Media, Culture & Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media, Culture & Identity - Essay Example People’s sense of social class, ethnicity, nationality and social identity is being constructed by the visual, auditory and symbolic material provided by the media (Kellner 1995, p.1). People’s identities are shaped by the images and information provided in the media. Hence, people’s opinion about people belonging to other countries, communities and religion is highly influenced by the images and information they see about those people on television and in movies. When people are repeatedly exposed to a particular idea through visual or auditory medium, they start believing in it as a ‘truth’. Hence, influencing people’s opinion and ideas by repeatedly exposing them to visual and auditory material of that idea has become a favourite weapon of the media. In the age of the media culture, where people’s identities are shaped by media images, when a certain community or religion is repeatedly portrayed as a threat to the peace of the world, it not only harms the image of that community but also generates a feeling of hatred, prejudice and anger towards that community. The community that is suffering from the harmful effects of the media culture is the community of Muslim people. People belonging to Islamic religion are facing hatred and misunderstanding in the Western countries because of the constant negative publicity in the Western media. It is this bias treatment of the Islamic community by the Western media that led Edward Said to develop the theory of ‘Orientalism’. Orientalism is a theory by Edward Said which proposes that the Eastern countries are highly misrepresented and misunderstood in the Western countries as the Western people are constantly getting exposed to the manipulated images and fabricated ‘news’ of the Oriental people through the Western media (Said n.d.) Edward Said, in his theory of ‘orientalism’, argues that the Western thinking about

English language learning challenges facing Saudi students in America Thesis Proposal

English language learning challenges facing Saudi students in America - Thesis Proposal Example The demand for internalization and globalization of the world has resulted in cross-border student mobility. Consequently, the United States has recorded an increase of international students seeking admission places in its universities. A report revealed that America recorded a five percent increase in the number of international students admitted to the learning institutions (Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2015). Most of the students were of the Asian origin with Saudi Arabia and China topping the list. The international students get admission slots in various universities and colleges across the US. The international students play a major role in creating diversity and internalization of the classrooms and campuses (Lippman & Council on Foreign Relations, 2012). The students share the different experiences regarding culture thereby enhancing a mutual appreciation of cultural diversity. The United States, therefore, should positively embrace the international students and welcome them to th e universities and colleges because of the contributions they bring at different levels including cultural exchange (Raddawi, 2014, Moraya, 2013). However, the Saudi students experience many academic and linguistic challenges while at the United States. The academic challenges experienced include communicating with the lecturers, instructors and staff (Raddawi, 2014). They thus have to deal with social isolation when interacting with different groups of people. They find it difficult to learn and do their activities according to the American culture.