International Journal of Media and Information Literacy

42-49

Authors: Galina Mikhaleva

This paper examines a critical approach to analyzing advertising media messages and describes a number of instructional activities meant to enhance students’ reading and discussion skills, enforce their inferential thinking and critical analysis skills. It also considers linguistic, extralinguistic and extracurricular reasons for integrating advertising media messages in the EFL classroom. The focus is on key media education concepts which rely on applying critical questions advertising media messages. Analysis of advertising messages can help EFL teachers encourage sociocultural interpretation of contemporary media texts and raise students’ media literacy in the EFL classroom.

60-65

Authors: Marina Tselykh

The article is focused on the issue of preparing students for research work, which is being recognized as a critical element in teacher’s professional activity. The central element of modern research work is the ability of a professional to use digital technologies that offer instantaneous access to information, new forms of sharing research findings, consolidation and collaboration among researchers, expert participation, etc. At present university training programs are placing more emphasis on research work in preparation of future teachers.New digital technologies give a variety of opportunities to enhance the preparation of students for this kind of professional activity. The use of new generation of communication and information technologies helps to shape and develop basic knowledge and skills, which are important for adequate research work in educationin a fast-changing world. Since the introduction of Federal Educational Standards of the “thirdgeneration” the main goal in curriculum design is to prepare students for independent research work. Content of courses in research work includes theoretical and practical elements of research technologies and procedures: problem selection, problem identification and formulation, choosing a methodology, data collection, its analysis and interpretation, experiment and evaluation of research results, formulation of research findings, etc. Beyond doubt, knowledge and use of communication and information technologies strengthen research work at each of these stages. The article analyzes the practice of Taganrog Chekhov’s Institute regarding the process of trainingstudents to organize research work. It is indicated that research competencies are expanded when the students are helped to become more skillful and knowledgeable in research through the use of special strategies and methods of education, curriculum design, and content revision in accordance with modern requirements.

77-82

Authors: Marina Zhizhina

This article presents the initial results of a comparative empirical study of the specifics of youth’s and adults’ social perceptionsof a blogger’s personality. Currently, blogosphere is showing growth in its popularity, and therefore we can say that the social perceptions (the image) of a blogger as a multi-level socio-psychological media phenomenon is one of the most significant ones in shaping a person’s holistic view of mass media. The study involved students of the Chernyshevsky Saratov National Research State University and adults aged 30-45. The empirical material was collected with the use of associative experiment methods. The data obtained via the survey were processed with the prototypical analysis proposed by P. Verges, and theanalysis of individual conversations and online discussions which helped to control the outcome. The results showed that unlike adults, students evaluate the blogger’s personality mainly in a positive emotional way. The representation of youth's ideas is characterized by concepts with a positive semantic connotation – the blogger is perceived by them as a young man who translates certain meanings and values providing real assistance and realizing various significant functions. Unlike young people, adults demonstrate a contradictory attitude towards bloggers – for them, a blogger seems to be an ambiguous figure pursuing their personal commercial goals.