A stage-by-stage approach to utilizing news media in foreign language classes at higher educational institutions

Abstract

© 2019, Slovenska Vzdelavacia Obstaravacia. All rights reserved. The importance of the media for foreign language learning is emphasized in this research. The multifunctional role of the media is described. The significance of a modern means of delivering news through the Internet is pointed out. A stage-by-stage approach to working with the media during foreign language classes is suggested and its efficiency is proved experimentally. Three stages, preparatory, procedural, and control, are proposed. The task of the preparatory stage was to select news articles that would cover most aspects of the socio-political life of the society, contain a representative vocabulary and meet the students’ reading needs. The tasks of the procedural stage were to provide: an accumulation of socio-political vocabulary by students; development of their foreign language skills at the reproductive, reconstructive and creative levels; and the ability of free communication on socio-political topics. The purpose of the control stage was to assess learners’ results according to the chosen criteria and indicators. The results of this experimental work strongly support that the proposed approach contributes to an improvement in reading, speaking, and listening skills, and the level of students’ self-realization when utilizing media materials in foreign language classes.