Using Video in the EFL Classroom
This research project provides teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL)
with insights into developing materials and teaching methods that can be
incorporated and thus practically implemented in their classrooms. Emphasis
will be on approaching the identity and culture of the native speakers of
English through diverse authentic teaching materials.
Video has been proven to be an effective method in
teaching English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) for both young and
adult learners. Video can be used in a variety of instructional settings -
in classrooms, on distance-learning sites where information is broadcast to
learners who interact with the facilitator via video or computer, and in
self-study and evaluation situations. It can also be used in the teacher’s
personal and professional development or with students as a way of
presenting content, initiating conversations, and providing illustrations
for various concepts. Teachers and students can always create their own
videotapes as content for the class or as a means to assess learners’
performance.
In this project, I have videotaped a number of situations
which foreign students are expected to use to communicate with native
speakers. These include opening a bank account, mailing materials at the
post office, asking for directions, lining up for lunch in the college
dining room, and talking to a professor. These “slices of living language”,
as Lonegan (1992) calls them, can be brought into the EFL classroom with the
help of video equipment to teach language and cultural concepts that are
usually associated with it, both verbally and non-verbally, in a real
communicative setting.
Stempleski (1987) states that, “a rich and exciting
source of video software for EFL/ESL classes is authentic material.”
Authentic video material, especially that which represents what goes on in a
non ELT environment, designed for its entertaining value rather than
language teaching, is a rich and exciting source of video software for
instruction in an English as a second language (ESL) classroom.
Using the aforementioned situations, I have devised a
language teaching lesson with activities aimed at helping EFL learners get
oriented both in language use and in cross-cultural interactions with native
speakers of English. The lesson and the accompanying activities are
intended to improve EFL learners’ communicative language skills (i.e.,
listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Finally, by using the
videotaped segments, I aim at focusing on developing the learners’ fluency
in the process of language acquisition in a natural ongoing day-to-day
interaction with native speakers.
Method:
In order to create effective teaching materials to be
implemented in the EFL classroom by using video equipment, I adopted the
following method, taking into account three factors including: language,
content, and production (Sherman, 2003).
1. As a basic step in the creation process of the teaching material, I
acquainted myself with the video equipment. For example, I studied the
functions of the hardware, and then practised using it for
some time until I got used to it.
2. I asked a
native-speaker colleague to help
me complete this task by playing the major role in most of the videotaped
segments.
3.
I explained, in advance, the purpose of the videotaping to
the people who were directly involved in the actual shooting process,
and obtained prior permission in each situation from those people.
4. I videotaped short segments that could be viewed and reviewed so
as to allow longer time for students’ classroom activities and
participation.
5.
I focused on the language, content, and production so as to meet
the objectives of the project. For example, I chose situations whose
medium was “transferable to real life situations, which students are
likely
to come across” (Stempleki, 1987). In order to make it real, I chose
native-to-native interaction. Moreover, I asked the actors involved
to speak at a considerable speed and natural enough to be easily
understood
by students who were going to use this teaching material. Finally, I
also asked the characters to maintain pauses in the course of the
dialogue.
This would give the students enough time to comprehend the language
patterns that
they were expected to use in classroom activities.
As for the content, I tried to choose situations
whose content was of great value and interest to the students. Besides
this, the
content was also chosen to project some cultural aspects of the native
speaker’s life that was of interest to the EFL learner. Finally,
I realized that I had very little experience with the camcorder, but I
tried to produce clear, steady, and focused picture and sound in each
of the segments.
Objectives:
This project aims to achieve the following:
1.
Videotape authentic material representing non-EFL environments to
give examples of particular language functions in operation. These are
situations that EFL learners are likely to encounter through their
day-to-day socio-cultural interaction with native speakers of English.
2.
Intrinsically motivate students by presenting authentic language
interaction, providing an authentic look at the culture, aiding
comprehension, and providing students with a medium such as the videotaped
situations that I chose for this purpose.
3.
Expose, as explicitly as possible, the nonverbal components of the
language (i.e. body language) or what is technically called language
paralinguistic features.
4.
Develop the concept of ‘acculturation’ and the pragmatic rule of the ethnography of speaking that go
hand-in-hand along
with the explicit verbal message a native speaker employs in language
interaction.
5.
Teach English in EFL classes by designing lessons and activities
that students will implement as individuals or in groups, with the aim of
developing their language competence and performance, and to use English,
perhaps, in similar situations to those included in each videotaped
segment. Once we implement the videotaped material with the above-mentioned
objectives, we will provide students with opportunities to practice using
the language skills in an authentic communicative setting.
Rationale
The project serves a two-fold purpose: (1) the pedagogic,
and (2) the pragmatic. It also incorporates English language teaching
with the teaching of cultural values that an EFL learner is likely to
encounter once s/he is stationed in an English native speaking environment.
Thus the following justifications have been incorporated into this project:
1. Using video material in a non-English Language Teaching (ELT) environment can motivate students. They will undergo a special experience of real feelings of accomplishment when they understand what is going on in a situation where native speakers use English. Thus, an EFL learner will realize that “with a bit of extra effort and practice, along with some help from the teacher, ‘real English’ is not beyond their comprehension” (Stempleski, 1987).2. Videotaped material in a non-ELT environment presents real language. The language is real in the sense that native speakers use it in real daily life interaction. Therefore, the EFL learner is exposed to language use in a communicative setting from which s/he can learn the real spoken discourse including sounds, and utterances, and their underlying messages, which are, in most cases, hinted at through the non-verbal explanatory body language.3. Viewing provides the learner with an aesthetic look at the culture. Through viewing native speakers in real language interaction, the EFL learner is exposed to the cultural aspects that accompany language use in communicative settings.4. Using videotaped material facilitates better comprehension of the intended messages. Besides this, it provides an authentic pattern which, when carefully copied by EFL learners, can save them any kind of embarrassment while communicating with people from the target culture. Moreover, it is obvious that visual clues clarify the meaning since the speaker is going to use language patterns both verbally and non-verbally.
