The Impact of Media on EFL Learning in the Classroom

Lebar, Eva (author), Burazer, Lara (mentor)

There is no denying that media has occupied an important role in our daily lives, but now it has also been incorporated into the school curriculum. Ongoing discussions concerning the influence of social media on learning English as a foreign language, inside or outside the classroom, have become controversial among educators. In contrast, films and other media platforms encounter minimal resistance to being used wherever and whenever. The master's thesis focuses on the impact of media on EFL learning in the classroom setting, particularly among Slovene secondary school students who have more access to different media platforms and more experience than primary school students. The thesis is divided into two parts: theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part includes a literature review, where four distinct categories of media — namely social media, games (platforms connected to gaming), cartoons, film and television, and reading-oriented websites (magazines, articles) — are systematically examined. The exploration extends to an analysis of how each media contributes to the development of English language proficiency through the four language skills: listening, speaking, writing, and reading. Positive and negative aspects of each media are also presented to determine which media platform is the most efficient in ensuring a high level of acquisition. The empirical part incorporates a survey and interviews to investigate the impact of diverse media platforms on EFL learning. The survey, administered to 112 fourth-year secondary school students in Kranj, Slovenia, serves as a quantitative instrument to measure the perceived effects of media exposure on language acquisition. Following the survey, interviews were conducted with two teachers who taught these students for a duration of four years and eight other secondary school English teachers. The qualitative approach aims to determine the proficiency level difference between the students who actively engage with media as a supplemental English learning resource and those exhibiting little to no interaction with such media platforms.

• Language: English
• Keywords: EFL learning, media integration, media categories, language skills, empirical research
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2024
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-159580
• COBISS.SI-ID: 202410243
• Publication date in RUL: 12.07.2024

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Vpliv medijev na učenje angleščine kot tujega jezika v razredu

Abstract

Ni dvoma, da mediji zasedajo pomembno vlogo v našem vsakdanjem življenju, tudi v šolah, kjer so od nedavnega vključeni tudi v šolske učne načrte. Razprave o rabi družbenih omrežij (bodisi zunaj bodisi v razredu) in vplivu le-teh na učenje angleščine kot tujega jezika med pedagogi sprožajo različne odzive. Po drugi strani pa uporaba drugih medijskih platform, kot so na primer filmi, ne zbuja pomislekov. Magistrsko delo se osredotoča na vpliv medijev na učenje angleščine pri pouku angleščine, zlasti med slovenskimi srednješolci, ki imajo boljši dostop do različnih medijskih platform in več izkušenj kot osnovnošolci. Magistrsko delo je razdeljeno na dva dela: teoretični in empirični del. Teoretični del vključuje pregled literature, v katerem so sistematično obravnavane štiri različne kategorije medijev, in sicer družbeni mediji, igre (platforme, povezane z igrami), risani filmi, film in televizija ter bralno usmerjene spletne strani (revije, članki). Raziskava se razširi na analizo, kako posamezni mediji prispevajo k razvoju znanja angleščine prek štirih jezikovnih spretnosti: poslušanja, govorjenja, pisanja in branja. Predstavljeni so tudi pozitivni in negativni vidiki posameznih medijev, da bi ugotovili, katera medijska platforma je najučinkovitejša pri doseganju visoke ravni usvajanja tujega jezika. Empirični del vključuje anketo in intervjuje, ki so bili uporabljeni za raziskovanje vpliva različnih medijskih platform na učenje angleščine. Anketa, ki je bila izpolnjena s strani 112 dijakov 4. letnika gimnazije v Kranju, predstavlja kvantitativni instrument za merjenje zaznanih učinkov izpostavljenosti medijem na usvajanje jezika. Po anketi so bili opravljeni razgovori z dvema učiteljicama, ki sta te dijake poučevali štiri leta, in osmimi drugimi srednješolskimi učitelji angleščine. Namen kvalitativnega pristopa je bil ugotoviti razliko v ravni znanja med dijaki, ki aktivno uporabljajo medije kot dodatni vir za učenje angleščine, in tistimi, ki zanimanja za uporabo medijskih platform pri učenju tujega jezika ne kažejo.

• Keywords: učenje angleščine kot tujega jezika, vključevanje medijev, vrste medijev, jezikovne veščine, empirična raziskava