Authentic Social-Cultural Reading in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Abstract

The paper concerns the use of authentic social-cultural reading materials in foreign language learning and teaching of international students. The study was started from the assumption that authentic materials allow international students to link mastering a foreign language and the real world since they meet learners’ needs and contribute to better social adaptation in a foreign country. The purpose of the article is to characterize the place and role of work with authentic social-cultural reading materials in foreign language learning and teaching of international students. The theoretical and mixed methods were used to achieve the purpose. The study was conducted with first-year international students of different faculties of SNAU. In the context of the mixed method both quantitative (numerical) data from questionnaire (in the middle of the semester) and qualitative (namely students’ comments, observation and analysis of students’ activity during foreign language classes, monitoring the students’ reaction to the use of authentic reading materials from different sources (printed mass media, TV, Internet) throughout the semester were gathered and processed to bring the results together in the overall interpretation. Conclusions: the outcomes demonstrate that international students consider authentic social-cultural reading worthwhile and see more potential advantages in work with them than constraints. International students support using different thematic materials from personal contexts (family life and habits) to public ones (country’s traditions and events). The benefits of using them also include a possibility for enhancing reading skills, acquisition of the language and reality of the foreign country, better students’ social adaptation, and motivation to learning.

Encouraging Students’ Critical Thinking Skillsin the Midst of Information Wars

“…The selection of topics related to modern media for target language curriculum development is in accordance with the research findings in the field. Educators have observed that students exhibited a noticeable interest in using diverse digital and media resources and have been enthusiastic about acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to consume and disseminate content safely and efficiently (Gómez Jiménez & Gutiérrez, 2019;Lushchyk et al, 2021).…”

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2023

“…Theme 2: (Klimova, 2021;Lushchyk et al, 2021) stated that regarding teaching methods there is high demand for the use of authentic materials and teaching is almost the same as teaching business language because learners are professionals who should be provided with materials related to real-life scenarios.…”

“…Reading authentic texts contributes to the development of communicative foreign language competence at the following levels: lingvistic, speech, socio-cultural, compensatory, training-cognitive (Lushchyk et al, 2021). It is important to mix methods of teaching because it is a way to keep interest in studies during the whole lecture.…”

Ukrainian HEI Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Fostering Media Literacy and Critical Thinking in EFL Learning

“…The abundance of media resources provides teachers with a unique opportunity to teach EFL on authentic materials to their students. However, it should go along with critical literacy practice resources, namely, theoretical basis and critical media literacy principles, material and media selection, student characteristics and language level, students' and educators' skills to analyze credible information sources, their ability to process information, analyze and critique text, produce and distribute information (Afrilyasanti, Basthomi, Zen, & Fauziah, 2023;Lushchyk, Pikulytska, & Tsyhanok, 2021;McDougall, Supa, van Driel, & Sternadel, 2018). After the series of English-language media literacy and critical thinking trainings focusing on Ukrainian and EU media space correlation, substantial feedback was obtained through Google Forms, aimed to assess the attitudes of Ukrainian HEI students towards media literacy and critical thinking development in the context of EFL learning.…”