Lesson Plan and Classroom Activities
Milli Fanzy of Kentucky Educational Television
(KET, 1999) suggests that teachers should think of using as a three-part lesson,
including pre-viewing, viewing, and post-viewing activities.
Previewing Activity
A.
Rationale:
A previewing activity is meant to acquaint students with
the material that they are going to view and facilitate easier and better
comprehension, thus achieving successful results in language teaching.
Consequently, the teacher may design this activity to help students with
their language skills. Indeed, it is obvious for both the teacher and
students to work cooperatively, deliberately, and simultaneously with the
intention of developing the four skills (Dublin & Olshtain, 1991).
B.
Procedure:
Use the following sample brainstorming questions and
hints about what students expect to view:
Teacher: What are
we going to do now? (Fixing video equipment)
Student 1: I think
we’re going to watch a video.
Teacher: Good,
what would you do when you lose your way?
Student 2: I use a
map.
Teacher: O.K.
But what if you don’t have a map?
Student 3: I’ll ask
somebody in the street.
Teacher: Very
good. Now we’re going to watch a woman asking somebody in the street to
find her way. Please, watch and listen carefully as the
next activity going to be based on the videotaped material.
(The teacher half-darkens the
classroom, turns on the TV and video equipment, plays the first segment
while everybody
watches and listens carefully).
While-viewing Sample Activity:
(Sound off) Teacher asks
these questions:
Post-viewing Sample Activity:
(Sound and Picture)
Circle the correct number.
Your answers should be based on the viewing and listening:
a) The man was… 1. angry 2. pleased 3. cooperative 4. in hurryb) The man looked… 1. old 2. young 3. middle-aged 4. sickc) The woman was… 1. polite 2. smiling 3. panting 4. scaredd) The questions were 1. direct 2. formal 3. informal 4. funny
While-viewing Activity:
The teacher plays the video again and asks
the students to work on the following ‘while-viewing’ activity:
While viewing and listening to the following segment, please write the directions that will help the woman find her way to the place she is asking about. It is preferable to draw a sketch to the destination on a sheet of paper.
Post-viewing Discussion Group Activity:
After the students have already viewed and listened to
the segment, the teacher will ask them to sit in groups of four or five and
discuss their reaction to the man’s and woman’s interaction. For example,
they can discuss the woman’s behavior when she stopped the man to ask for
directions. Was her behavior culturally and linguistically appropriate?
How did the man react? Was he helpful? What verbal and non-verbal language
behaviors were employed? Etc.
Post-viewing Activity: Writing Task
The teacher can ask his students to write an outline
description of the man’s and woman’s use of phrases in the course of
the interaction. For instance, what polite expressions, compliments, and
accompanying non-verbal gestures are expected to be employed in similar situations.
Post-viewing Activity: Writing Task Combined with Role-Playing
The teacher can ask two students to role-play similar
situations to the ones they have just viewed and simultaneously the rest of
the class to write down an outline direction like the one presented in the
video segment.
Video material can be a very useful source and asset for the language teaching-learning process because it combines both fun and pedagogic instructions in authentic material that reflect real interaction. By employing videotaped material, teachers can always create an indefinite number of language teaching activities. The devised activities above are mere examples based on one short segment and each focuses on a different language skill that EFL students need to acquire.Stempleski and Tomalin (1989) point out a recent trend in the use of the medium to stimulate oral and written communication among students. Another trend in the use of video language teaching, readily apparent to anyone who has surveyed the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) annual convention programs since 1986, is the use of authentic material - video and television material designed for entertainment rather than for language teaching. Likewise, articles on video in second language teaching reflect a central concern with the use of authentic material (Brinton & Gaskill, 1987; Griffin, 1980; Hill, 1987; Kerridge, 1982).Finally, I would like to comment that this mild attempt at revisiting the use of video equipment and material in a non-ELT environment to give examples of particular language functions in operation gave me the opportunity to explore more relevant material in the field of “video in action”, and made what has previously ‘sounded Greek to me’ a language that I understand and use.
References
Brinton, D., &
Gaskill, W. (1987). Using news broadcast in the
ESL/EFL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 12. 403-413.
Dublin, Fradia & Olshtain, Elite. (1991). Course Design: Developing Programs and Materials for Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Franzy, Milli. (1999). Kentucky Educational
Television. Kentucky. USA.
Golebiowska, Aleksandra. (1990).
Getting
Students to Talk. New York: Prentice Hall.
Griffin, S. M. (1980). Video Studios: The
language labs for the 1980s. Cross Currents, 7. (1). 45-48.
Hill, J. K. (1987). The recording and use of off-air French television programs with advanced learners. Audio-Visual Language Journal, 16. (2). 81-84.Kerridge, D. (1982). The use of video films. In M. Geddes & G. Sturtridge (Eds.), Video in the Language Classroom (pp. 107-121). London: Heinemann.
Lonergan, Jack. (1992). Video in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nunan, David. (1992).
Designing Tasks
for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
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