English class

1. An n a G r igo r y an an d Joh n M a rk Ki ng—
Tu r k Ey and uni TEd sT a T E s —
Adbusting: Critical Media
Literacy in a Multi-Skills
Academic Writing Lesson —
media literacy is a field often used to describe a more rigor-
that began as a grassroots ous evaluation of the mass media’s
movement among educa- relationship to democracy, power, and
tors concerned with the growing gap social justice. As a classroom topic,
between popular culture, produced critical media literacy encourages dis-
by corporations, and the literacy con- cussions about how the media con-
tent in today’s schools (Flores-Koulish ceptualize race, class, and gender, and
2005). Today, many educators rec- how it promotes certain social values
ognize the pedagogical importance through its definitions of such con-
of training students to develop an cepts as beauty, prestige, family, love,
awareness of how and why adver- success, sex, freedom, and consumer-
tisements and other media messages ism, among others. Critical media
often misrepresent and manipulate the analysis allows students to access,
facts. Consequently, teachers can find analyze, and evaluate popular texts
many resources on how to develop and in terms of their cultural, political,
implement a media literacy curricu- ideological, and socioeconomic rami-
lum (Schwarz and Brown 2005). — fications. Because these are impor-
According to Aufderheide (1993, tant and relevant issues for students
1), a media literate individual “can and teachers, incorporating critical
decode, evaluate, analyze and produce media analysis into the second lan-
both print and electronic media.” Nev- guage classroom is an excellent way to
ertheless, there are different degrees engage students’ skills in communica-
of media literacy. Many analyses are tion and higher-level thinking. —
merely descriptive and do not exam- This article will discuss the ratio-
ine with any depth how various media nale for incorporating critical media
affect society and individuals; there- analysis into the second language
fore, the term critical media literacy is classroom and will describe a method
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2. to combine it with a university level writ- • introduces students to codes and con-
ing lesson based on the process-centered ventions of the target culture and acti-
approach in which students plan, revise, and vates their background knowledge; —
produce a written text with a special focus on • offers the possibility for portfolios and
the intended audience. In this writing lesson other forms of alternative assessment. —
students will also produce an Adbuster, which These aspects of communicative language
is a parody of a commercial message. The pri- teaching are evident in the following ten-step
mary goals of the lesson are to promote critical lesson plan. —
thinking and to develop formal and informal
language skills through a variety of individual An integrated media literacy lesson plan —
and group-based, task-oriented activities. — This lesson plan is designed for a col-
Why integrate media literacy and lege or university setting and is based on the
academic writing? — process genre approach in which students not
only plan and revise two texts, but also meet
There are many theoretical and practical
certain rhetorical and structural requirements
reasons to combine critical media literacy with
based on the texts’ audience (Badger and
a modern academic writing lesson. Advertise-
White 2000). In addition, this lesson will
ments and other media messages are available
require students to plan and revise a piece of
virtually everywhere, and giving language
Adbuster art that will accompany the written
learners the opportunity to evaluate them and
texts. As students become more keenly aware
create their own written texts allows students
of the role of their target audience, they learn
to develop their critical thinking and commu-
how to modify language to communicate
nication skills. Because of the interesting and
through various media and to establish a
relevant nature of the subject matter, this type
continuity of ideas between two very different
of task-based lesson creates a student-centered
types of expression—formal writing and art. —
environment that is the foundation of com-
municative language teaching. For example, a What is an Adbuster? —
media literacy academic writing project: — To begin, it is important for teachers and
• uses authentic materials to contextual- students to be familiar with an Adbuster, which
ize language, appeal to student inter- is a form of media that looks like an adver-
ests, and increase their motivation; — tisement but actually opposes the values and
• requires real language for meaningful assumptions presented by a corporation through
communication, which develops stu- its advertising campaigns (examples of Adbuster
dents’ cognitive and academic strategies ads can be found at the following website:
in multiple skills;— http://adbusters.org/spoofads/index.php). —
• inspires small groups to create mean- Advertisements sell not only products, but
ingful written drafts and quality peer also ideas. For instance, an advertisement for
review and revision; — a diet pill is not only selling the actual pill,
• creates a positive social and affective but also the idea that being thin is important,
working environment; — perhaps more important than being healthy.
• permits teachers to include various Advertisements for diet products often target
activities that appeal to virtually any women by showing a young, attractive woman
kind of learning style; — smiling and happy because she has lost weight.
