285| Jurnal KIP Vol II No.

3, Nopember 2013 – Februari 2014

THE USE OF VIDEO AS AN AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIAL IN FOREIGN

LANGUAGE TEACHING CLASSROOM

Drs. Nehru P. Pongsapan, M.Pd

English Department, Teacher Training and Art Faculty

Christian University of Indonesia Toraja
12, Nusantara Street Makale, Tana Toraja South Sulawesi-Indonesia
pongsapancommunity@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

In recent years, a great tendency towards the use of technology and its integration into the
curriculum has gained a great importance. Particularly, the use of video as an audio-visual material
in foreign language teaching classrooms has grown rapidly because of the increasing emphasis on
communicative techniques, and it is obvious that the use of video is a great help for foreign
language teachers in stimulating and facilitating the target language. Keeping all this in mind, the
purpose of this article was to provide the required information for foreign language teachers (FLT)
so that they can make use of video efficiently in the classroom. Reasons for video implication in
FLT classroom and teacher’s role in this process have been revealed along with some practical
techniques for video implication.

Key Words: Video, activity, teaching foreign language, techniques

INTRODUCTION learning of a foreign language. According to

Wright (1976:1) many media and many
Language learning is a complex styles of visual presentation are useful to the
process: in this process, language teachers language learner. That is to say, all audio-
can’t be far away from the technology, which visual materials have positive contributions
is the application of scientific knowledge to to language learning as long as they are used
practical tasks by organisations that involve at the right time, in the right place. In
people and machines. It is a fact that language learning and teaching process,
technology cannot be separated from society. learner use his eyes as well as his ears; but his
Machines have social origins and they eyes are basic in learning. River (1981:399)
emerge from the needs of society. Therefore, claims that it clearly contributes to the
teachers need technologies relevant to the understanding of another culture by
teaching learning situation. If the providing vicarious contact with speakers of
educationalists want children to be the language, through both audio and visual
technologically equipped, all the changes and means. One of the most appreciated materials
preparations ought to be done within the applied to language learning and teaching is,
curriculum, school, architecture, teaching of course, video. A recent large-scale survey
organisation and finance. It is a well-known by Canning-Wilson (2000) reveals that the
fact that audio-visual materials are a great students like learning language through the
help in stimulating and facilitating the use of video, which is often used to mean
 Pongsapan, The Use of Video as an Audio-Visual …|286

quite different things in language teaching. relationships in a way that is not possible with
For some, it means no more than replaying words, which proves a well-known saying that
television programmes on a video recorder a picture is worth thousand words. Two
for viewing in class or private study. For minutes of video can provide an hour of
others, it implies the use of a video camera in classroom work, or it can be used to introduce
class to record and play back to learners their a range of activity for five minutes. A ten-
activities and achievements in a foreign minute programme can be useful for more
language teaching. But our concern here is to advanced students. Less advanced students
present the use of video in language teaching may wish something much shorter because
most effectively as a visual aid presenting the their limited command of the language also
target language naturally. It is a fact that most limits their attention span. It is obvious that
students who have taken English courses non-native speakers of a language rely more
formally remain insufficient in the ability to heavily on visual clues to support their
use the language and to understand its use, in understanding and there is no doubt that video
normal communication, whether in the is an obvious medium for helping learners to
spoken or the written mode. The problem interpret the visual clues effectively.
arises not from the methodology itself but According to a research, language teachers like
from the misuse or incomplete use of it. That video because it motivates learners, brings the
is to say, teachers still evaluate student real world into the classroom, contextualizes
performance according to the sentence language naturally and enables learners to
structure and situational settings experience authentic language in a controlled
consideration their performances in terms of environment. Moreover, in this issue Arthur
communicative acts. But this not necessarily (1999) claims that video can give students
mean that teachers should pay full attention realistic models to imitate for role-play; can
to only communicative acts in the preparation increase awareness of other cultures by
and presentation of language teaching teaching appropriateness and suitability.
materials.
In recent years, the use of video in REASONS FOR VIDEO IMPLICATION
English classes has grown rapidly as a result of IN FLT CLASSROOM.
the increasing emphasis on communicative
techniques. Being a rich and valuable resource, A great advantage of video is that it provides
video is well-liked by both students and authentic language input. Movies and TV
teachers (Hemei, 1997:45). Students like it programmes are made for native speakers, so
because video presentations are interesting, in that sense video provides authentic
challenging, and stimulating to watch. Video language input (Katchen,2002). That is to
shows them how people behave in the culture say, it is obvious that the practical
whose language they are learning by bringing implications of video in the classroom in any
into the classroom a wide range of classroom environment it can easily beused;
communicative situations. Another important teacher can step in the process whenever he
factor for teachers that makes it more wishes; he can stop, start and rewind to repeat
interesting and enjoyable is that it helps to it for several times where necessary. Any
promote comprehension. We know that selected short sequence from the programme
deficiencies in vocabulary can make even a can be utilized for intensive study. To pay
simple task very difficult for our students. special attention to a particular point in the
Video makes meaning clearer by illustrating programme it is possible to run in slow
287| Jurnal KIP Vol II No. 3, Nopember 2013 – Februari 2014

