批判思考與媒體分析

​A Critical Analysis of the News Media

Alex headshot

Alex

Alex 來自美國，畢業自威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校，主修人類學，同時熱愛經濟、哲學與歷史。畢業後來到台灣，成為專職的英文老師，擁有國際認可的英語教學執照CELTA，累計有五年的教學經驗。教學之外他喜歡寫作，長期目標是成為以社會觀察為主題的專欄作家。最喜歡的電影是《刺激1995》。

Summary

Critical Analysis: Understanding the World through the News Media?
The world is a complex system undergoing constant change. It's an enormous challenge to try to understand the world through the torrent of information produced daily by media companies. In this class, we will use a critical approach to analyzing the news as our method of learning about the world. Students will learn about global issues, big ideas and new terminology. This class will cover the fields of economics, politics, society, technology and the environment. 

Media Analysis
We will look at a wide variety of media sources across the political spectrum and discuss ownership, ideology and reliability. In previous classes we looked at articles from the New York Times, BBC, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, the Economist, the Guardian and many other sources. We will read pieces that we agree with and disagree with and try to find whatever truth we can about what's going on in the world. 

​Critical Thinking
We will use critical thinking skills as we read and discuss news articles. That means asking questions of our sources of information, trying to make sense of abstract concepts through concrete explanations and looking at global issues to think about their local impact. History will be our guide to understanding the present and to think about the possibilities the present holds. We will look for connections between seemingly disparate events and try to think systemically about the issues we read about. ​

Format

I will share two articles with students to read four days before each class. Also, each week students will take turns volunteering to find an article to share with the class for discussion. In class we will analyze the contents of the articles, ask questions and discuss our reactions. 

*Sample article and questions
North Korea Asks for Direct Nuclear Talks, and Trump Agrees (link)
Sample questions:

  1. Is Trump meeting with Kim a good development for world peace?
  2. Why does the US and North Korea have such hostile relations?
  3. Does the media help to explain the origins of the hostility between the US and North Korea? 

What you can learn from this class

Students can expect to have many opportunities to speak and share their opinions in class. This class is for students with a little or a lot of knowledge of the news, media and global issues. We will learn from one another!

My experience for the class

I studied anthropology at the University of Wisconsin but I have continued my studies independently ever since. I have acquired a lot of knowledge about political economy, philosophy and history. And I have a lot of experience holding intellectually stimulating class discussions on current event for over 5 years.
相當於多益850分，適合有國際經驗，或工作上會以英文進行討論者。​ 完整分級說明請點此連結

若學員人數不足，我們最遲將於兩天前通知大家，並協助各位全額退費。

根據北市府規定，學生於第二堂課上課前提出退費申請者，退還課程費用總額百分之七十。 完整說明請點此連結

報名課程

20則課程評價

Zack
2019年05月
Alex is a very patient teacher, well-prepared in class, and the reading he shares is really useful. Since this is a discussion class, your classmates play a huge part in your overall learning experience as well.
Edna
2019年04月
Alex is always well-prepared, and is very patient to listen to the students. In the first class, we talked about the format of the class, what the topics we gonna discuss on, and you can always have your opinions of the topics. This class gave me many different perspectives to see the world. Thank you Alex and of course other classmates. :)
Eddie
2019年03月
Alex, incredibly brilliant and tolerant attitude as always! Ha Thanks a million for his giving me several different views to think over during analyzing news in class. Looking forward to joining his class again in near future.
Scott Hsieh
2018年09月
Alex would give abundant materials few days before a session, encouraging students to read over them for discussion, which may give a participant an opportunity to improve the skills of scheduling and reading. He is always open-minded about topics he's familiar with, e.g. politics, economics, etc. For those who are familiar with or interested in the fileds AND wants to improve a little bit more on English speaking with the already-quite-good base, you should be seriously considering Alex's class.
Aiyana
2018年08月
Discussed a lot.
Charlie 佳霖
2018年06月
This is my third times to join Alex’s class. I’ve truly learned a lot from him in each class!!!Alex is really good at stimulating us to think critically through different kinds of news.In his class, I've not only improved my English skill but also gained a lot of valuable knowledge!  Alex really knows a lot, even those current affairs happening in Taiwan he knows well! Thanks ever so much, Alex!! Your class is awesome.
匿名
2018年04月
適合練習想要口說、聽力，增進國際觀的人參加。
Amy Lin
2018年04月
老師上課認真，又能帶給大家不同想法，與及帶動上課氣氛。值得推薦
匿名
2018年04月
very professional teacher, highly recommendable
匿名
2018年04月
課程本身氣氛不錯 可以提供英文方面新的刺激 有助於維持英語語感 小小建議是松江南京場地有時候有點吵  南京復興比較適合
Vicky
2018年04月
Thank you Alex for making this great class, had a great time! I will go to your classes in the future.
謝家安
2018年04月
Alex 很棒，除了練習口說，也鼓勵大家提問，並給予我們許多不同的觀點，Alex博學多聞，上到最後覺得觀點反而是最吸引人的地方。
陳欣怡
2018年04月
Alex 在課程設計上有自己的想法，第一堂課他就告訴大家說：「這些文章或許一開始有點難，但我希望大家在四堂課後，能夠學到討論國際時事的方法，未來能更有自信地以英文參與比較難的討論。」，從小上過這麼多英文課，我覺得老師對課程是否有期待、要求是很重要的。從這點來說，Alex 是位值得推薦的老師。另一方面老師私下蠻可愛的，會想一直參加下去 😄😄
Chen Shu Han
2018年04月
認真的老師 課後還會私下再針對學生的缺點提出建議 課程內容有深度 但氣氛不會嚴肅
Fang Ting
2018年04月
建議課前可以先瞭解參加者的需求與程度 相信課程會更棒; 課程本身氣氛不錯 可以提供英文方面新的刺激 有助於維持英語語感 會再找有興趣的主題參加
Irene
2018年02月
Alex對於經濟、政治、歷史等議題涉獵很廣, 對於我不熟悉的領域, 從中學到很多, 除了所討論的國際時事議題, 也會加入此議題對於台灣的影響, 衝擊等討論分享, 很推薦的一堂課
杜維恆 (Xavier Tu)
2018年02月
步調輕快，善於營造輕鬆聊天的氣氛，讓人容易加入討論。老師擅長的國際政經領域及本身的生活經驗，都能補足台灣人(好啦也許只有我..)觀點不足的問題，也讓討論內容多了一份深度。
YuTing
2018年02月
Alex認真選擇擅長的政治經濟相關文章，帶同學思考自身社會，藉由口說練習，加強英文詞彙運用。
Jen
2018年01月
老師會用開放態度去鼓勵學生討論，透過討論也可以知道許多時事。另外，老師對文字的使用有自己的想法，會針對特別單字做強調
Astrid
2018年01月
老師上課態度親切外，也十分樂意回答學生的問題。另外，Alex也會盡量讓學生發言，並適時引導及提供正確英文用字。如果想讓用字更精進的同學，滿推薦上Alex的課！