• provides a large amount of language An Adbuster for such an advertisement could
input and output so students learn to visually oppose the message of taking the
use effective communication strategies; actual pill by showing the potentially nega-
• helps student evaluate and respond to tive side effects, such as osteoporosis, depres-
arguments, which develops their ana- sion, or organ damage. The Adbuster could
lytical skills; — also oppose the ideas or assumptions in the
• allows for the integration of skills advertisement by challenging the definition
through a variety of linguistic situations of beauty or success as being extremely thin.
that require the use of both formal and The Adbuster could also offer a definition of
informal English; — beauty, happiness, and success not in terms of
E n g l i s h TE a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 4 2008 3

3. outward appearance, but rather as connected Adbusters that showed the potentially danger-
to one’s overall health and well-being. — ous effects of dieting. Many also redefined the
Most advertisements have a central mes- notion of beauty offered by popular women’s
sage: If you buy this product, then you will magazines as inner beauty, health, and overall
be “thin,” “rich,” “successful,” or “fit,” and well-being rather than looking “perfect” or
therefore “happy” and “fulfilled.” Usually, the extremely thin. Hence, the assignment allows
central message can be ascertained by reading students to critically understand the very
the slogan and understanding the story being forces that shape their values, attitudes, and
told through the visual image. However, in assumptions—their identities. —
addition to the central message tied to the
product, advertisers also create and reinforce Ten steps of the media literacy lesson plan —
The primary goals of the lesson are to pro-
our assumptions of what it means to be a
mote critical thinking and to develop formal
beautiful, rich, successful man or woman.
and informal language skills through a variety
Advertisers also offer us definitions of sexual-
of individual and group-based, task-oriented
ity, happiness, family, love, health, freedom,
activities. In these activities, students will col-
and other values that guide our behavior. We
laborate with their groupmates to prepare a
may not buy a diet pill or a luxury car, but
project that they will present to their peers.
we may nevertheless absorb the idea that “you
Unlike products of the average academic writ-
can never be too rich or too thin.” Because
ing lesson, the texts produced here will be done
we are surrounded by advertisements, which
as a group, not individually. This can at first
are an integral part of our culture, we are like
create some difficulty for the teacher who is
fish in an aquarium, unaware that we live in
trying to maintain order in the class and ensure
water because we consider it a natural part of
that all students contribute equally to the
our existence. In requiring students to create assignment. However, providing varied options
Adbusters, we are not teaching them simply to to students for the creation of meaningful lan-
resist advertisements. We are enhancing their guage at different stages of the lesson appeals to
critical thinking skills by making them aware many different learning styles. As a result, such
of how culture is created through a set of a lesson may not be best used to determine a
assumptions or stories told over and again. — student’s placement or readiness to advance to
An Adbuster can be made for virtually the next level, but it is, nonetheless, designed to
any advertisement. For this lesson students improve a student’s overall proficiency in Eng-
must choose an advertisement, and they may lish. This is, of course, our ultimate goal. —
initially seem frustrated or confused about First, students will create one paragraph that
which advertisement to choose so that making examines the assumptions and hidden mes-
an Adbuster will be easy. However, we tell our sages in a particular magazine advertisement.
students to choose advertisements from maga- A second paragraph will critically evaluate
zines that they read or that appeal to their those assumptions. In addition to these para-
interests. Thus, one group of male students graphs, each group will produce an Adbuster
made an Adbuster for videogames in which as a visual companion to their writing. The
they explored the effects of violent video ten steps detailed in the following lesson are
games on children. Their Adbuster contained merely suggestions. Throughout the lesson,
pictures of children holding video game guns, the teacher must help his or her students to
of children spending hours in front of televi- practice the writing process used by successful
sion, and scenes of blood and violence from students and professionals in the real world.
video games that were very realistic. Stu- Before beginning these steps, teachers should
dents discussed the effects of video games on divide students into groups of three or four.
