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Running Head: Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Critical Analysis of media towards the Promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Iván Alcides Amórtegui Sacristán
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas
School of Science and Education
Master Program in Applied Linguistics to TEFL
Bogotá, Colombia.
2016
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Critical Analysis of media towards the Promotion of English as a Foreign Language
Students’ Learning Autonomy
Iván Alcides Amórtegui Sacristán
Thesis Director:
Margarita Rosa Vargas Torres
A thesis submitted as a requirement to obtain the degree of
M.A. in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas
School of Science and Education
Master Program in Applied Linguistics to TEFL
Bogotá, Colombia.
2016
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Note of acceptance
Thesis Director: ________________________________
Margarita Rosa Vargas Torres, M.a.
Jury: ________________________________
Helena Guerrero, Ph.D
Jury: ________________________________
Harold Castañeda Peña Ph.D.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Acuerdo 19 de 1988 del Consejo Superior Universitario.
Artículo 177: “La Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas no será responsable por las
ideas expuestas en esta tesis”.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Dedication
This project is the result of many attempts to accomplish this goal. For this reason, I would
like to thank God for giving me the chance to conclude this part of the process, as well as
Professor Harold Castañeda who guided me to discover new perspectives in the teaching field.
Without his kind help and support, this research document would not have been done. For my
family, my fiancée and my friends my deepest gratitude for all your support and love. Now I feel
education has a new meaning.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Acknowledgements
This research would not have been possible without the support, encouragement and guidance
I received from my professors and tutor, who guided me to accomplish this goal. They all
represented crucial agents in the development and completion of this project, investing their time
to read and provide feedback. I dedicate to them this dissertation, with the expectation to
reattribute them for all the effort.
I acknowledge the mentoring of Professor Margarita Vargas who supported this project, and
who encouraged me to find the ways towards the success of this objective. Through this project I
have seen how relevant education is now for society, and how our role is now to be active agents
of change, helping people gain a better understanding of the world surrounding them, as well as
grow up as human beings.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Abstract
This work presents the process and results of this research project in an EFL classroom at a
public university at the south of Bogotá. The university claims for the generation and spread of
knowledge with autonomy and vocation, and the opening of spaces for reflection and
pedagogical actions in response to the challenges that globalization demands. However, students’
comments imply autonomy practices are not present in their learning process, and this fact
reveals a mismatch between the university mission and the actual learners’ situation. The
investigation explored how the critical analysis of media promoted 6 students’ autonomous
learning practices in the English as a foreign language class. This work was done within a total
of 16 weeks to answer the research question “What aspects of learning autonomy are unveiled
through a critical analysis of media in an EFL class at Universidad Distrital?” This study
followed the qualitative paradigm and was based on a case study approach. In order to report this
process, data was collected from students’ questionnaires, students’ journal, artifacts and class
observations. The gathered evidence indicated that students gained awareness in relation to the
English language learning process and the content of learning. They showed significant progress
towards the promotion of learning autonomy practices, which implied detached analysis and
reflection about media aspects, elements of critical thinking, as well as consciousness at the
moment of making decisions and working independently.
KEY WORDS: Autonomy in learning, English as a Foreign Language, Critical Analysis of
Media
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Resumen
Este trabajo presenta el proceso y los resultados de la investigación en una universidad
pública en el sur de Bogotá. La universidad busca la generación y difusión del conocimiento con
autonomía y vocación, y la apertura de espacios de reflexión y acciones pedagógicas en
respuesta a los retos que demanda la globalización, sin embargo, los comentarios de los
estudiantes implican que las prácticas de autonomía no están presentes en su proceso de
aprendizaje, y este hecho revela una inconsistencia entre la misión de la universidad y la
situación real de sus estudiantes. La investigación exploró la manera cómo el análisis crítico de
los medios de comunicación promueve prácticas de aprendizaje autónomo en 6 estudiantes de
una clase de inglés como lengua extranjera. Este trabajo se realizó en un total de 16 semanas para
responder a la pregunta de investigación "¿Qué aspectos de la autonomía en el aprendizaje se
revelan a través de un análisis crítico de los medios de comunicación en una clase de inglés
como lengua extranjera en la Universidad Distrital?" Este estudio siguió el paradigma cualitativo
y se basa en un estudio de caso. Con el fin de reportar este proceso, se recogieron los datos de
cuestionarios, diarios, actividades de clase y observaciones de las mismas. La evidencia recogida
indica que los estudiantes desarrollaron conciencia en relación con el proceso de aprendizaje del
inglés y el contenido del mismo, mostrando un progreso significativo hacia la promoción de
prácticas de autonomía,
KEY WORDS: Autonomía en el aprendizaje, Inglés como lengua extranjera, Análisis
Crítico de los Medios de Comunicación
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Table of Contents
Table of figures ................................................................................................................. I
Table of charts .................................................................................................................. II
Table of appendixes ....................................................................................................... IV
CHAPTER 1
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the problem ....................................................................................... 2
Research Question ................................................................................................ 5
Research Objectives .............................................................................................. 5
Significance of the study ........................................................................................ 6
CHAPTER 2
Literature review .................................................................................................... 8
Learning for a lifetime ........................................................................................... 8
The cognitive domain .................................................................................. 10
The affective domain ................................................................................... 13
The leaders of our learning: ourselves ................................................................. 16
The Dimensions of learning autonomy ............................................................... 19
Personal autonomy ...................................................................................... 19
Self-assessment ................................................................................ 20
Action planning and goal setting ..................................................... 21
Self-regulation.................................................................................. 21
Rational Autonomy ..................................................................................... 22
Metacognition .................................................................................. 22
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Judging the value of sources ............................................................ 23
Relational autonomy .................................................................................. 24
Critical Thinking ........................................................................................ 25
Analysis media with critical eyes ............................................................. 26
Studies regarding this research topic.......................................................... 28
CHAPTER 3
Research design ................................................................................................... 30
How to do this research project? ........................................................................... 31
The soul of the project: Qualitative research .............................................. 31
A qualitative perspective in this case study ................................................. 32
The art of interpretation as transformation .................................................. 34
Student-participants ............................................................................................... 35
How was data collected? ....................................................................................... 38
Data analysis procedures........................................................................................ 47
Ethical considerations ............................................................................................ 48
CHAPTER 4
Instructional design ............................................................................................. 50
Approaching media with critical lenses .............................................................. 51
Critical analysis of media towards autonomy in the EFL class .......................... 53
The English Language class context ................................................................... 54
Students expressing themselves ........................................................................... 55
When Experiences become knowledge ............................................................... 56
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
An environment of independence ....................................................................... 58
The tool to support this project ............................................................................ 59
Moving through critical analysis of media to autonomy in learning ................... 62
Activity 1: Taking a second look .............................................................. 64
Activity 2: Are you controlled by media? ................................................. 65
Activity 3: Creating media ........................................................................ 67
Activity 4: Reality show ........................................................................... 68
Activity 5: Mobility .................................................................................. 71
Activity 6: Food, Obesity and Anorexia ................................................... 73
Activity 7: TV commercials...................................................................... 75
Pedagogical objectives ......................................................................................... 77
Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 78
CHAPTER 5
Data analysis ........................................................................................................ 79
The architecture and procedures of data management .......................................... 79
Looking beyond the bounds of our perception ..................................................... 84
Reflection and Analysis: a triggering point ............................................. 84
The person’s stance towards the world ................................................... 90
Strategic engagement in learning-goals completion ............................................ 96
Conceiving ideas towards an objective ................................................... 97
Developing and implementing ideas ..................................................... 103
CHAPTER 6
Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 110
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Implications for Further Research and Pedagogical Practices ............................. 114
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 116
APPENDIXES .............................................................................................................. 128
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Cognitive domain (Learning Taxonomy) ............................................ 12
Figure 2: Changes in the Taxonomy of Learning ............................................... 13
Figure 3: Affective domain (Learning Taxonomy) ............................................. 15
Figure 4: Observational Journal – Sample .......................................................... 40
Figure 5: Student’s artifact – Sample .................................................................. 42
Figure 6: Student’s reflective journal – Sample .................................................. 44
Figure 7: Questionnaire – Sample ....................................................................... 46
Figure 8: Students’ virtual tool – Screenshot ...................................................... 60
Figure 9: Student’s artifact – Vocabulary ........................................................... 61
Figure 10: Student’s reflective journal - Sample ................................................ 62
Figure 11: Student’s artifacts - Sample ............................................................... 62
Figure 12: Activity: Taking a second look – Basic level .................................... 64
Figure 13: Activity: Taking a second look – Difficult level ............................... 65
Figure 14: Activity: Are you controlled by media? ............................................ 66
Figure 15: Activity: Creating media ................................................................... 68
Figure 16: Activity: Reality show – Surviving in a desert island ....................... 70
Figure 17: Activity: Mobility .............................................................................. 72
Figure 18: Mobility poster .................................................................................. 72
Figure 19: Activity: Obesity................................................................................ 74
Figure 20: Activity: TV Commercials ................................................................ 76
Figure 21: ATLAS TI. Data Analysis Screenshot .............................................. 79
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Figure 22: Microsoft Excel Worsheet ................................................................. 82
Figure 23: Category Analysis Network – ATLAS TI ......................................... 84
Figure 24: ATLAS TI – Reflection and Analysis Network ................................ 84
Figure 25: Evidence of Reflection Sample ......................................................... 80
Figure 26: Teacher’s journal: Observation of activities 1 and 7 ......................... 87
Figure 27: Tendencies Graph: Items 2,9,10, and 11. .......................................... 89
Figure 28: Student’s reflective journal – Evidence of reflection and analysis ... 90
Figure 29: ATLAS TI - Category Analysis Network.......................................... 84
Figure 30: Student’s reflective journal excerpts. Evidence of self-evaluation ... 91
Figure 31: Teacher’s journal. Excerpts related to self-evaluation ...................... 92
Figure 32: Student’s artifact sample – Analyzing media .................................... 93
Figure 33: Student’s artifact sample. Interpreting media. ................................... 94
Figure 34: Student’s reflective journal. Writing about media............................. 94
Figure 35: Tendency graphs. Items 6, 12, 22, and 25. ........................................ 95
Figure 36: ATLAS TI – Strategy Engagement Category Analysis Network...... 96
Figure 37: ATLAS TI - Conceiving Ideas Network ........................................... 97
Figure 38: Student’s artifact. Activities writing .................................................. 97
Figure 39: Student’s artifact. Planning and problem solving.. ............................ 98
Figure 40: Student’s reflective journal. Planning a presentation ........................ 99
Figure 41: Teacher’s observational journal. Aspects of student’s planning and
organization....................................................................................................... 100
Figure 42: Tendency graphs. Items 8, 16, 17, 18 and 19. ................................. 101
Figure 43: Student’s reflective journal. Planning and organization evidence .. 102
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Figure 44: ATLAS TI - Developing ideas Network. ........................................ 103
Figure 45: Student’s artifact sample. Analyzing media. ................................... 105
Figure 46: Students’ presentation about media ................................................. 105
Figure 47: Teacher’s observational journal. Problem posing Excerpts. ........... 106
Figure 48: Tendency graphs. Items 3, 15, 24, and 28 ....................................... 107
Figure 49: Student’s reflective journal. Excerpts related to planning a solution for an
obstacle in learning. .......................................................................................... 108
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Table of Charts
Chart 1: Dimensions of autonomy. Characteristics of autonomous learners ....... 81
Chart 2: Research project – Data analysis and architecture ................................. 83
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy
Table of Appendixes
Appendix A ........................................................................................................ 128
Appendix B ........................................................................................................ 131
Appendix B1 ................................................................................................ 131
Appendix B2 ................................................................................................ 132
Appendix B3 ................................................................................................ 133
Appendix C ........................................................................................................ 134
Appendix C1 ............................................................................................... 134
Appendix C2 ................................................................................................ 135
Appendix D ........................................................................................................ 136
Appendix E ........................................................................................................ 137
Appendix F ......................................................................................................... 138
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 1
CHAPTER I
Introduction
It has been widely recognized that knowledge, the way we acquire it, how we
understand it and how we use it is the cornerstone of all institutions of higher education
around the world. Universities are more than factories of information and employees, they
should encourage people to see beyond their perspectives and enhance students’ potential
as human beings (Mandelson, 2009, para. 4). Freire referred to this objective of education
in the publication PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED (1970, p. 87) by stating that people
should be able to “read not only the ‘word’, but the ‘world’ ” and then “become writers of
their own stories”. In this sense, universities play an essential role since they are meant to
“equip students for lifelong learning” (Boud and Falchikov, 2006, p. 31) and give them the
tools to express their thoughts, opinions, ideas, and make “clear, reasoned judgments”
regarding not only the circumstances that surrounds them, but also their own being (Beyer,
1995, p. 272). This is, then, a pivot point where teachers and students are called to shift
from traditional methods of teaching and learning to an scenario where students have an
opportunity to keep on learning in a setting different to the formal one (Field, 2007), and
also get the ability to make decisions in an independent way, thinking of the possibilities to
act and the consequences of their actions (Little, 1991). That scenario is called autonomy in
learning.
Raya, Lamb, and Vieira (2007) state that the notion of autonomy in learning is
coextensive with the notion of critical thinking (p.43). These abilities are correlated, and
both concepts are considered to be ideal at the moment of determining educational
objectives (Nix and Pemberton, 2012). In order to motivate students to set their objectives
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 2
in learning not only English as a foreign language but any other subject, as well as helping
them strengthen their ability to think judgmentally about the universe surrounding us, I
propose the Critical analysis of media and its features of reasoning and reflection about the
information presented through this source as a path to promote autonomous learning
practices in the EFL language classroom.
Statement of the problem
The English as a foreign language program at Universidad Distrital was created in
2010 as part of the internationalization of higher education politics promoted by the
ministry of education (Acuerdo 008 – 2010). The teaching of foreign languages was
conceived as a prior strategy to contribute to the strengthening of academic programs
quality, and so as an essential part in the development of students’ basic competences. The
implementation of this program in the university implied the promotion of students’
autonomy to choose formative activities according to their interests and motivations as well
as the access to different types of experiences and learning scenarios (Universidad Distrital,
2009). This philosophy is intertwined with the university mission which aims at generating
and spreading knowledge with autonomy and vocation, and also the opening of spaces for
reflection and pedagogical actions in response to the challenges that globalization demands
(As it can be seen in the university’s website).
As a teacher of English language who has been working for the Universidad
Distrital during the last three years and a half, I understand the importance of preparing my
students to face the demands of a world in constant change. For this reason, and with the
aim of helping students reach higher levels of professional and personal development as
well as looking for the accomplishment of the university mission, I started to inquiry about
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 3
practices of autonomy in learning. I came across a variety of sources that argued for the
importance of embracing these practices in order to help students identify goals, find ways
to achieve those goals, and monitor these processes not only as an alternative to learn
languages, but also as a skill for life. This initial interest led me to explore the situation
from the perspective of my colleagues, students, and examine the syllabus of the course.
During this inquiry I found that a considerable number of the activities done in the English
language classes entailed the practice of formal aspects of language such as grammar or
pronunciation, and they rarely invited students to search, filter, or evaluate information and
the means to get it. The course syllabus is based on the contents of the book established for
the English language program, and it somehow pushes teachers mainly to cover the course
topics on the given time. On the same track, students get access to a virtual platform by
means of an access code included in the same course book. The university proposes the
work on this platform as an opportunity for students to continue learning autonomously, but
in a platform designed to give students automatic answers and where teachers do not
participate directly, the practices related to autonomy are not evident and then students do
those activities alone just for the sake of the class grades.
Regarding the English language course, students commented that it is considered as
a difficult subject to learn and, in consequence, some students feel unmotivated before
classes start. Besides, some students see little value in the course or its content since they
do not find a practical use in their daily or immediate future lives; It is for this reason that
their comments relate the English language subject as a “Materia de relleno” (See appendix
A), and hence many of them take the subject as a mandatory component of the career.
When some of them start classes, they pay more attention to grades rather than learning
outcomes, ignoring other advantages that learning has in their lives such as growing up as
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 4
human beings, or getting skills to perform better in their labor and social contexts. Students
also see the virtual platform activities as additional homework as well as a possibility to
increase grades instead of a chance to identify their strengths and weaknesses in their
learning process. At the end, students entrust their whole learning process on their teachers.
Engaging students in contextualized and meaningful learning seems to be the way to help
students in their English language learning process, and more importantly, in their
strengthen of autonomous practices that can provide them with the basis to solve problems,
make judgements and decisions, set goals, reason effectively and get the charge of their
own learning (Benson, 2002). This way students can get the basic abilities to succeed in a
world in constant change (Partnership for 21st century skills, 2009).
The situation exposed before led me to think of an alternative to promote students’
autonomous practices in the English as a foreign language class. When having those
conversations with my students (See appendix A), I noticed they talked about different
Information and Communication Technologies as a possibility to keep learning in places
different to the university. Students used videos, audio files, movies, TV series, they had
contact with advertisement, and despite the fact that they have the intention to learn just
English language, they use these technologies without being aware of the multiple kinds of
information, ideas and messages it transmits. In a society saturated with means to convey
information like the one we live in, it is essential to be aware of the information we can
find, how to access them, as well as how to interpret it (Semali, 2005). If people get the
skills to decipher the information found on media, they will be able to make better
decisions, reinforce or question beliefs, and determine plans of action towards the
accomplishment of goals, which are essential aspects that characterize an autonomous
learner (McBrien, 2005). The use of media became interesting for me in virtue of its
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 5
potential to engage students in the dynamics of the English language class by aiming at
their interests, guiding them to gain awareness of their learning process and, additionally,
helping them enhance different literacy practices that ICTs can potentially promote. It is for
this reason that I propose the Critical analysis of media (or media literacy), and its worth to
deconstruct, construct messages, shape, reflect, and reinforce knowledge of the self and the
environment across printed and electronic audio-visual forms (Silverblatt, 2001, p. 16) as
an alternative to help students become better English language users, media consumers and,
particularly, authorities of their learning processes. This critical analysis is a means to
support students’ development of their ability “for detachment, critical reflection, decision
making, and independent action” (Little, 1991, p. 4), an ability acknowledged as autonomy,
that is hence, “considered important not only for their individual life but also in social
matters that influences our social and collective lives” (Benson, 2001, p. 27). Taking into
consideration the situation presented before, I present this study which aims to address the
following research question:
Research Question
What aspects of learning autonomy are unveiled through critical analysis of media
in an EFL class at Universidad Distrital?
Research Objective
The question aforementioned guides the research project towards the following
purpose:
To explore the aspects of learning autonomy generated when analyzing media
critically in an English Language class.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 6
Significance of the Study
As teachers, we experience different in-class situations that constantly challenge our
creativity and innovation skills. Sometimes we find students who do not seem to engage in
class, students who pay more attention to their electronic devices rather than the
information presented, as well as students who show reluctant to use English language in
class work. We cannot affirm that it is students’ lack of responsibility or interest what
makes them behave that way. There are several factors that may affect their learning
process and unfortunately we do not always become aware of them. I wonder what would
happen if we carry out some changes in our classroom to motivate them to learn. Most of us
have speculated about that, and the soul of this research project is precisely to explore a
different alternative to reach this educative goal.
This project aims at providing students an opportunity to identify and develop the
capacity they possess to make decisions, to act independently and also to reflect in a critical
way (Little, 1991, p.4). These abilities can potentially lead them to better interaction with
their environment and all the ones involved in it, to learn from their mistakes and use them
to move forward, and also to find ways to continue learning even when they are not in
class. In this order of ideas, I consider the analysis of media though critical lenses as an
option that, included in the pedagogy of the class, can help students develop autonomous
learning practices that could help them gain awareness of their own, how they think, and
how they relate with their setting. In addition, this research document shows teachers a
reality present in educational contexts, how students tend to rely on them to follow a
learning process, and so present a pedagogical alternative to integrate Information and
Communication Technologies in the language learning context. The project also aims to
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 7
motivate students to get control of their education proceedings, to become conscious of
their learning process and for teachers to reflect on their pedagogical practices.
Carette & Castillo’s (2004) commented that the key elements of language learning
were “Awareness raising, reflection and learners’ empowerment” (p. 73). Their statement
encloses the philosophy behind learning autonomy and, at the same time, becomes an
invitation to explore another course of action in our pedagogical practices. Their assertion
turned into a leading quote for this project. As a result of this fact, this research project
aims to contribute to the field of language learning by unveiling the characteristics of
learning autonomy that could be promoted through the development of activities focused on
critical analysis of media in the EFL class. The experiences, anecdotes and difficulties
faced in the development of the project are described in this document, as well as the way
in which student’s perceived the integration of ICTs in their language learning context and
their opinion about the critical analysis of media as an alternative to promote learning
autonomy. When reading this document, I hope language teachers in a local and
international context gain a greater understanding of the concept of autonomy in learning,
come up with new ideas related to how to approach learning and teaching in the English
language classroom, identify some benefit of using information and communication
technologies in the classroom, and find reasons to switch the classical paradigm of
classroom from teacher-based to student-based. The information presented in this project is,
additionally, expected to be considered as a way to improve the English course design we
have now at Universidad Distrital.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 8
CHAPTER II:
Literature Review
This chapter introduces two main constructs that support this research project: The
concept of learning, as a fundamental principle in individual education and lifelong
growing, Autonomy in learning, and the role teachers and students have in the process. The
idea of helping students become autonomous, and so critical thinkers, is contemplated as a
great necessity for the society because future challenges students will face in academic and
in social terms will demand, in between others, these abilities. This section, firstly, will
include the most representative discussions regarding learning, its importance as a lifelong
process, how it is related to the notion of Autonomy, and a brief analysis of the roles
involved in the process. Though this chapter I expect to discuss the fundaments that support
this research project in pursuance of a detailed perception and deeper understanding of the
proposal.
