus on
the using authentic target language and linguistic strategies to complete meaningful,
interactive tasks. 

Kris van den Branden, in Task-based Language Education: From Theory to Practice,
describes a ‘task’ as:

“…an activity in which a person engages in order to attain an objective, and which
necessitates the use of language.”

This is a clear, concise definition to keep in mind. But, when coming up with a task,
it’s perhaps more helpful to consider a set of criteria. 

Jane Willis offers these questions to bear in mind when designing a task:

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1. Does the activity engage learners’ interest?

2. Is there a primary focus on meaning?

3. Is there an outcome?

4. Is success judged in terms of outcome? 

5. Does the activity relate to real-world activities?

3 types of TBLT activities

1. Information gap activities 

These activities rely on the exchange of information between learners. By providing

students with different information, you can ensure that there is a real need for
communication. 

This type of activity gives students the opportunity to request information, ask for
clarification and negotiate meaning.

Example tasks could be to give partner directions, to consult each other’s diaries and
schedule a meeting or describe the activities of a company. Remember, the task
should be related to what the learner needs to do with the language in the real world.

2. Opinion gap activities

In opinion gap activities learners exchange personal preferences and offer ideas
about a particular topic or situation. This is especially useful for more proficient
language users who have a level that allows them to discuss a topic in more depth.

For lower levels, the task may be offering opinions on something they’ve listened to or
a text they’ve read. The key is to ask students open questions. Unlike most
comprehension questions, in opinion gap activities there is no right or wrong answer.

Remember all of these activities should involve an outcome. This could be to report
back to the class orally or to summarize people’s opinions in writing. 

3. Reasoning gap activities

These are similar to information gap activities, but this time students must work
together to solve a problem. Rather than exchanging information, they must
collaborate, speculate and, typically, come to some agreement. 

Example activities could include something as simple as planning a holiday. Learners

are given a budget and a set of requirements. Using different materials and
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resources, they would then have to decide on appropriate destinations, the best
method of transport and plan holiday activities.
(https://www.english.com/blog/teaching-methods-introduction-to-tblt/)

a task should:

- provide opportunities for students to exchange information with a focus on meaning,

not a specific form or pattern/structure;

- have a clear purpose: learners should know the outcome they are expected to
produce when they finish performing the task. The outcome may vary. It might be
making a YouTube video tutorial, finding a solution for a problem or writing an email
requesting information;

- result in an outcome that can be shared with more people;

- relate to real world activities.

Phases of a TBL lesson

The framework of a TBL lesson may vary. It is usually composed of the following

phases:

- Pre-task

- Task (which can be sub-divided in different stages)

- Post-task

Pre-task:

The pre-task phase of a TBL lesson is the moment when the teacher sets the task,
contextualizes the topic of the lesson, raises students’ interest and prepares learners
to perform the task. When preparing students to perform a task, teachers might need
to help students with both content and language. This can be done by activating
students’ general knowledge on a certain topic and by helping students anticipate the
type of language they will need to perform the task proposed. It is extremely important
that students understand the objectives of the task during this phase.

Task:

In this stage of the TBL lesson, learners perform the task proposed. They are
supposed to perform the task in small groups or pairs, and use their existing
knowledge of language to express themselves in a spontaneous way. As the focus is
communication, the teacher is not supposed to carry out extensive error correction at
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this stage, but should monitor and provide support.

When students finish performing the task, they need to plan how they are going to
report it to the rest of the class or to other groups. They may rehearse and research
the language necessary in order to share the outcome of what they had done.

Finally, students report the outcome of the task to other students.

Post-task:

The post-task stage is when students evaluate their performance. This might be done
by comparing the outcome of their task to that of a proficient user of the language. It
can also involve feedback provided by the teacher and subsequent practice of
language items that emerged from the task. It is important to stress that form-focused
language work should be in response to students’ production. That means that the
teacher will not teach a grammar lesson and expect that learners use that specific
structure while performing the task, neither should the teacher work on a pre-selected
language item in this phase of the lesson. This makes the role of the teacher as a
monitor extremely important in TBL.

The lesson below is a TBL lesson that I used with one of my Intermediate (CEFR B1)
students.

In this lesson plan, I’m describing the rationale behind my choices, the outcomes of
the different phases of the lesson and how they might differ with other groups of
students. You’ll notice that the breakdown of every phase is very detailed –
“organising” and managing the completion of the task is an important role for the
teacher in TBLT. If the teacher just sets a task and let students do it, they might not
understand why they are doing what they are doing, feel lack of support and not
perceive that they are learning.

A TBL lesson plan

TASK: Recommending places in São Paulo to a friend via a What’s App audio
message

PRE-TASK

In the pre-task stage, students learned about the task and were asked to talk about
popular places tourists could visit in their city, São Paulo. In order to generate interest
and prepare students for the upcoming task, and depending on your group profile,
you may give suggestions, use prompts to provide support to learners, ask students
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to carry out research, or even provide an input task to help students generate ideas.
However, in the pre-task stage, the teacher is not supposed to pre-teach vocabulary
or structures to students.