motion or at half speed or without sound. The teacher should get use of the power of
Besides, the learner can concentrate on the video films. At his point, video should never
language in detail and interpret what has been be considered as a medium which rivals or
said, repeat it, predict the reply and so on. The overshadows the teacher, but it is a useful aid
learner can also concentrate in detail on for him. That is, it can not replace the teacher
visual clues to meaning such as facial because it can only teach things which are
expression, dress, gesture, posture and on recorded on, and this makes the learning
details of the environment. Even without foreign language attractive. Person who
hearing the language spoken clues to enables the learners to comprehend what they
meaning can be picked up from the vision watch and hear by using some of the
alone. Using visual clues to meaning in order communicative techniques. The teacher can
to enhance learning is an important part of be a controller, an assessor on organiser, a
video methodology. The other point that prompter and a participant as well. The
should be focused is that in foreign language teacher is a controller because he or she is the
to interpret attitude is very difficult owing to only person who controls not only what the
the fact that the listener concentrates himself learners do but when they speak as well while
on the verbal message, not the visual clues to they are watching the video film. The teacher
meaning. Video gives the students practice in is also an assessor because he or she assesses
concluding attitudes. The rhythmic hand and the learner’s work in order to see how well
arm movements, head nods, head gestures are they are performing. The teacher should wait
related to the structure of the message. until the end of the activity and then he must
Moreover, the students have a general idea of evaluate the learner’s outputs. Furthermore,
the culture of the target language. It may be the teacher is an organizer because he needs
enjoyable for the learners to have something to be so. He should be a good organiser in
different for language learning apart from the teaching the foreign language through video,
course books and cassettes for listening. On and should know exactly what to lead to
the other hand, besides advantages, the success. He should not give useless
disadvantages of video should also be taken information or confusing instructions to the
into account. The main disadvantages are learners in order not to waste a lot of time. He
cost, inconvenience, maintenance and some should clearly explain what they are going to
cases, fear of technology. Additionally, the watch and what their task is. The other role
sound and vision, quality of the copies or that the teacher carries is being a prompter
home-produced materials may not be ideal. because he acts as a prompter. When there is
Another important issue in this case is that a silence viewing or what the learners are
the teacher should be well-trained on using confused about what to do next, he is
and exploiting the video. Otherwise, it expected to encourage learners participate.
becomes boring and purposeless for students. The teacher is a participant because he
participates in the activities while teaching a
TEACHER’S ROLE foreign language through video. He knows
the materials and all the details about them,
Just as in many English teaching situations, which help the learners feel comfort and
the teacher plays a key role in using the video facilitates learning. Considering these factors
as an aid for language teaching for s/he has in mind, the teacher should prepare to
the prime responsibility for creating a promote active viewing and facilitate
successful language learning environment. successful language learning. This requires
 Pongsapan, The Use of Video as an Audio-Visual …|288

being familiar with the video materials before sit down and draw up a list of different ways of
they are used in class. The teacher should using video in the classroom. There are many
develop a plan for each video unit and accounts where interesting video lessons are
encourage active viewing. To aid reported in the literature. Canning-Wilson
comprehension, he should prepare viewing (2000) suggests that as F/SL educators we
guides which are easy and related to the must not loose sight of the educational purpose
language level of the students. it has in the language classroom although it
may be a popular tool to use with students. To
SOME PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES get a successful result in language teaching
FOR VIDEO IMPLICATION using the video as an aid there are some
techniques that should be benefited by both
It is easy for a group of imaginative teacher and learner.
teachers experienced in using video in ELT to

