Damian Lucantonio, Associate Professor, University of Electro-Communications

Abstract

This presentation will focus on how pop culture can be used to help students think critically about global issues. First, some of the key concepts of the presentation will be clarified and discussed. These include definitions for English pop culture, global issues, and critical thinking. Following this, a syllabus designed for university students will be introduced. It describes the songs and movies to be analyzed, the global issues they examine, and the different argument genres (Martin, 1985, 1989; Martin and Rose, 2003, 2004; Lucantonio, 2009) that students will use in classroom discussions and presentations.

Next, participants will analyze and discuss 2 popular and recent rock songs, focusing on the global issues they address. Participants will then examine student-generated, presentation outlines, showing how learners have used pop culture to make presentations based on these various global issues. Finally, teaching implications will be discussed, including the issues of motivation and modeling in language learning. Participants will gain new ideas for teaching critical thinking and global issues, and for using pop culture in the classroom.

Biographical Data

Damian Lucantonio is an associate professor at the University of Electro-Communications, a national university in Tokyo. He has worked in English language education in Australia, Indonesia and Japan as a teacher, teacher trainer, Director of Studies, and researcher. He has an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Sydney, and a PhD in Education from the University of Technology, Sydney, focusing on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Sociocultural Learning Theory (SCT). His research examines the applications of SFL to English language education, in particular the role of genre theory in spoken language.