Learning for a lifetime
As human beings, we are in constant interaction with a universe of experiences that
give shape to the way we think and act. That background, the acquisition of experiences
and the increase of the same is what we normally denominate as learning. A formal
definition of learning, as the one we can find in the Online Merriam-Webster dictionary
(n.d.), states that it is “the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying,
practicing, being taught, or experiencing something”. Some other definitions in the same
dictionary describe this as a process of constant modification in the way we behave, and all
these changes have an origin in the set of experiences we have collected when interacting
with different situations and in different contexts. Learning comes up as part of our own
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 9
development, it happens in every single moment of our existence, it is present in all the
situations we have to face every day, and it is a process that is going to be with us until the
end of our days in this world.
There is a common misperception nowadays about what learning means. For many
people in our society learning is nothing more than getting a certificate from an institution
in order to fulfil required qualifications for a job (Hyslop-Margison & Naseem, 2007). This
may be the consequence of a traditional, but globalized idea of education as a transactional
process which involves students as recipients of information so as to fit adequately in a
parameterized-productive social order (Freire, 1970). Freire (2014) comments in this
regards that the world is not a “Static and closed order” but a “problem to be solved and
worked” (p. 32). This problem comes from the lack of understanding of those roots which
attain us to our human part, instead of that mechanical and operative life we are immersed
in. We need to widen our understanding of the world by giving relevance to the human
capacity of recognition, evaluation and critical reflection. This is a world in constant
change which is slowly challenging people’s thoughts and abilities towards the
development of the self in a wide variety of scenarios: personal, intellectual, and social.
Learning for a lifetime arises as a personal need, and as a hope for a better future world.
There is plenty of thought regarding the different dimensions of learning, their
characteristics, and there are also researchers who have devoted time to defining them. The
most representative is Benjamin Bloom. His taxonomy of learning domains, created in
1956, was designed to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing
and evaluating, instead of just relying on the mere fact of remembering specific data.
Bloom’s committee originally proposed that learning happened in Cognitive and in
Affective dimensions, and researchers such as Harrow (1972) and Dave (1970) collaborated
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 10
in the development of competing systems for another dimension denominated as the
Psychomotor domain. Further studies done by researchers like David Krathwohl (1964)
and Anita Harrow (1972) identified other aspects that characterize these dimensions. All
the dimensions presented can be also considered as objectives in the learning process, and
so they result in the acquisition of skills, knowledge and attitudes. Having a deeper
comprehension of the dimensions will help us understand the potential of this research
project, and the ways in which the work proposed in the EFL classroom can benefit
students. For the sake of the research proposal presented in this research document, the
Cognitive and Affective dimensions are to be explained below:
The Cognitive Domain
When thinking of this domain, we identify that it involves knowledge and the
development of intellectual skills (Bloom, 1964). In this domain, human beings are able to
recognize and recall facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that become useful in the
development of intellectual abilities and skills. Bloom proposed six major categories which
relate simple and complex behaviours in a hierarchical order. These categories are expected
to be mastered in order for the next to take place.
In the cognitive domain, the main objective is to gain a detailed comprehension of
information through questioning or practical activities. It is composed by six levels,
classified from the simplest to the most complex. Namely, we can find knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation:
Knowledge is defined as the reminiscences of previously acquired information. This
level talks about the way in which we resort to data we learned from specific facts
or past experiences in order to bring to mind the appropriate information.
Knowledge is represented as the lowest level of learning in the cognitive domain
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 11
(Sweetland, n.d.). This level of cognition becomes evident at the moment when we
remember facts, details, and also when we can use that information to make a
description.
Comprehension is defined by Sweetland (n.d.) as the process of detecting the
meaning of information. This process implies the analysis and consciousness of
situations in relation to the parameters and problems presented in them, and
accordingly, the consequences of the actions we decide to take to overcome those
issues. Through this level, a person is able to understand instructions and steps in a
procedure, or explain how a plan is expected to be carried out.
Application refers to the fact of putting into practice the acquired knowledge in new
and specific situations. This level includes the application of rules, methods,
concepts, principles, laws, and theories (Sweetland, n.d.). Taking grammar rules
learned in class, using technological tools to find the information necessary to
develop a task, or interpreting the messages behind media sources can be taken as
confirmation of development in this level.
Analysis is, according to Sweetland (n.d.), connected with the deconstruction of
information into pieces with the aim of understanding how the information is
organized. When we identify the pieces that compose the whole of information, we
are able to analyze how they are linked, and also how they relate to each other in
hierarchical terms. At this cognitive level we can detect mistakes in the information
provided to us. In the world of information and communication technologies, where
we are bombarded by hundreds and hundreds of ads and propaganda, keeping this
ability active will help us gain a better comprehension of the intentions and
objectives behind that information we receive.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 12
Synthesis is, according to the definition proposed by the International Assembly for
Collegiate Business Education (IACBE, n.d.), the ability to put together parts of
information with the objective of constructing new data. This level implicates
communicating ideas, and making emphasis on the meaning or structure of them.
Writing a report explaining a plan to solve certain inconvenient, integrating
information from different sources, or exposing the results of an investigation are
considered as facts that document the development on this area.
Last but not least, we have Evaluation as the highest level of cognition. At this level
people should judge and value the information they have, and the extent to which
that information can be relevant at the moment of pursuing any goal. It implies that
aspects of the aforementioned cognitive levels must be present. Judging that
information should be based on specific criteria, and they can be either “internal or
external criteria” (IACBE, n.d.).
Figure 1. Taxonomy of learning. Cognitive domain. Taken from
http://www.sandhills.edu/faculty-staff/syllabus/taxonomies.php
Certain modifications and revisions to the theory suggest a slight change in the
levels proposed by Bloom. The Evaluation level was downgraded, and its original place in
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 13
the scale was taken by Synthesis, with the new name of Creating. Lorin Anderson (2001)
was the head behind these changes, where Creating becomes the cognitive level in which
the construction, design and production of information take place.
Figure 2. Taxonomy of learning. Changes from original to revised taxonomy.
Taken from http://iacbe.org/oa-blooms-taxonomy.asp.
The kind of actions that evidence learning in this level are, as well, related to the
basic skills that autonomous learners demonstrate. Autonomous learners have the
characteristic of being able to “transcend the barriers between learning and living” (Little,
1995, p. 175). It is, in other words, leaving behind the obstacles in learning towards the
accomplishment of one’s own goal as a consequence of the increase in the levels of
cognition.
The Affective Domain
The affective domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia, 1964) refers to the way by which
we deal with situations from an emotional perspective. It implies that the attitude we have
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 14
to confront any event, the feelings we get and our values are the aspects present in this
domain. There are five categories organized in order of complexity: receiving, responding,
valuing, organization, and characterization. Let us have a glance at each category in order
to have a better comprehension of what they imply:
Receiving is related to the awareness of the existence of certain ideas,
material, or phenomena (Krathwohl et al, 1964). At this level students notice
the presence of information, reacting to it. When we are able to differentiate,
to accept, to listen and to respond we are experiencing this category.
Responding refers to the degree of commitment a person has when reacting
to the ideas or situations exposed. In a learning context, this cognitive level
requires active participation from students as their willingness to volunteer
in activities, the motivation they have when participating in them, and the
level of satisfaction they reach after them turn to be evidence of this
category.
Valuing is the fact of giving worth to the ideas or the information exposed
by others, as well as the inner desire to feel acknowledged by others in the
same terms. Practical examples of this category are identified when people
engage in debates, support concepts, or are recognized as proficient.
Organization drives at the order of values, and they become a kind of filter
which classifies ideas and thoughts in order of importance and relevance.
The moment when we propose a plan, or we share our opinion regarding any
given situation is also evidence of this category.
Characterization is connected with the way in which people personalize the
acquired information, and modify their behavior in accordance to their
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 15
perceptions of those ideas. This level also implies the use of other categories
because people receive the information, and after digesting that information
they are able to filter and prioritize parts of it to accept or reject them.
Figure 3. Affective domain. Taxonomy of learning according to
Krathwohl. Taken from http://www.sandhills.edu/faculty-
staff/syllabus/taxonomies.php
We all, as constant learners, consciously and unconsciously make use of our
feelings at the moment of interacting with different situations and ideas. The experiences
we gain in terms of this cognitive domain of learning become consequently an affective
filter which strains information and segregates it, helping us decode information in certain
ways. When we think of our behavior towards learning, the level of engagement and the
perceptions we have in relation to it, we realize we use our affective domain.
Some kinds of learning imply more cognitive processing than others. Regarding
Bloom's taxonomy, skills involving analysis, evaluation and synthesis (creation of new
knowledge) are considered to be higher-order thinking skills. Chaffee (2009) and Santrock
(2008) comment in this regards that thinking helps people in various daily issues such as
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 16
finding solutions to problems, reaching particular or general objectives, and making
decisions. Researchers argue for the importance of promoting higher-order thinking skills
in ESL and EFL classrooms (Chamot, 1995; Tarvin & Al-Arishi, 1991) because this
practice challenges learners to think in a critical and creative way, and consequently they
adopt a critical attitude to understand the world. According to Raya, Lamb, and Vieira
(2007) the fact of thinking in a critical way, the aspects involved in that process and the
benefits of the same are intertwined with the idea of autonomy, and in the same way, Little
(1991) explained that the ability “for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and
independent action” (p. 4) can define what autonomy is. Both definitions indicate that
autonomy implies critical thinking apart from other skills. The term autonomy, the main
construct of this research project, will be analyzed next.
The leaders of our own learning: ourselves.
In 1991, David Little defined learning autonomy as “a matter of the learner’s
psychological relation to the process and content of learning – a capacity for detachment,
critical reflection, decision-making, and independent action” (p. 4). It is the willingness to
“act independently and in cooperation with others, as a socially responsible person” (Dam,
1994, p.1). The concept of autonomy in education has been the core of investigation in
different areas for the last years. Disciplines including educational reform, adult education,
and the psychology of learning in the twentieth century have also influenced the definition
of autonomy (Benson, 2001). It is in fact the idea of adult self-directed learning what led
researchers to propose theories and practices of autonomy back in the 1970s.
The terms learner autonomy and self-directed learning are usually taken as
synonyms, however, they are not the same though they share certain relation between them.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 17
Little (1988) defines self-direction as the “the organization of learning” and autonomy as
“that state of independence in which the learner is able to and accepts to take full
responsibility for his learning” (p. 79). In Holec’s terms (1980), learner autonomy is a
capacity of the learner, while self-directed learning implies the learner to be in charge of the
own learning process. Additionally, Dickinson (1987), states that autonomy is “the
situation in which the learner is totally responsible for all of the decisions concerned with
his learning and the implementation of those decisions” and self-direction implies “a
particular attitude to the learning task, where the learner accepts responsibility for all the
decisions concerned with his learning …” (p. 11).
The concept of autonomous learning apparently had its origins in the past as
mentioned by Benson (2011), who quoted Galileo´s opinion about teaching and learning as
the fact that “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within
himself”. The belief of guiding human beings to a certain kind of independence in terms of
knowledge acquisition had a shape then, and so the importance of giving learners the
chance to make decisions regarding the learning process they follow in times of change
about the conception of the world and the way in which humans communicate their
thoughts, ideas and opinions. In connection with this idea, Holec (1981) defined
autonomous learning as “the ability to take charge of one’s learning, to have, and hold, the
responsibility for all the decisions concerning all aspects of this learning” (p. 3). The
determination of objectives, the definition of contents and progressions, the selection of
methods and techniques to be used, the monitoring of the process of acquisition, and finally
the evaluation of what was acquired are then those decisions concerning learning (Holec,
1981). In a context of language learning such as the one presented through this research
project, practices like learning monitoring, decision-making, problem posing and others
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 18
involved in the application of autonomous learning are promoted through the exercise of
critical media analysis, with the aim of encouraging students to “independently choose
aims and purposes and sets goals; choose materials, methods and tasks; exercise choice and
purpose in organizing and carrying out the chosen tasks; and choose criteria for evaluation”
(Thanasoulas, 2000, p.2). This idea of autonomy in learning covers different aspects of
thinking, analyzing and creating that can be applied not only in the English language
learning context, but essentially as a lifetime ability. Jacobs and Farrell (2001) expressed
that the concept learning autonomy makes more emphasis on the learner’s role in the class,
out of the class, and his actions regarding the learning process. It focuses on the process
rather than the product and encourages learners to develop their own purposes for learning
and to see learning as a lifelong process. An autonomous learner is the one who is able to
build up on knowledge from direct experience, instead of the one who just answers to
directions (Benson, 2001). Autonomous learners have the characteristic of being able to
“transcend the barriers between learning and living” (Little, 1995, p. 175), which is, in
other words, being able to transfer knowledge from basic stages to wider contexts (Little,
1991).
I consider that guiding learners to a better comprehension of the world surrounding
them would give them the triggering point to empower their ability to analyze, understand
and propose action plans about the way they conceive their learning, their life and society. I
also inferred that the development of these abilities in the class would detach our
experience from the classical paradigm of teaching and learning, and consequently get to a
point where we feel “the freedom to learn outside the teaching context as well as the ability
to continue learning after instruction has finished” (Field, 2007, p.30). If we manage to
master these abilities in the EFL classroom, we will see “students’ capacity to use their
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 19
learning independently of teachers,” and their “capacity to communicate autonomously”
(Littlewood’s, 1996, p. 73). Further work is needed in the classroom so as to engage our
students in reflection and critical thinking as part of autonomy. “if learners are not trained
for autonomy, no amount of surrounding them with resources will foster in them that
capacity for active involvement and conscious choice, although it might appear to do so”
(Hurd, 1998, p.72). Autonomy does not emerge unexpectedly, but it is the result of certain
external conditions. “A self-instruction context for learning does not automatically equate
with learner autonomy, but autonomy may arise and develop within the learner as a
response to the specific demands of a self-instruction context” (White, 1995. p. 209). As it
was seen with learning taxonomy, autonomous learning is presented with its dimensions as
follows.
The dimensions of Learning Autonomy
The concept of autonomy should be viewed from different angles, for example,
technical, psychological, socio-cultural and political-critical (Benson, 1997). It is a
“multidimensional capacity which can take different forms for different individuals, and
even for the same individual in different contexts or at different times” (Benson, 2001,
p.47). In this regards, Hughes (2003) presented three main dimensions of autonomy related
to educational settings and taking into consideration different author’s ideas. He describes
the following dimensions: Personal, Rational and Relational.
Personal Autonomy
Personal autonomy is described by taking into account two main authors: Amy
Allen and David Bridges. Namely, Allen (1992) defines personal autonomy as a “matter of
emotional maturity, self-reliance and moral integrity: respectively not being so emotionally
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 20
dependent on another that one cannot decide anything for oneself” (p. 48). She
complements this definition by mentioning that it is “the ability and will to organise oneself
and one’s life not depending on others to provide for oneself, and to be resolute and stand
by one´s convictions” (p.48). Other characteristics of personal autonomy include self-
awareness, self-evaluation or reflection. Furthermore, Bridges (1997) comments in relation
to personal autonomy that “…we have to reflect both on the character of our inner motives
and impulses and on the ways in which these may have been shaped and formed by external
influences and power structures” (p. 157). His words suggest that knowing ourselves
derives from being aware of how we are influenced by others and by external factors.
Hughes (2003) summarizes that personal autonomy is the idea of personal responsibility
and capacity, and that besides the characteristics mentioned above, this dimension of
autonomy includes action-planning, creativity and goal-setting. Given these points, we
proceed on analyzing each aspect regarding Personal Autonomy.
Self-assessment
There are different conceptions about the notion of self-assessment. Andrade and
Du (2007) state that Self-assessment is a process of formative assessment in which
“students reflect on and evaluate the quality of their work and their learning, judge the
degree to which they reflect explicitly stated goals or criteria, identify strengths and
weaknesses in their work, and revise accordingly” (p.160). Self-assessment is then the
ability to evaluate the own performance in relation to the own perception of accuracy and
quality standards. It is a phase where students think of their production, the process they
follow to accomplish it, and look for alternatives to improve. Self-assessment is a process
that can help students be ready not only to find a solution to the inconvenient they have had
before and that they already know how to solve, but also to those situations that can happen
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 21
unexpectedly (Brew,1995). This way, self-assessment becomes a vital lifelong learning
skill (Boud, 1995).
Action-planning and Goal-setting
According to Dawson and Guare (2003), the planning and organization process is an
ability that aims to create a complete, general, and detailed map to successfully achieve any
kind of goal, besides foreseeing all the possible problems and obstacles that can make this
process unreachable. Organizing the steps to develop a task, the methodology to follow, the
content or information to be used and also the resources are characteristics of action-
planning that can be evidenced in the EFL classroom. When students set a plan, they are
also setting goals. When students establish objectives in their learning process, and in the
way they think about developing a task, they “select effective learning strategies to reach
those goals, commit effort toward those goals, and celebrate the results of their
performances” (Rolheiser, Bower, & Stevahn, 2000, p. 77).
Self-regulation
Self-regulation is an important aspect of student learning and academic performance
in the classroom context. This aspect relates students' metacognitive strategies for previous
planning, ongoing monitoring of performance, and reflection on that performance in order
to modify the perceptions and ideas towards it (Zimmerman, 2000, p.16).
There is an inner relation between the main characteristics of Personal Autonomy.
When students establish their own learning goals, find motivation from within to
accomplish those goals and regulate their actions and procedures during the process,
students are more likely to face and overcome difficulties in learning and are likely to find
gratification in learning (Wolters & Rosenthal, 2000).
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 22
Rational Autonomy
Allen (1992) and Winch (1999) agree on the fact that rational autonomy is a product
of enlightenment thinking. The basis of this dimension relies on the idea that people should
be “free to determine their own beliefs and practices, and as such education should not
attempt to authoritatively present these” (Hughes, 2003, p. 2). This dimension proposes that
teachers should encourage learners to become critical and analytical so that they can “arrive
at their beliefs rationally, and contribute to the further development of knowledge and
understanding” (Hughes, 2003, p. 2). Hughes also defines this dimension as the idea of
autonomy ideas, through critical thinking. Among its different features we can find
metacognitive processes, and the own desire of discovering and judging learning resources.
One by one, I proceed to define each aspect related rational autonomy as follows.
Metacognition
Commonly defined as “thinking about thinking” (Rolheiser, Bower, & Stevahn,
2000, p. 32), metacognition refers to the capacity to understand thinking processes and how
they occur in order to gain the skills to complete a task or achieve a goal. “Students who
have acquired metacognitive skills are better able to compensate for both low ability and
insufficient information” (Rolheiser et all, 2000, p. 34). For Hennessey (1999)
Metacognition is “Awareness of one’s own thinking, awareness of the content of one’s
conceptions, an active monitoring of one’s cognitive processes, an attempt to regulate one’s
cognitive processes in relationship to further learning, and an application of a set of
heuristics as an effective device for helping people organize their methods of attack on
problems in general” (p. 3). When students are engaged in reflection about themselves, in
thinking about the objective of learning, and the value social contexts, Students are engaged
in metacognition (Brown, 1987).
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 23
According to Wenden (1998), metacognition results in “knowledge that includes all
facts learners acquire about their own cognitive processes as they are applied and used to
gain knowledge and acquire skills in varied situations” (p. 34). With this statement, we can
conclude that the practice of metacognition in the EFL classroom brings about skills used
for planning, monitoring, and evaluating the learning activity. Cook (1993) establishes that
“They are strategies about learning rather than learning strategies themselves” (p. 114) that
occur in and out the classroom when students focus on aspects related to their work, when
they pay careful attention to details within their work, when they participate in class and
monitor their performance, and additionally when they evaluate that performance to
conclude whether it was what they expected. It implies the self-questioning in terms of the
identification of steps to accomplish a goal, and inquiries regarding "How am I doing? Am
I having difficulties with this task?" and so on. As a consequence, it shows a “capacity for
active, independent learning…. for critical reflection and decision making, as well as the
skills necessary to carry out a self-directed learning programme” (Dickinson, 1995, p. 167).
This capacity is, basically, what defines an autonomous learner.
Judging the Value of sources
The evaluation of learning sources its content and structure is also known as
Information Literacy. This term can be explained as the capacity to find, evaluate and
accurately use the information in hand (Webber, Boon & Johnston, 2006). It is the ability to
identify the right moment to use the information with the purpose of communicating
thoughts and ideas. Zurkowski (1974) and Moon (2008) comment in this regards that we
constantly fight against an excess of information, and this fact has exceeded our capacity to
filter it. In order to work with this information, the ideas and concepts presented, it is
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 24
necessary to accumulate enough reasons to evaluate the sources and so being informed
enough to choose the best.