Table1. Some practical techniques for

TECHNIQUE CLASSROOM IMPLICATION

Active Viewing Active viewing increases the students’ enjoyment and satisfaction and
focuses their attention on the main idea of the video presentation. So, it is
necessary for students to take an active part in video teaching presentations.
Before starting the presentation the teacher writes some key questions on the
board about the presentation so that the students get an overview of the
content of it. After viewing the questions the students answer the questions
orally, or the students may take notes while viewing. For more detailed
comprehension students are provided a cue sheet or viewing guides and let
them watch and listen for specific details or specific features of language.
However, it should be kept in mind that the level of the students should be
taken into account and adapt the technique according to their levels
Freeze Framing Freeze framing means stopping the picture on the screen by pressing the still
and Prediction or pause button. Video gives us an additional dimension of information about
the characters’ body language, facial expressions, emotions, reactions, and
responses. Teacher freezes the picture when he or she wants to teach words
and expressions regarding mood and emotions, to ask questions about a
particular scene, or to call students’ attention to some points. By freezing the
scene the students can be asked what is going to happen next. So they
speculate on what will happen in the next act.Freeze framing is excellent for
speculation. This activity also fires the imagination of the students by leading
them predicting and deducing further information about the characters.
Silent Viewing As video is an audiovisual medium, the sound and the vision are separate
components. Silent viewing arouses student interests, stimulates thought, and
develops skills of anticipation. In silent viewing, the video segment is played
with the sound off using only the picture. This activity can also be a prediction
technique when students are watching video for the first time. One way of
doing this is to play the video segment without the sound and tell students to
observe the behavior of the characters and to use their power of deduction.
Then press the pause button at intervals to stop the picture on the screen and
get students to guess what is happening and what the characters might be
289| Jurnal KIP Vol II No. 3, Nopember 2013 – Februari 2014

saying or ask students what has happened up to that point. Finally, video
segment is replayed with the sound on so that learners can compare their
impressions with what actually happens in the video.
Sound On and This activity can be interesting and useful to play a section of a video unit
Vision Off and remove the visual element from the presentation by obscuring the picture
Activity so that students can hear only the dialogue but unable to see the action.
Through this activity the students predict or reconstruct what has happened
visually depending only what they hear.
Repetition and When there are some difficult language points in the video unit, closely
Role-Play repetition can be a necessary step to communicative production exercises. A
scene on video is replayed with certain pauses for repetition either
individually or in chorus. When students have a clear understanding of the
presentation, they are asked to act out the scene using as much of the original
version as they can remember. When students become confident with role
playing and are sure of vocabulary and language structures, more creative
activity can be introduced in which they are asked to improvise the scene to
fit their views of the situation and the characters they are playing. Role-play
involves students as active participants. As each student plays the assigned
role, s/he becomes more and more involved. This activity also helps students
to better understanding their own behaviour and to be more able torespond in
a positive way to various human relationships. In other words, role playing
is a good communicative activity and true preparation for real-life situations.
It gives a chance to students to apply what they are learning.
Reproduction After students have seen a section, students are asked to reproduce either what
Activity is being said, to describe what is happening, or to write or retell what has
happened. This activity encourages students to try out their knowledge.
Students will benefit from experimenting in English, even though it is
challenging and mistakes are made. As it seems a bit difficult to perform,
guidance, help and reassurance may be needed.
Dubbing Activity This activity can be done when students have the necessary language
competence. In this activity, students are asked to fill in the missing dialogues
after watching a sound-off video episode. It is interesting and enjoyable for
the students to complete a scene from the video by dubbing.
Follow-Up It is important that a video presentation should lead to follow-up activity as
Activity the basis for further extended oral practice. Discussion stimulates
communication among students, and it helps to achieve communicative
practice. With this activity students have an opportunity to develop sharing
and co-operative skills
 Pongsapan, The Use of Video as an Audio-Visual …|290

