A review of media literacy and its relationship with critical thinking

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to investigate the concept of media literacy relative to critical thinking. The findings identified several associations. (1) At the stage of access to media, media literacy research emphasizes the acquisition of skills for device manipulation and knowledge of audiovisual information. In contrast, critical thinking research emphasizes the importance of linguistic ability and indicates that the critical thinking process begins from the decision on whether critical thinking should be used. (2) At the stage of analysis and evaluation of the media information, it is possible that enjoyment of certain content might inhibit critical thinking on that content. (3) At the stage of information transmission, the media use might be characterized by taking action towards others and be more controlled by factors related to social aspects than that of other stages. The implication of these results for future research on media literacy and critical thinking is discussed in detail in this paper.