Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education

Christian Ludwig is Visiting Professor of Teaching English as a Foreign Language at the Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.Theresa Summer is Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Foreign Language at the University of Bamberg, Germany.

• 1. Approaching Taboos and Controversial Issues in Foreign Language Education PART I: Theoretical Considerations and Insights 2. Between Recognition and Redistribution – The Political Economy of Taboos in Foreign Language Education 3. Facing the Invisible – Taboos as Texts and Cultural Learning in English Language Education 4. Integrating Critical Approaches into Language Teacher Education 5. Taboo or Not Taboo? To Talk or Not to Talk? These Are the Questions 6. Promoting Resilience in the Foreign Language Classroom – A Basic Requirement for Working with Taboo Topics PART II: Empirical Inquiries 7. Learner Perceptions of Taboo Topics in English Language Teaching 8. Taboos in Language Teacher Education: A Survey of Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes 9. Teaching "13 Reasons Why": A Study on the Importance of a Pedagogical Alliance in ELT PART III: Specific Taboos and Practical Examples 10. Swear/Taboo Words in English Rap Lyrics: Linguistic Analysis and Implications for Foreign Language Education 11. Disability Awareness Education in ELT: Addressing Disability through Short Animation Films 12. #mentalhealthmatters – Exploring Borderline Personality Disorder in ELT through Poetry Slams 13. Let’s Talk about Sexting: Discussing Erotic and Sexually Explicit Messaging in Foreign Language Education 14. Making the Unseen Seen: Exploring Human Trafficking through Comics and Graphic Novels in ELT 15. I’m Not Racist! – Addressing Racism in Predominantly White Classrooms with Cooperatively Designed Multimodal Text Ensembles 16. Critical Animal Pedagogy and Global Education in the EFL Classroom 17. Death, Extinction, and the Limits of Literacy 18. Cultural Taboos from a Sri Lankan Perspective: Developing Taboo Literacy with Feature Films 19. La pobreza, las drogas y el sida: Using Series like Élite as a Means of Making the Unspeakable Speakable 20. Addressing South African Perspectives on Taboos and Tricky Topics in European Literature Classrooms 21. Addressing Taboo Topics in Translator and Interpreter Training Conclusion 22 International Perspectives on Taboos in Foreign Language Education