Comunicar 39-ingles - Revista Comunicar

19one approach, depending on the needs and interests oftheir students, as well as local circumstances. Severalpotential approaches which could be utilized in workingwith the MIL curriculum are outlined below:• A medium-based approach involves the study ofa particular medium, such as the Internet, television orfilm. The key elements and characteristics of themedium are explored, including the ways in which themedium itself can influence or shape the content andinformation being conveyed. This approach also in -cludes an exploration of the role and function of mediaand technologies in particular social or historical contexts.• A thematic approach involves exploring a particulartheme or topic across several media. A topic suchas global citizenship or gender representation can beexamined in terms of how effectively it is representedin a variety of media texts and information sources,and for its potential impact on audiences.• A unit on MIL can be a stand-alone unit withina course. Teachers select a module, topic, or themeand students explore it intensively for two to threeweeks.• Integrating MIL into other areas of the curriculumis a holistic approach that can create authenticlearning experiences for students. Because of the pervasivenessof media, information and technology inour society, it is often difficult to explore media andinformation literacy in isolation: analysis of documentaryfilms is needed in history; media and gender representationshould be part of sociology courses. The crucialpoint here is that all subject areas can benefit fromteaching ‘about’ and not just ‘through’ the media,otherwise educators neglect the use of important criticaltools of MIL (Wilson & Duncan, 2009: 134).2.3. Pedagogical approachesAn essential recommendation for teaching MIL isthat teachers see it not as a form of protection, but asan opportunity for preparing students for their roles ascitizens and consumers, and for effective participationin democratic discourse. The experience of MILshould be one that engages students in a process of criticalanalysis, production and dialogue, rather than aprocess whose outcome and interpretation is con -trolled by the teacher.It is also important in developing teachers’ and students’competencies to begin where students are at.Learning about students’ understanding and use ofmedia and information technologies is an importantstarting point that will help to determine the mostappropriate pedagogical approach for each classroom.Within each pedagogical approach, activities ineach of the modules should include appropriate scaffolding,so that learning is introduced in a step-by-stepmanner, with activities increasing in difficulty as studentsacquire the necessary skills and knowledge foreach stage of the learning process. Each moduleshould also include opportunities for meta-cognition,where teachers and students identify and reflect onthe skills being used in each module, so that effectivestrategies can intentionally be applied to other situations.It is assumed that for each module, strategies andactivities which engage the learner in analysis and productionwill also be developed. The curriculum identifiesa number of pedagogical approaches for the teachingof MIL. Specific examples of these approaches,as well as strategies for analysis and production, aredescribed below.2.3.1. Textual analysisThis strategy is based on a detailed analysis of singlemedia or information texts and involves a detaileddescription of key elements of the text, such as images,sound, font, vocabulary, types of camera angles,colour, etc (Rayner, Wall & Kruger, 2004). Studentsdetermine the meaning of a text based on connotationsand associations invoked by various elements of thetext. Based on an analysis of the «key ingredients» –technical and symbolic– and the messages being conveyed,judgments are also made about the text as awhole.2.3.2. Contextual analysisThis strategy is based on examining the context fora particular media or information text. For example,student may examine the context of a website, as wellas the text of a single news story present on that site;or they may examine the context of a political ad campaign,as well as the information conveyed through asingle political advertisement. Examining context alsorequires consideration of the audience receiving themessage, as well as those people responsible for producingit. It examines the importance of context in creatingmeaning: students explore how meaning changeswhen an image or piece of information is removedfrom its context. Student research can involve suchtopics as who produced a text, the business or industryinvolved in distributing it, various production rolesinvolved, as well as the marketing and distribution of aparticular text. Student work also involves researchingand identifying the target audience, and investigatinghow and why audiences may have accepted or rejectedparticular texts.Comunicar, 39, XX, 2012© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293 • Pages 15-22