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Watching video in the language classroom.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This paper presents the findings from a pilot study conducted within a one-year period prior to a larger study of the effectiveness of group video viewing in a video-driven comprehension-based foreign language curriculum. The purpose of the pilot study was to examine (1) student behaviors during video viewing, (2) perceptions of and attitudes toward L2 video materials, (3) reactions to specific types of viewing guides, and (4) ability to write immediate recall protocols of the video episodes in L1.

Background

Cognitive models present learning as a process in which learners consciously select and organize information (Harrington, 2002); a more recent, sociocultural approach, places L2 acquisition in a context of social practices (Warschauer, 1997; Lantolf, 2002; Savignon & Sysoyev, 2002). In the last three decades, researchers and practitioners in the field have begun exploring broader contexts of L2 learning (Kaplan, 2002), including classroom activities, which may aid in preparing students who can understand and be understood in a second language, can use that language in real life situations and are sensitive to the culture(s) where that language is spoken. The move toward communicative, or proficiency-based instruction, revives the concern for teaching the receptive skills of listening and reading in an L2 curriculum (Bacon, 1992; Iskold, 2002). Lending support to receptive skill development are studies showing that adults spend 40 to 50 percent of their time listening and 11 to 16 percent of their time reading (Rivers, 1975). Omaggio Hadley (1993) hypothesizes that in the age of heavy media saturation the percentages for listening will probably become even higher.

At the same time, in today's society more than at any previous time, young people are learning to use media increasingly as a source of information about the world in which they live. Learning to listen, to understand, to assimilate, and to evaluate what one hears through media sources is therefore an important aspect of using our L1. Similarly, the ability to listen and to understand is an important goal in learning of L2, which explains the professions' interest in authentic video materials. The decision to use video presents several problems and questions to the classroom teacher. However, very few research data are available concerning which tasks and activities help L2 learners comprehend a message (Herron, 1994; Herron, Hanley, & Cole, 1995; Thompson & Rubin, 1996) and make "video viewing experience more profitable for students" (Herron, 1994, p. 196). Herron (1994) points out that many teachers simply turn on the video and hope for the best. These instructors argue that the absence of teacher intervention approximates what the learner explores in the real world. Thus, faculty may need guidance on how to facilitate authentic language and culture learning in the classroom (Iskold,...

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