Relational Autonomy
Relational autonomy is defined by Mackenzie and Stoljar (2000) as “…the ways in
which socialization and social relationships impede or enhance an agent’s capacities for
autonomy” (p. 22). They also suggest that autonomy’s development may be blocked due to
three aspects: the formation of desires, beliefs and emotional attitudes, the development of
competencies and capacities for autonomy, and the person´s ability to make autonomous
choices. Hughes (2003) concludes that this dimension is “the idea that autonomy in
learning has a social context” (p. 2) since its development depends drastically on the
awareness that learners develop of the possible barriers they might find in social contexts,
and the importance of interaction in their learning process.
Relational autonomy considers that people are participants of a society, and that this
relation with social contexts entails race, class, gender, and ethnicity issues that influence
their identities (Hughes, 2003, p. 3). It is explained by Murray (2014) as the immersion and
contact with social situations, understood as “spaces”. For Murray (2014), “how learners
imagine a space to be, perceive it, define it, and articulate their understandings transforms a
space into a place, determines what they do there, and influences their autonomy” (p. 81).
This social perspective of autonomy is based on the social interactionism
perspective, which establishes that we do not learn in isolation, but with the collaboration
of others (Vygotsky, 1978). Furthermore, Kohonen (1992) and Little (1996) reflected about
the idea of collaboration in social interaction as part of learning, and concluded that it was
elemental for learner autonomy since it allows the development of reflective and analytic
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 25
skills. These abilities “depend on the internalization of a capacity to participate fully and
critically in social interactions” (Little, 1996, p. 211). Kohonen (1992) concluded that
autonomy required social interaction because “Personal decisions are necessarily made with
respect to social and moral norms, traditions, and expectations. Autonomy thus includes the
notion of interdependence that is being responsible for one's own conduct in the social
context: being able to cooperate with others and solve conflicts in constructive ways”. (p.
19). This interdependence is seem as fundamental in the EFL classroom not only as a way
to interpret the direct learning context we are in, but also to expand the notion of issues at
the social context of that learning (Benson, 2001).
Critical Thinking
In times of globalization and technology improvement, the learning objective in current
education processes has changed from being focused on restrained pieces of information to
the knowledge of the world; active pedagogies in the classroom are needed so as to help
students get engaged in an education path looking for progress, self- empowerment, and a
vision beyond borders expecting change and evolution (Blackler, 1995). The eagerness to
identify the world, to read it, and to understand its involvedness emerges as an innate desire
housed in the deep roots of our thought (Wink, 2005). Our nature guides us to name our
environment, to find ways to define it as it actually is and to reflect on the
interconnectedness of its processes with the experiences of all living entities related to it
(Freire, 1970). The need to see the world and comprehend it from different perspectives in
order to decide what to believe and also how to act within is, according to Ennis (1985),
what defines critical thinking. Facione (2011) explains that critical thinking is “purposeful,
self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference,
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 26
as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or
contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based" (p. 26). It is a human ability
that allows us to face difficulties by analyzing them with careful lenses, and also gives us
the chance to open our minds to reinforce or reconsider our beliefs, ideas, perceptions and
conclusions based on the facts we discover from our daily lives (Willingham, 2007). In
respect to this notion of critical thinking, Chaffee (2009) that the aim of critical thinking is
to guide people to make “more intelligent decisions”, being able to recognize the outside
world, an judging it with “important ideas” (p.43). When people think critically, they
develop the ability to speculate about the information they have, and as a consequence, they
become better information analyzers as well as effective communicators (Paul & Elder,
2006). The world requires now people with this ability among many others, people
committed to thinking carefully towards the formulation concepts, ideas, and beliefs
(Mulnix, 2010), people who responsibly look for the growing of mind, the enrichment of
intellect, and the development of the individuals as human beings.
Analyzing media with critical eyes
Media is, in essence, all the channels that bring the information to us. When
thinking about media, we usually recall the classical means of mass communication such as
television, or newspaper; however, we are now exposed to hundreds of means to transmit
information. They are almost everywhere, when we walk on the street and we see posters,
when we are checking our email and get junk mail, or when we listen to the latest hits on
the radio. The bunch of information we collect in our minds every single day must be
analyzed in detail, and consequently, segregated in order to dispose what is not worth for
us. This is an ability that we can acquire with constancy, consciousness and time; an ability
that is applicable not only in social contexts, but also in academic ones (Kellner & Share,
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 27
2005). The ability to analyze media critically is generally addressed as Media literacy.
Media literacy, in educational contexts, invites learners to become critical users of the
means of communication, being analytical in the way they interpret the information, and
also becoming careful producers of information. (Buckingham, 2003). Analyzing media
critically also “expands the notion of literacy to include different forms of mass
communication and popular culture as well as deepens the potential of education to
critically analyze relationships between media and audiences, information and power. It
involves cultivating skills in analyzing media codes and conventions, abilities to criticize
stereotypes, dominant values, and ideologies, and competencies to interpret the multiple
meanings and messages generated by media texts” (Kellner & Share, 2007, p. 4). Media
literacy helps us understand that there is a wider concept of the word text, and that it goes
beyond mere written symbols and graphs included in media forms (Thoman & Jolls, 2005).
When analyzing media from a critical perspective in the classroom, students learn how to
find meaning in the information they find across various forms of media, and additionally,
they will find the tools to create new pieces of information with responsibility, ethics and
consciousness (Livingstone, 2003). In the same order of ideas, the practice of critical media
analysis in teaching and learning contexts incorporates many elements from multiple
literacies such as computer literacy, information literacy and cultural literacy (Ibid, 2003).
The benefits of analyzing media from a critical perspective do not merely refer to the
ability of coding and decoding messages with awareness of the information within them;
they frame a set of abilities, knowledge management and work habits that are valued in our
actual world (21st century skills).
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 28
Studies regarding this research topic
Some research has been done in relation to the area of studies presented in this
research document. On the one hand, we can mention Baldion’s research project (2013)
called “learning styles and reading modes in the development of language learning
autonomy through cyber tasks”. This study included the use of digital genres as a tool for
language learning. In her research she identified that teaching and learning skills related to
information literacy and the adequate use and interpretation of media sources are a key
component in society nowadays, and that was shown by the participants in the study since
their use of technological tools evidenced improvement in relation to skills such as
knowing how to select, organize and use information with the aim of finding solutions to
issues. According to Baldion (2013), those abilities mentioned before become the starting
point and to basic competencies needed for continuous and autonomous learning.
On the other hand, the report of the partnership for 21st century skills (2009) claims
for the importance of learning environments, including the ones mediated by technological
tools, as a way to develop media literacy and critical thinking skills. When this process is
done, the teaching and learning of 21st century skills are supported in the sense of gaining
“mastery of 21st century interdisciplinary themes, learning and innovation skills, and
information, media, and technology skills” (p. 10). The report also suggests that, this kind
of work, promotes practices that enhance lifelong learning.
In the field of critical thinking, and taking as a reference local research, Pineda
(2004) proposed a pedagogical innovation that aimed at helping students in a private
university of Colombia foster English language competence as well as the stimulation of
students’ critical thinking skills. Through tasks, students were exposed to different learning
situations that led them to struggle with English language in a positive context, bringing
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 29
forward students’ knowledge and expertise not only in the language area but in their
capacity to apply critical thinking skills. Pineda (2004) assumed that life-learning
experiences contributed considerably to the strengthening of critical thinking skills, inviting
teachers in the EFL field to modify pedagogical practices towards the promotion of critical
thinking in the classroom as a way to guide students to develop other learning abilities in
conjunction with the notion of social responsibility.
To conclude, the studies presented before imply that the analysis of media sources
learners are involved with potentiate continuous practices of autonomous learning. This
idea is also supported by Butler (2010), who asserts that the work on the analysis of media
in the classroom challenges the roles of teacher and student in the classroom by providing
learners more control and ownership of their learning process. She also states that critical
media analysis is lashed to participatory democracy and construction of knowledge in a
collaborative process between teachers and students, and the support in the process “begins
the route to autonomous learning” (p. 36).
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 30
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH DESIGN
The review of literature made me think of the influence that technology has in
education processes, especially when talking about university students who are going to
face a world full of challenges and in constant evolution. It is a tool that presents
information of any kind, it is a means to communicate to a world that sometimes is just
based on the conceptions and beliefs of some people. On this subject Hall (2001) states that
available technologies, our perceptions of those technologies, and how they are used will
determine the shape of our world. Future students will encounter in the development and
application of technology a great defiance which will test their knowledge, but they will
also find a tool full of information that they will need to analyze carefully from different
perspectives, including the Critical one. It is vital to help them get the ability to
successfully pass those obstacles and achieve their goals, not only in their professional lives
but also in their learning path as human beings. Taking these basic facts into consideration,
the present study informs about the application of a Critical perspective to analyze media in
the English language classroom, and the experiences that emerge from this looking forward
to the promotion of learners’ autonomy in the English language class.
This chapter is presented in five sections: First of all I will discuss the methodology
to be used in the study and the rationale for the same. After that, I will provide details
regarding the participants in the study and the selection criteria used. Then, I will offer
overviews of the data collection process. Next I will comment on how the data was
analyzed, and finally I will share the ethical considerations adopted for this research
project.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 31
How to do this research project?
This research project is done by following the principles of the interpretative
qualitative case study methodology, considering the perspective of critical hermeneutics. In
this order of ideas, an exploration of the key terms that support this research projects
becomes fundamental in order to identify the reasons that led the research towards this
methodology.
The soul of the project: Qualitative Research
Shank (2002) defines qualitative research as “a form of systematic empirical inquiry
into meaning” (p. 5). Three key terms are found in his definition: Systematic, Empirical and
Inquiry into Meaning. The first term, systematic, means “planned, ordered and public”,
which is, in other words, to follow rules agreed by members of the qualitative research
community. The second term, empirical, indicates that this type of inquiry is grounded in
the world of experience. Finally, the term “Inquiry into meaning” specifies that researchers
try to understand how others make sense of their experience. In the same way, this research
project expects to explore the aspects of learner’s autonomy generated when working with
media, and the critical analysis of the same, in the English language class. This
implementation expects to involve students in an environment where they actively
participate in decision-making events, bringing to light their thoughts, and understanding
the experiences they have in the process. Denzin and Lincoln (2000) also claim that
qualitative research involves an interpretive and naturalistic approach: “This means that
qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or
to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (p. 3). The soul of
this research project relies on understanding the extent to which the work with media, and
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 32
the critical analysis of it, can promote learners’ autonomy; in order to do it, we need to
depict students’ practices and try to read into their minds to find aspects of autonomy in the
context it takes place. Undoubtedly, the basis of this proposal is qualitative.
A Qualitative perspective in this Case Study
Many authors have contributed to the definition of case study. Merriam (1988), for
example, defined qualitative case study as “an intensive, holistic description and analysis of
a single entity, phenomenon or social unit. Case studies are particularistic, descriptive and
heuristic, and rely heavily on inductive reasoning in handling multiple data sources." (p.
16). Richards, Platt, and Weber (1985) state that Case study is “the study of the speech,
writing or language use of one person, either at one point in time or over a period of time,
e.g. the language acquisition of a child over a period of one year” (p. 36). In addition, a
case study is “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within is
real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly
evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used.” (Yin, 1984, p. 23). Adelman
(1980) describes the case study as an “instance drawn from a class” (p.3). Since case study
focuses on a particular situation, it becomes a perfect design to gain insights about a
phenomenon, and its specificity makes it an especially good design for practical problems
(Merriam, 1988). What do I want to achieve through this research project? I expect to
identify aspects of Autonomous learning through the Critical analysis of media in the
English language classroom at Universidad Distrital. Based on this premise we can assure
that we have a clear context for the study, and our number of participants become single
entities (as student-participants). There we will find multiple sources of evidence like the
Teacher’s observation journal, Students’ artifacts, a Follow-on Questionnaire and also a
Students’ journal. We will focus specifically on describing the experiences that six students
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 33
had, their beliefs and progress during the project, and what they conceive at the end of the
process.
In order to understand how the analysis of date was done, it is necessary to have in
mind that case study research has varieties of ways in which this can be done, Cavaye
(1996) mentioned that “Case research can be carried out taking a positivist or an
interpretive stance, can take a deductive or an inductive approach, can use qualitative and
quantitative methods, and can investigate one or multiple cases. Case research can be
highly structured, positivist, deductive investigation of multiple cases; it can also be an
unstructured, interpretive, inductive investigation of one case; lastly, it can be anything in
between these two extremes in almost any combination” (p. 277). In this regards, Darke et
al (1998) stated that using case study in research is useful when examining the context and
dynamics of a situation in new areas that have not been well-developed, like the one
presented in this project: the promotion of autonomous practices through critical analysis of
media. It is then the thorough understanding of the case in investigation what holds an
Interpretive Case Study, particularly talking, the case of six students in an EFL class at
Universidad Distrital and their experiences along the process towards fostering autonomy
skills.
According to Walsham (1995), an interpretive case study highlights the importance
of thick descriptions, he asserts that this kind of study does not report facts, but one’s own
interpretations of other people’s interpretations. It is not aimed at producing truth or social
laws, but it looks for generalizable findings. Walsham (1995) also proposes three ways to
use theory when doing an interpretative case study: “as an initial guide to design and data
collection (Built on previous knowledge, theory as “sensitizing device”), as part of an
iterative process of data collection and analysis (Initial theories being expanded, revised or
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 34
abandoned) or as a final product of the research” (p. 104). For this study in particular, the
experiences I have had with other students in the time I have been working for the
university became the previous knowledge that supports my research idea, as well, when
reading about Autonomy, the ways in which teachers can help students develop these skills
through classes, and the multiple benefits it has for them in the short and long term led me
to use theory as a guide in the research design. This also provided helpful ideas of ways to
collect and analyze data, which are explain along this chapter. I should say literature
provided me with a very general idea of Autonomy that was also shaped while I saw my
students working in the classroom during the project and further reading I did though the
same. I considered since the beginning of the project that being biased by theories would
somehow conduct the research project to fields that may have not considered the actual
situation students live at the present time. In this sense, Glaser and Strauss (1967) suggest
that it is not recommended to have a pre-defined theory at the first phases of a research
project.
The art of interpretation as transformation
As the main objective of this research project indicates, we are exploring emerging
aspects of learners’ autonomy through the critical analysis of Media as well as the
interpretation of student’s experiences and thoughts along the process. This act of
interpreting can be done on the basis of Hermeneutics. Ferraris (1996) defines hermeneutics
as "the art of interpretation as transformation" (p. 1), and in this regards, Rorty (1991)
comments that interpretation unveils how human beings understand the surrounding
context. Qualitative research is concerned with hermeneutics due to the fact that, in the
search of understanding and gaining comprehension of situations, phenomena o
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 35
information, researchers find themselves in an interpretation process. According to
Gadamer (1990), one essential idea behind hermeneutics is that even today, "over against
the whole of our civilization that is founded on modern science, we must ask repeatedly if
something has not been omitted …" (p.153). It is the concept of unveiling and discovering
opinions, ideas and thoughts what leads this research project, since it shows in a very
precise way what student-participants think and believe along the process. Kinsella (2006)
considers five characteristics of a hermeneutic approach that are also considered in this
research project: First, Hermeneutics “seeks understanding rather than explanation”; It
“acknowledges the situated location of interpretation”; It “recognizes the role of language
and historicity in interpretation”; It “views inquiry as conversation”; And finally it “is
comfortable with ambiguity” (Characteristics of a hermeneutic approach, para. 1). Through
this project I expect to understand and interpret the emerging aspects of learning autonomy
in the English classroom that come as a result of the critical analysis of media. In pursuance
of this objective, I should interpret students’ acting, their opinions, their ideas, and through
them I might unveil aspects that suggest improvement on this particular set of skills.
Features such as the context in which students are immersed, social conditions, their
background and prior knowledge play a very important role in the interpretation process. In
contemplation of these aspects, it is vital to get the picture of who students are, and some
characteristics of their learning environment.
Student-participants
People who participate in the study are six students from Universidad Distrital
Francisco José de Caldas who are taking the English language program “Segunda Lengua”
(as it was called by the university) as part of their academic process in their careers. The
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 36
University’s branch is located in the neighborhood “Candelaria la Nueva”, in a strata 2 and
3 zone surrounded by blocks of apartments and local shops. This branch is known as
“Facultad Tecnológica” (Faculty of technologic programs) and was opened in the sector on
February the 20th, 1995. This faculty was created as a way to provide people with ways to
access to high education due to the difficulties they have in the sector, to stimulate young
people with economic constrains to start their professional learning process by becoming
technicians in certain areas, and also to help the economic sector grow by preparing well-
prepared workforce. As it was mentioned in the statement of the problem (See Chapter 1),
the university’s objective is to “generate and spread knowledge with autonomy and
vocation”. Taking this goal into consideration, the university expects to help the
community by generating solutions to the problematics it faces at the moment (e.g.
violence, drug traffic and consumption, economy) by means of education projects aimed at
boosting individuals’ skills towards personal and professional growth. Due to the potential
of this research project in relation to the promotion of learner’s autonomy and its benefits in
different areas of the individuals, and also the deep connection it has with the university’s
mission, students from the English language class were invited to participate in this project.
Students in the English language course “Segunda Lengua” take two personalized
classes a week. Every class is done in a time of two hours. There are 3 levels of the course
which are seen each semester. Students decided in advance the time they prefer to take the
classes in accordance with the general schedule that also includes other subjects of their
career learning plan. Student-participants are teenagers and pre-adult people between 17
and 23 years old who take the English language course as part of the learning program set
by the university. They are three women and three men who have attended classes regularly
and have shown commitment and interest in the project.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 37
Students participating in the study seem to lack previous preparation in terms of
language, despite some of them have had the chance to study English in other local
institutions. This case is sporadic and most of them come to the first level of English with
basic notions of English Language (For instance, they know some verbs, basic nouns and
some typical expressions used in class) which may be acquired from Elementary and High
school. Based on the characteristics of the population at Universidad Distrital, the selection
of participants was based on convenience sampling. Convenience sampling is the most
common type of sampling especially in education studies where the only criterion,
according to Dörnyei (2007), is the convenience of the researcher. The participants in this
kind of sampling are selected because they are the easiest to recruit for the study and the
researcher does not consider selecting participants that represent the entire population. For
the sake of this project, the six student-participants were invited and they decided to
participate in a volunteer way.
Students and teachers are encouraged to make use of technology as a practical and
interactive form to learn. However, in these days it is common to see students watching
videos, checking images and reading texts everywhere. I think technology can be used
beyond, and this tool can benefit students not only in their English learning process but also
in their process of growing as human beings, citizens and professionals. All information
that these Media sources provides us becomes an excellent opportunity to put into practice
our Critical thinking skills, and conjointly, to work to promote autonomous learning
practices.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 38
How was data collected?
The characteristics of the course and the study itself make us think of different
alternatives to gather data to support the research project. On the one hand, we have
students’ artifacts stored in the wiki as the evidence of students’ participation
(“participation” understood as homework, oral practice, writing exercises and so on). On
the other hand, we think it is important to describe the situations undergoing in the class
from a different perspective. This description is based on observations made from the
learning process and all its features and is called Teachers’ observational journal. We can
document students’ thoughts and opinions through written pieces, and this supports the
existence of a Student’s Questionnaire. Finally, we have a Journal which has been written
by students along the learning process.
The first data source is Observation. Marshall (1984) defines observation as "the
systematic description of events, behaviors, and artifacts in the social setting chosen for
study" (p.79). Observations enable the researcher to describe existing situations using the
five senses, and by means of them, create a written portrait of the situation under study
(Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993). For this particular case, observation enables
the teacher-researcher to learn about the activities of the students in the natural setting
through witnessing and participating in class activities. It is what students do in the English
language classes at Universidad Distrital what is to be gathered through the researcher eye
of the teacher, who is the observer as well. Schensul and Lecompte (1999) define this kind
of observation done by participants as "the process of learning through exposure to or
involvement in the day-to-day or routine activities of participants in the researcher setting"
(p.91). What I did with this instrument was to observe the behavior, acting, reasoning, and
the values students demonstrated during the class, and through this observation to identify
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 39
the level of development of Autonomous learning practices and the strength of this skill. In
order to be as clear as possible, I had to be so specific in terms of the information to be
collected, and that is why Lanskhear and Knobel (2004) state that observation is a “detailed
description and interpretation of and event”. (p. 37). This EFL class information for this
project was gathered through written pieces such as texts, posters, and also through visual
media forms like videos, pictures, or graphics. All of this process took place in the classes,
since it is where I was present all the time, and also out of the class in a virtual way because
students constantly shared with me their homework, advances of projects, and personal
analysis of their work. By means of this teacher-participant observation, I expected to
collect information about the kind of activities done in class aimed at promoting autonomy,
and also to provide an overview of the class by mentioning the positive and negative
aspects of the same, the extent of achievement in terms of the goals set for the class, and
my opinion in relation to the benefits of analyzing media from a critical perspective
towards the promotion of autonomous practices in the EFL classroom. The information
comes from the answer to the following questions:
1. What Happened in your class? Mention positive and negative aspects.
2. How did you promote autonomy in your lesson? Give evidence.
3. Were your class objectives achieved?
4. If you had the chance to do your class again, would you do something
different? What?
