LARKING Malcolm    Department   Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University  Center for Language Education    Position   Tenured Senior Lecturer
Language	English
Publication Date	2017/12
Type	Research paper (Academic/Professional Journal)
Title	Making the most of authentic media texts
Contribution Type	Single Work
Journal	OnCue Journal
Volume, Issue, Page	10(1),pp.142-149
Details	Reading resources for EFL media courses can be sourced from a wide range of authentic texts which students can use to hone their critical thinking and reading skills. Students can encounter a wide range of perspectives by reading online newspaper articles, editorials, and opinion pieces, but may not have the ability to differentiate between factual reporting and opinionative passages. By teaching critical reading strategies, students can understand differences in reporting styles and journalistic discourse, and read the news with a more critical perspective and deepened understanding. This paper introduces ideas for how to use online newspaper articles to improve students’ critical reading skills. Practical tasks that raise learners’ attention to subtle differences in media reports will be discussed. By analyzing the specialized discourse and stylistic differences of articles with activities that compare facts, identify opinion, and contrast discourse features, students can develop critical thinking and reading skills vital for the media studies field. With these reading activities, students can gain a better understanding of online newspapers’ motivations and bias, and journalists’ research and reporting methods, which will allow them to read the news with a more informed and critical perspective.
ISSN	1882-0220