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Regular version of the site
Bachelor 2020/2021

Mass Communications and Media Discourse

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Area of studies: Linguistics
When: 4 year, 1-3 module
Mode of studies: offline
Instructors: Alexandra Nagornaya
Language: English
ECTS credits: 6
Contact hours: 50

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Mass Communication generally implies dissemination and exchange of information within large groups of people. This information flow has been considerably facilitated by recent advances in communication technologies. A study conducted by the Zenith Optima has revealed that people spend an average of eight hours a day interacting with the currently available forms of the Mass Media. Their daily ‘media diet’ may include watching a news program on TV, browsing through original content on YouTube, playing video games through Stream, leafing through their favorite magazines, reading e-books, listening to music through Spotify, or enjoying a wide variety of podcasts, often in the ‘media multitasking’ mode. This media exposure has changed not only people’s lifestyle, but the very core of their existence contributing to the emergence of a new type of human being, Homo Informaticus, whose life revolves around producing and consuming information. To paraphrase C. Wright, we now live in a second-hand world: we get and process terabytes of information related to events that are beyond our immediate grasp and are delivered to us through multiple and constantly developing channels. This delivery inevitably involves formatting the original information, imbuing it with certain meanings and making it serve a certain purpose. By doing so, the Mass Media largely form our mental images of the world, shape our outlook and spur us to take certain actions. The main objective of the course is to teach students to approach the media content critically, to be able to deconstruct the media text and detect hidden, ideologically loaded messages. The course is based on the most up-to-date theories, methodologies and explanatory models. It involves working with authentic media materials and using different approaches to their analysis. The students’ progress is mainly assessed through their participation in in-class activities and research projects.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • • to help students form a systemic view of the modern Mass Media, their role and functions in society; • to lay firm theoretic foundations for conducting research in Media Linguistics through teaching specialist terminology and familiarizing students with the most relevant research methods; • to increase media literacy through developing skills of analyzing media products; • to enhance professional discursive skills.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • The students are expected to have a systemic view of the history of the Mass Media in Great Britain and the USA.
  • The students are expected to know the scope of Media Linguistics and its methodological principles
  • The students are supposed to understand the goal and scope of Critical Discourse Analysis
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Media Literacy
    The ideological function of the media. Manipulative strategies employed in the mass media. The notion of media literacy. Components of media literacy. Critical Discourse Analysis. Transitivity Analysis. Mystification Analysis. Social Actor Analysis. Principles of visual content analysis. The functions of metaphors in media texts
  • Introduction to the Media. The Mass Media in the Modern World. Media in the English-Speaking Countries
    The notion of Information. Types of information. Types of communication. Information society as a phenomenon. Mass communication. The basic models of mass communication (the effects Model, the Uses and Gratifications Model, the Cultural Ratification Model, the Ritual Model, etc.). Cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and moral aspects of mass communication. The mass media. The role and functions of mass information in the contemporary western culture,. Types of the media. A brief history of the mass media in the English-speaking countries. The present condition of the mass media, the main trends in their development, the role of globalization in their evolution. Quality of the media product. Media ethics.
  • Media Linguistics as a Discipline
    Media Linguistics as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge. Its main principles, approaches, and methods. Media text and its types. Classification of media texts. Media Discourse. The components of media discourse. Discourse practices in the media sphere. The language of the mass media, the main approaches to its analysis
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking class work
  • non-blocking presentation
    The ‘presentation’ accumulates all the mini-projects presented in the classroom both individually and in small groups
  • non-blocking presentation2
    The ‘presentation’ accumulates all the mini-projects presented in the classroom both individually and in small groups
  • non-blocking analysis
    ‘Analysis’ refers to analyzing a media product (newspaper article, news report) with Critical Discourse Analysis tools.
  • non-blocking analysis2
    ‘Analysis’ refers to analyzing a media product (newspaper article, news report) with Critical Discourse Analysis tools.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (3 module)
    0.2 * analysis + 0.2 * analysis2 + 0.2 * class work + 0.2 * presentation + 0.2 * presentation2
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • A history of mass communication : six information revolutions, Fang, I., 1997
  • Analysing discourse : textual analysis for social research, Fairclough, N., 2003
  • Analysing discourse : textual analysis for social research, Fairclough, N., 2010
  • Analysing newspapers : an approach from critical discourse analysis, Richardson, J. E., 2007
  • Communication, cultural and media studies : the key concepts, Hartley, J., 2002
  • Communication, cultural and media studies : the key concepts, Hartley, J., 2005
  • Communication, cultural and media studies : the key concepts, Hartley, J., 2007
  • Critical discourse analysis. Vol.1: Concepts, history, theory, , 2013
  • Critical discourse analysis. Vol.2: Methodologies, , 2013
  • Critical discourse analysis. Vol.3: Doing CDA/Case studies, , 2013
  • Critical discourse analysis. Vol.4: Applications, interdisciplinary perspectives and new trends, , 2013
  • Critical media studies : an introduction, Ott, B. L., 2014
  • Discourse theory and critical media politics, , 2011
  • Discourse theory and practice : a reader, Wetherell, M., 2005
  • Discourse theory in European politics : identity, policy and governance, , 2005
  • How to do critical discourse analysis : a multimodal introduction, Machin, D., 2012
  • Identity trouble : critical discourse and contested identities, , 2010
  • Introduction to mass communication : media literacy and culture, Baran, S. J., 2012
  • Language ideologies and media discourse : text, practices, politics, , 2010
  • Making sense of media : an introduction to mass communication, Rodman, G., 2001
  • Mass communication : an introduction to the field, Farrar, R. T., 1997
  • Mass communication : living in a media world, Hanson, R. E., 2014
  • Mass communication research methods. Vol.1: ., , 2008
  • Mass communication research methods. Vol.2: ., , 2008
  • Mass communication research methods. Vol.3: ., , 2008
  • Mass communication research methods. Vol.4: ., , 2008
  • Mass media in a changing world : history, industry, controversy, Rodman, G., 2012
  • Mass media research : an introduction, Wimmer, R. D., 2001
  • Mass media research : an introduction, Wimmer, R. D., 2011
  • Mass media research : an introduction, Wimmer, R. D., 2014
  • Methods of critical discourse studies, , 2016
  • Political discourse analysis : a method for advanced students, Fairclough, I., 2012
  • The dynamics of mass communication : media in the digital age, Dominick, J. R., 2007
  • The dynamics of mass communication, Dominick, J. R., 1990
  • The dynamics of mass communication, Dominick, J. R., 1999
  • Массовая коммуникация : западные теории и концепции: учеб. пособие для вузов, Бакулев, Г. П., 2005
  • Массовая коммуникация : западные теории и концепции: учеб. пособие для вузов, Бакулев, Г. П., 2010
  • Массовая коммуникация : исследование опыта Запада, Терин, В. П., 2000
  • Массовая коммуникация в современном мире: методология анализа и практика исследований, Назаров, М. М., 2000
  • Массовая коммуникация и общество : введ. в теорию и исслед., Назаров, М. М., 2010

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • A2 media studies : the essential introduction, Bennet, P., 2006
  • Communication, cultural and media studies : the key concepts, Hartley, J., 2011
  • Introduction to media literacy, Potter, W. J., 2016
  • Media literacy, Potter, W. J., 2011
  • Media studies : an introduction, Kolker, R., 2009
  • The international encyclopedia of media studies. Vol. 6: Media studies futures, , 2013
  • Массовая коммуникация: сущность, каналы, действия, Березин, В. М., 2003