5. How do you describe the work students did when analyzing the piece of
media selected for the class?
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 40
Figure 4. Observational Journal. Sample of Teacher’s observational
journal entry.
From this Teacher’s observational journal, I expected to relate the practices students
have within the class. The answers to these questions can potentially reveal the practices
students have in the classroom and so the extent to which they become aspects of
autonomy, the point to which the critical analysis of media enhances students autonomy,
and the aspects of autonomy that emerge from these situations.
The second data source is Artifacts. Artifacts are defined by Lanskhear and Knobel
(2004) as tools that make “emphasis on collecting pertinent “aspects”, “props” or
“products” used by research participants, or that are relevant to the problem being studied.
Artifacts come in different forms, including texts, videos, photographs, drawings and the
like”. (p.31). Lanskhear and Knobel also comment that artifacts help the construction of
contextualized data for a study. The information collected through this means provides
additional details that might give a clearer insight of the study. Artifacts are, in other words,
any kind of activity in the classroom as well as extra work for home that can be collected
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 41
and analyzed. For the sake of this project, students have on the internet access to a wiki in
which they are called to collect all their out-of-class activities. In that wiki they have three
different pages which serve for a special purpose. One page was called HOMEWORK. In
that page, they uploaded all the information related to homework and class activities they
did during the week. The kind of homework uploaded there comes mostly from student’s
initiative and it is assessed by the teacher researcher so as to fulfill the basic requirements
of topic practice. The page HOMEWORK was constantly monitored by the teacher since I
was in charge of providing the corresponding feedback. This page becomes a place of
reflection at the moment when teacher shares his comments because of the fact that it opens
an asynchronous space of dialogue between teacher and student towards the correction of
mistakes and the comprehension of topics in the English language (it all according to the
activities proposed for that week). When students upload their homework, they show how
much they have learnt from previous activities, they evidence the effort they put in the
completion of homework, they reveal the level of engagement they have, and they display
the extent to which the use of technological resources from a critical point of view helps
them improve their autonomous learning practices and so their English command. All of
these facts expose aspects of students’ autonomy in the learning process, and this data is
seen as fundamental for the support of this research project.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 42
Figure 5. Student’s Artifact. Sample of student’s work.
The third data means is Students’ reflective journal. In the reflective journal
students are invited to share the experiences they had in their learning process, showing
details of that experience and the way that influenced in the accomplishment of their goals.
The literature indicates that writing reflective journals enhances critical thinking, the
integration of theory with practice, and that it promotes professional growth (Brown and
Sorrell, 1993). In addition, reflective journals do not only evidence content knowledge
understanding, but they also reveal aspects of reflection, professional judgment and
application, critical self-reflection, and self-awareness enhancement (Biggs, 1999). This
journal is guided by ten questions that are aimed to gather information regarding study
habits, self-regulation, self-evaluation, action planning, and awareness of the learning
context, goal setting and the perspectives students have regarding the work done about
Critical analysis of media in the learning process. These questions are based on the theory
presented by Hughes (2003) regarding the dimensions of autonomy in educational settings
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 43
such as Personal, Rational and Relational. The answers to these questions are collected
every week in the Wiki students have, more specifically in the page LEARNING
EXPERIENCE. Here you can find the questions that led this data-collection means:
1. ¿Que trabajé durante esta semana? (Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing)
2. ¿Qué cosas nuevas aprendí? ¿Me siento seguro de que aprendí esos temas
correctamente? ¿Por qué?
3. ¿Qué cosas considero que aún son difíciles? ¿Cómo puedo mejorar?
4. ¿Quiero volver a revisar algún tema? ¿Cual?
5. ¿Qué recursos han sido más útiles para mí? (Internet, libro, etc.)
6. ¿Trabajé con alguien esta semana? ¿Cómo fue ese trabajo en grupo?
7. ¿Me siento satisfecho con el trabajo que hice esta semana? ¿Por qué?
8. ¿He interactuado con mis compañeros a través de mi Wiki? ¿Como?
9. ¿He usado otro tipo de herramientas tecnológicas para realizar mis trabajos?
¿Cuáles?
10. ¿Qué pienso acerca de los comentarios que he recibido en mi Wiki?
The questions were thought to be in Spanish (which is students’ native language)
due to the fact that they were just in the first level on English in accordance to the English
language program of the university. Writing in their native language would lead them to
write answers in a more detailed way, without struggling with a foreign language and the
possible obstacles they could find when trying to transmit their ideas, feelings and opinions.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 44
Figure 6. Student’s reflective Journal. Sample of an entry.
The fourth data source is a Questionnaire. A questionnaire is a written instrument
used to obtain information from the research participants. For this specific research project
questions were limited to a certain number so as to obtain the required information. The
questionnaire was designed as simple as possible, and it includes closed-end questions.
These kind of questions were selected because they allow a limited number of answers, and
they need only recognition and a choice from among answer options. The advantages of
these questions are that they have better precision, there is uniformity, they are easier to
recall for the respondent, they are flexible when coding and to analyze in comparison to
open-ended questions. This questionnaire was adapted from Aliweh (2001). The 28 items
presented in the questionnaire are deeply related to the three dimensions of autonomy
proposed by Hughes (2003). Their answers reveal the level of strength students develop in
different autonomy skills which are also based on the three dimensions of autonomy stated
by Hughes (2003), and that were explained in the chapter “Theoretical Framework” of this
research document. Questions were presented to students in Spanish basically because of
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 45
the same reasons presented in the explanation of the previous source. I believe that answers
and questions designed in students’ native language would help them comprehend and
answer them more accurately. The questions presented in this data-collection source are the
following ones:
Questions related to the dimension PERSONAL AUTONOMY
Busqué soluciones a las dificultades que tuve al hacer la tarea
Esperé hasta que alguien me ayudó para poder hacer el trabajo
Hice mi tarea a mi manera, con mi creatividad y mis ideas.
Usé estilos distintos para hacer mi tarea de acuerdo a lo que acordamos en clase
Me siento satisfecho con el trabajo que realicé
Creo que, en próximos trabajos, puedo mejorar mucho más
Seguí estrictamente las instrucciones que me dio el profesor
En mi trabajo hablé acerca de temas difíciles y que implicaron un reto para mí
Dependí de mí mismo para entender lo que iba a hacer en mi tarea
Fui cumplido al entregar el trabajo en la fecha que se acordó en clase
Sabía claramente lo que estaba practicando en mi tarea
Analicé lo que hice en mi tarea para asegurarme de que la estaba haciendo
correctamente
Revisé mi tarea para saber que tanto había mejorado
Questions related to the dimension RATIONAL AUTONOMY
Por cuenta propia identifiqué ideas relevantes para mi tarea
Decidí mis propias técnicas, procedimientos y objetivos cuando hice el trabajo
Le pido al profesor que me de toda la información que debo poner en mi trabajo
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 46
Creo que el profesor sabe mejor sobre que debemos o no escribir
Empecé a hacer mi trabajo solo después de que vi el trabajo de los demás
Antes de hacer mi tarea, pensé en los posibles problemas que podría tener
Hago uso de lo que aprendí y lo que hice antes para mejorar mi tarea
Para hacer mi trabajo solo dependí del libro
Evalúo si lo que incluyo en mi tarea es útil, relevante y vale la pena.
Visité la biblioteca, o el ILUD para recolectar información para mi trabajo
Usé internet para buscar material que pueda usar en mi trabajo
Questions related to the dimension RELATIONAL AUTONOMY
Escogí el lugar y momento adecuado para hacer mi tarea
Considero que el profesor es solo un guía en mi proceso de aprendizaje
El profesor decide sobre que escribimos, el tema, ideas, la cantidad, calidad, etc.
Procuro usar medios como la TV, Internet o radio para tener más contacto con el
inglés
Figure 7. Questionnaire. Sample of student’s questionnaire.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 47
The questionnaire was planned to be answered in 5 different times during the
semester. This with the objective of avoiding repetitive answers because of the frequency of
application. Answers provided indicated tendencies of change in relation to the different
dimensions of autonomy.
Data analysis
The information collected through the instruments stated before were handled in a
careful way in order to extract the purest pieces of data. In this sense, an analytic technique
in qualitative research was used so as to examine and study the gathered material: Open
Coding.
Coding is an interpretive technique that helps organizing data and providing a way
to fit the interpretations of it into quantitative methods. As described by authors like
Lankshear, Colin, Knobel & Michele (2004), open coding involves three sequential steps:
“1. breaking down data into discrete parts and applying conceptual codes to it. 2.
Comparing and contrasting codes, and grouping sets of similar codes into conceptual
categories, and 3. Identifying the properties of each category by means of analytic
questions, and locating each instance of a phenomenon belonging to this category along a
continuum.” (p. 38). It means that the process of coding begins with the analysis of the
smallest piece of data, and once we interpret that individual piece of information, we will
be able to find connections between other pieces so as to let commonalities emerge. Those
commonalities will subsequently become categories, and they will allow the researcher to
see the situation under study from an abstract and outer perspective.
The emerging codes will indicate specific aspects of learner’s autonomy that will
show the extent to which the critical analysis of media promoted autonomous learning
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 48
practices in the EFL class. The codes will come from the four instruments mentioned in a
previous section: Teacher’s Observation Journal, Student’s Artifacts, Student’s Journal, and
the Questionnaire. A tentative analysis of these instruments was done with the samples
collected in the piloting phase. That phase showed that it was necessary to re-write some of
the items because they sounded too similar between them, and it got the participants
confused at the moment of answering. That fact also implied that lots of information was
going to be collected, and that handling that amount of data was going to be a process full
of care and organization. Because of that, ATLAS TI and MICROSOFT EXCEL software
were used.
Ethical considerations
Prior to the commencement of this study students were fully informed before the
beginning of the study about the procedures and aspects involved. Students were invited to
sign a written consent which clearly specified the procedures, implications of the study,
benefits and confidentiality (See Appendix E). The data collection at all stages of the
research project took place in the participant’s own environment with the researcher being
just an observer.
Participants were free to withdraw information from the study at any time without
consequence. Confidentiality is maintained by not revealing participant identities in any
published material arising from the study. Identities will be protected by the use of
pseudonyms. Only the researcher and the student-participants will have access to the raw
data from the study. At the conclusion of the research project participants requested a brief
summary of findings. Their reaction regarding their contact with the results of the research
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 49
is reported in Chapter 6 (Conclusions). Risks to participants are minimal and can be
considered equivalent to the risks involved in their everyday work activities.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 50
CHAPTER 4
Instructional Design
All professionals in the field of education have ever wondered about what being a
teacher means. Some people say it is an occupation where people instruct, some others go
deeper in meaning by proclaiming that teachers make learning a privilege. Paulo Coelho
mentioned in his book THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO (2007) that a teacher is not
necessarily a person who teaches contents, but instead a figure of inspiration for students.
This definition of a teacher, apart from motivating us to do our best in our teaching
contexts, inspired this research project in the sense of exploring ways to get students
engaged in learning. In current times it has become a challenge to call students’ attention
towards learning, and help them figure ways to continue learning even when being out of
the classroom. In addition, the continuous evolution of media sources and the information
transmitted through this means has also posed a parallel challenge, to help students analyze
the material presented in a critical way. It is our mission to link both challenges with the
expectation of helping our students grow as human beings and professionals, and also
guiding them to find the inspiration to be better day after day.
This research is a proposal for innovation in the way an English language course is
given at a local university in Bogotá, and the way to approach students’ interest in learning.
The space for a change in the way students perceive their learning is the cornerstone, and so
the chance to boost their skills to continue learning in different contexts apart from the
classroom. Key concepts like learner’s autonomy and Media are related to the potential
innovation, and they were presented through the chapters preceding this section. Examining
them will take us to gain deeper comprehension of the form in which Curriculum,
Language, learning and Classroom are viewed in the research proposal, the institution
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 51
where this research was carried out, and how these perceptions shape the philosophy
underpinning this project.
Approaching Media with critical lenses
It is a fact that today students and people in general spend a great amount of time
interacting with a vast range of technological devices. I can see them chatting on their
phones, using their computers at any place, checking social networks in their tablets,
reading emails in their watches, and all of that has become a routine for us. Those devices,
as well as the TV or the radio, expose us to a lot of media. We experience a massive
distribution of information through media every day, and it is important to interact with that
information with a critical eye, having it mind that this information conveys different
messages, and that those messages also transmit beliefs and values coming from social
constructions (Kellner, 2002).
The ability to “access, analyse, evaluate, and create media in a variety of forms"
(Center of Media Literacy, 2011) comes to be indispensable to understand what surrounds
us, the role we play in society and what we can do in that regards. In other words, it is of
great importance to have the freedom and autonomy to deal with our concerns, and
consequently make the right decisions when analyzing the world around us. It is considered
of great importance the interpretation of media codes and traditions, the perception of
media’s values and ideologies in a critical way so as to interpret messages produced by it,
and then becoming aware of the effects its contents produce. With the idea that language is
used not only as a means of communication, but it also becomes a vehicle to gain
understanding and knowledge (Little, Ridley and Ushioda, 2003), I found in the Critical
analysis of media the path to teaching students become critical users of media forms, and so
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 52
responsible producers of new ones (Buckingham, 2003). This path requires a better
comprehension of how to “access, analyze, evaluate, and produce meaning across various
forms of media” (Livingstone, 2003, p. 340). Through this critical analysis of media
students achieve a state of consciousness and criticism at the moment of interpreting media,
so they can wonder about the information they get, and reflect on the value of the same
(Hobbs, 2005).
The different practices involved in the process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating
and producing content related to media entail the development of autonomous learning
features such as gaining awareness of the learning process, stating plans to achieve
objectives, being able to overcome obstacles arising in the process, interpreting and
reflecting on the information, and interacting with resources as well as the enhancement of
group work (Hughes, 2003). Raya, Lamb, and Vieira (2007) comment in this regards that
“The competence to think critically is coextensive with the notion of autonomy and self-
sufficiency” (p. 43). Additionally, Little (1991) mentioned that autonomy is an ability “for
detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action” (p. 4).
The development of the critical perspective to analyze media helps students have a
deeper sense of the messages transmitted by it. Students become able to differentiate the
reality and the reality presented by media, and so, they gain awareness not only about the
messages circulating through media texts, but also the sources of those messages in daily
life (Binark ve Gencel Bek, 2010). The consciousness acquired in the process will also help
learners have a detective eye to see beyond the evident, and reconstruct the origins and the
intention of the information. For Kaplún (1998), what matters at the moment of learning
more than teaching things and transmitting knowledge is that “individuals learn to learn, so
they become able to reason on their own, to overcome social obstacles, and to develop their
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 53
own ability to deduce, to concatenate, and synthesize” (p. 51). In this sense, an autonomous
person is not dependent on others for the direction and control of their thinking, but it is the
self-management of beliefs, values, and ways of thinking what evidences autonomy in
individuals. The enrichment of autonomous learning in foreign language classes requires
“maximizing learners’ potential for learning through critical reflection” (Ku, 2009, p.74).
Critical analysis of media towards autonomy in the EFL class
As teachers, we are summoned to change our minds and think of our roles in the
classroom, so we can help learners learn by exposing them to the language and providing
them opportunities to practice in class as well as at home. One of the most common ways
our students have to interact with foreign language is by accessing media. Media is a
universe of meaning; a world of visual, written and audio data full of information that we
tend to ignore, but that is constantly influencing the way we act in our lives. Media is a tool
for reflection, a path to communicate with the reality from a different perspective, and also
a way to gain awareness of why, what and how to learn (Dam, 1994). It is important to
create an adequate learning environment by setting engaging activities in which learners
interact more with themselves and their classmates. I believe that a good learning
environment is the product of the engagement of students through the interaction with
features present in their everyday life, and that is why the idea of bringing media to the
classroom becomes relevant. Chiu (2008) contributes to this construction of good learning
environments by proposing activities like group presentations, language games, online
discussion groups, email projects and others so that teachers have the possibility to change
the roles of classroom dynamics by giving students more control, and hence, helping them
become autonomous. The classroom must be a place of freedom and joy where students
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 54
feel comfortable, and on this subject Thomsen (2000) thinks that good activities for an
autonomous classroom should be relevant, you should learn from them, these activities
should not be too easy or too difficult and they should be based on learners’ interests and
needs. They should also be appropriate to promote in-class cooperation, they should have a
clear beginning and a clear end, and they should follow different processes towards
different goals.
Autonomy is the result of a process that, as Sinclair states, takes place inside and
outside the classroom. When we are out of the formal context of teaching, we learn from
the world around us and this somehow shapes the way we perceive, conceive and read what
goes around us. Getting a critical understanding of all the information we are exposed to,
and what goes on everywhere may help us develop autonomous learning practices, and
then, this ability may guide us to growing up as human beings, professionals, and active
members of a changing society.
The English language class context
The institution where the project is planned to be developed currently bases its
English language programs “Segunda Lengua” (As they are called by the university) on the
premises of Competency-based education. Authors like Findley and Nathan (1980) define
competency-based education as a philosophical system or model in an educational service
where “competency is the specification of a capability in designated areas of knowledge,
assessed through student performance.” (p. 222). In this sense, students at the university are
expected to acquire competencies to function adequately in society as citizens and
professionals. In addition to this, the institution claims for the use of the communicative
language teaching method (CLT) in the classes. The goal expected with the use of this
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 55
method is to help students perform effectively in interactions through English language, or,
as Hymes (1972) stated, to foster communication as the principal purpose of language,
helping students develop communicative competence.
Students in the English course are requested to buy the book “Language Leader”
since the beginning of the course. This book is designed by Pearson Education publishing
house. The book has 12 units and each unit presents different exercises that are aimed
towards the improvement of general language skills. Each level makes use of 8 units of the
book, which, in fact, can be summarized as using 2 books for all 4 levels of English
proposed for the careers at the university. The book’s topics and structure is the syllabus for
all the English language courses at the university. Teachers are requested to guide their
classes according to the book, as it provides them with all the resources (activities, games,
etc.) necessary for the development of the course, which also means that the book’s content
is the syllabus of the course. In addition to this, the university decided to use the virtual
platform offered with the book as a way to invite students to work independently on online
English exercises that are automatically evaluated by the system. The grades students get
from the online activities are then taken into consideration to define their term grades. At
the end of the course, those platform activities give them a 30 per cent of the whole
possible subject grade in any of the levels of “Segunda Lengua” - English language course.
Grades are subsequently stored in the university’s system CONDOR which keeps record of
all students’ progress in all subjects of their learning process.
Students expressing themselves
According to the dictionary (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) the act of declaring your
thoughts, feelings and ideas is called self-expression. The idea of self-expression in
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 56
learning is a relevant aspect due to the fact that its presence facilitates students’ interaction
with other individuals in the class, and this interaction with them promotes learner
autonomy (Camilleri, 1997). Students are encouraged to express their points of view and
share their thoughts through the kind of activities they propose and develop as homework
in the class, the interaction or participation they have in the virtual environment. When
students can express their desires, the teacher has more ways to rearrange class objectives
in order to suit their learning needs. Tudor (2001) comments about it that “learners’
spontaneous expressive desires are the basis for their learning program. Expression is the
starting point, and language work follows on” (p. 67). Tudor considers that “self-expression
can help learners find a sense of personal meaningfulness in their language study” but the
absence of self-expression “can make students perceive a course as being something “out
there” and indifferent to them and to their individual concerns, and thus make it difficult for
them to relate to it in a personally meaningful manner.”(p. 67). It is through students’ self-
expression where I can evidence aspects of autonomy, and it is through their expression
that they can find a vehicle to acquire knowledge, as well as a chance to reflect (Little,
Ridley and Ushioda. 2003). The expression of the self is an enriching experience, and the
value of those experiences becomes knowledge.
When experiences become knowledge
Teaching a language is an activity which implies complexity, and this complexity
“derives primarily from the diversity of perception and the goals of the various participants
who play a role in the teaching learning process” (Tudor, 2001, p. 43). Language learning is
an immeasurable process that starts since the beginning of our existence. When I start to
learn another language, I initialize a process shaped by experiences, perceptions and
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 57
expected goals which builds our understanding of the world. It is discovering the world and
living it what strengthens our knowledge, it is interacting with others, constructing ideas
and achieving goals what motivates us to keep learning. Tudor (2001) indicated that “The
idea behind the experiential vision of learning is that the use of the target language for
communicative purposes is not only the goal of learning, but also a means of learning in its
own right” (p. 79).
I think of constant practice as the path towards learning. I think of learning as a
process which can be accomplished by experience, or learning by doing, and this kind of
learning rests on five principles “Message focus, holistic practice, and the use of authentic
materials, communication strategies, and collaborative modes of learning” (Tudor, 2001, p.
