EXL News

MTSU Students to Create Media for Tenn. Foreign Language Institute

MARCH 25, 2013

MURFREESBORO, TENN. — MTSU students enrolled in Dr. Clare Bratten's Seminar in Media Issues class are creating a media campaign for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute's (TFLI) ESL to Go program.

Earlier this semester, Dr. Bratten's Seminar in Media Issues class met with the program directors of TFLI's ESL to Go program to discuss what types of media would be most beneficial to successfully reach its target audience. The students have been hard at work creating web content, shooting video and writing scripts for the organization. In just a few a short weeks the class will present a comprehensive media campaign to TFLI.

"The goal is to 'enchant' our clients as well as the intended audience," said Dr. Bratten to her students the first day of class. With that goal in mind, the class began researching TFLI and the ESL to Go program in hopes of better understanding the organization before meeting. The ESL to Go program has a simple mission: to offer English classes to those who lack transportation. The students quickly drafted a proposal for the campaign and patiently waited for TFLI's feedback. Two months later, the class is hard at work creating media to appear on the program's website, which is also being created by the class.

Part of the process has been meeting with and interviewing current students of the ESL program in Nashville. The interviews will be used as video in the final media campaign. Meeting the ESL students has proven to be extremely rewarding and educational. Not only has the class gained great experience, they have learned about new cultures and the struggles associated with learning a new language in a foreign place.

The Seminar in Media Issues class is comprised of students from the College of Media and Entertainment. Each student possesses their own unique set of skills learned throughout their time at MTSU. The broad list of skills—from video editing and web design to interview and script writing—enable the class to create a complete and professional media campaign that is sure to "enchant" the members of TFLI and anyone interested in the organization.

Project Real offers an experiential learning class for students to produce media that benefits real clients in the Murfreesboro and Nashville area. Students learn theories and strategies that can be applied to creating media for real clients. With the direction of Dr. Clare Bratten, the class works in teams to produce and deliver quality media campaigns.

—Josh Hollibush (jth5t@mtmail.mtsu.edu)