Canning-Wilson, C. (2000). Practical aspects of using video in the foreign language classroom. The Internet TESL Journal 6(11). Retrieved on 24 July 2012 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Canning-Video
Canning-Wilson’ article outlines some common
knowledge about using video in the foreign language classroom. For instance,
the use of visual cues, including video, improves students’ listening
comprehension. A lot of her summaries about current theory on the use of video
as an educational medium of instruction strike the reader as dry and
uninspiring. She follows her summaries with a few interesting and less examined
points. For example, she points out the
advantages in using video in the foreign language classroom becomes salient
when audio passages involve relatively long stretches of conversation and
generally a higher difficulty. Another interesting point that warrants further
investigation is that teaching with video has affective advantages.
While Canning-Wilson introduces us to some
interesting potential for using video in the foreign language classroom, her
arguments for the practical implications of using video as a teaching tool are
not sufficiently adequate to extricate the usefulness of video over pure audio
materials. For example, she says,
“It can be argued that language found in videos could help nonnative speakers understand stress patterns. Videos allow the learner to see body rhythm and speech rhythm in second language discourse through the use of authentic language and speed of speech in various situations.”
On the other hand, another researcher
she quotes makes an argument for using video that is more sound,
"Video can give students realistic models to imitate for role-play; can increase awareness of other cultures by teaching appropriateness and suitability; can strengthen audio/visual linguistic perceptions simultaneously; can widen the classroom repertoire and range of activities; can help utilize the latest technology to facilitate language learning; can teach direct observation of the paralinguistic features found in association with the target language; can be used to help when training students in ESP related scenarios and language; can offer a visual reinforcement of the target language and can lower anxiety when practicing the skill of listening." (Arthur, 1999, as cited in Canning-Wilson, 2000)
The article ends with a list of key
considerations for using video in the classroom with language learners. Again,
like much of the rest of the article, the list comes across as rather
disappointingly cliché. Questions are asked such as “How is the video used in a
classroom context?”, “How does video support the curriculum?”, “Can the
comprehension of the video be measured without visual support?”, “Can the
comprehension of the video be measured without auditory support?” and “How practical is the video to improve
a learner’s academic listening and/or conversational listening skills?” I found
this article to be grabbing clichés around language learning to form a
recursive paper.