CONCLUSION television viewing. So, the teacher should

encourage the learners to watch the films
Languages are not fixed but constantly actively, by using the supplementary materials,
changing, so is the media; television, radio and such as worksheets prepared by him or
newspaper which are an extraordinarily rich supplied with the films. The learners should
source of language in use. In order to expose participate in the activities, if possible, they
foreign language learners to the target themselves set up some projects in the target
language the use of technology need to be language, by recording their own activities
exploited in the classroom as much as possible. such as speaking, interviewing, reporting etc.
For that reason a great tendency towards the Shortly, the role of the learner is not to be a
use of technology and its integration into the passive viewer but an active member in the
curriculum developed by the foreign language triangle of the video, the teacher and the
teachers has gained a great importance. learner. To reach successful and effective
Particularly the use of video has received results with teaching language through video,
increasing attention in recent studies on the learners and the teachers should perform
technology integration into teacher education their tasks perfectly. Moreover they should be
curricula (Özkan, 2002:1) It is an undeniable informed of the new methods and techniques
fact that video is one of the best materials that in FLT. To do this, seminars can be organised.
enables students to practice what they have A group of teachers and experts should prepare
learned through various techniques. video cassettes, which will enable the schools
As Canning-Wilson (2000) describes video, at to obtain them easily. These cassettes should
the most basic level of instruction, is a form of be modern, interesting and in parallel with the
communication and it can be achieved without syllabus. In a word, it can be concluded that the
the help of language, since we often interact by use of technology is nowadays inevitable in the
gesture, eye contact and facial expression to classroom. When used appropriately, video is
convey meaning. Thus it is clearly true such quite beneficial for learners and teachers as
kind of The Turkish Online Journal of long as they are considered only as mere
Educational Technology, materials present entertainment, but carefully chosen films can
complete communicative situations by means be a useful and extremely motivational
of the dynamic, immediate and accessible teaching tool for both practicing listening skills
combination of sound and vision. The students and stimulating speaking and writing
contextualize the language they have learnt. In (Katchen, 2002).
other words, they can see and hear the speakers
in dialogues; their ages, their sex, perhaps their REFERENCES
relationship one to another, their way of
dressing, social status, what they are doing and Bouman, L.(1990) Veni, Video, Vici: Video in
perhaps their feelings. Moreover, as previously Language Teaching. Journal of English
slightly mentioned, paralinguistic features Teaching Forum, vol.18-2p.8.
such as facial expressions or hand gestures Christine Canning-Wilson & Julie Wallace
provide aural clues of intonation. The learners (2000) Practical Aspects of Using
can also see the setting of the communication Video in the Foreign LanguageCla
on the screen, so they can clarify whether the ssroom. The Internet TESL Journal,
situation is formal or informal. Vol. VI, No. 11, November 2000.
Methodologically speaking, watching video Retrieved April 15, 2006:
films should be different from passive
 291| Jurnal KIP Vol II No. 3, Nopember 2013 – Februari 2014

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Canning- Özkan, B. (2002) The Use of Video Cases in

Video.2001 html Teacher Education TOJET Oct. ISSN
Christine Canning-Wilson (2000) Research in 1303-6521, vol.,1 issue, 1
Visuals. Video Special Interest Group Phillips, S. (2001) Young Learners. Oxford
at the International TESOL Arabia University Press: Oxford.
2000 Conference. Arabia. Rivers, W.M. (1981) Teaching Foreign-
Hemei, J. (1997) Teaching with Video in an Language Skills. The University of
English Class, Journal of English Chicago Press: Chicago.
Teaching Forum, vol.35-2, pp 45-47 Satterthwaite, L. (1990) Instructional Media:
Katchen, J.E. (1996) Using authentic video in Materials, Production and Utilization.
English language teaching: Tips for Kendall/Hunt Publ.Comp.USA.
Taiwan’s teachers. Taipei: Ur, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching.
The Crane Publishing Company, Ltd Video in Cambridge University Press.
ELT—Theoretical and Pedagogical Cambridge.
Foundations. Vale, D. and Feuntun, A. (2000) Teaching
Proceedings of the 2002 KATE (The Korea Children English. Cambridge
Association of Teachers of English) University Press: Cambridge.
International Conference (pp. 256- Wright, A. (1976) Visual Materials for the
259). Language Teacher, Essex,
LongmanWilson.