Media Literacy in the Context of Foreign Language Education

Abstract

Media literacy has become a significant aspect of modern educational process. However there are lots of contradictions in the field regarding its definition, methods and scale of its implementation. Most broadly media literacy is understood as an ability to search, analyze and create media content. As modern generation is considered to be digital natives the skill of searching the information are innate to them and should not be taught, so the concept of media literacy is mostly aimed at teaching the students to analyze information they obtain from mass media sources as well as creating their own content. Nowadays it is widely accepted that media literacy should be integrated into the educational system as cross-curriculum subject. This concept is reflected in numerous international and local documents. The most potent sphere that can be used as an example of successful media literacy implementation (though teachers not always have enough training and qualification in the sphere) is classes of English as foreign language as here usage of mass media materials has long been proved to be successful in teaching. The purpose of the paper is to examine the potential of media literacy project in Russian universities by exploring the opinion of EFL teachers on media literacy education and the way they implement it in the classroom. The study was conducted through a qualitative method by interviews with high school EFL teachers.

The results of the research showed that the majority of EFL teachers limit media literacy to media critics which they understand as ability to withstand influential and manipulative forces of mass media as well as to identify fake information. Among the media literacy activities that were named are translation of printed articles and discussion of news broadcasts. It was underlined by the respondents that such activities enable to go beyond traditional forms of working with such materials (e. g. translation, summing up) and to engage students into discussion of tools the author uses to make the text more influential as well as the possible reasons for that. The findings emphasized the need for clear road map of media literacy project realization as well as lack of vocational courses and trainings for teachers in the sphere. At the same time the conducted research proved teachers’ positive attitude and awareness of the media literacy importance that suggests that media literacy in Russia has significant growth and development potential.

Keywords: Media Literacy, Media Critics, EFL, Mass Media

JEL Classification: 120