PSYCHOLINGUISTIC AND SOCIOCULTURAL GROUNDS FOR USING MEDIA IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Abstract

This article explores the psycholinguistic and sociocultural foundations of using media in language learning, emphasizing the ways in which various media tools can enhance learners’ communicative and cognitive skills. It argues that media, including audio recordings, videos, podcasts, and interactive platforms, provide authentic language input, which facilitates comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and pronunciation development. From a psycholinguistic perspective, exposure to diverse media formats supports memory retention, listening processing, and the development of language learning strategies by engaging multiple cognitive channels. Simultaneously, the article highlights the sociocultural dimension, emphasizing that media enables learners to interact with target language communities, understand cultural norms, and acquire pragmatic competence in authentic contexts. It demonstrates that media integration promotes learner motivation, engagement, and autonomy by offering flexible, contextualized, and meaningful learning experiences. The article also discusses practical approaches for incorporating media into language instruction, such as using short videos for contextualized dialogues, podcasts for listening exercises, and multimedia platforms for collaborative tasks.