Content Area Literacy

Pedagogical Implications and Future Research Directions

Despite the swelling number of content area courses especially in secondary and tertiary level schools in Korea, it is lamentable that research endeavors in this area have been few and far between Accordingly, it has not been easy for L2 researchers to help content area teachers in Korea to make informed decisions regarding their teaching practices to meet the diverse needs of EFL learners who are currently taking content area courses In contrast, ample empirical evidence has been accumulated in L1 contexts As an initial attempt to promote content area literacy for Korean L2 learners, this literature review synthesizes L1 content area literacy studies organized into five topics content-specific strategy instruction, culturally relevant instruction, critical literacy, critical media literacy, and the role of talk and writing Although one should not jump to conclusions from L1 findings, the themes and suggestions of this article have some bearing on EFL content area teachers and their students The review also proposes future directions for L2 researchers