83). Under the first principle, the activities I have in the class focus on the processing and
communication of messages. When students transmit a message, and this message is
understood, they feel more confident and this detail stimulates their learning process. On
the same track, Holistic practice refers to being exposed to situations which reflect a multi-
dimensional nature of normal communication, like engaging students in collaborative
online activities or Group Projects in which all students interact in different ways.
Authentic Materials, as defined by Bacon & Finnemann (1990), are “texts produced by
native speakers for a non-pedagogical purpose” (p.28). Other principle is the development
of communication strategies, and it is done when learners get the ability to negotiate
messages with the knowledge they already have in order to convey the meaning they expect
to. Finally I mention collaborative modes of learning as the conveyance of virtual and face-
to-face messages from one student to one or more students in the framework of simulation
tasks, or in information or opinions gap activities.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 58
An environment of independence
Tudor (2001) visualizes the classroom in four different ways: as a controlled
learning environment, as communication, as a school of autonomy and as socialization.
This research project proposes that the critical analysis of media can be the path to promote
learner’s autonomy practices, and because of this reason, I see the classroom and the
environment as a school of autonomy. This idea of classroom is “linked to the concepts of
learner autonomy, self-direction, and learner empowerment” (Tudor, 2001, p. 117).
According to Tudor, the idea of calling student’s attention towards learning has resulted in
the implementation of self-access centers and other independent learning facilities by
institutions and schools. However, these resources are not effective to promote learner’s
autonomy without the guidance of teachers within the classroom setting. For Tudor (2001),
the concept “school of autonomy” is underpinned by two basic principles: First, language
learners are “thinking human beings who bring with them to the classroom a variety of
knowledge, experience, and insights which can allow them to play an active role in their
language learning”. Second, the “active engagement of learners’ human potential can
enrich the learning process itself and help students to develop independent learning skills
which they will be able to transfer to their subsequent learning and use of language” (p.
117). This classroom is, in other words, a space where learners are given the tools to boost
their abilities to learn in a wide variety of settings, and also to adequately perform in
situations where they need to make use of that knowledge. In this process we, as teachers,
play an important role because we are also agents of change, we are the means to discover
how to learn in a different way. Our “school of autonomy” vision supports the notion of a
classroom for communication, for interaction and cooperation where learners learn to learn
either in real or virtual contexts. Tudor (1993) suggests that teachers’ role in the English
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 59
language classroom is to create those conditions, and consequently get benefited from the
teaching and learning process, particularly because the class objectives become more
relevant for students, they can actively participate in the setting of those goals by sharing
their personal preferences, and these facts result in more commitment from the part of
students.
The tool to support this project
Technology has gained importance in education practices, and its application in the
language classroom has been studied in detailed. Kern (2011) categorizes the use of
technology in the language classroom in terms of three metaphors: computer as tutor,
computer as tool, and computer as medium. The ‘tutor’ metaphor implies that computers
play the teachers’ role in the sense of presenting material (e.g. grammar, vocabulary, or
cultural information), providing language practice (such as exercises in pronunciation,
writing, listening or reading), analyzing learners’ language performance and providing
feedback. The ‘tool’ metaphor focuses on capabilities. In this role, computers (via the
Internet) “provide learners ready access to a wide variety of written, audio, and visual
materials relevant to the language and culture being studied”. “Such materials include news
media, film clips and videos (some with closed captions or subtitles), radio and television
broadcasts, special interest Websites, blogs, advertisements, and realia”. (Kern, 2011, p.
201). And finally, the computer as ‘medium’ metaphor which emphasizes the
communicative agency of language learners, including “work in computer-mediated
communication, social networking, and network-based language technology and language
learning teaching”. (Kern, 2011, p. 201). I do not want to go deeper on these definitions
since technology is not used as the objective, but as a complementary means of work
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 60
storage and production collection. In this sense, this research project considers technology
as it is stated by Kern as a tool. This vision frames an intention to guide English language
students to get engaged in active participation of their learning process by showing them
how to approach real information related to their interests and needs, how to get
information but also how to digest that from a critical point of view as a way to promote
learners’ autonomy.
For this project, we used a virtual platform well known as WIKI. It is an online tool
which offers the possibility to post and share different kinds of Audio-Visual files, or to
propose trends that can be seen and edited by anyone. Additionally, they are able to interact
with different Online Media means. Wikis don’t require knowledge of coding or
programming to post information, it’s a very easy tool to use. Wikis could also be a place
for the teacher to post notes on a topic so that they could be reviewed at a later time by
students (Lebar, 2014). Different kinds of files are allowed to be stored in the virtual
platform such as PowerPoint presentations, audio recordings, videos, texts, images. The
virtual platform has three folders in which students will gather all work done in class. These
folders are called Vocabulary, Learning Experience and Homework.
Figure 8. Student’s virtual tool. Screenshot of a student-participant’s wiki.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 61
Vocabulary: This folder is intended to be a means of recycling vocabulary seen in
all the activities carried out during the course.
Figure 9. Student’s artifact. Sample of student-participant’s vocabulary
collection.
Learning Experience: Students will keep a record of all the personal experiences
they have during the course. At the end of the week they will comment what they did in
order to learn and practice English, making special emphasis on WHAT they learnt, WHY
they learnt that and HOW they learnt. This information is directly related to their individual
process to develop their Class project. In the timetable this work is called “Students’
Journal” because of its basic function. At the end of the course students had fifteen entries.
(Questions students followed in this page were presented in Chapter 3 – Research Design)
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 62
Figure 10. Student’s Reflective Journal. Learning Experience Page.
Homework: Students will hand in all pieces of homework through this means.
Homework comes from students’ proposal and negotiation with the teacher. This
homework can be done by using any type of file (Audios, Videos, Text, Images, Etc).
Figure 11. Student’s artifacts. Student’s work for the class.
Moving through critical analysis of media to autonomous learning
The English Language course “Segunda Lengua” is taken by students at
Universidad Distrital as part of their learning process. The university claims for the use of
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 63
technology in the classroom as well as the fostering of autonomous practices to prepare
people towards excellence as professionals and human beings (Universidad Distrital, n.d.).
This research project takes into consideration aspects based on the University mission, the
course design and my experience as a Language teacher to propose an innovation in the
way media is used towards fostering learners’ autonomous practices. This proposal has a
structure that hopes to contribute to the deepening of students’ understanding in regards to
the importance of giving critical analysis to the elements that take part in our daily lives,
the influence they have in our values and behavior, and consequently the advantages of
acquiring autonomy practices in learning towards personal and professional development.
The idea that learning comes out from experiences, and that the classroom is a space of
autonomy matches the principles of this learning and teaching approach. In order to reach
that goal, a set of activities were done in class aiming at engaging students in critical
thinking and its practice in the analysis of media.
The following section indicates the activities that took part in the pedagogical
intervention of the project. In this particular case, the plan applies for the English language
course at Universidad Distrital which lasts 16 weeks. 7 Media literacy activities were done
during the 16 weeks. The activities share certain connection to the topics established by the
book since they can be done by using the grammar information checked in class, in
accordance to the contents established by the book LANGUAGE LEADER which was
adopted as the English language course syllabus by the university, and are also adapted
from different sources, especially the guide of materials for teachers in media literacy
through critical thinking created by Worsnop (n.d.). I am going to present now the
descriptions of the activities, the objectives established for them and the procedure during
the class toward the accomplishments of the goals:
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 64
ACTIVITY 1: Taking a Second Look
We are all accustomed to watching Media from a singular point of view. In
other words, we usually do not think of the multiple meanings it has, or the variety
of interpretations we can give. This activity provides a great opportunity for debate
and discussion, where students can share their points of view while they discover
the interpretations media pieces can have. Additionally, the activity can lead
students to gain awareness of media resources, the validity they have, and how the
information transmitted can help us reflect of its intentionality and purpose.
Description
The activity represents for students a chance to analyze and interpret Media
information from different perspectives. In the activity, different pictures were
shown with the aim of describing what there is (in an initial stage). Students should
first write down on their piece of paper what they see. Here is an example of the
kind of pictures:
Figure 12. Activity: Taking a Second Look. Basic level.
As you can see, pictures vary when they are turned. The interpretation of the
turned picture goes next. It means, students should write again what they see the in
the second attempt. Teacher encourages discussion in relation to the pictures,
because they also convey certain contexts that can be analyzed in the classroom.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 65
The images change the level of difficulty according to the level of completion that
students show. The other pictures are:
Figure 13. Activity: Taking a Second Look. Difficult level.
With just a little turn, images may be interpreted in a different way. It is important
to understand that by this means we can identify the intention of the author, implicit
messages, or just analyze it to understand the context.
Objectives
Write an opinion-based text.
Be able to interpret media information from different points of view.
Use present simple tense as the way to give descriptions, as well as
THERE IS/ARE.
ACTIVITY 2: Are you controlled by media?
Whenever we take one newspaper, a magazine, or when we turn on our TV
to watch a program, we are attacked by lots of advertising about different kinds of
products. We do not usually pay careful attention to them; however, we should be
aware not only about the good they want to sell, but also the messages that come
within the advertisement.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 66
Description
In the first part of the activity, the teacher gives some magazines and
newspapers to students. They are invited to talk about the kind of information they
see in the material presented. When having a careful look at the advertisements, we
talk about advertising objectives like getting people to buy a new device, snack, or
piece of clothing. A discussion is to be held regarding the aim of the advertisement
they have found in order to develop critical viewing skills that allow them to
independently make their own decisions about the information. Then, they will have
the following image, where they will express their point of view.
Figure 14. Activity: Are you controlled by media?. Guide picture.
Objectives
Help students understand what advertising is, so as to view it with a
critical and analytical eye.
Reinforce the grammar topic “present simple”, and the possibilities
we have to use it to describe and give opinions through affirmative
and negative sentences.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 67
ACTIVITY 3: Creating media
Now that we have done different kinds of exercises in the classroom related
to the analysis, the interpretation, and some reflection about media we should
continue with the next step: Understanding how media is created, the characteristics
it has that become attention callers, and how people design media to transmit certain
messages.
Description
At this moment of the semester, students have been working on different
aspects related to the critical analysis of media: deconstruction of messages,
analyzing media influence on people, and social values presented through media.
The class starts with a discussion of media, what they believe media transmits, and
if they feel represented in what media conveys. The activity aims at getting
information about the frequency of contact students have with media and their
understanding of the same, but also how media advertising is designed so as to
attract people. After that, they are encouraged to choose one media source they like
and they feel familiarized with. For this exercise, students selected movies because
of the particular characteristics of its advertising. In groups they identify
characteristics of this media source, and then they create posters where they gather
the information they found. A sample of the result goes like this:
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 68
Figure 15. Activity: Creating media. Sample of student’s work.
Objectives
Help students gain awareness of the fact that media has purposes and
target audiences. And for that reason, it is carefully designed to get
the attention of this public.
Activate student’s action-planning skills when designing media,
thinking of its objective and purpose, as well as self-evaluation
practices.
To make use of the English grammar topics practiced in class to
describe the plot of the movie.
ACTIVITY 4: Reality Show
People were all astonished an impacted when, some years ago, the new
format of reality shows was presented. They were seen as a mirror where audiences
were able to see their own lives portrayed, and with that idea we experienced a
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 69
boom in media. However, they continued presenting more and more shows alike but
people started to get bored. A discussion in relation to reality shows, its content and
objectives, and become a participant in one is the aim of this activity.
Description
The class starts with a presentation of the most common Colombian reality
shows. The teacher encourages students to participate in a conversation where
questions like: What is a reality show?, Do you like Reality shows? (Why?), Why
does it call audiences’ attention?. Afterwards, a video of Colombian reality shows is
shown so as to encourage students to participate in the activity.
They are invited to participate in a reality show where they are part of a ship
crew that has to survive in a desert island to a series of challenges. They participate
in groups and try to come up with structured ideas that could help them survive the
conditions presented in the challenges. First of all, they have to choose four items
from a list of 25 that they can take to the island. They need to think carefully of the
usefulness of these objects because they will not be allowed to change them.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 70
Figure 16. Activity: Reality Show. Surviving a dessert island. Taken
from www.teach-this.com
After having chosen the items, students are presented with a challenge that
includes weather conditions, natural disasters, issues with highly evolved primate
societies, and also some imaginary situations like zombie attacks (As it is in fashion
now due to some other TV programs).
Objectives
To incentive students’ imagination and creativity, and consequently,
the practice of action-planning skills.
Activate problem-posing skills when making survival plans.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 71
By means of using the modal auxiliary verb CAN, and making use of
the topics seen in class, to explain a plan to survive in the island
according to the given situations.
ACTIVITY 5: Mobility
Up to now, students have checked different English language structures that
can support their production and participation in different exercises. The different
activities carried out in class have also helped students become aware of the
different possibilities they have to use English language in a variety of contexts.
This activity goes beyond the information presented in the book as makes a
connection between the topics presented in the material and the real context students
live in. It is not a secret that Bogotá, our city, is going through lots of difficulties
regarding transportation and mobility in general. Through a critical perspective, we
hope to analyze this situation.
Description
At the beginning of the session the teacher shows a video produced by
CCTV AMERICA, where they talk about the new alternatives the government has
to improve mobility in the city and also reduce the levels of pollution. The video
leads to a discussion in relation to the current conditions of the Capital city, the
transportation inconvenient we usually have, and what we can do in order to find a
solution to this problematic. Next, the teacher shares with students an article called
“Three mobility challenges facing Bogota”, written by Diana Martinez Torres in
April 20th, 2015. (Diana Martínez is Founder and Editor at Cities for us. MSc on
City Design and Social Science in London School of Economics and Political
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 72
Science). Students first infere what the text is about, and then, they analyze the text
in relation to the ideas presented by the author, the worth of them, and then they
propose their own ideas. The activity concludes when students make a poster to
present and support their ideas.
Figure 17. Activity: Mobility. Guide sample.
Figure 18. Mobility Poster. Student’s production.
Objectives
To stimulate social responsibility, as well as the desire to investigate
in order to find reliable information.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 73
Activate problem-posing skills when analyzing mobility issues to
propose solutions.
To analyze different situations with the aim of comparing them in
English. This way, students will be able to find a practical use to the
topics seen in class (Comparatives – Superlatives).
ACTIVITY 6: Food, Obesity and Anorexia
This activity presents a situation that many people live at the moment around
the world. For many of us, these problems are more common in other countries and
for this reason we tend to ignore it. Media has influenced eating habits for years
when advertising the social benefits, the happiness and the joy people get when they
acquire this consumable goods. With this activity we intend to go beyond the mere
analysis of TV adverts to understand the social consequences this problematic has.
We also work on our researcher skills, and produce Media to generate
consciousness.
Description
The activity is linked with the contents of the unit presented in the book
LANGUAGE LEADER. In fact, some reading exercises of this book present an
overview of this situation in the United States and the UK, and call for reflection in
terms of analyzing the degree of similarity with our country. Once those exercises
were done, we proceed by asking questions like: What do you know about obesity?
Where is it a problem? Which is worse: Anorexia or Obesity?
This section of the activity invites students to reflect about the problem, however, it
is not all the aim of the same. By using computers and telephones, students will find
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 74
on the internet information related to these problematics. They read that information
in order to support their opinions and points of view for the rest of the exercise. We
also analyzed if the information was got from reliable sources, and thought about it
as an essential aspect to talk with truth and correctness.
Figure 19. Activity: Obesity. Sample Guide.
After having done this exercise, students are invited to produce a piece of
advertisement to share with people the results of their investigation. They can use
their mobile phones to record it, and in 2 minutes they have to convey the message
they planned to transmit. Videos are watched afterwards, and self as well as peer
evaluation is encouraged.
Objectives
Gain awareness to the validity of sources used, and at the same time
to stimulate researcher attitudes.
Inspire students’ creativity and innovation, as well as to activate prior
knowledge, to create media.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 75
When discussing the kind of practice that people have when they are
obese, to explore the topic of Countable and Uncountable nouns at
the moment of taking about food.
ACTIVITY 7: TV commercials
This activity provides students with a chance to perceive the incredible
amount of media advertising we interact with every day. When looking at
advertising from a critical perspective, students begin to understand how media
oppresses certain groups, convinces people to purchase certain products, and
influences culture.
Description
The teacher starts the session by asking students some questions related to
their habits. How often do you watch TV? What time do you watch TV? What do
you like/dislike about TV? Once they are engaged in the activity, the teacher
presents some TV advertisements. For this activity, we had two: SAMSUNG TV
advertisements (you can find it at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLLbt0jyqDA), and also a mobile phones
company advertisement (You can find it at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=894_e_26dwk) Those videos were selected
because they present different issues related to gender, social status, inequality and
consumism that are worth the analysis.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 76
Figure 20. Activity: TV Commercials. Sample of student’s writing.
Students are invited to analyze the video from two perspectives: A common
media consumer, and a critical media consumer. It meant that they had to describe
the video according to their initial perception, and also they had to interpret the
piece of advertisement from a critical view.
Objectives
Understand the hidden messages in media advertising, interpreting
them and discussing about its effects.
Engage students in analysis and reflection of media purposes.
When interpreting the TV commercials, students will find an
opportunity to use the topic “Present continuous Tense” in order to
describe what is going on in the videos presented in class.
The activities were all designed so as to help students construct and re-
construct messages transmitted through media sources. In this sense, students
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 77
worked on the necessary skills to critically deconstruct and construct media
messages across print, visual, audio, and electronic media forms. The work done
towards the critical analysis of media helped them develop autonomy learning
practices, as “independently choose aims and purposes and sets goals; choose
materials, methods and tasks; exercise choice and purpose in organizing and
carrying out the chosen tasks; and choose criteria for evaluation” (Dam, 1990).
Pedagogical objectives
The university was created with the aim of spreading education alternatives in the
city of Bogotá to people with certain economic difficulties, and also to provide society with
qualified professional and integral people. In this order of ideas, the university claims to
“generate and spread knowledge with autonomy and vocation”, it looks for the opening of
“spaces for reflection and pedagogical actions in response to the challenges that
globalization demands”. The English Class is a space that can contribute to the fulfillment
of the University’s mission, and it is where this research project takes place. Having these
aspects in mind, the following pedagogical objectives in the English language class
“Segunda Lengua” are stated:
1. To promote autonomous practices in English Language learning.
2. To incentive the Critical Analysis of media, so as to gain awareness of social
implications it has, gaining as well a better view of our role as society
participants and humans.
3. To offer students the possibility to practice with the English language topics
seen in class in a practical context, looking forward to creating an environment
of experiential learning.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 78
These objectives look forward to engaging English language students in a lifetime
learning project that will have benefits when responding to the challenges that globalization
demands. Reeve, Bolt and Cai (1999) comment in this regards that some of the benefits are
seen in the improvement of students’ academic performance, and within it, the increase of
the desire to success in learning challenges, to process information and understand
concepts, and the enhancement of creativity. Besides, the English class becomes a space of
reflection, and students find in it the path to boost their learning skills.
Conclusion
The critical analysis of media in the language classroom has been the center of
research during the last years. Students have expressed their interest in this approach
because it helps them develop their English language command, and also gain
consciousness of all the information, messages an intentions behind media production. The
implementation of this pedagogical design requires time and thorough investigation in the
sense that content must suit students and institute’s expectations and has to reach their
goals. However, the results from it will inform the EFL community about the influence that
Media has on the development of language skills in an English class. Certain aspects are to
be analyzed from this proposal: The experiences students have when working with media in
the English class, the potential of Critical analysis of media to promote learners’ autonomy,
and the benefits of this implementation in terms of students’ English language
communicative skills.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 79
CHAPTER 5
Data Analysis
This chapter presents the data gathered through the development of the project, the
ways in which it was analyzed, the findings reached and finally its interpretation. We
should bear in mind that different data-collection instruments were used: Teacher’s journal,
Student’s journal, a Questionnaire and artifacts. Data was constantly analyzed, but it was
until the end of the data collection phase that data organization and codification was done
in order to develop appropriate codes and categories which aimed at answering the research
question.
The architecture and procedures of data management
Figure 21. ATLAS TI. Data Analysis Screenshot.
The huge amount of data required the use of different tools so as to manage it in a
controlled and careful way. On the one hand, I made use of the software called ATLAS TI.
This is a computer program used mostly in qualitative research, and the analysis of
qualitative data. The software helps researchers analyze data in a systematic and structured
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 80
way, helping them gain a great understanding of phenomena hidden in data sources such as
text, audio, image, video or geo. Through this software the researcher can also code, locate
and retrieve data at any moment, evaluating the importance of the same, and stablishing
relationships between them.
