A Study on the Impact of Age and Critical Pedagogy:A Case ofIranian EFL Learners’L2 Grammar Learning

The role of age and Critical pedagogy in second language (L2) acquisition is subject of much debate. Learners considering their age (children & adults) differ fundamentally, and these differences can affect the second language learning.Critical pedagogy as a teaching approach attempts to help students question and challenge domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate in order to motivate the learners to be more successful language achievers.Although the role of individual factors in L2 acquisition is increasingly attracting researchers’ interest, the role of age and critical thinking in second language (L2) acquisition is subject of much debate. One of the major problems for EFL students in learning a foreign language is learning the second language grammar and the main problem in the process of grammar learning is that English teachers ignore the learners’ individual differences so they do not apply the most suitable methods and materials considering the age and gender differences. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between EFL learners’ age and Critical pedagogyon their grammar learning.This study was conducted in boy high schools located in Kerman, district two. In this study, 54 students were randomly and equally assigned to the experimental and control groups (27 students in each group).The instrument applied in this study was a FLCMS questionnaire designed with some modifications based on the questionnaires of Gardner (1985), Tamimi and Shuib (2009), and Chalak and Kassaian (2010). The questionnaire was given to the students in both control and experimental group (as the pre and post questionnaire). To see the impact of critical pedagogy and age on EFL learners' grammar learning,The results revealed that the critical approach to the teaching of grammar involves the search for multiple possible interpretations and requires that teachers stimulate differences in the way learners relate to a grammar which causes to increase the learners’ motivation in order to lead to a better comprehension of the grammar and also there is not a critical period, but a sensitive period for second language grammar learning, and adults can show to be better learners in grammar learning.

کلیدواژه ها:

critical pedagogy ، grammar ، EFL learners (English as a Foreign Language) ، age