children’s identity formation and the effects
of television violence on society in general. Step 1: Focused freewriting —
Another student who practices weightlifting To begin, the teacher tells the students
and was interested in bodybuilding as a hobby they are going to look at an advertisement
completed an Adbuster about the negative for a commercial product out of a popular
effects of using steroids to build muscles. American magazine. The teacher then gives
Many girls who read fashion magazines did each group a different advertisement from a
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4. magazine. Teachers may also allow students to In this step, the teacher also introduces
bring magazines that they read at home and students to a variety of sample Adbusters
have each group select one advertisement to produced by previous classes to provide them
analyze in the classroom. — with clear examples of the designs they will be
Then, the teacher tells the students to get expected to complete. If teachers do not have
out a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil and sample Adbusters or paragraphs from previous
to begin freewriting, which is a pre-writing classes, they may choose to create their own to
exercise in which students write for a speci- use until quality student-produced materials
fied time on a specific topic without stopping are available. Sample Adbusters, however, may
and without making corrections. Typically, be found at the aforementioned website. —
students keep their freewriting assignments
Step 3: Understand, analyze, and
and refer to them during later stages of the
evaluate—find the hidden messages —
writing process in order to build on and fur-
ther refine their ideas. In this lesson students The teacher should explain that many
are encouraged to write nonstop about their advertisements sell not only products, but
advertisement for five to ten minutes without also ideas, by promoting certain values, ste-
making corrections or using a dictionary. reotypes, and assumptions. The students will
They are free to write whatever they want, as explore these “hidden messages” using a work-
long as it is in response to whatever they see sheet entitled Deconstructing an Advertisement
in the ad. If they do not know what to write, that can be found online from the Media
the teacher should tell them to write “I don’t Education Foundation (2005). Using this
know what to write.” During this exercise, the worksheet, the students will complete the fol-
teacher should monitor the students closely to lowing tasks: —
ensure that they follow the directions. — 1. Describe the codes and conventions in
When time is up, the teacher tells the their advertisement —
groups to share what they have written with 2. Determine the purpose of their adver-
other members of their groups. They do not tisement —
need to read their freewriting aloud; they only 3. Determine the assumptions their adver-
need to summarize their reaction to the adver- tisement makes —
tisement. This should take no more than ten 4. Determine possible consequences of
minutes, and while the students are talking, their advertisement —
the teacher should walk around the room to The students work together to complete
monitor their progress. — these four tasks, and each member in the
group will be responsible for writing down
Step 2: Sample paragraphs and
and reporting one of them to the rest of
Adbusters —
the class. Thus, each member completes a
The teacher can now help students to bet- writing and speaking task as a part of this
ter understand the genre within which they portion of the activity. If members within
will be working to create their two paragraphs, a group disagree with one another on their
which can be done by showing students one evaluation of the advertisement, the teacher
or more examples of successful writing by can remind them that it is a good exercise in
students in previous classes. Showing sample critical thinking to argue a point of view that
paragraphs is useful because the academic you do not necessarily agree with. Also, if two
writing style, which uses one controlling idea members disagree, they can both share their
for a paragraph and a topic sentence at or near different views with the class, thus setting up
the beginning, is a genre whose mastery will the opportunity for conversation, debate, and
certainly help students to succeed in school. — multiple interpretations. —
Together with the teacher, students analyze As each group shares their advertisements
sample paragraphs that are very similar to and reports their four-point analysis, the other
what they will be asked to produce and dis- students listen and express their agreement or
cover the paragraphs’ structure on their own. disagreement with the reporting group’s inter-
The teacher can help, of course, and answer pretations. For example, a group may report
any questions that come up. — that they found that an advertisement for ciga-
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5. rettes draws a connection between “freedom” • The wide open horizon in front of the
or “independence” and smoking by pointing yacht suggests that the people portrayed
out that the advertisement shows an image of are “free.” —
young men and women sailing on a yacht while • The fact that the people are dressed
smoking cigarettes. Then, the group can evalu- nicely, are attractive, and are on a yacht
ate the validity of this connection: Is smoking rather than a small boat suggests that
at all connected to a lifestyle of the rich and they are rich and financially indepen-
does it really increase your enjoyment of life? dent, so their freedom is also financial
Finally, the group will determine the possible freedom. —
long- and short-term consequences of believing • The social atmosphere on the yacht
the messages presented in the advertisement. suggests that cigarettes are a good addi-
Is the advertisement effective? Will the target tion to “happy” social occasions when
audience be persuaded to buy the product? — you are having a good time with friends
If a group decides that their advertisement and enjoying a sense of freedom. —