ATLAS TI was the tool I used in order to code and analyze the data coming from
Student’s journal, Artifacts and Teacher’s journal. A code is, according to Saldana (2008),
“a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing,
and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data” (p. 3). These
words define the information collected, and can convey certain significance that allows the
researcher to answer the questions proposed in the study. Through coding we “define what
is happening in the data and begin to grapple what it means” (Charmaz, 2006, p. 46). When
coding in Grounded theory approaches means following two phases: Naming words, lines,
or segments of data, and then a focused, selective phase in which we use the most
significant or frequent initial codes to sort, synthesize, integrate and organize data. During
the initial stage of coding, we should wonder about what the data is a study of (Glaser,
1978. Glaser & Strauss, 1967), what the data suggests, the implicit point of view in the
data, and the theoretical category that the data indicates (Glaser, 1978). At this primary
phase of analysis and reflection based on the data gathered though the students’ journal,
their work (artifacts) and the journal I had, I identified certain tendencies related to the way
in which autonomy in learning became evident. It was when reading through lines that I
started to see how connected the data was in relation to the dimensions of autonomy related
to educational settings presented by Hughes (2003), and the characteristics each of them
have. Line-by-line coding “works particularly well with detailed data about fundamental
empirical problems or processes whether these data consist of interviews, observations,
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 81
Figure ###. Characteristics of autonomous Learners (Adapted from Hughes, 2003)
documents, or etnographies and autobiographies” (Charmaz, 2006, p. 48). Strategies such
as breaking the data into component parts or properties, looking for assumptions, defining
actions, explicating implicit actions and meanings, comparing the data with data, and
making clear the significance of points helped me codify the data and develop certain
theoretical categories. In this sense, my prior analysis of data lead me to use as basis for
coding the characteristics of the dimensions of autonomy offered by Hughes (2003).
Chart 1: Dimensions of Autonomy. Characteristics of autonomous learners.
DIMENSIONS OF
AUTONOMY
CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTONOMOUS LEARNERS
Personal Autonomy Reflective, self-aware, self‐evaluative, positive self‐regard,
motivated, responsible, creative, goal‐setting, action‐planning.
Rational Autonomy Metacognitive, critical, analytical, formulate own problems,
discover and judge the worth of own learning resources,
researcher, makes connections in knowledge.
Relational
Autonomy
Aware of broader learning context (university, discipline,
profession); aware and enabled by of social resources; aware and
able to overcome/work with barriers in social context.
It is important to highlight the fact that a questionnaire for students was also used as
a source of information-gathering for this research project. For the sake of the analysis of
this data means, questions are going to be defined as “items” hereby to explain the
management and compilation of answers. By means of the software MICROSOFT EXCEL,
I identified the tendencies in answers related to the group of students participating in the
study. At the end of the project 5 questionnaires were answered. Each item (or question, as
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 82
it was explained before) indicated the frequency of occurrence in relation to the situation
presented. It went from 1. Nothing or almost nothing, 2. A few, 3. On a regular basis, 4.
Enough, and 5. Much. Items were designed based on the codes, and consequently they are
deeply related to the subcategories and categories.
Figure 22. Microsoft Excel Worksheet to Analyze Questionnaires tendencies.
Once I finished the first stage of data analysis, I started to find similar themes or
patterns that established relationships among data. By following Strauss and Corbin’s
(1998) axial type of coding, I proceeded on bringing data back together looking forward to
making a coherent whole. According to da, axial coding helps researchers to sort,
synthesize, and organize large amounts of data and reassemble them in new ways after
open coding. The analysis of data and the theoretical support of the research project led me
then to come up with the following categories and subcategories:
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 83
Chart 2: Research project - data analysis architecture.
The information extracted from the students’ journal, the artifacts, the teacher’s
journal, and additionally from the questionnaire were analyzed and interpreted with the
expectation to find evidence that could lead me to answer the question that guides this
research project: What aspects of learning autonomy are unveiled through a critical analysis
of media in an EFL class at Universidad Distrital? (See appendix F). In the following
section I proceed to explain the findings I got from this experience in the EFL classroom,
and I will try to unveil student-participants’ voice through the data collected to emphasize
on them as the most important source of information. We will see data analysis and
interpretation from the two categories explained before: Looking beyond the bounds of our
perception, and Strategic engagement in learning goals completion.
RESEARCH
QUESTION CATEGORY
SUB
CATEGORIE
S
THEORETICAL
SUPPORT
What aspects of
learning
autonomy are
unveiled through
a critical analysis
of media in an
EFL class at
Universidad
Distrital?
Looking
beyond the
bounds of
our
perception
Reflection and
Analysis: A
triggering
point
- Bernard’s (2005)
- Stanovich (2013)
- Taylor (1992)
- Kress and van Leeuwen
(1996)
- Mezirow’s (1990).
- Schunk (2004)
- Aschbacher (1991)
- Klenowski’s (1995)
- Astleitner, (2002)
- Silverblatt (1995)
- Oshana (2006)
The person’s
stance towards
the world
Strategic
Engagement
in Learning-
Goals
completion
Conceiving
ideas towards
an objective
- Dawson and Guare
(2003)
- Amabile (2006)
- Holec (1981)
- Brown & Walter (2005)
- Akay & Noz (2010)
Developing
and
implementing
ideas
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 84
Looking Beyond the Bounds of our Perception
Figure 23. Category Analysis Network – ATLAS TI.
In relation to this category, different aspects were analyzed and, as a consequence,
some sub categories emerged: 1. Reflection and analysis: A triggering point, and 2. The
person’s stance toward the world. The information collected was analyzed as follows:
Reflection and Analysis: A Triggering Point
Figure 24. ATLAS TI – Reflection and Analysis Network.
Different means were used in order to collect data to support this subcategory. The
work students did in the class and out of it, the observation of the teacher in relation to this
work, the record students had of these experiences through their journal, and a
questionnaire. A variety of pieces of media were used as part of the class activities done in
class, and they included Posters, Pictures, videos, Newspaper articles, TV commercials,
brochures and their own work. At the beginning of the semester classes, students showed
with their work that the first step they followed towards the completion of any class activity
was to identify the basic characteristics of the media piece used for the activity. They
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 85
somehow limited themselves to mentioning the essential aspects related to pictures, videos
or any other media form. It was noticeable the lack of further analysis of content in any of
the ways media was presented during the first sessions. In this regards, I would like to bring
Bernard’s (2005) definition about what analysis means. He states that analysis “is the
search for patterns in data and for ideas that help explain why those patterns are there in the
first place” (p. 452). Students at the primary stage of the learning process in the English
language class did not take into consideration this aspect, and so they did not do much to
try to identify ideas that supported patterns, or characteristics found in the media pieces.
Their reflection and analysis of media samples was too low. In this sense, Evans &
Stanovich (2013) comment that being analytical is an effortful process that requires
working memory. We could infer that, when analyzing, we look for concepts, the
explanation of the same, and we make use of our background to support that idea.
The kind of work we developed with the analysis of media in the classes showed
effect in the way people receive and perceive the information presented in class. First, they
just examined in a general way the information, and then they tried to identify details that
could lead them to gain a better understanding of the messages transmitted. This analysis
and posterior reflection took place thanks to the active participation and sharing of ideas
students had when working in groups, and supporting each other. We could infer that
reflection occurs when students’ experiences make them gain awareness and a better
understanding of the ideas beyond statements.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 86
Figure 25.Evidence of reflection. Sample of student’s writing.
As we can notice in the sample, students did not just describe the objects, places or
situations presented, but they also reflected on the content of the pieces of media and gave
their own opinions. This work also revealed certain aspects of other abilities, such us the
faculty of thinking in a critical way. Taylor (1992) commented that reflecting on thoughts,
feelings and actions becomes essential in the practice of critical thinking. The data collected
indicated that students have developed a grade of sensibility to analyze media as a means to
transmit implicit and explicit messages, or in Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) words, the
multi-modal and multi-dimensional ways in which meaning making is supported through
Media communication. When doing so, they try to do deeper analysis of the pieces of
media presented, and according to their findings, they reflect on the advantages and
disadvantages of the information and what it means for their own life. This finding goes
along with Mezirow’s statement (1990). He says that students need to transform their
learning through self-reflection, since this reflection helps us become aware of the basis of
our values and beliefs. When students reflect on media as they did, they evaluate their own
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 87
beliefs. Besides, reflecting on our thoughts, feelings and actions takes us to know who we
are and where we are, and therefore it turns to be the first step to plan actions (Taylor,
1992) – one of the many essential characteristics of autonomy in learning.
The work done during the classes was as practical as possible, this means that
debate and group discussion were encouraged during the classes. What can be seen from
the information collected through the Teacher’s observational journal is a process of
construction and deconstruction of knowledge that students followed during the learning
process. On the one hand, it is deconstruction because they seem to break their parameters
of analysis looking forward to understanding the information conveyed though media,
without only considering their first perception of the same. This also means there is a
process of knowledge construction since they show changes in the way they perceive media
and the intentionality behind it towards a better comprehension of context, implicit
messages and objectives. Let us see some excerpts taken from the teacher’s journal:
-“Their drawings became a window to reflect of their own life. Their drawings were
the reason to analyze their lives from an external point of view. It was an
introspective exercise that they did with responsibility and honesty”
-“Some of them took the risk to mention things that were not obvious in the images,
such as the context or the intention of the picture.”
-“I think they were very analytical when they mentioned such reasons, and the fact
that they talked about social differences in the way private and public universities
are managed also left a feeling of critical thinking in the air.”
Figure 26. Teacher’s observational journal excerpts: Observations on activity 1
and 7.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 88
These teacher’s observation excerpts show that students started to reflect on media
analysis and production not only considering it as a mere means of advertising. Students’
comments show how their reflection on media is also mediated by their thoughts, opinions
and ideas about social structures, and also their knowledge of their context. Observations
regarding cultural aspects of our society, the way they see the distribution of power in the
government and how it affects their environment, and also an analysis of the current
conditions as a way to support improvement plans suggest a development of Critical
Thinking skills.
Based on the information collected through the students’ questionnaire along the
development of the course, we can clearly identify certain tendencies in accordance to the
way students reflect and analyze their own acting. The following graphs indicate how
students answered the questionnaire in 5 different times of application. On the left of the
graph, percentages relate the number of students and their answers. At the bottom, we can
find the different times of application of the questionnaire. The possibilities of answers are
indicated with different colors under the next parameter: From left to right, we can find
light blue (Which stands for NOTHING), Orange (A FEW), Gray (ON A REGULAR
BASIS), Yellow (In this regards, questions relate their performance in academic terms.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 89
Figure 27. Tendencies graph. Items 2, 9, 10, and 11.
When having a look at the answers student gave to the questionnaire, we can find
certain relations with the assumptions stated before. On the one hand, students showed
through Item 11 that they were able to analyze the homework they had, gaining awareness
of the state they were in their learning process and the contents in the same. The tendency
graph for this item suggests increase in the last periods of application of the questionnaire.
Pennycook, Cheyne, Barr, Koehler & Fugelsang, (2014) indicate that more analytic
individuals are either better able to detect conflict during reasoning or are more responsive
to such conflict. In this order of ideas, tendencies in Item 2 indicate that students started to
give more reflection in relation to their roles in learning. The graphs suggests they
progressively left apart their dependence on people to tell them what to do and how to do
their work. The decrease in the tendency for this item is correlated to the findings in Item 9,
in which we can see an evolving tendency in more than 80% of the student participants to
analyze the kind of work they were expected to do, and work on it by themselves. I would
say that, as a consequence, students’ responsibility remained stable, as the graph for Item
10 implies.
-“My learning in this moment is easy because in this moment i see topics generals
that are a base for other topics more difficult.”
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 90
-“I learn English because i think that is very important know about it. Because in
my profession is very important and know English open doors to have a better job
external”.
-“Because i think that is very important repass all the days a little part of English
so it five minutes at day.”
Figure 28. Student’s reflective journal. Evidence of reflection and
analysis.
Student’s journal answers imply the exercise of analysis and reflection. Firstly, they
analyze the current stage of learning in which they are by commenting how easy or difficult
it has been for them to understand the topics seen in class, the time they dedicated to
practice, and also the way they can improve. Secondly, they reflect on their learning
practices inside and outside the classroom by sharing thoughts related to the importance of
practice time on the accomplishment of learning goals, the ways they have to practice
English in different contexts, and how those ways fit their own learning styles. At this
point, we can find that their ability for reflection and analysis starts to transcend the bounds
of the class, and goes to the knowledge of the self and the environment. The next sub
category explains findings in this regards.
The Person’s Stance towards the World
Figure 29. ATLAS TI Category Analysis Network.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 91
In the process of reflection and analysis that students evidenced during the classes,
and that involved not only Media but also thinking of themselves, I could notice certain
practices that suggested they were moving forward to wider analysis of their acts, their
thoughts, and their interaction with their environment. The data collected started to show
the extent to which students were evaluating themselves, showing awareness, and making
connections of the knowledge of themselves to analyze their environment. This subcategory
shows how students revealed their stance towards the world.
Students’ work in class and out of it suggests that, apart from a process of self-
analysis and reflection, students also spent some time thinking about the quality of their
production, the impact it had on their audience and in a certain sense the level of
satisfaction after having completed or presented it. First of all, students evaluate their work
according to the comments they receive by the teacher and their classmates, as Schunk
(2004) states, their evaluation is done in accordance to standards established by others.
“My opinion about our job is that was missed a imagination or a video, but I think
thas is a good job...”
“We lacked of material and practice. For the next project we will improve”
“Our presentation was good. but would improve in the part of the distribution of the
precentacion times of each group member”
Figure 30. Student’s reflective journal excerpts. Evidence of self-evaluation.
Aschbacher (1991) asserts that some characteristics of Self-evaluation are the
creation of things that require a higher thinking level, and also appropriate assessment by
which students understand the appropriateness of their performance through feedback. The
information collected suggests that students analyzed their participation, not only from the
perspective of English language use, but also from their role as human beings participating
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 92
in different social situations. They were able to see their strengths and weaknesses as
presenters, and also as the agents of change in their own lives. Their comments imply a
considerable level of transcendence which goes beyond the class to their own existence.
“They were very worried about their pronunciation, for this reason they constantly
asked me to check if the way they were pronouncing was good”
“When they finished their presentation, I thanked them for their effort and
congratulated them for their job. They said they could have done something better,
maybe using more technological resources or more attractive pictures.”
“They showed a special interest in identifying their defects, to the point that some of
them really exaggerated. That was also a good reason to think about the influence
their defects have in their life.”
Figure 31. Teacher’s journal. Excerpts related to self-evaluation.
According to Klenowski’s (1995), there are two different kinds of self-evaluation.
These kind can be related in the data collected for this project in the following way: The
first kind relates students’ own performance in relation to how they used English language
and the resources. The second kind is based on how they see themselves as actors is the
society, and their context. Regarding the first kind, students evidenced consciousness about
their strengths and weaknesses when using English language. In some of the cases, this
evaluation led them to make plans to improve. On the other hand, they thought about the
impact that their presentation resources had, which also showed the awareness they have
developed in terms of the characteristics that media have in order to be an effective means
of information conveyance. Activities related to the analysis of media lead them to
evaluate their own practices in their daily life. Some discussions in class led us to conclude
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 93
that media influences in a considerable way our habits and routines. Passages like the next
one show us that students evaluated their own acting, and reflected about their position as
social actors.
Figure 32. Student’s artifact sample. Analyzing media.
In regards to this sample, the student was relating how Media influences the way
people think when saying that “media has the brain of the man”. Samples like this,
presented in different student’s pieces, led me to consider that aspects of critical thinking
were unveiled. Critical thinking is "a purposeful, self-regulatory judgement which results
in interpretation, analysis evaluation, and inference, as well as explanations of evidential,
conceptual, methodological or contextual consideration" (Astleitner, 2002, p. 53). When it
comes to the analysis of media, Silverblatt (1995), conceives critical thinking as the
awareness of the multitude of messages received daily from the media and the effects they
can have on attitudes and behavior. During the class activities, students showed that they
were gaining awareness of messages, ideas and concepts transmitted through media.
Samples like the next one indicate students’ analytical and critical thinking operation in the
interpretation of media:
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 94
Figure 33. Student’s artifact sample. Interpreting media.
Oshana (2006) comments that a person must have a level of regulative control in
order to become aware of the information transmitted through media, and consequently to
reflect, analyze and evaluate their effects on the self. People must be in an outer position
from which they are able to manage their social environment in the sense that they can
manage key aspects of life against other persons or institutions that might attempt to control
them. From this perspective, students are able to think critically, to evaluate themselves,
and these facts can help them propose objectives in their learning process.
“Me ha beneficiado en la medida que he desarrollado un poco más mi capacidad
de prestar atención a algo que estoy escuchando y viendo para poder concentrarme
y así captar e interpretar lo que estoy escuchando y asociarlo con lo que estoy
viendo para entender el mensaje que deja eso, además de que es muy entretenido
buscar un mensaje oculto de un vídeo o una imagen que no parece tenerlo y
desarrollar esa capacidad imaginar y crear una situación para descubrirlo. Estos
medios hacen que sea más creativa y vaya más allá de lo que se percibe a simple
vista”.
Figure 34. Student’s reflective journal. Writing about media.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 95
This comment reveals the student is doing an evaluation of the same in relation to
the abilities acquired to analyze and interpret the information that was found in media
sources. The student is showing awareness of the fact that media messages need to be
deconstructed and restructured again in order to understand the intention of the same (Kress
and van Leeuwen, 1996), and by saying “the capacity to imagine and create a situation” the
student reveals not only reflection on this, but also a clear idea of how to decode those
messages (which is also an indicator of planning and organization skills) and the way in
which the student relies on his/her own beliefs to interpret and make decisions.
Figure 35. Tendency graphs. Items 6, 12, 22 and 25.
Students’ answers reported in the questionnaire help us understand that they
reflected and analyzed the work they did during their learning process. In addition, they
were evaluating themselves. Item 6, for instance, shows that more than 80% of the students
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 96
consider they can improve the quality of their work in the future. These answers reveal
engagement and motivation in their learning process. Two more reasons to conclude that
they are evaluating themselves come from the answers to items 12 and 22. There we can
find that an average of 65% of the students evaluate the kind of information they see in
their work to identify it is relevant and worth, and, in addition, more than 50% of the
students analyze what they did in their work to make sure they were doing it correctly.
Answers also suggest they consider their environment, and were able to reflect on the
benefits of their context for the completion of their learning objectives. Item 25 indicates
that all of the student participants were able to make decisions regarding time and place to
do their work.
The data presented in this sub category marks aspects of self-evaluation, critical
thinking, motivation and awareness of the learning process and the context where it takes
place. During the analysis of data I could also notice students were reflecting and analyzing
their procedures, steps and objectives in the class to complete the activities proposed. It is
for this reason that the category “Strategic engagement in learning-goals completion was
born. The next section explain in detail the reasons and the analysis that was done to data in
this regards.
STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING-GOALS COMPLETION
Figure 36. ATLAS TI – Strategic Engagement Category Analysis Network.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 97
In relation to this category, different aspects that emerged from data were analyzed
and, as a consequence, some sub categories appeared: 1. Conceiving ideas towards an
objective, and 2. developing and implementing ideas. The information collected was
analyzed as follows:
Conceiving Ideas towards an Objective
Figure 37. ATLAS TI Conceiving Ideas Network.
This sub-category is related to the way students put into practice their ability to
make action plans, to set goals and the motivation they had towards the accomplishments of
the same.
Figure 38. Student’s artifact. Activities writing.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 98
According to Dawson and Guare (2003) planning and Organization process is an
ability that aims to create a complete, general, and detailed map to successfully achieve any
kind of goal, besides foreseeing all the possible problems and obstacles that can make this
process unreachable. Data reflects the practice of action planning skills from two different
points of view: Students as the owners of their learning process, and students as participants
in society. Students’ work has shown the way in which students adopt different roles
towards the accomplishment of goals. When it comes to set those goals, and more precisely
the path to reach them, students evidenced the analysis of different alternatives for their
consecution. An example of this comes in the following piece, where students apart from
reflecting on the current situation of mobility that faces our city, propose plans with the aim
of solving this issue.
Figure 39. Student’s artifact. Planning and problem solving.
The use of bicycles has been a project fomented by the government as the easiest
and most viable option to overcome the current mobility problems. Students understand this
reality, but answers like the one presented before indicate that they are aware of the basic
steps the project needs to consider to work. First, consciousness in terms of the implications
of the massive use of cars, as well as the lack of culture and adequate infrastructure to
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 99
ensure comfort and security for bicycle riders. Action-planning skills are also evident when
analyzing lines like the next one, where students are getting ready to prepare their own
piece of media. Comments like this evidence their foreseeing of steps and procedures to
accomplish their goals.
“We'll try to do a little presentation and interpretation about some cinema genres
using audio visuals material. We'll see some like terror, drama, romance and
accion. At finish the activity we'll interacting with the group about in what
(continues from previous page) determinate moment they should differed the genres
and why is the correct form of interpreted those scenes.”
Figure 40. Student’s reflective journal. Planning a presentation.
Taking into consideration the point of view from which students make plans, we
identify that they take into consideration aspects such as the worth of the resources they
expect to use, the impact their work has for their viewers (usually in audio-visual terms),
the organization of their work so as to follow a coherent process, and how all those aspects
help them to express their ideas in an innovative and effective way. Teresa Amabile (2006),
Phd in psychology, states that when aspects such as knowledge, good attitude to solve
problems, and motivation get together, they give floor to Creativity to arise. Students work
imply the convergence of these three aspects in the way that students creatively prepare
their work. Students also showed motivation in the sense that they looked for extra
alternatives (which also evidences an inner desire to investigate) to complement their work.
