Reflections on Justice: Empowering ELLs Through Political Philosophy

In today’s polarized political climate, language education that includes more critical thinking, develops argumentative skills, and fosters conflict resolution is vital to functioning democracies with increasingly diverse societies. To address this need, the popular Justice course taught by Harvard professor Michael Sandel was adapted for English language learners in the context of an English for Academic Purposes program at a Japanese university. The author describes the experience of adapting this course to the context including a discussion on why the topic is relevant, ideas for how materials can be adapted for English language learners in different settings, how to use case-study examples to help learners understand different perspectives of justice, and how to scaffold students toward more effective argumentation skills. The author concludes by discussing some of the challenges and limitation encountered and why the course content is increasingly relevant in Japan and other contexts around the world.