The Aims of Media Language Education", Based on the Notion of Language" as a Signifying Mode and the Recognition of Media" as Communication Channels

Abstract

"Media language education" is an operational tenn that is used in the context of incorporating media literacy within Korean language education. Media language education can be considered as an extension of language education in that it deals with reading and writing different types of texts, i.e, media texts. However, its approach is somewhat different from the traditional ways of reading and writing: rather than solely focusing on oral and written languages, the language of the media includes visual signs and moving images. Media language education also emphasizes developing new skills for understanding the characteristics and effects of the media as channels of transmitting messages, in terms of how these channels might be related to the ways in which the producers and receivers of the messages might interact. Korean language teachers are relatively unfamiliar with these two aspects. However, they are important language abilities in the present age of digital media when ordinary people can become producers and distributors of their own texts through the Internet. In this article, I propose five principles of approaching media language education not only as an extension of language education but also as a part of media literacy education This article also examines how the newly revised national curriculum for Korean might reflect media language education according to the five principles proposed