Using original video
and
sound effects
to teach English
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Creative methods VS mechanical ones:
In my experience, teaching language skills through
mechanical exercises and traditional fill-in-the-blank, true/
false, and multiple-choice assessments does not interest
students as much as we expect.
When I go creative, especially when teaching grammar,
in a way students do not expect, I can clearly see the
difference. Here is a wonderful method of teaching English.
Example of a grammar lesson:
I suggest a motivating way to teach grammar with
audiovisual techniques, with an example of a lesson
on teaching modals of speculation that express
degrees of certainty (e.g., may, might, could, couldn’t).
I produced a video to create a speculative context.
I first asked someone to videotape me doing actions
that generated different sounds while I was getting
ready to leave the house for work.
These scenes included:
• brushing my teeth with an electric toothbrush
• blow drying my hair
• ironing my clothes with steam
• using a whistling kettle to boil water
• pouring water into a cup
• toasting a piece of bread in the toaster
• leaving the tap dripping
• spraying air freshener
• leaving my cell phone ringing
• locking the door
• waiting for and entering an elevator
• turning on the ignition of the car.
Teaching the video lesson:
I played the first scene and asked them to guess
what the sound was. Then I continued, pausing at
the end of each scene for about 15 seconds to allow
them to make notes. I repeated this same
until they had listened to the whole video.
Then I played the video again while they
checked their notes.
For instance, when I played the part where I was blow
drying my hair, I asked, “What could it be? Could it be a
vacuum cleaner?” One student said, “Yes, it might be a
vacuum cleaner,” whereas another one said,
“No, it can’t be a vacuum cleaner.”
When they were not able to use the structure,
I prompted them to use the modal construction by
asking tag questions, such as “It can’t be a vacuum
cleaner, can it?” In order to respond to my question,
students had to use the teaching point.
I elicited their answers—for example, “It might be a
vacuum cleaner” or “It can’t be a washing machine”
—and wrote them on the board. Then I underlined the
“modal + verb to be” with another color to help them
notice the new structure.
I continued the process about the origin of all the
sounds in thevideo, and I produced a list of their
speculations on the board where the new structure
and the modals were underlined and highlighted.
Then I removed the newspaper from the TV screen
and let them watch the entire video. This was the
most interesting part of the lesson because the students
had a lot of fun, laughing at some of their speculations.
Teaching grammar:
The same video can be used to teach different
grammar points, such as present and past simple,
present and past progressive, future simple, and
“going to + infinitive” without to, all by using the
technique of freeze framing. In order to teach
grammar, you need to play the video, freeze
framing the picture after each scene,
and then ask questions.
For instance, freeze frame the picture and ask your
students questions like, “What is s/he doing?”
“What did s/he do?” “What was s/he doing?”
“What is s/he going to do next?” or “What will
happen next?” In this way students will be
prompted to use the teaching point.
Once you elicit their answers, write them on the
board and highlight the structure (e.g., “to be + ing”
form of the verb for present progressive, or “will +
infinitive” without to for future simple). Since the
video consists of a sequence of action, adverbs
like first, second, finally, before, and later can
also be introduced to and practiced with students.
Teaching vocabulary:
For instance, you can record the sound of students
playing at recess, the period between classes, or
sounds in the lunchroom and then play the video for your
students and have them guess the source of the sound.
Or you can record the sounds in a busy coffee shop, a
nearby underground station, or a noisy shopping
center and playa guessing game with students.
Conclusion
Finding appropriate teaching materials is not that
hard, as our everyday life serves as a perfect
resource for creating effective lessons and
activities.
An effective lesson does not necessarily require
expensive and high-tech materials; oftentimes,
breaking the routines will excite students, engage
them in the lesson, and teach them the real use of
language in context.
1-Technology for teaching.
2-Teaching Methods of Jesus.
Internal links:
1-Classroom rules.
2-Disruptive learners.
3-Classroom discipline.
4-Students' behavior
External Links:
1- English and Urban Slang online.
2-Positive Reinforcement
English Teaching Forum 2004,
Volume 42, Issue 1
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