Language teachers have been using video technologies for at least the past twenty years. From videotapes to DVDs and streaming video from the Internet, the visual mode is still powerful and popular. But the way we use video in the classroom has changed. No longer is it used just for practising listening skills or stimulating speaking. When I ask myself how using video has been affected by recent trends in teaching, I think of the following:
– Equipment (IWB, mobile learning)
-Task based learning
– Flip classroom
-CLIL
-Blended learning
As a result teachers now have more creative opportunities to incorporate video inside and outside the language classroom.
But using video is more than just a trend. SLA theories also advocate the use of video to facilitate learning. If we look at research into the retention of information, a lot of studies show that use of images and sound (i.e video) is the optimum way of presenting new information to students. Richard Mayer’s work (2003), which looks at dual coding, focuses on the way visual and oral information can complement each other and avoid overloading the students with information. If a student is presented with a picture and text, then all this information is being processed visually and might lead to visual overload. A better way to organise the information might be through pictures and audio, thus using two channels (visual and auditory).
Prior to the session we had some key questions to think about and a pre-seminar task where we needed to create our own videos.
Why use video to support the teaching and learning of second languages?
As Kieran Donaghy (2015) sums it up, video can “inspire, while exposing learners to a wide range of authentic language, improving comprehension, intercultural understanding and visual literacy.” I couldn’t agree more. Video has become an integral part of students’ lives and it makes sense to bring it into the classroom. Young people not just watching but actively produce and upload their videos. 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. (https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/en-GB/statistics.html ) YouTube has more than 1bn users – a third of all the people on the planet.
Learning with video is motivating and enjoyable, it makes the language learning process more entertaining and memorable. And, as we all know, motivation is one of the most important factors in successful second-language acquisition. Another benefit of using video is that it is a source of authentic and varied language. Students can see examples of real-life conversations, natural expressions and flow of speed.
Finally, video brings variety to the language classroom by extending the range of materials and teaching techniques. And with the advent of the internet there is now a wealth of online resources for both language teachers and their students.
We shouldn’t however forget about its disadvantages. Integrating video into materials can be extremely time consuming (especially for the first time), there is an issues of copyrights and appropriacy of some videos. Some learners might find authentic videos confusing and complex and lose interest. But the most important factor in my view, just like with educational technology in general, is lack of training. This, in my opinion, has deep implications for English language teacher training programmes, which should include technology integration from the very beginning.
For those who would like to incorporate more video in the classroom, here are my favourite resources:
Since I started teaching, I have had a strong interest in incorporating video in my classroom. In my first year of teaching (2010) I gave a TD about using video in the classroom, trying to encourage my colleagues to use video not just for practice listening or speaking skills, but for a range of other skills. Here is a quick example:
Writing. After watching this short clip from the License to Wed film, student write a letter of complaint.
2. Reading. While watching this video students scan the information along with the main character and write down all key words and data they can see.
3. Grammar. Students watch the video and put the items that were requested to buy intro countable/uncountable categories.
4. Vocabulary. Student watch the clip and name as many vocabulary items related to cooking as possible.
5. Pronunciation.’The sound of English’ series is a brilliant resource that provides students with visual pronunciation models.
These days I am trying to involve my learners in producing video themselves rather than just passively watching it.
Here is an example of a project I did with my students where they had to dub a video. The language focus of this project was “showing interest”. First, I showed my students this clip from the series “The Big Bang Theory”.
They then worked in pairs and came up with their own version of the dialogue and voiced it. What was great about this project is that not only did my students learn how to show interest, but by working with video they also created a narrative, worked collaboratively, had lots of language practice while rehearsing and filming, and had a final product that they are proud of.
Here is the example of one of the videos.
What are the benefits of a teacher shooting their own digital material for use with learners?
I want to say personalisation would be the main reason for me. By making your own video you tailor it to your students’ needs, level and interest. But also involving students in producing video themselves has a lot of benefits. Not only students use the language while they are working on the video production, but you can also use the video they produced as material for other classes.
What do you need to think about prior to making a video?
Walker, A. & White, G. (2013) suggest the way of finding and being critical about online video which consists of asking the following questions:
-Who made it?
-What is its purpose?
-Could you use it in your classroom and if so, how?
I believe the same questions can be applied to your own video material.
-Who is going to make it? You or your students?
