The importance of teaching metaliteracy for specific and general purposes

Laburpena

Metaliteracy is an inherent and ongoing process which takes a psychological, cultural and social dimensions and has a tremendous impact on one’s frame of reference. Metacognition, as an essential part of metaliteracy, is evolving within the aforementioned psychological dimension, and though the span is not as wide, it is nonetheless integral to mental health and well-being. Metaliteracy is the ability to surf through contexts without bias and prejudice and comprises emotional, evaluative, cognitive and meta-cognitive attributes that accompany perception and learning. The sensitivity of the topic is amplified in time of ethnic and racial uncertainty and complexity. Thus, ingraining in students sympathetic attitude and keenness is a high priority task. The objective is to teach our university students majoring in Journalism and Public Relations the core techniques that help to discern falsehood in the media. This study describes a research project meant for university students learning English as a foreign language at the Department of International Journalism in Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University, Russia). Teaching metacognitive thinking project encompassed learning how to think critically, gaining practical knowledge of the media as well as analysis and evaluation. Metacognitive abilities enabled students to look at any issue from different perspectives aiming hard at objectivity. The tasks oriented to critical evaluation and techniques applied in the course of the research showed that the students quickly became receptive to the suggestions and ideas related to metacognition The acquisition of metaliteracy (skill of discerning falsehood) is indispensable in the fast and everchanging world.