Some of the activities done included interviews with foreigners, the combination of
different media sources to convey a message, and other means.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 100
I could notice the extent to which students can put themselves as relevant
participants in society by coming up with ideas that benefit people. They were able to make
informed decisions, with responsibility and ethics. The participation students had in the
classes indicated that they were eager to express their thoughts and opinions, once they had
considered the viability and accuracy of them in relation to the activity. In order to do so,
they made use of technological devices to confirm information and then interact. They
frequently showed interest in sharing their ideas, so they showed motivation.
“Additionally, my students at the end wanted to mention more things in relation to
the pictures they had selected. I should say that they were able to identify more
aspects of the picture, but they were not reading it all”
“This fact implies that they were setting their objective in class, and were also
doing whatever needed to accomplish that.”Figure 41. Teacher’s observational
journal. Aspects of student’s planning and organization.
Some activities implied group work. Students’ encouragement was noticeable when
distributing roles to complete the exercises. The distribution of work suggested they made
plans to culminate the proposed work within the agreed time to finish it, having in mind the
objectives they had proposed to accomplish though the activity. We can infer that students
unveil aspects of autonomy since they are able to determine the objectives, define contents,
select methods and techniques to be used, and plan procedures (Holec, 1981). A further
look at the answers they gave to the questionnaire will give us a clearer perception of this
assertion.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 101
Figure 42. Tendency graphs. Items 8, 16, 17, 18 and 19.
Students’ answers to the questionnaire indicated that students started to develop
autonomy at the moment of planning the procedures and steps to complete a task for the
class. Item 18 relates the tendency for students to rely on someone else’s work in order to
start doing their own. Their answers for this item reveal that, at the beginning, almost 70%
of the student participants depended a lot on someone in order to start doing their work.
However, that tendency goes down with the time, and by the end of the research project an
average of 25% of the students modified this practice and started to work on their own.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 102
Planning and organization skills became evident through answers to items 8, 16, 17 and 19.
Firstly, all of the students thought beforehand about the possible problems they could face
when doing their work. That could explain why students started to include challenging and
difficult topics in their work. Item 8 shows that tendency to include difficult topics went up
during the project, going from 40% at the beginning to a 70% of students motivated to use
challenging information at the end. However, answers to Items 16 and 17 indicate that
students depend on the teacher to guide them in their learning process. More than 70% of
participants consider that the teacher is the person with the authority to choose the kind of
activities to do in the class and the one to provide information for the same. I think this is
due to the characteristics of the classroom, and in general the paradigm of education that we
still keep in our local context. Information coming from student’s journal reveals other
features of planning, as follows:
-“I practice my english almost every day. I try to practice wacthing series and
listening music in english. I practice my english too going to my academy of english
were i talk with a lot of people and my teachers corrects my pronunciation.”
- “Me Siento Un Poco Satisfecha Pero Quiero Practicar Y Aprender Mas”
- “I learn English because I want to travel to Australia and I want to staying in
there for two or more months.”
Figure 43. Student’s reflective journal. Planning and organization evidence.
Students’ comments in their journal also reveal how they plan to improve their
performance in English. They talk about listening to music, watching tv, reading a book or
just taking the risk to talk to someone as the most effective ways to be better in terms of
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 103
English language development. Their ability to make plans is not only related to their
learning process, but also to their future life. Students have also commented about the
benefits that learning a foreign language has in their life since it opens study and work
possibilities abroad.
Developing and Implementing Ideas
Figure 44. ATLAS TI - Developing ideas Network.
During the time students attend classes at the university, they have to make use of
different information sources to do all the work they are given not only for English subject,
but for all the subjects. This subcategory was born in order to show all the practices that
students follow when they carry out their work and how they overcome any kind of
problem that emerges during the process. From the different activities that were done in the
class, I could notice certain trends that could be considered as factors involved in this
subcategory.
An aspect that emerged from analyzing the data collected in this research project
was connected to the way students solved problems as part of the procedures they follow
towards the accomplishment of any goal in the class. The analysis of previous
subcategories gave me the possibility to present some data supporting the means by which
students overcome obstacles they encountered in their task-completion process. In this
regards, Brown & Walter (2005) assert that the practice of problem solving skills involves
as well the practice of problem posing. Besides, they comment in relation to these practices
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 104
that they happen in two different ways: First, by wondering “what is this problem really
asking, saying, or demanding? What if I shift my focus from what seems to be an obvious
component of this problem to a part that seems remote?” (p. 2), and secondly, by realizing
that “we do not fully understand the significance of what we have done, unless we begin to
generate and try to analyze a completely new set of problems”(ibid, p.2), which is a
practice frequently done after having supposedly solved a problem. Data presented before,
conjointly with the samples presented in this section, make us infer that students, in their
process of analysis of media, try to relate their understanding of contexts and intentions
presented in media with their own knowledge, opinions and experiences. When they realize
they do not fully comprehend the wide set of issues that can be detected though media, they
share their opinion about aspects that may represent problems in accordance to the expected
practices.
The following samples of students’ participation in the activities of critical media
analysis become evidence of students problem-posing and problem-solving skills in two
different aspects: On the first sample, by proposing that soap operas in the country present a
problem for audiences because they believe everything TV tells them (changing the focus
from an obvious component to a wider one), and analyzing situations to try to understand
the problems that generate health issues in society like obesity (which means they analyze a
situation to come up with a set of problems). This kind of identification of problems helps
students become more analytical, and, as Akay & Noz (2010) comment, Problem posing
can be regarded as a way to do analytical thinking.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 105
Figure 45. Student’s artifact sample. Analyzing media.
Figure 46. Students’ presentation about media.
The observation of students’ practices in the classroom provided me with an insight
about the kind of problems students posed in their activities and how they solved them. As
it was mentioned before, students were really concerned about their performance in English
language at the moment of speaking, and writing. Most of the issues they manifested along
the classes were related to English language performance. The following samples taken
from the Teacher’s observational journal indicate this:
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 106
-“Some other students told me they did not feel comfortable when writing in
English because they considered they were not good enough”.
-“They started the activity by wondering if they could actually do it in an accurate
way because of what they think are weaknesses in English (Fluency, pronunciation,
etc.)”
Figure 47. Teacher’s observational journal. Excerpts related to Problem
posing.
Moving forward to a different scenario, the answers that students gave to
questionnaire revealed that, on the one hand, an average of 50% of the students who
participated in the research project made use of different sources like the Internet, the tv or
maybe the radio as a tool to continue learning and, in that way, find a solution to the
obstacle that they found related to the few chances of real practice and contact with the
language that we have in the city, and in the university.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 107
Figure 48. Tendency graphs. Items 3, 15, 24, and 28.
Students showed that it was not necessary to rely on someone in order to start doing
their work. This becomes evident after analyzing the tendency presented in the item 15,
where an average of 70% of the students answered with a high frequency to the statement
that they made decisions regarding the techniques, procedures and objectives I their work.
Another important aspect to mention comes from the answers to Item 3. In a high degree,
students were able to find solutions to the problems they face during the development of
their work. Their desire to investigate and to find solutions for their learning problems is
evident. It seems that students just make use of internet as the only and most relevant
source of information. It is clear that Internet offers different alternatives to practice
English language, they have plenty of audio-visual aids to help them in their learning
process. Student’s comments in their journal show how they use this tool.
- I learn English practice every day if i don't do it i can't learn well a idiom. I try
this week to sing and learn the lyrics of a song from Rihana and Maroon 5. I
practice my speaking and try to learn more vocabulary.
-No me siento satisfecha, porque no logro entender cuando las personas hablan
inglés en los videos aunque poco a poco voy mejorando.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 108
-“I usually use the internet and i learn more easily whit songs and videos”
Figure 49. Student’s reflective journal. Excerpts related to planning a
solution for an obstacle in learning.
Students usually surf the net to check their social networks, chat with people, and
when they want to use is as a tool to practice their communicative skills in English
language, they check music, videos, or just go to any web site that browsers indicate. This
practice was also evident when they were doing in-class work, and needed to use internet to
find information. Even though they show an inner desire to investigate and get information
to support and complement they work, they do not pay too much attention to the origins
and legitimacy of that data. Evidence shows that despite they approach media sources like
TV, newspapers or radio with careful and critical eyes, they do not act the same way when
interacting with the global net. In my personal opinion, this is a field where teachers of all
subjects should reflect, because we all constantly invite students to use internet without
helping them to be evaluative and critical in regards to the kind of information and the
worth of it. Unconsciously, we send them to explore a virtual universe of information with
blind eyes.
Following the above explanation of the categories and its sub-categories as well as
the supporting arguments, I infer that the research question can be answered. The aim of the
research project was to unveil the aspects of learning autonomy in the process of critical
analysis of media in the English as Foreign Language classroom at Universidad Distrital. A
careful analysis of the information gathered during the data collection process by means of
the four sources (Student’s journal, Teacher’s Journal, Questionnaire and Artifacts)
revealed certain practices student’s started to follow that were aligned with the practice of
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 109
critical analysis of media information that took place during the pedagogical intervention.
At this juncture, and bearing in mind the findings related in this chapter, I let myself
announce the answer to the research question in the following chapter.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 110
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS
As I have exposed in previous chapters, I went through a process of analysis in
which I identified four sub categories that were also part of two categories. The information
presented in the data analysis chapter led me to identify codes of analysis, and therefore,
helped me to identify sub-categories that let me answer the question proposed for this
research project, regarding the aspects of autonomy in learning that emerge in a process of
critical analysis of media in the EFL class at Universidad Distrital. Following this, I present
the answer to this research question and also a statement about the achievement of the
research purpose and objectives.
The experience working with the Critical analysis of media in the EFL classroom
and the data gathered during this process helped me discover the learning practices of
students at Universidad Distrital over the semester of classes, and the way in which this
implementation helped them in terms of autonomy learning practices. At the beginning of
the project, students seemed to approach the analysis of media from a basic point of view.
They did not do too much analysis of the content, intentions and messages and just limited
themselves to superficially describe the information. This may occur in part because media
consumers automatically process the majority of the messages that they encounter in it
rather than expending the effort that would be required to evaluate them (Potter, 2004). The
different set of activities done during the classes showed that students started to develop the
ability to analyze, reflect and evaluate the information conveyed to them from Media
sources. There were signs that implied students were gaining awareness of the information
they received from media sources, and at the moment of creating pieces of media, they
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 111
advised the implications of the messages they put. The information collected suggests that
they gained consciousness of the multitude of messages received from media, and their
words indicate that students were doing their best to reflect on the effect media messages
could have on behavior and attitudes of the audience. This fact is also a hint that evidences
media literacy (Silverblatt, 1995). The process of analysis of media done in the class and
the information collected throughout all the 16 weeks alludes the gradual increase of
consciousness about media, the construction and deconstruction of meaning in the multiple
forms it implies, and additionally an upward trend to reflect on the information students
find in order to see if it is worth for their needs, and useful for their projects. In this regards,
I could notice students gave time to think about the information that was presented to them
in the book texts or in the activities proposed in the English class, and, at the moment of
writing and speaking, students considered in advance what they were going to say and how
they were going to say that.
Kaplun (1998) stated that what matters in terms of education is, more than
transmitting contents and teaching things, to help students learn how to learn, to give them
the tools to be able to reason on their own, to guide them to find the ways in which they can
overcome problems by understanding the contexts, and consequently to lead them to
become autonomous. I believe the work we did with media was on the path towards the
development of these goals. The data collected presented clues of growth in the way by
which students reflected on their work, analyzed and evaluated it. Data also let us know
students were getting more committed with their own learning process. Students seemed to
feel encouraged to come up with their learning objectives and to propose an action plan
towards it. This finding was also reinforced when students commented about their learning
as something they would do all their life, and that it was their decision what to learn and
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 112
how to do it. This experience advocates that students thought of their learning as something
that does not only happens in the classroom, but also as a part of their own living and, as
little (1991) exposes, students were able to transfer knowledge from basic stages to wider
contexts.
Students felt confident enough to continue exploring information sources out of the
class as a form to improve their knowledge of English language. I could notice that at the
moment of checking students’ writing exercises, or when I had the chance to listen to them.
I realized that they wanted to go beyond the contents of the class and use different grammar
structures that were not included in the topics proposed for the class. As a result, they felt
free to express their opinions, thoughts and ideas in English language, monitoring their
performance, and sharing their online discoveries to improve their English level. This
shows students’ eagerness to continue learning without being in the language classroom,
and their responsibility in the same process.
Given these facts, we can conclude that students were on the path to leave behind
their traditional concept of media, the way in which they perceived learning, and they
opened their eyes to see beyond the bound of their perception. Under this premise, I state
that practices of self-evaluation, reflection, analysis, problem posing, and planning and
organization were promoted along the media and language work process done during the
classes. The results of research also informed that students extended the idea of personal
responsibility and capacity (Hughes, 2003), a fact which gives us floor to deduce that a
state of autonomy was reached. The results implied that students gradually enhanced their
ability to propose learning objectives, and they demonstrated attention in relation to how to
monitor their learning process, how to pose and solve the problems they found during that
process, and a level of awareness in terms of the usefulness of tools in their learning
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 113
context to accomplish objectives. Beyond shadow of doubt, they were “free to determine
their own beliefs and practices” (Hughes, 2003, p.2).
At the end of the research project, students evidenced a higher level of awareness
and engagement in relation to the process and content of learning compared to the data
collected in the first phase of the research. Their experience in the project and the
information gathered during the same denoted “a capacity for detachment, critical
reflection, decision-making, and independent action” (p. 4). This is, according to Little
(1991), what defines Autonomy in learning. Students’ reaction when checking these results
impacted me because, on the one hand, they pointed the fact that there was improvement in
their English language command which I could notice due to the different sets of words and
grammar structures they had found in different resources they had consulted, indeed,
different to the material or information seen in class. Their awareness of their English
language learning process in relation to the comments I received from them also reinforce
the idea that practices of autonomous learning were promoted through the project. On the
other hand, students mentioned that, as a result of their participation in the research project,
they were not able to see media with the same eyes they used to have. They expressed that
whenever they saw any piece of advertisement or any kind of information on the internet,
they tried to analyze it and detect the messages behind them in order to decide if the
information was good for their needs or not. They commented they were careful when
getting information for their homework in different subjects, for example, by checking the
reliability of the sources or by thinking in advance the steps to do some academic work. To
summarize with, the findings presented in this chapter insinuate that aspects of autonomy in
learning were unveiled from the analysis of media in our English language class.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 114
IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH AND PEDAGOGICAL
PRACTICES
As I explained in the description of the problem which initiated this research
project, I consider that our role as Language teachers should not be limited to the
transmission of knowledge and the mechanic evaluation of students’ performance in the
classroom. Our mission as educators is to guide our students to discover the wide set of
possibilities that the world offers to grow up as professionals, and more importantly, as
human beings. We are not configuring robots that one day will replicate knowledge without
transcendence, but we are guiding a new generation of human beings that will be active
participants in society.
We should work hard to provide students with the tools to interact with their
environment, to become aware of the ways in which that environment influences their
thoughts and actions, to understand who they really are and what they can do, and so to
move forward to accomplish any objective they set in their existence. After having seen the
results of this research project I consider the analysis of media though critical lenses helps
students in this process. The evidences showed me how students gain awareness of their
own, how they think, and how they relate with their setting. All of this resulted in the
practice of autonomy in learning, which is an ability that we all should foster in order to be
better in all the dimension of the being.
One of the greatest memories I recall from this project is the motivation that my
students expressed during this implementation. They realized they got control of their
learning process and were active participants in class. They understood that an important
aspect of meaningful learning is to be aware of what to do, how to do it and why to do it. I
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 115
encourage teachers to continue changing the classical paradigm of classrooms to create a
new learning environment in which students feel comfortable and motivated to continue
learning.
I experienced some limitations during the development of the project that I suggest
could be analyzed in detail in further research. For instance, the events of creation of media
pieces in the class were restricted to the tools we had in hand. I think there are hundreds of
tools on the internet, and specialized software that can be used to the creation of these
pieces. In this sense, I think studies related to the way in which media analysis can foster
computer literacy can be done. More in relation to the subject of English language, I think
that it is worthwhile to understand more about how teachers can incorporate media analysis,
and in a wider sense, how we can include media literacy as an instructional goal in the
English curriculum. In our local context, I consider vital to understand the perception that
teachers and government have towards the Critical analysis of media in order to generate
changes in the design of language programs towards the fostering of reflective, analytical,
critical and evaluative thinking in our society.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 116
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Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 128
APPENDIXES
Appendix A: Transcription of recording. Conversation with students
Teacher: Quiero que me cuenten como cuál es su impresión del Inglés, para que creen ustedes que les sirve el Inglés en la vida. Student 1: Pues… primero que todo… ya es algo como muy… requisito en todo lado. Es muy necesario para cualquier persona el inglés, ¿no? Ya es como que es su deber aprenderlo a hablar, y ya es como… va a ser como… como la lengua principal del mundo va a ser ahorita el inglés, entonces ya es como algo necesario para todo el mundo, y el que no aprenda el inglés no está en nada. Es algo como muy necesario para cualquier persona, para surgir. Teacher: O sea que desde su idea es… más… una herramienta. Es algo necesario. Student 2: Una necesidad Student 1: Una necesidad porque… cada artículo… digamos… en la carrera en que este, si te enseñan un documento en inglés y usted no tengo idea, necesito contratar a alguien, entonces gastaría más presupuesto… tomaría más tiempo., más espera… No sé. Ya de esta manera, ya aprendiéndolo a usar, ya sé que soy muy bueno en Inglés facilitaría más las cosas. Teacher: ¿Y a ustedes les gusta el inglés? Student 1: Si Student 2: A mi si me gusta. A mí me gusta el inglés aunque muchas cosas se me dificultan. Digamos… adquirir el vocabulario, digamos que las estructuras no tanto pero si un poquito el vocabulario, y me parece que es algo necesario porque pues nosotros nativamente pues tenemos el idioma español, pero, como dijo Nicolás (Student 1), ahorita el idioma universal es el inglés, entonces es el idioma que se maneja en todas partes del mundo, y pues ya pensándolo más adelante, cuando ya seamos profesionales y todo eso, pues nos vamos a tener que enfrentar a escenarios donde necesariamente tengamos que entenderlo y pues hablarlo no perfectamente, pero si… o sea… comunicarnos con las demás personas en el idioma. Teacher: Ustedes que tienen muchos compañeros acá, en la universidad, ¿Cómo ven los estudiantes el inglés?, en la materia, por ejemplo, ¿Cuál es la impresión que ellos tienen? Student 3: Pues digamos que… hay gente que sabe mucho inglés en la universidad. Hay estudiantes que saben mucho, pero siendo honesta, cuando uno conversa con un compañero dicen que inglés es una materia… Student 1: …más que pasar Student 3: una materia como… retazo. No como algo importante. Un retazo por decirlo así. Student 1: Algo que rellena… Student 2: Si, exacto, no es demasiado importante. No tiene peso como calculo… ¿sí?, como esas materias. Teacher: ¿Y por qué creen eso? Student 1: No se les ha dado…. No se les ha reflejado como la importancia que tiene el inglés más adelante, a futuro, porque nosotros nos encargamos es del futuro… no mira, tú necesitas es matemáticas o algo así, la prioridad que es para nosotros… calculo, o algo así. Nunca que vamos a tener que hablar inglés, o algún idioma más adelante. Student 2: Y también por lo que yo dije, porque no nos hemos tenido que enfrentar a un escenario donde sea obligación… digamos, entenderlo y comunicarnos… o sea, donde nadie nos hable en Español. Student 1: ¡Exactamente!
