Popular Culture and English Language Teaching

Abstract

Traditionally, the application of methods pedagogy has been limited and ineffective in capturing the imagination of today's students. Students have echoed, especially in a globalized and technologically-driven world that traditional content based on existing curriculum is irrelevant and inapplicable to their lived experiences. As a result, the paradigm shift offered by post-methods pedagogy is one which empowered teacher autonomy and provides a meaningful context in which popular culture represents a bridge rather than a barrier between the student's world, of which popular culture plays an important part, and the English language classroom. By creating synergies thematically and historically with popular music, film, and social media, a bridge to providing a fresh perspective to traditional content is explored.