In order to help students carry out this task, you may ask them to:

- Create a mind map containing interesting places to be visited

- Suggest places and ask learners to share what they know about them / carry out
research

TASK

In this phase of the lesson, students carry out the task. In this lesson, learners worked
in groups of three during this stage. In order for the task to be completed successfully,
it is the teacher’s role to break down the task and help learners get organised.

In this lesson, the task was delivered in three different phases:

Assessing: students were asked to go back to the list of places they had brainstormed
and discuss how appealing they were. They were asked to list characteristics of these
places and share why they might be appealing (or not) to tourists. Students were
allowed to search online to gather as much information as possible.

Selecting: students were asked to compare the places and select the ones not to be
missed by someone visiting São Paulo for the first time. They were expected to come
up with a list of three places.

Recording the audio message: Students were asked to plan, rehearse and record an
audio message suggesting places in the city.

Reporting: Students shared their audio messages with other groups and compare
their recommendations.

POST-TASK

Apart from giving instructions for the completion of the task, an important role the
teacher should play during the task is to monitor learners’ production. In the post-task
phase, I gave feedback on content and language that emerged during the task. Some
aspects dealt with during feedback were:

- adjectives to describe places

- language to make comparisons

- language to make recommendations

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In the post-task phase, it is important to provide students with the chance to practice
the language that had emerged from the task.

The lesson described shows that, in TBL, tasks are a way to promote the use of
authentic and genuine language with a focus on meaning and communication. When
employing this approach to teaching, thus, teachers need to be prepared to design
relevant and meaningful tasks, adopt a number of roles in the classroom and possess
the linguistic competence to deal with emergent language and provide students with
useful feedback and practice.

Critical Pedagogy

Critical pedagogy is a teaching approach inspired by critical theory and other radical

philosophies, which attempts to help students question and challenge posited
"domination," and to undermine the beliefs and practices that are alleged to dominate.
In other words, it is a theory and practice of helping students achieve "critical
consciousness." 

Critical pedagogic educator Ira Shor defines critical pedagogy as:

“Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning,
first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional cliches,
received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes,
social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object,
process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or
discourse”. (Empowering Education, 129)

In this tradition the teacher works to lead students to question ideologies and
practices considered oppressive (including those at school), and encourage
"liberatory" collective and individual responses to the actual conditions of their own
lives.

The student often begins as a member of the group or process he or she is critically
studying (e.g., religion, national identity, cultural norms, or expected roles). After the
student begins to view present society as deeply problematic, the next behaviour
encouraged is sharing this knowledge, paired with an attempt to change the
perceived oppression of the society. A good picture of this development from social
member to dissident to radical teacher/learner is offered in both Paulo Freire's
book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Bell Hooks' book Teaching to Transgress. An
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earlier proponent of a more active classroom, where students direct the

epistemological method as well as the actual object(s) of inquiry is the late Neil
Postman. In his Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Postman suggests creating a
class where students themselves are entirely in control of the syllabus, class
activities, and grading.

To help encourage students to change their view from accepting the social norms
(viewed by critics as being gullible) into being independently critical (viewed by
mainstream society as being cynical) the instructors often introduce challenges to
heroic icons and self-edifying history using contradictory reports or external points of
view of the same subjects.

Generalized Examples

To encourage students to become critical the instructor might use these tasks to
challenge the generally accepted paradigm of the student's society:

 Prompt the student to investigate a war that his or her society has waged and
considered just and critically evaluate if it meets the criteria of a just war.

 Encourage students to explore issues of power in their own families.

 To lead students to examine the underlying messages of popular culture and

mass media.

 Require the evaluation of existing controversies in contemporary society, such as

the relative merits of U.S. government spending on atomic weapons versus
international health programs.

 Ask whether the metaphoric emperor is, in fact, clothed.

Real-world examples of concepts often introduced to generate critical thinking:

 A challenge to the reverential mythology around Christopher Columbus and

leading students to investigate primary sources by and about the historical figure.
One might possibly suggest sources such as the Black Legend, or other sources
that cast more disconcerting views on the legacy of his efforts.

Most instructors of critical pedagogy encourage students who have reached the
cognitive state perceived as "enlightened" to share their knowledge in an attempt to
reveal perceived failings of society with the goal of fostering what critical pedagogy
regards as positive change. Other critical pedagogues, however, are suspicious of the
claims encountered in certain modernist emancipatory discourses. Rather than
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seeking to 'enlighten' the 'gullible,' these instructors explore concepts of identity,

history, desire, etc. with learners, and any subsequent calls to action are made by
learners.

(https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Introduction_to_critical_pedagogy)