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 129
Student 2: ¿ves? es obligación entender lo que nos están diciendo, y también obligación comunicarnos correctamente. Teacher: ¿Y ustedes creen que esa visión de que inglés es una materia de relleno hace que a la gente no le vaya bien? Student 1: ¡Exacto! Student 2: Si, porque por lo menos uno, con una materia como te digo de matemáticas… por decirlo así… uno siente una presión. Entonces uno se siente como obligado a estudiar, a dedicarle tiempo, a no salirse… Student 1: …a seguir estudiando o no está en nada, porque digamos… los profesores de cálculo son como muy dictadores, le dicen a uno “si usted está acá y pierde calculo, ahí verá… usted no está en nada porque esto es como lo principal de su carrera. Si usted no sabe esto o lo otro, no lo puedo pasar, porque que va a saber el resto” Student 3: Y hay compañeros que no se esfuerzan por pasar. Nosotros conocemos un caso de un compañero que iba a inglés 3, y no entregaba tareas… no entregaba nada. En los parciales era como… no, es que no estudie nada… Student 1: Que no le da importancia… Student 2: Estaba en una materia que no es relevante para la vida. Student 1: lo vemos en este momento así, algunos lo veremos en esa etapa… porque uno nunca mira a futuro, lo que yo digo, nos limitamos a ver lo de ahorita, en lo que cada semestre nos ponen… un cálculo… y no mirar si más adelante nos va a servir. Student 3: …Y de pronto también por lo que vale la materia, o sea, la cantidad de créditos, porque pues los créditos son importantes pero… digamos… si valiera más, la gente se dedicaría más. Student 2: Cuando uno entra a un semestre, entonces uno sabe qué materia tiene un crédito, que materia tiene 2 créditos, que materia tiene 3 créditos, a que materia se tiene que dedicar más, a que materia no tanto, y a qué materia no se tiene que dedicar mucho. Student 1: Uno tiene como que dedicarle tiempo a cada materia y saber qué tiempo debe gastar de estudio… digamos… en cada materia. Digamos, si uno ve que el crédito… digamos… de geometría es más, es como el crédito de geometría, uno no le da tanto empeño como a una de calculo que tiene 4 créditos, sabiendo que si puede perder, se va a retrasar demasiado. Teacher: sí, claro. Y la gente con la que ustedes han estudiado inglés… ¿ellos, aparte de la universidad, hacen algo como por aprender? Student 1: Digamos… yo tengo amigos que estudian inglés en diferentes partes. Tengo una compañera que estudia inglés acá en la universidad, también en el ILUD… Teacher: Ahh… pero bueno, están estudiando aparte, como en otros institutos… pero las personas que no están estudiando en otros institutos, ¿Saben si se dedican en la casa, o en algún otro lugar… como a revisar vocabulario, o algo así? Student 2: Pues de pronto con el tema de la música, que hay mucha música en inglés, mucha gente que le gusta la música en inglés… y de pronto esa es una herramienta buenísima para uno adquirir vocabulario… de pronto, yo a veces me critico eso, porque a mí me gusta mucho la música en inglés… entonces por eso es que uno… y digamos que… compañeros que saben inglés es porque escuchan música en inglés. Student 1: ¡Exacto! Teacher: ¿Solo con música? Student 2: Pues yo he escuchado solo con música… Student 3: También compañeros que han viajado a otras partes, y han tenido que mantener conversaciones en inglés.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 130
Student 2: Que si se han enfrentado a los escenarios que digo… pero aquí, que yo sepa, sí. Que yo pregunte: ¿pero tu como sabes tanto vocabulario? Yo… no, si estamos en un nivel igual… pues porque me gusta el rock en inglés, música en inglés… Student 1: Lo bueno de escuchar música en inglés es que digamos… uno busca la letra, uno busca lo que traduce la canción… entonces uno aprende vocabulario, como se expresan Student 2: Y si uno la canta entonces ya está afinando el speaking. Student 3: Va aprendiendo palabritas. Teacher: Pero también viendo televisión se puede hacer… Student 1: El problema es que hay programas subtitulados, pero es que me decían a mí que ver programas, hablado en inglés y subtitulado es malo. Student 2: ¡Exacto profe! porque uno se pone es a leer. Student 1: Uno lo que hace es leer, y no escuchar lo que están hablando. Student 2: Yo por lo menos no hago eso Student 1: Pero así que me tome el tiempo, ponerme unos audífonos y escuchar inglés totalmente… uno queda como… Teacher: Y pues me imagino que internet, ¿no? Todo lo que tiene… Student 1: Si, ya. Pero muy pocos lo hacen, y los que lo hacen Student 2: Incluso también poniendo las redes sociales en inglés, hay personas que ponen Facebook en inglés. Teacher: ¿Cuantas personas conoces que hacen eso? Compañeros aquí en la universidad. Student 2: Yo conozco dos personas que hacen eso con el celular.
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 131
Appendix B1: Research Project – Intervention Timetable (First Term)
TOPICLANGUAGE
WORKLEARNING OBJECTIVES
HOMEWORK -
ACTIVITIES
1st Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Cities and Adjectives
Places in a City
Reading Fact Sheet about a City
Magazine article
Listening Interviews in a School
TV programme 2nd Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Asking personal Questions
Questions about cities
Writing A description of a City
Using the dictionary
3rd Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Jobs and Workplaces
Office Jobs
Reading Profiles of people
a University Webpage
Listening Interview with a Student
4th Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Discussing Jobs
Reporting on Someone's job
Writing A curriculum Vitae
5th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Routine Verbs and Words
Reading Publicity Leaflet
Listening TV Interview about desserts
Speaking Questions about habits
Writing Someone's routine
6th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Leisure activities and fi lms
Reading Health club leaflet
Listening Interview with people
Speaking Guessing Game
Writing Working with members
7th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Transportation means
Adjectives
Reading Magazine article - transport
Q&A in a Magazine
Listening People talking about
Transportation means 8th Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Discussing means transport
Writing Description
Vocabulary Food and Drink
International Food
Reading A charity leaflet 9th Entry in Ss' Journal
Flyer for conference
Listening Interview about eating
habits
Speaking Describing photos and food
Writing Describing objects and the 10th Entry in Ss' Journal
quantity in different places
11th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Shops and shopping
Reading Newspaper article: Business
Listening A radio programme
Speaking Shopping habits and likes
Writing An Informal Email
12th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Verbs and prepositions
Reading Text from a History book
Listening Presentation on technology
Speaking Change in culture/Styles
Writing A short biography
13th Entry in Ss' Journal
FINAL EXAM 30% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on December 7th
Comparison:
comparative
adjectives
Comparison:
superlative
adjectives
Count and
uncountable
nouns, some
and any
much, many, a
lot of; how
much? how
many?
- Students will manage
to talk about objects
and their amount in a
variety of situations.
- Students wil be able
to present a detailed
description of places.
- Students will be in a
position of describing
and comparing objects,
places and people.
- Students will be able
to negotiate meaning
using comparatives and
superlatives.
UN
IT 6
– F
OO
D
Page
s 48
–55
Nov
embe
r 2n
d -
3rd
Present
continuous (1):
affirmative,
negative
& questions
contrasted with
present simpleUN
IT 7
– S
HO
PPIN
G
Page
s 58
–65
WEE
K 1
4
SECOND TERM GRADES 35% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on October 31st
Nov
embe
r 16
th -
17t
h
WEE
K 1
5
UN
IT 8
– H
ISTO
RY
& C
ULT
UR
E
Page
s 66
–73 Past simple: to
be
could, couldn’t
This week is dedicated to presenting the Second Term Test, in accordance with
the English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
ACTIVITY 4: REALITY
SHOW
This week is dedicated to presenting the Final Test, in accordance with the
English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
- Students will be able
to talk about ongoing
actions in different
contexts.
- Students will have the
means for producing
and interpreting texts
of description.
- Student will be able to
express their feelings in
the past.
- Students will be able
to request information
about personal
profiles.I96
ACTIVITY 5: MOBILITY
ACTIVITY 6: FOOD,
OBESITY AND
ANOREXIA
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
UN
IT 5
– T
RA
NSP
OR
T
Page
s 40
–47
UN
IT 4
– L
EISU
RE
TIM
E Pa
ges
32–3
9FI
RST
TER
M T
EST
WEE
K 7
WEE
K 8
WEE
K 9
WEE
K 1
0W
EEK
16
FIN
AL
TEST
Nov
embe
r 9t
h -
10th
FIRST TERM GRADES 35% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on September 19th
Oct
ober
26t
h -
27th
WEE
K 1
3
SECO
ND
TER
M T
EST
UN
IT 3
– W
ATE
R
Page
s 22
–29
Question words
Adverbs of
frequency
GRAMMAR
Articles
can, can’t:
ability and
possibility
This week is dedicated to presenting the First Term Test, in accordance with the
English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
Sep
tem
ber
14th
- 1
5th
Sep
tem
ber
21st
- 2
2th
Sep
t 28
th -
29t
hO
ctob
er 5
th -
6th
Oct
ober
12t
h -
13th
- Students will be able
to express their
abilities in
conversations.
WEE
K 1
2
Oct
ober
19t
h -
20th
WEE
K 1
1
ACTIVITY 7: TV
COMMERCIALS
DATES
Aug
ust
3rd
- 4t
hA
ugus
t 10
th -
11t
hA
ugus
t 17
th -
18t
hA
ugus
t 24
th -
25t
hA
ug 3
1st
- Se
p 1
stSe
pte
mbe
r 7t
h -
8th
UN
IT 1
– C
ITIE
S
Page
s 6
–13
UN
IT 2
– W
OR
K A
ND
STU
DY
Page
s 14
- 2
1
WEE
K 6
WEE
K 1
WEE
K 2
WEE
K 3
WEE
K 4
WEE
K 5
Intr
oduc
tory
Wee
kBasic Class
commands and
expressions
BOOK ACTIVITIES
To be:
affirmative,
negative,
question, short
forms
there is, there
are:
affirmative,
negative,
question, a lot
of
Present simple:
affirmative,
negative
Present simple:
questions
- Students will be able
to comprehend and
interpret basic
information in texts.
- Students will be able
to express personal
information.
- Students will manage
to present descriptions
of places or situations.
- Students will be
capable of asking and
answering elemental
questions about jobs
- Students will be able
to understand written
pieces describing a
person's life details.
Students will get
information regarding
the course
methodology, grading
system and platform
use.
ACTIVITY 1: TAKING A
SECOND LOOK
ACTIVITY 2: ARE YOU
CONTROLLED BY
MEDIA?
- Students will be able
to interact with others
about their habits
- Students will have the
means for exposing
frequencies of activities
ACTIVITY 3: CREATING
MEDIA
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 132
Appendix B2: Research Project – Intervention Timetable (Second Term)
TOPICLANGUAGE
WORKLEARNING OBJECTIVES
HOMEWORK -
ACTIVITIES
1st Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Cities and Adjectives
Places in a City
Reading Fact Sheet about a City
Magazine article
Listening Interviews in a School
TV programme 2nd Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Asking personal Questions
Questions about cities
Writing A description of a City
Using the dictionary
3rd Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Jobs and Workplaces
Office Jobs
Reading Profiles of people
a University Webpage
Listening Interview with a Student
4th Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Discussing Jobs
Reporting on Someone's job
Writing A curriculum Vitae
5th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Routine Verbs and Words
Reading Publicity Leaflet
Listening TV Interview about desserts
Speaking Questions about habits
Writing Someone's routine
6th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Leisure activities and fi lms
Reading Health club leaflet
Listening Interview with people
Speaking Guessing Game
Writing Working with members
7th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Transportation means
Adjectives
Reading Magazine article - transport
Q&A in a Magazine
Listening People talking about
Transportation means 8th Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Discussing means transport
Writing Description
Vocabulary Food and Drink
International Food
Reading A charity leaflet 9th Entry in Ss' Journal
Flyer for conference
Listening Interview about eating
habits
Speaking Describing photos and food
Writing Describing objects and the 10th Entry in Ss' Journal
quantity in different places
11th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Shops and shopping
Reading Newspaper article: Business
Listening A radio programme
Speaking Shopping habits and likes
Writing An Informal Email
12th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Verbs and prepositions
Reading Text from a History book
Listening Presentation on technology
Speaking Change in culture/Styles
Writing A short biography
13th Entry in Ss' Journal
FINAL EXAM 30% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on December 7th
Comparison:
comparative
adjectives
Comparison:
superlative
adjectives
Count and
uncountable
nouns, some
and any
much, many, a
lot of; how
much? how
many?
- Students will manage
to talk about objects
and their amount in a
variety of situations.
- Students wil be able
to present a detailed
description of places.
- Students will be in a
position of describing
and comparing objects,
places and people.
- Students will be able
to negotiate meaning
using comparatives and
superlatives.
UN
IT 6
– F
OO
D
Page
s 48
–55
Nov
embe
r 2n
d -
3rd
Present
continuous (1):
affirmative,
negative
& questions
contrasted with
present simpleUN
IT 7
– S
HO
PPIN
G
Page
s 58
–65
WEE
K 1
4
SECOND TERM GRADES 35% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on October 31st
Nov
embe
r 16
th -
17t
h
WEE
K 1
5
UN
IT 8
– H
ISTO
RY
& C
ULT
UR
E
Page
s 66
–73 Past simple: to
be
could, couldn’t
This week is dedicated to presenting the Second Term Test, in accordance with
the English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
ACTIVITY 4: REALITY
SHOW
This week is dedicated to presenting the Final Test, in accordance with the
English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
- Students will be able
to talk about ongoing
actions in different
contexts.
- Students will have the
means for producing
and interpreting texts
of description.
- Student will be able to
express their feelings in
the past.
- Students will be able
to request information
about personal
profiles.I96
ACTIVITY 5: MOBILITY
ACTIVITY 6: FOOD,
OBESITY AND
ANOREXIA
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
UN
IT 5
– T
RA
NSP
OR
T
Page
s 40
–47
UN
IT 4
– L
EISU
RE
TIM
E Pa
ges
32–3
9FI
RST
TER
M T
EST
WEE
K 7
WEE
K 8
WEE
K 9
WEE
K 1
0W
EEK
16
FIN
AL
TEST
Nov
embe
r 9t
h -
10th
FIRST TERM GRADES 35% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on September 19th
Oct
ober
26t
h -
27th
WEE
K 1
3
SECO
ND
TER
M T
EST
UN
IT 3
– W
ATE
R
Page
s 22
–29
Question words
Adverbs of
frequency
GRAMMAR
Articles
can, can’t:
ability and
possibility
This week is dedicated to presenting the First Term Test, in accordance with the
English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
Sep
tem
ber
14th
- 1
5th
Sep
tem
ber
21st
- 2
2th
Sep
t 28
th -
29t
hO
ctob
er 5
th -
6th
Oct
ober
12t
h -
13th
- Students will be able
to express their
abilities in
conversations.
WEE
K 1
2
Oct
ober
19t
h -
20th
WEE
K 1
1
ACTIVITY 7: TV
COMMERCIALS
DATES
Aug
ust
3rd
- 4t
hA
ugus
t 10
th -
11t
hA
ugus
t 17
th -
18t
hA
ugus
t 24
th -
25t
hA
ug 3
1st
- Se
p 1
stSe
pte
mbe
r 7t
h -
8th
UN
IT 1
– C
ITIE
S
Page
s 6
–13
UN
IT 2
– W
OR
K A
ND
STU
DY
Page
s 14
- 2
1
WEE
K 6
WEE
K 1
WEE
K 2
WEE
K 3
WEE
K 4
WEE
K 5
Intr
oduc
tory
Wee
k
Basic Class
commands and
expressions
BOOK ACTIVITIES
To be:
affirmative,
negative,
question, short
forms
there is, there
are:
affirmative,
negative,
question, a lot
of
Present simple:
affirmative,
negative
Present simple:
questions
- Students will be able
to comprehend and
interpret basic
information in texts.
- Students will be able
to express personal
information.
- Students will manage
to present descriptions
of places or situations.
- Students will be
capable of asking and
answering elemental
questions about jobs
- Students will be able
to understand written
pieces describing a
person's life details.
Students will get
information regarding
the course
methodology, grading
system and platform
use.
ACTIVITY 1: TAKING A
SECOND LOOK
ACTIVITY 2: ARE YOU
CONTROLLED BY
MEDIA?
- Students will be able
to interact with others
about their habits
- Students will have the
means for exposing
frequencies of activities
ACTIVITY 3: CREATING
MEDIA
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 133
Appendix B3: Research Project – Intervention Timetable (Third Term)
TOPICLANGUAGE
WORKLEARNING OBJECTIVES
HOMEWORK -
ACTIVITIES
1st Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Cities and Adjectives
Places in a City
Reading Fact Sheet about a City
Magazine article
Listening Interviews in a School
TV programme 2nd Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Asking personal Questions
Questions about cities
Writing A description of a City
Using the dictionary
3rd Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Jobs and Workplaces
Office Jobs
Reading Profiles of people
a University Webpage
Listening Interview with a Student
4th Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Discussing Jobs
Reporting on Someone's job
Writing A curriculum Vitae
5th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Routine Verbs and Words
Reading Publicity Leaflet
Listening TV Interview about desserts
Speaking Questions about habits
Writing Someone's routine
6th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Leisure activities and fi lms
Reading Health club leaflet
Listening Interview with people
Speaking Guessing Game
Writing Working with members
7th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Transportation means
Adjectives
Reading Magazine article - transport
Q&A in a Magazine
Listening People talking about
Transportation means 8th Entry in Ss' Journal
Speaking Discussing means transport
Writing Description
Vocabulary Food and Drink
International Food
Reading A charity leaflet 9th Entry in Ss' Journal
Flyer for conference
Listening Interview about eating
habits
Speaking Describing photos and food
Writing Describing objects and the 10th Entry in Ss' Journal
quantity in different places
11th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Shops and shopping
Reading Newspaper article: Business
Listening A radio programme
Speaking Shopping habits and likes
Writing An Informal Email
12th Entry in Ss' Journal
Vocabulary Verbs and prepositions
Reading Text from a History book
Listening Presentation on technology
Speaking Change in culture/Styles
Writing A short biography
13th Entry in Ss' Journal
FINAL EXAM 30% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on December 7th
Comparison:
comparative
adjectives
Comparison:
superlative
adjectives
Count and
uncountable
nouns, some
and any
much, many, a
lot of; how
much? how
many?
- Students will manage
to talk about objects
and their amount in a
variety of situations.
- Students wil be able
to present a detailed
description of places.
- Students will be in a
position of describing
and comparing objects,
places and people.
- Students will be able
to negotiate meaning
using comparatives and
superlatives.
UN
IT 6
– F
OO
D
Page
s 48
–55
Nov
embe
r 2n
d -
3rd
Present
continuous (1):
affirmative,
negative
& questions
contrasted with
present simpleUN
IT 7
– S
HO
PPIN
G
Page
s 58
–65
WEE
K 1
4
SECOND TERM GRADES 35% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on October 31st
Nov
embe
r 16
th -
17t
h
WEE
K 1
5
UN
IT 8
– H
ISTO
RY
& C
ULT
UR
E
Page
s 66
–73 Past simple: to
be
could, couldn’t
This week is dedicated to presenting the Second Term Test, in accordance with
the English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
ACTIVITY 4: REALITY
SHOW
This week is dedicated to presenting the Final Test, in accordance with the
English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
- Students will be able
to talk about ongoing
actions in different
contexts.
- Students will have the
means for producing
and interpreting texts
of description.
- Student will be able to
express their feelings in
the past.
- Students will be able
to request information
about personal
profiles.I96
ACTIVITY 5: MOBILITY
ACTIVITY 6: FOOD,
OBESITY AND
ANOREXIA
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
Ho
liday
UN
IT 5
– T
RA
NSP
OR
T
Page
s 40
–47
UN
IT 4
– L
EISU
RE
TIM
E Pa
ges
32–3
9FI
RST
TER
M T
EST
WEE
K 7
WEE
K 8
WEE
K 9
WEE
K 1
0W
EEK
16
FIN
AL
TEST
Nov
embe
r 9t
h -
10th
FIRST TERM GRADES 35% - Grades upload in the system CONDOR on September 19th
Oct
ober
26t
h -
27th
WEE
K 1
3
SECO
ND
TER
M T
EST
UN
IT 3
– W
ATE
R
Page
s 22
–29
Question words
Adverbs of
frequency
GRAMMAR
Articles
can, can’t:
ability and
possibility
This week is dedicated to presenting the First Term Test, in accordance with the
English Language course plan stated by Universidad Distrital. The test takes
into consideration all Communicative Skills (Including a Grammar section).
Sep
tem
ber
14th
- 1
5th
Sep
tem
ber
21st
- 2
2th
Sep
t 28
th -
29t
hO
ctob
er 5
th -
6th
Oct
ober
12t
h -
13th
- Students will be able
to express their
abilities in
conversations.
WEE
K 1
2
Oct
ober
19t
h -
20th
WEE
K 1
1
ACTIVITY 7: TV
COMMERCIALS
DATES
Aug
ust
3rd
- 4t
hA
ugus
t 10
th -
11t
hA
ugus
t 17
th -
18t
hA
ugus
t 24
th -
25t
hA
ug 3
1st
- Se
p 1
stSe
pte
mbe
r 7t
h -
8th
UN
IT 1
– C
ITIE
S
Page
s 6
–13
UN
IT 2
– W
OR
K A
ND
STU
DY
Page
s 14
- 2
1
WEE
K 6
WEE
K 1
WEE
K 2
WEE
K 3
WEE
K 4
WEE
K 5
Intr
oduc
tory
Wee
k
Basic Class
commands and
expressions
BOOK ACTIVITIES
To be:
affirmative,
negative,
question, short
forms
there is, there
are:
affirmative,
negative,
question, a lot
of
Present simple:
affirmative,
negative
Present simple:
questions
- Students will be able
to comprehend and
interpret basic
information in texts.
- Students will be able
to express personal
information.
- Students will manage
to present descriptions
of places or situations.
- Students will be
capable of asking and
answering elemental
questions about jobs
- Students will be able
to understand written
pieces describing a
person's life details.
Students will get
information regarding
the course
methodology, grading
system and platform
use.
ACTIVITY 1: TAKING A
SECOND LOOK
ACTIVITY 2: ARE YOU
CONTROLLED BY
MEDIA?
- Students will be able
to interact with others
about their habits
- Students will have the
means for exposing
frequencies of activities
ACTIVITY 3: CREATING
MEDIA
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 134
Appendix C1: Students Questionnaire (Part A)
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 135
Appendix C2: Students Questionnaire (Part B)
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 136
Appendix D: Teacher’s observational journal – Sample
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 137
Appendix E: Consent Form
Critical Analysis of media towards the promotion of EFL Students’ Learning Autonomy 138
Appendix F: ATLAS TI Codes Network