-What is its purpose? Are you making this video so you can flip your classroom? Is it a TBL project where video is a final product? Or is it simply a bypass product, eg when students record themselves in preparation for a presentation? Does the video have a narrative audio soundtrack or subtitles?
– Could you use it in your classroom and if so, how? I guess it depends on your learning objectives. Stanley ( 2013) asks an interesting questions: what comes first: technology or learning objectives? The answer, in his opinion, is neither. The learners come first. That is why the decision on how much technology should play a part in the class should be made based on your learners attitudes towards using technology for language learning and shouldn’t be imposed on them.
How is digital video captured, edited and output?
Nicky Hockly (2014) points out that although students make videos in their personal lives quite regularly, they are probably less familiar with recording video in an English class. She suggests starting by asking students to film objects or places, rather than themselves until they become comfortable with filming each other.
Video recording and editing is arguably a very technically challenging for the teachers and the learners who have never done it before. However, there are many mobile applications available that can simplify video editing and production.
Donaghy, K. (2015) Film in Action. Peaslake: Delta Publishing.
Hockly, N. & Clandfield, L. (2010) Teaching Online: Tools and techniques, options and opportunities. Peaslake: Delta Publishing.
Hockly, N. & Dudeney, G. (2014) Going Mobile. Peaslake: Delta Publishing.
WHY
Why adapt materials? After all, coursebook writers and publishers work very hard to ensure their product meets their customers’ needs. The reasons, as McDonough (2013) highlights, depend on a whole range of factors operating in each teaching situation and one teacher’s priorities may well differ considerably from another.
Maley (2011), points out that due to individual differences amongst the learners and to teacher factors, there will never be a perfect fit between the materials, the teacher and the learners. Such teacher factors include:
-degree of language proficiency and confidence
– previous personal learning experience as learners rather than as teachers
– own personality (introvert/extrovert, open/closed etc)
– preferred teaching style (directive/consultative, etc)
– cultural background.
Mishan and Timmis (2015), however, question if it is right to adapt materials according to the teacher’s own preferences and insist that adaptation must be driven by learners’ needs instead of teachers’ ‘whims’ or preferences. While it is a valuable point, I personally find myself selecting material based on what I’d feel comfortable teaching. Even Theresa Clementson admitted she wrote Unlimited so she has something to teach from.
Malley (2011) goes on to highlight that ‘for reasons to do with the economics of publishing amongst other things, the materials are intended to be used by the largest possible number of learners’. But in reality, the wider the area publishers try to cover, the more diverse the learner’s state is likely to be. As a result, the teacher has to bridge the gap between the materials and his/her learners’ need.Nick Robinson in his talk “An introduction to Learner Experience Design in ELT” urges EdTech companies to avoid going “wide and shallow” and instead go “narrow and deep” . He talks about creating Learner Personas – a specific group of learners with certain characteristics. Malley (2011), however, argues that ‘what is needed is not just decentralisation of materials production, but a fundamental change in the design of materials in the direction of providing greater flexibility in decisions about content, order, pace and procedures’.
HOW
McDonough (2013) talks about different techniques that can be applied to content in order to bring about change. There are:
1. Adding
2. Deleting or omitting
3. Modifying
4. Simplifying
5. Re-ordering
Malley (2011) offers the following strategies to make coursebooks more effective:
1. Give it a rest
2. Change it ( a number of options include omission, addition, reduction, extension, rewriting/modification, replacement, reordering, branching )
3. Do it yourself
Similarly, Madsen and Bowen (1978, cited in McGrath, 2002) defines adaptation as ‘one or more of a number of techniques: supplementing, editing, expanding, personalizing, simplifying, modernizing, localizing, or modifying cultural/situational content.
We, the teachers on this course, in the role of practitioners, seem to agree. During the seminar we had a chance to discuss what, when, why and how we adapt our materials and our findings are similar to the ones mentioned by scholars. The table below summaries the results of four different discussion groups.
