Using English to Access

Popular Culture
CLA Cross-Cultural Presentation Series
NTNU English Dept Professor Mary Goodwin
27 September 2023
 Better Title:
Pop Culture as a Vital Tool of Learning

The broadly appealing, wildly popular products of pop culture

can be employed to broaden students’ understanding of languages
and diverse lifestyles, global institutions and beliefs,
aspirations and hopes –
from daily life events and concepts of civic responsibility
all the way to notions of God and the various meanings of life
My Childhood Classroom
Psychology of Popular Culture:
The Power of Story

“Stories are powerful communication tools. They can

bypass existing biases and expectations to get people
to look at real human issues with fresh perspective.
Ancient myths addressed things people were curious
about. Jesus is known for teaching through parables.
Aesop had his fables. In the 1960s, Star Trek explored
social issues no other fiction on TV touched, and they
could do it by taking one step away from "reality" to
apply that filter of fiction.”
 A Snapshot of Collective Values
“Popular culture gives a ‘snapshot’ of the collective values and
interests of a society. By analyzing what makes up popular culture,
we learn more about ourselves and others.
The Greeks and many other cultures used fictional characters in
parables to teach moral lessons and praise the best traits of
humanity. Such stories were useful because the lessons were both
enjoyable and memorable for the audience.”
• Source: https://
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-heroes-and-villains/201803/why-popular-culture-psychol
ogy-the-power-story
 Using Pop Culture in English Lessons
• Pushes both teacher and students to keep up with current world events
• Teaches other cultures in an engaging way
• Teaches ancient stories in an appealing way
• Students engage with current English, not merely vocabulary for tests
 Start with Disney
Many classic tales, including Alice in Wonderland, The
Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Greek Mythology, American folk
tales like Pocahantas, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan,
Coco and many others, appear in Disney versions
 Strategies for Incorporating Pop Culture
• Treat everything as a (potentially) valid text
• Explore all forms of media, including TV, music, film, video
games, advertising, social media, as well as traditional books
• Keep abreast of editorial comments in reliable news sources; this
year for example there was a lot of serious discussion of BARBIE,
OPPENHEIMER, TAYLOR SWIFT and other icons of popular
culture in The New York Times, Washington Post and other
established media
Barbie in Mainstream Media
Current TV Shows With Broad Cultural Impact
 Incorporating Pop Culture in Lessons
• Encourage students to explore popular culture. British Literature example!
• Ask them to keep a journal of what they find, in particular new words and
concepts
• Give credit for extracurricular presentations on cultural discoveries,
especially with recommendations for films, music, social media influencers,
TV shows and so on
• Open a Moodle or other forum to generate more suggestions, discoveries