has no hidden messages, the teacher can ask Then, students brainstorm for their second
them additional guided questions about the paragraph, which will critique the central
advertisement based on the teacher’s own message as well as the hidden messages of
analysis. In addition, if students offer an their advertisement. To have the critical skills
interpretation that is not obvious or may not necessary to develop this second paragraph, it
be justifiable, the teacher should not be afraid is important that students have understood
to ask them why they made their decision and and completed the Deconstructing an Adver-
how they came to it. For instance, if a student tisement worksheet so they can determine the
says a woman in the picture looks “healthy,” advertisement’s assumptions and its possible
and the connection to health is not obvious, consequences. As a result, students may write
the teacher can say: “What is it in the picture the following: —
that makes you think of health?” or “What is
it about her that makes her look healthy?” — • The ad falsely connects enjoying time
with your friends to smoking. —
Step 4: Brainstorming — • Showing attractive, young people hides
Working together, each group member the fact that smoking causes the yel-
writes the central message of the advertise- lowing of teeth, poor skin health, and
ment they analyzed in step three. Usually, the smoking-related diseases such as lung
central message insinuates something like: cancer and emphysema. —
“If you buy this product, then you will be • The ad falsely connects smoking with
more ‘attractive,’ or ‘slim,’ or ‘free,’ and, as a personal and financial freedom—
result, happier.” This central message is usu- smoking cannot make you richer or
ally found in the slogan or in the dominant more free. —
images and texts within the ad. — • The ad does not show that because
Next, students locate their advertisement’s smoking cigarettes creates a physical
hidden messages or assumptions and conduct addiction to nicotine, it actually makes
a group brainstorming exercise about them. you less free. —
Students can refer to answers they came up • The ad does not show that rather than
with when completing the four tasks from the leading to freedom and enjoyment of
Deconstructing an Advertisement worksheet in life, smoking can often lead to death. —
Step 3. A graphic organizer word map would It is important for the teacher to be aware
work well here, with both the central and hid- that many of the advertisements available
den messages forming the center and all the evi- worldwide come from Western cultures, in
dence students find for the existence of hidden many cases the United States. This creates
messages displayed in word bubbles around the an opportunity for students to explore the
center. For example, if the group believes that ways in which culture of origin is portrayed
their advertisement promotes smoking as a way in advertising. Analyzing the assumptions a
to achieve freedom and independence, they culture makes can create a great deal of mean-
would list the following evidence: — ingful discussion in the classroom.
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6. To take this further, the teacher can tions in the ad, or the use of the actual prod-
encourage students to analyze their adver- uct. Then, they can determine the kinds of
tisements based on the assumptions of their images they will use to express their ideas.
native culture. Students may find that this The teacher may want to provide a worksheet
can lead either to a deeper understanding the students can use to record these ideas.
of an advertisement’s hidden messages or, The worksheet should require the students
more likely, gross misinterpretation because to (1) write down the central messages of the
of cultural differences. This can initiate a class advertisement, (2) make a list of assumptions
discussion about the importance of knowing made by the advertisement, and (3) analyze
one’s audience and of being aware that people the possible effects of using the product that
of different backgrounds can interpret an are not revealed in the advertisement (e.g.,
individual message in many different ways. What is there about this product that the
This knowledge and awareness is crucial to company selling it to you may not want you
the development of academic writing skills. — to know? How does the main message com-
Finally, the students decide on the theme pare to reality?). —
of the Adbuster they will create. Using the The Deconstructing an Advertisement work-
content of their paragraphs, they will design sheet (Media Education Foundation 2005)
a visual representation of their academic writ- should have given the students the analytical
ing. The teacher may remind the students that tools necessary to complete this stage of the
an Adbuster may oppose either the purchase of activity. Once the students have made a list of
the actual product, or the assumptions that the the central message, the assumptions, and the
advertisement makes, or both. For instance, untold effects of using the product, they can
students may make an Adbuster opposing begin considering which messages they will
the purchase of a diet pill because it is unsafe. oppose in their Adbuster, or whether they will
However, they may also simply make an choose to explore the negative side effects of
Adbuster that defines beauty in terms of health using a product, such as the negative effects of
rather than thinness. The choice is theirs. — smoking on health or the use of cars on the
environment. —
Step 5: Outlining and Adbuster design —
In this step the students write detailed out- Step 6: First drafts and peer review —
lines of their two paragraphs and then begin Once the outlines and basic Adbuster
work on the Adbuster itself. Two students design are completed, the groups begin the
from a group of four use their work from more detailed work of drafting their projects’
both the freewriting and brainstorming steps final appearance. The length required for each
to work on the first paragraph describing the paragraph is up to the teacher, but it may be
