Published
Teaching Social Justice in English for Academic Purposes Classrooms: Perspectives from Turkish Universities
Enseñanza de la justicia social en aulas universitarias de inglés académico: perspectivas de universidades turcas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v28n2.120998Keywords:
Critical pedagogy, English for academic purposes, Higher education, Social justice, Türkiye (en)Educación superior, Inglés con fines académicos, Justicia social, Pedagogía crítica, Turquía (es)
This multiple-case study explores how university-level English for academic purposes instructors conceptualize and implement social justice pedagogy in the Turkish higher education context. The research questions focus on how four instructors define social justice, translate it into classroom practice, and navigate related challenges. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through interpretive coding. Findings revealed a spectrum of pedagogical approaches ranging from proactive critical integration to reactive avoidance, shaped by the instructors’ theoretical backgrounds and institutional constraints. The study concludes that effective social justice pedagogy in English for academic purposes requires both individual teacher commitment and systematic institutional support that addresses the complex political nature of language teaching.
Este estudio de caso múltiple explora cómo docentes universitarios de inglés con fines académicos en Turquía conceptualizan e implementan la pedagogía de la justicia social y afrontan los desafíos asociados. Los datos se recopilaron mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas y se analizaron mediante codificación interpretativa. Los hallazgos revelan un espectro de enfoques pedagógicos que van desde una integración crítica proactiva hasta una evasión reactiva, moldeados por los conocimientos teóricos de los docentes y por las limitaciones institucionales. Se concluye que una pedagogía eficaz de la justicia social en los cursos de inglés con fines académicos requiere tanto el compromiso individual del profesorado como un apoyo institucional sistemático que reconozca la naturaleza política y compleja de la enseñanza de idiomas.
References
Aktoprak, E. (2024). Unveiling discrimination: Minorities in Türkiye. Minority Rights Group. http://bit.ly/3YJfnAK
Bakogiannis, A., & Papavasiliou, E. (2025). Exploring inclusive teaching practices of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Higher Education (HE): Recommendations for practice. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 76, 101538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2025.101538
Baldwin, J. (1997). If Black English isn’t a language, then tell me, what is? The Black Scholar, 27(1), 5–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.1997.11430831
Bell, L. A. (2016). Theoretical foundations for social justice education. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, D. J. Goodman, & K. Y. Joshi (Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice (3rd ed., pp. 3–26). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003005759-2
Benesch, S. (2001). Critical English for academic purposes: Theory, politics, and practice. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410601803
Boler, M. (1999). Feeling power: Emotions and education. Routledge.
Breen, P. (2024). Introduction: A reflection upon social justice in EAP and ELT contexts. In P. Breen & M. Le Roux (Eds.), Social justice in EAP and ELT contexts: Global higher education perspectives (pp. 1–16). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350351233.0008
Canagarajah, S. (2022). Language diversity in academic writing: Toward decolonizing scholarly publishing. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 17(2), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/17447143.2022.2063873
Cochran‐Smith, M., Shakman, K., Jong, C., Terrell, D. G., Barnatt, J., & McQuillan, P. (2009). Good and just teaching: The case for social justice in teacher education. American Journal of Education, 115(3), 347–377. https://doi.org/10.1086/597493
Eberhard, D. M., Simons, G., & Fennig, C. (Eds.). (2023). Ethnologue: Languages of the world (26th ed.). SIL International. https://www.ethnologue.com/ethnoblog/welcome-26th-edition/
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. Bergman Ramos, Trans.). Bloomsbury. (Original work published 1968)
Giroux, H. A. (2024). Teachers as intellectuals: Toward a critical pedagogy of learning (1st ed). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350458635
Hamp-Lyons, L. (2011). English for academic purposes. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (Vol. 2, pp. 89–105). Routledge.
Hawkins, M. R. (2011). Dialogic determination: Constructing a social justice discourse in language teacher education. In M. R. Hawkins (Ed.), Social justice language teacher education (pp. 102–123). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847694249-008
Henderson, R., & Hirst, E. (2007). Reframing academic literacy: Re-examining a short-course for “disadvantaged” tertiary students. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 6(2), 25–38.
Ince Yenilmez, M. (2021). LGBTQIs in Turkey: The challenges and resilience of this marginalized group. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 18(2), 440–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-020-00471-9
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Dangerous liaison: Globalization, empire and TESOL. In J. Edge (Ed.), (Re-)Locating TESOL in an age of empire (pp. 1–26). Palgrave Macmillan.
Kumashiro, K. K. (2024). Against common sense: Teaching and learning toward social justice (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003442394
Mortenson, L. (2022). Integrating social justice-oriented content into English for academic purposes (EAP) instruction: A case study. English for Specific Purposes, 65, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2021.08.002
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220
Özkan, H., & Öz, G. (2025). Teacher candidates’ perspectives on addressing social justice in English language and literature classes through critical pedagogy. In W. Wei & D. Chao (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of the sociopolitical context of language learning (pp. 161–178). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003398172-12
Özkaynak, O. (2025). State monolingualism and its emotional impacts on multilingual identity construction: Insights from the Turkish context. International Journal of Multilingualism, 22(4), 2754–2769. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2025.2485178
Özkaynak, O., & Arslan, Z. (in press). Neoliberal visions, nationalist missions: A critical discourse analysis of English language teacher education in Türkiye. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.
Pace, J. L. (2021). How can educators prepare for teaching controversial issues? Cross-national lessons. Social Education, 85(4), 228–233.
Pennycook, A. (2021). Critical Applied Linguistics: A critical re-introduction (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003090571
Şanal, M., & Özkaynak, O. (2023). Raising multilingual learners’ awareness of social justice through translanguaging pedagogy. Focus on ELT Journal, 5(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.14744/felt.2023.5.2.1
Şenbayrak, M., & Ortaçtepe Hart, D. (2024). Exploring social justice dialogues in EFL conversation clubs: Discursive moves and affordances. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 37(3), 327–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2024.2339316
Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal? An introduction to key concepts in social justice education (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Thomas, G. (2021). How to do your case study (3rd ed.). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036232238
Toker, Ş. (2021). Subtle Islamization of teacher education: A critical discourse analysis of Turkey’s “inclusive” education initiative for refugee integration. Linguistics and Education, 63, 100923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2021.100923
Yılmaz, A., & Söğüt, S. (2022). Language education for social justice: Reproductions or disruptions through technology. Computers & Education, 187, 104535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104535
YÖK. (2018). İngilizce öğretmenliği lisans programı müfredatı [Curriculum for the bachelor’s program in English language teaching]. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/4cgZkk8
Dimensions
PlumX
Article abstract page views
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Onur Özkaynak, Merve Şanal, Zeynep Arslan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are authorized to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format as long as you give appropriate credit to the authors of the articles and to Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development as original source of publication. The use of the material for commercial purposes is not allowed. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
Authors retain the intellectual property of their manuscripts with the following restriction: first publication is granted to Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development.
