INCORPORATING MEDIA LITERACY INTO ESP COURSES FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IN UKRAINE

Abstract

ESP (English for Specific Purposes) teaching in a broad sense is aimed at helping university students to perform in English effectively in potential professional environments on the international labour market. Due to the unprecedented circumstances of the Russian war against Ukraine and a toxic world information eco-system, the ability to assess information sources, many of which are in English, identify fake news and manipulation, and make well-informed decisions have become essential and even vital for any young professional. At the same time, students in non-linguistic specialities mainly have A2-B1 level of English which is not sufficient enough to approach current authentic sources of information online. Even if they manage to comprehend the contents, they lack the ability to consume media critically.

This article is a reflection on experiences of teaching media literacy in a university ESP context in Taras Shevchenko National University «Chernihiv Collegium». Working through the English for Media Literacy Coursera MOOC, the participants of the project were able to develop shared understanding through discussion and collaborative analysis of online articles and latest news being guided by the teacher-facilitator who was able not only to quickly address the language gaps but also provide critical questions to help the students’ thinking and explain aspects of the media text genre to give a frame for analysis.

The aim of the current work was to study the ways in which language education could incorporate the teaching of media literacy in a Ukrainian HEI.

Methodology involved a thorough literature review related to media literacy and blended learning. Theoretical methods were used to adopt MOOC materials to the project participants’ needs which included analysis, synthesis and explanation. Empirical methods were also employed, namely pedagogical observation of the students-participants.

The scientific novelty of the research lay in the fact that it allowed to develop and an effective guidance for a language teacher acting as a facilitator and helping students to develop simultaneously language skills and media literacy skills crucial for fighting propaganda and misinformation. The Student’s Book and the Facilitator’s Book were published in the course of the project implementation.

We came to the conclusion that interdisciplinary nature of media literacy and its central importance in the post-truth era should enable and encourage educators to transform the ESP syllabus and create tailor-made media literacy courses due to the needs of Ukrainian university students of non-linguistic specialties in turbulent times of war and global crisis.