Stefanie Powell

Department	English and American Studies
PhD Supervisor	Assoz. Prof. Dr. Markus Opplozer
PhD Co-Supervisor	Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hanna Wallinger
Start	SoSe 2021
Contact
Theme/Title	Media Literacy and Picturebooks in the EFL Classroom: Studying Gender Representations

Abstract

This dissertation examines how media literacy skills can be developed by using picturebooks to study gender representations with pupils in the EFL classroom of various ages and levels of English. Especially in today’s world, people are bombarded with messages from different types of media like advertisements, audio recordings, films, social or online media but also print media like newspapers or books. Therefore, the ability to understand and critically reflect on them is vital in today’s society. Research findings indicate that an awareness of gender representations and the effects thereof, although important for people of all ages, is especially important to address with young children or teenagers. One’s teenage years are a time of questioning gender identity and self-expression. Therefore, talking about gender in the classroom has a high personal relevance for pupils. This study aims to determine in how far studying gender representations in picturebooks can help students to reflect on the world they live in. Building on key concepts of media literacy, visual literacy, theories on reading picturebooks, and theories from cultural studies of gender representations, I want to develop a framework for teachers and students to analyse gender representations in picturebooks. Additionally, case studies of a few selected picturebooks will demonstrate how a picturebook can be used in the EFL classroom for this purpose. Ultimately, I wish to bring discussions of gender into the classroom so that educators create a classroom for students that fosters a critical consciousness of media representations, especially gender representations in picturebooks.