Critical literacy challenges both teachers and students to move beyond the mechanics of reading and writing toward a more demanding engagement with texts as socially situated, power-laden constructs rather than neutral vehicles for information. The term “critical reading” appears frequently in educational literature but the meaning attached to it varies widely. Much of the evidence regarding both the abilities inherent in the skill of reading critically and the factors related to such competency is still being consolidated. Research in critical reading that is focused on high school students is especially limited. In this chapter, reports of research on literacy, critical literacy, critical reading as one aspect of critical literacy, and critical thinking as an introduction to reading critically are included. Pertinent theoretical articles are cited when they help to clarify purposes, structure, or findings in the area of critical reading.
2.1. The Role of Literacy in Modern Society
We need to understand more than our individual experiences; in modern society, we must be able to get and give information, and most information is passed through the written word. Anyone who finds reading difficult is seriously disadvantaged in the struggle for a place in the world. In some sense, children are sent to school so that they will learn to read. Future academic success depends on how well they master the reading skills.
Bialystok (2001) says that literacy is the central purpose of early schooling. Research shows that literacy is a key concept that enables one to access and negotiate the world around them. Literacy helps to communicate effectively, gain respect from peers and authority, participate in communities in a meaningful way, and fully contribute to society (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004). Additionally, Tankersley (2005) states that “The ultimate goal of literacy instruction is for students to be able to process text at the level of evaluation, synthesis, analysis, and interpretation” (p. 48).
2.2. Notions of Critical Literacy
Critical literacy can push the learner into the zone of questioning whether all this learning is truly neutral or beneficial. According to Wink (2005), critical literacy means that we understand how and why knowledge and power are constructed, by whom and for whom. In supporting this view, Christie (2005) states that “Critical literacy intended to capture a pedagogical concern to develop users of literacy who are critical and questioning about what they read, as well as discriminating about how they use writing themselves.” Stevens and Bean (2007) are justified in saying that active questioning of the stance found within, behind, and among texts is the highlighted role of critical literacy. Thus, critical literacy supports students to ask regular questions about representation, benefit, marginalisation, and interests. Further, how children are helped to make sense of what they read is more central in critical literacy than the mechanics of how learners are taught to read (Meier, 2009). Uygulama (2009:129) adds that “in classroom practices, students are expected to contribute with their own experiences, opinions, criticisms.” Critical literacy thereby provides an environment for genuine two-way communication in the classroom. Gregory and Cahill (2009) further claim that in the classroom, a focus on critical literacy encourages a deeper look at texts, specifically examining the relationships among texts, language, power, social groups, and social practices (p. 11).
A similar view is taken by Alagozlu (2007), who goes further to say that critical literacy practices seem to be important since they “open new horizons in teaching English as a foreign language; therefore students who learn to think critically can transform their thinking in an easy way into some practical action to make a better society.” He also emphasises that “with a view to making curriculum synchronise with the modern society, critical literacy reveals a new perspective, i.e., critical literacy in EFL teaching is therefore highly significant.”
McLaughlin and DeVoogd (2004) highlight four principles to elaborate what critical literacy means. Critical literacy focuses on: (a) issues of power and promotes reflection, transformation, and action; (b) the problem and its complexity; (c) using dynamic techniques; and (d) evaluating multiple perspectives.
2.3. Critical Thinking
Rudinow et al. (2004) define “critical thinking as a natural development of your reasoning capacity with many useful applications in your daily life” (p. 11). Verlinden (2005:25) added that “critical thinking involves making judgments in uncertain conditions.” He also states that critical thinking provides a better chance of making decisions that are not based on faulty reasoning.
According to Paul and Elder (2006), improving the quality of thinking by using skillful levels of thinking — analysing, assessing, and reconstructing — is the highlighted mode of critical thinking. In supporting their view, they stress that “Critical thinking, then, has three dimensions: an analytic, an evaluative, and a creative component. As critical thinkers, we analyse thinking in order to evaluate it. We evaluate it in order to improve it” (p. xx). Thus, critical thinking is the systematic monitoring of thought with the end of improvement.
Harris and Hodges (1995, cited in Taffe & Gwinn, 2007) support these researchers’ ideas by saying that critical thinking applied to literacy is critical literacy, which is not only the ability to read and write but also the ability to use reading and writing to think about, evaluate, and solve problems. Based on all these facts, Alagozlu (2007) believes critical thinkers judge about an idea and thought by establishing logical relationships based on reliable evidence. Students can recognise the following aspects in a text based on a critical thinking framework: the main ideas of the text; judgements about context; kinds of reasoning the text employs; reliable evidence the text uses; and the strengths and weaknesses of an argument.
According to Alagozlu (2007), “Integrating critical thinking at education might make students aware that they are important as individuals. Such an integration will make them believe that their ideas, thoughts, decisions, evaluations are of great value in their education both in the mother tongue and in a foreign language.”
As Luke (2021) argues in his recent reappraisal of critical literacy, the field has moved significantly beyond its origins in critical theory and now encompasses a wide range of classroom practices — from analysing media representations to questioning authorial bias in historical texts — all united by the commitment to treating reading and writing as civic and political as well as cognitive acts. For students studying education, literacy instruction, and curriculum development, the relationship between critical reading and critical thinking offers a productive framework for understanding not just how students learn to decode text but how they develop the capacity to evaluate, challenge, and transform the knowledge they encounter.
References
Luke, A. (2021). Critical literacy in Australia: A matter of context and standpoint. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(5), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2021.1913617
McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. L. (2004). Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students’ Comprehension of Text. Scholastic. https://doi.org/10.2307/40169220
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life (2nd ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Tankersley, K. (2005). Literacy Strategies for Grades 4–12: Reinforcing the Threads of Reading. ASCD.