hidden messages, and the other two students anywhere from five to fifteen sentences. Stu-
do the same with the second paragraph cri- dent subgroups may work on their paragraphs
tiquing the hidden messages. Then all four and the Adbuster simultaneously, or they may
members of the group work together to out- choose to work on the Adbuster after they
line the Adbuster. — complete the paragraphs. When they write
To assist, the teacher can give each sub- the paragraphs, the students should use all the
group an outline worksheet for an academic work they have done up to this point (freewrit-
paragraph. Outline worksheets are easy to ing, brainstorming, and outlining) to help
create and only require spaces for the topic them to create their first draft. This first draft
sentence, supporting details, and the conclud- can either be handwritten or typed, but it must
ing sentence in its simplest form. The teacher be neat so that they will be able to use it during
can create a worksheet that is laid out in the the upcoming peer review activity. Since the
same format as the target writing, but with Adbuster may take a while to put together, they
headings denoting each important section and may be given time to finish it outside of class. —
a certain amount of space below each one for When the subgroups finish the first draft,
the students to fill in their ideas. — they can begin the peer review process by
For the Adbuster, the students can first exchanging paragraphs within their groups
decide whether they will “bust” the assump- and completing a peer review worksheet. This
E n g l i s h TE a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 4 2008 7

7. worksheet should contain several open-ended classmates on the final day of the lesson. The
questions about their groupmates’ paragraph teacher should tell the groups what will be
that require them to read it closely and think expected of them. —
critically about both its structure and content.
Example questions might be: — Step 8: Class presentation and final draft —
• How well do the paragraph’s support- When students get back their second
ing details follow the topic established drafts, time should be spent during class to
by the first sentence? — allow the groups to look over the teacher’s
• Are there any details that do not belong? comments and ask questions about them.
If so, what are they? Why don’t they Then, students can create their final drafts. —
belong? — On the final day of the lesson, groups will
give a 10- to 15-minute presentation of their
Students should then write comments that work to their classmates and the teacher. In
they believe will help their groupmates write a
this presentation, they will (1) briefly share
better second draft. It is always best for a teach-
and describe their original advertisement,
er to prepare worksheets designed for his or her
(2) share the ideas in their paragraphs with the
specific group of students, and various examples
class, (3) share and describe their Adbuster,
can be found on the Internet. Since the ideas in
and (4) field questions from their classmates. —
the second paragraph must “complement” or
We suggest that the teacher require all
respond to the ideas in the first, it is expected
group members to speak. When they finish,
that the subgroups will speak to one another
they will turn in not only the most recent
and exchange ideas to agree on the main ideas
versions of their work, but also every previ-
of each of their respective paragraphs. For more
ous draft. The paragraphs’ final drafts must
information on the techniques and effective-
be typed and must conform to the standards
ness of peer assessment, see Mendonça and
Johnson (1994) and Bartels (2003). — of style the students will be expected to use
A variation of this activity can involve in their later studies. In addition to class pre-
groups sharing their first drafts with other sentations, students can share their work with
groups, rather than simply exchanging within other classes at their school through exhibits or
their own groups. This may give students school-wide presentations and at gatherings of
more ideas on ways they can improve their parents or other members of the community. —
writing and also provide a fresh perspective on
Step 9: Teacher assessment —
their own work. —
Because this is a writing lesson, the teacher
Step 7: Second draft and final Adbuster — will evaluate the groups primarily on their
Students write a second draft of the two work in the paragraphs’ final drafts. But the
paragraphs and make improvements based teacher may also assess students’ progression
on comments they received from their group through the various drafts, their class presen-
members. Upon completion of this step, the tation, and the clarity of ideas represented in
teacher should collect all the work done up to the Adbuster. After delivering the final assess-
this point by all groups and provide specific ment, the teacher can also schedule individual
feedback to help students create better final group conferences to discuss the assessment
drafts. This work includes all drafts of para- in more detail and to answer any questions
graphs, worksheets, and the advertisement. students may have. —
Since it has been suggested that written feed- In a conference setting, the teacher can pro-
back in the form of explicit language error cor- vide suggestions for further improvement and
rection may not be effective and, in fact, may also discuss the effectiveness of formative feed-
have a negative effect on a student’s accuracy back provided both by the teacher and by their
(Truscott 2007), it may be most helpful to sup- peers while students were working on their
ply most comments on structure and content. — project. How can students better take advan-
While the groups wait for the teacher to tage of this kind of feedback? What strategies
return their drafts, they can finish working can students employ to correct mistakes made
on the Adbuster and begin drafting an out- in planning and implementation while they are
line of the presentation they will give to their still in the process of creating their work?
