Longman Dictionary of

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critical pedagogy
identities and power relations become primary goals of analysis, critique,
and study. Critical reading in such an approach seeks not only to develop
the ability to interpret texts but also the ability to perceive the connections
between social conditions and the reading and writing practices of
a culture, to be able to analyze those practices, and to develop the critical
and political awareness to take action within and against them.
critical pedagogy n
an approach to teaching that seeks to examine critically the conditions
under which language is used and the social and cultural purposes of its
use, rather than transmitting the dominant view of linguistic, cultural and
other kinds of information. Both the process of teaching and learning and
its study are viewed as inherently evaluative or ideological in character.
critical period n
also critical age
the period during which a child can acquire language easily, rapidly, perfectly,
and without instruction. In Lenneberg’s original formulation of the
critical period hypothesis, this period was identified as ranging from age
two to puberty. Lenneberg believed that brain LATERALIZATION is complete
at puberty, making post-adolescent language acquisition difficult, with
complete learning of a second language a goal unlikely to be realized.
Some researchers now hold that the critical age for the acquisition of
phonology may be as early as five or six, while there is perhaps no age
limit for the acquisition of vocabulary. Some theorize that there is no
critical period at all, that it is possible to learn a second language perfectly
after puberty, while others argue that there is a steady decline in language
learning ability with age, with no sharp breaks identifying a critical
period. For this reason the term sensitive period is sometimes preferred.
Whether critical period related learning deficits are biologically, socially,
cognitively, or affectively based has also been the subject of much dispute.
critical period hypothesis n
see CRITICAL PERIOD
critical reading n
1 reading in which the reader reacts critically to what he or she is reading,
through relating the content of the reading material to personal
standards, values, attitudes or beliefs, i.e. going beyond what is given in
the text and critically evaluating the relevancy and value of what is read.
2a level of reading in which the reader seeks to identify the underlying
ideology of a text, which is realized not so much by what the writer
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