Integration of media competence in secondary school Language and Literature textbooks

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. In contemporary society, the complete presence of audiovisual media requires a priority development of media competence and all its dimensions (technique, ethic, content…) in education systems. Textbook is the more used material inside the classrooms, which provides the majority of contents and activities. For this reason, it is expected to satisfy this social and curricular demand. METHOD. The global objective of this research is study to what extend activities aimed at promoting media literacy are included in recent manuals of two editorial projects of Language and Literature in the four years of secondary school. To do so, we have applied an evaluative research design in order to analyze the number and type of these activities, as well as methods used and skills promoted in their implementation. RESULTS. The findings show a low number of activities (6.30%). Tasks associated with looking for information on the Internet are the most numerous (2.9%), and those regarding social networks are the least included (0.13%). It is also observed that these activities are not enough involved with promoting media literacy’s capacities. CONCLUSIONS. It is concluded the requirement of a greater incorporation-quantity and quality-of audiovisual activities in textbooks. Moreover, teachers need to be trained to compensate these weakness, and improve the formation of citizens in digital society.