TESOL and Media Education : Navigating Our Screen-Saturated Worlds

ERIX FLORES

 RESPONSE TO: TESOL and Media Education : Navigating Our Screen-Saturated Worlds.

CHAMBERLIN-QUINLISK, CARLA. “TESOL and Media Education: Navigating Our Screen-Saturated Worlds.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 1, 2012, pp. 152–164. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41576033.


SUMMARY:
In this article the author of the article tells the reader how important is bringing media education in our classroom especially when it comes to teaching ESL. This article was written in 2012, so digital identity was not as prominent as it is today; however, it is prominent enough to bring it up into the classroom.
In this article, it tells the reader that it is always good to bring media education in an ESL/TESOL classroom due to the fact that in today's society we are heavily reliant in technology. The author states that we can have TESOL students see how the media such as movies, shows, and comedies see individuals who are foreign and their second language is English and in these shows are portrayed with an accent and fill the role of serving to the protagonist who is an English native speaker which in a way can portray a negative message to certain TESOL students. This is why the author of the article states that it is important to integrate media education due to the prominence due to the negative stereotypes of foreign characters because many of the TESOL students might be fine with the stereotypes and how they are portrayed through the mainstream media, but many of them might challenge how they are being portrayed and try to change that stereotype. The author does indeed emphasize that the media does not always portray these foreign in a negative manner but they do indeed do it very often.
Overall, this article brings light to the reader that there is an identity being embodied through the entertainment media and that ESL/TESOL educator should bring light to media education due to the stereotypes that are being portrayed through the mainstream digital population.


RESPONSE:
''We may want to integrate media analysis into class assignments, rethink the cultural messages of the materials we use, or simply be prepared to talk about media with students in an informed way (QUINSILK Pg. 8).''. I do agree on what they author is trying to say here. What I see from this quote is that we should not convey our opinion on what the media and entertainment media is trying to convey to foreign individuals in The United States rather give the identity to the students and generate their own opinion on how they are being portrayed if the student is okay on how they are being portrayed then they can discuss why they are okay with it, but if the student is not okay with this identity that they are given then it is up to them and their community to make that change on why foreign characters should not be portrayed as such. The teacher does not give their opinion in regards on what is okay or not, but up to the individual to fabricate their own opinions and feelings about it and develop a sense of identity in the digital world.  Overal, our job as teachers is to tell students that they have a culture and space in the digital world and have the power to change it if they do not agree with the culture.

QUOTATIONS:

In particular, the screens of movies, televisions, computers, billboard advertisements, and handheld devices saturate our lives with text and images that tell us stories about people, places, and events around the globe. What this means to language learning and teaching is that the once-mysterious worlds of target language cultures can be evoked with the mere touch of a button or screen.

 Media education refers to classroom practices in which students actively engage, both as critical consumers and as producers, with the stories conveyed by media. Media education does not necessarily sub- scribe to a single pedagogical approach but can draw on theoretical lenses from various academic disciplines in which media is examined (e.g., communication, journalism, anthropology, education, cultural studies, psychology, educational technology). Because the emerging field of media studies offers such a wide range of perspectives and possibilities, I follow Gee's (2010) suggestion that scholars in this fragmented area share ideas and offer working examples for critical feedback as we work toward common theories and models of practice

 For some of us, questioning media and mediated stories in our lives is like questioning our own identities. Although most of us may find it quite easy to critique media that we do not like, the challenge is to critique media we do like - the images and rhetoric that are intertwined with our memories, the class materials we have grown accustomed to using, the new technologies we embrace with enthusiasm.