Teaching English using newspapers (Zurrieq Primary Year 6)

Abstract

The study explores whether an English-language newspaper can help improve the students' knowledge and mastery of English. It was carried out in Year 6AA, Year 6A and Year 6B at Zurrieq Primary. This action research comprised of a set of seven thirty-minute lessons. Each student had a free copy of a local English-language newspaper. The students were involved in several motivating newspaper-related activities in which they learnt about the different sections and features of the newspaper and were able to draft several newspaper text types, such as letters to the editor and recipes. By being given the opportunity to work with a local English-language newspaper, the students were consistently exposed to authentic English. This enabled them to learn the language while having fun. At the end of this study, a test based on Department of Education exams was devised and administered to the students. The marks scored by the students in this test were then compared with the students' performance in the Department of Education final exam of February 2000. The results show that although this was the first time that these students used an authentic English-language newspaper during their English lessons, their knowledge and mastery of English improved.