Chapter 6: Reading the World

Chapter six in Renee Hobbs’s book Reading the Media: Media Literacy in High School English is titled “Learning to Read the World.” In this chapter, Hobbs discusses the positive effects from teaching student “political efficacy and civic engagement” (93). Throughout this chapter, the reader is presented with several examples on how to integrate the reading of world texts through media. At the beginning of the chapter, Hobbs justifies why she would teach these skills to her English 11R students. She states, “Reading does not consist merely of decoding the written word or spoken language; rather, it is preceded by and intertwined with knowledge of the world and action in response to one’s learning” (93). This quotation is the foundation on which Hobbs’s belief of reading the world is based. Students must learn reading, writing, and listening skills, but they must be able to use these skills to assess and evaluate the world around them.

Furthermore, in this chapter and study of the English 11 students, Hobbs measured the “students’ ability to critically analyze television news and radio programming,” which increased students comprehension and message analysis skills”(94). By analyzing and evaluating different forms of media, these students will be more prepared to analyze the world around them. According to Hobbs, media literacy “affects the development of critical thinking and civic engagement skills” (94). These are the exact skills with which teachers would like their students to leave their classrooms. Also, in this chapter, Hobbs discusses viewing skills, listening skills, political efficacy, and gender differences.

The first aspect of this chapter that I found interesting was the students response to Al Gore’s speech. Al Gore presented a speech on school violence, but the students found an inconsistency with something Gore said. In relation to the Love Canal, Gore stated, “I was the one that started it all.”(94). However, after the students listened to a taping of Gore’s speech, they realized that it was not him that started the hearing on the Love Canal. By exposing this, the students were able to credit him “as falsely taking credit for too much”(94). Thus, by critically analyzing and researching Gore’s speeches, these students were able to expose Gore’s lie. This is what we want our teachers to do. If we can make are students not be passive but active listeners, people will not be able to take advantage of the ignorance of American citizens.

Another aspect of this reading that I found interesting was the portion on listening skills. As future English teachers, we will be responsible for helping our students become exceptional listeners. Hobbs states, “Attentions, memory, empathy, interpretation, emotional response, characteristics of stimuli, and context all affect the listening process”(104). Even though there isn’t a single method for teaching listening skills, Hobb’s illustrates how important they are. Another part of the listening section of this chapter that I found interesting is when Hobbs states, “With iPods, MP3 players, and podcasts now a ubiquuitous feature of the adolescent’s cultural environment, English language arts teachers should continue to explore the ways that students’ critical listening skills can be developed through media literacy activities”(206). This directly connects with many concepts that we have discussed in 307. These are audio devices that our students are using at home, so why can’t English teachers integrate them into instruction? By teaching our students to critically analyze what they hear, they will be more apt to questiont he world around them.

Finally, the last point in this chapter that I found interesting is the way gender plays a role in reading the world and political efficacy. At the beginning of the semester, we discussed how female students are more reluctant to participate in class. Well, according to Hobbs, females are reluctant to participate in politics. According to Hobbs, “Political efficacy is defined as citizen’s faith and trust in the government and their own belief that they can understand and influence political affairs”(107). During Hobbs’s research, she found that female students did not feel as comfortable and male students in discussing and analyzing politics.

After reading this chapter, I realized that using media to teach students to evaluate the world around them will make them better and more informed citizens. Hobbs states, “As students fain the ability to comprehend news and politics by asking critical questions about media messages, they grow in knowledge and feel more empowered about their ability to understand government and politics. But they also develop s skepticism about the extent to which political leaders truly represent their interests”(94) These students will not believe everything they hear or see in the media; they will obtain the skills to see through lies and inconsistencies in the media.