Why
to include tasks that are missing
to make it fun
to increase communication
to make it simpler
to translate L1-L2 to save time
to meet the learner’s needs
to fit the context
to meet the learner’s interest
to modernise
to change the dynamic
to aid comprehension
What
Sequence of tasks
Activity types
Context of language
Images
Text
Examples
Focus
Questions
How
Reduce
Alter
Add to
Personalise
Improvise
Create other materials
Lift it off the page (role play, game, competition, mingle, post its, live listening)
Grade language
Demand high
When
Syllabus planning stage
In lesson
Post lesson
Time limitation
Mixed levels
Course doesn’t cut it (inappropriate culture, language, topic, methodology)
Finally, prior to this session we were giving a task of analysing a unit from the course book that we use, and had to adapt or supplement. Here are the questions we had to answer: 1. What did you adapt?
In my case it was unit 6A from New English File Pre-Intermediate. The focus of the unit was grammar of first conditional .
2. Why did you adapt it?
As I mentioned earlier I got really inspired by the talk about Augmented Reality (AR) I attended last weekend and couldn’t wait to use in my classroom. Last week one of my Dip colleagues came to observe me and because she couldn’t attend the workshop thought it would be a good idea to demonstrate to her what AR is and how it can be applied in the classroom. AR technology is gaining popularity within society and numerous researchers have identified it as having immense potential to enhance learning and teaching. The process of combining virtual data with real world data can provide users with access to rich and meaningful multimedia and create experiences that the learners are more likely to remember.
I believe helping students to develop their digital literacy skills is extremely important as especially for younger people technology will continue to play a significant role in their lives as students and in their professional lives. I think we have to accept this as fact and try to ensure that the role technology plays in their lives is as positive and empowering for them as we can.
From the pedagogical point of view, the reasons behind the changes I made were the following:
– Changing the order of the task: production instead of discovery
– Adding missing skills: students write the sentences describing the pictures instead of matching them
– Changing the task: students speculate about the story instead of reading it which makes it more communicative
3. How did you adapt it?
So this activity is a simple example how AR can be integrated in a lesson using Aurasma app.
1. I’ve chosen to adapt the text from unit 6A of New English File Pre-Intermediate.
2. I then scanned and cut the images from the exercise. They would act as the trigger images.
3. I typed the sentences, printed and took pictures of them.
4. My next step was using Aurasma to link a trigger image with a sentence picture.
5. As a result, when students scan an image using Aurasma app, they will get a sentence related to this image.
6. I made a handout out asking students to put cut off images in order and write their version of the story using first conditional sentences.
7. After they wrote their stories and compared them with other groups, students could scan the images and read the original version of the story.
4. What were the consequences of the adaptations you made?
This lesson was a great success! Students were very intrigued by Aurasma app and its abilities. This was a great way of making a grammar lesson interactive, kinaesthetic and memorable. The total preparation time for this activity was no longer than 15 minutes and I can use this activity again with our groups. I hope this example illustrates how easy it is to integrate technology in a lesson and hopefully will inspire some to give it a go.
5. Were there any constraints on the degree to which you were able to adapt?
Not really. The technological side might seem complicated but in reality it is not. The majority of students in private language schools like mine are in their early 20s and familiar with mobile technology, so using a new application shouldn’t be an issue for them. They are also used to using a screen, rather than paper, for reading.
6. In your context what factors prevent you from adapting materials in the way you want?
Frankly, I don’t feel any major constraints being put on me at Language Studies International. Although we have a set of coursebooks we follow, we are not required to stick to them “religiously” and are free to adapt and supplement. In fact often it is students who are the biggest obstacle as they expect to follow a coursebook and feel cheated if they don’t complete every single unit of it. As a teacher with an interest in EdTech, often my way of adapting includes use of technology and sometimes lack of resources or poor infrastructure at school can be a problem. However these factors don’t make me shy away from use of technology in the classroom.
Maley, A. (2011) Squaring the circle – reconciling materials as constraint with materials as
empowerment. In: Tomlinson, B. (ed). Materials Development in Language Teaching. (2nd ed) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.379-402.
McGrath, I. (2002) Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
McDonough, J., et al. (2013) Materials and Methods in ELT: A Teacher’s Guide. (3nd ed) Chichester:Wiley-Blackwell.
Mishan, F. & Timmis, I. (2015) Materials Development for TESOL. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Robinson, N. “An introduction to Learner Experience Design in ELT” accessed on 12/03/2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Gs5-qWH2s&utm_source=LXD+Total+Subscribers&utm_campaign=ea5f152d75-Typeform+for+future+webinars&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c484f23f08-ea5f152d75-287952169