8 2008 Number 4 | E n g l i s h TE a c h i n g F o r u m

8. Finally, the teacher can post the groups’ tion that shapes their values, assumptions,
work on the classroom walls and later publish and attitudes. In addition, many students
it in a class binder that can be used to inspire need instruction in university-level academic
and inform future students. — writing, which requires analytical thinking
skills. Since advertisements are of interest
Step 10: Peer and self assessment — to college-age students, and since research
In addition to assessment from the teacher, has consistently shown that meaningful task-
the groups can also receive feedback from based instruction is one of the best methods
their peers. This can be done in the form of for improving students’ language proficiency,
anonymous peer assessment worksheets that the use of advertisements and Adbusters in a
their classmates fill out during and after each process-centered writing lesson is a worthwhile
presentation and give to the groups once endeavor. Such an approach provides students
all presentations are completed. The teacher not only with greater motivation to write and
may determine the exact nature of this assess- to engage their creativity, but it also leads them
ment, but it would work best if students toward a higher awareness of contemporary
are asked to comment on their classmates’ social, global, and cultural movements. —
clarity of ideas and creativity and diligence
of approach in relation to the description of References —
their advertisement’s hidden message and the Aufderheide, P., ed. 1993. Media literacy: A report
extent to which they expose their advertise- of the national leadership conference on media
ment’s untruths and unspoken realities in literacy. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute. —
Badger, R., and G. White. 2000. A process genre
their second paragraph and Adbuster. Like approach to teaching writing. ELT Journal 54
the peer reviews of the paragraphs’ first drafts, (2): 153–60. —
this assessment should include open-ended Bartels, N. 2003. Written peer response in L2 writ-
questions that either allow for or require more ing. English Teaching Forum 41 (1): 34–37. —
than a few words from the evaluator. — Flores-Koulish, S. A. 2005. Teacher education for
The teacher may also provide the students critical consumption of mass media and popular
culture. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. —
with self-assessment worksheets. These work- Mendonça, C. O., and K. E. Johnson. 1994. Peer
sheets can include questions about how well review negotiations: Revision activities in ESL
the students feel they completed each step writing instruction. TESOL Quarterly 28 (4):
of the process, how they felt about working 745–69. —
on their particular portion of the project, Media Education Foundation. 2005. Deconstructing
an advertisement. www.mediaed.org/handouts/
and if they would choose a different role if
pdfs/DeconstructinganAd.pdf. —
or when they complete a similar project. The Schwarz, G., and Brown, P. U., eds. 2005. Media
worksheet can also ask students to comment literacy: Transforming curriculum and teaching.
on which steps and segments of the project Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of
they found most difficult or easy and why, and Education 104 (1), vi–294. —
how they felt about working in their group Truscott, J. 2007. The effect of error correction on
learners’ ability to write accurately. Journal of
and subgroup. And, of course, the worksheet Second Language Writing 16 (4): 255–72. —
can ask students to provide an honest overall
assessment of their group’s final product. The
AnnA GriGoryAn holds a Masters in TESOL
peer and self assessments should not affect from Azusa Pacific University in California.
students’ formal grades. — From 2006 to 2008, she served as an
English Language Fellow in Shymkent,
Conclusion —
Kazakhstan. She currently works at
Because of the nature of our ever-changing Özyegin University in Istanbul. —
˘
and ever-shrinking world and the increasing
John MArk kinG is an instructor in the
reach of American popular culture across the English as a Second Language program
globe, students of English as a foreign language at Northern Virginia Community College in
need more than simple language instruction. Alexandria, Virginia. In 2005 and 2006, he
Indeed, these students need the critical think- was an English Language Fellow in
ing skills necessary to process and evaluate Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where he was an
a constant barrage of multimedia informa- EFL teacher and teacher trainer.
E n g l i s h TE a c h i n g F o r u m | Number 4 2008 9