There is a great variety of activities that can accompany the use of video in the language classroom. The kind of technique that teacher chooses depends solely on learners’ needs, teacher’s objectives or the video itself. It is useful to find an appropriate video sequence first and then plan a relevant task. When planning communicative activities a teacher should take the advantage of VCR technology to create an information gap. Stop/start, wind/rewind and freeze frame buttons offer an obvious advantage of video technology over television. They enable the teacher to present or skip different sections of a footage in various ways as well as control the sound. The following are such examples of four video-based techniques (Harmer 1996:214).
SILENT VIEWING.
This technique works best with dramatic sequences that contain strong visual cues (see lesson plan no.1, 3). Learners can be asked questions about the characters or events that take place and also to put down the dialogue (see lesson plan 3). Teacher may stop the tape e.g. every few seconds and ask the students to “jog down” what the characters are saying. Moreover, the teacher can stop the tape and ask students directly about what they see e.g. to name all the items visible on the screen. Of course all of these variations pivot on the kind of video material chosen to be used in the classroom.
JIGSAW VIEWING.
This term describes the activity when one half of the class watches the video without sound and the other half listens only to the soundtrack. Then the students are put in pairs or groups and combine their information. It is advisable for the teacher to state some additional questions to help the students reaching a consensus. This kind of technique is rather time consuming for it involves two groups of students to leave the classroom interchangeably. “Split viewing” is another variation of this technique that is easier to apply. One group of students instead of leaving the class is seated with their backs to the screen and hears only the sound whereas the other group hears the sound and sees the picture simultaneously.
FREEZE FRAME.
Freeze frame is a simple technique basically involving stopping the tape and asking students for predictions (see lesson plan no. 2). Before employing it the teacher must carefully plan in what specific moments on tape it can be used. After it is thoroughly planned it may swimmingly foster learners’ attention and curiosity about the particular video piece.
SOUND ONLY.
It is yet another type of predictive technique where the students only listen to the sound and the television screen is covered with a cardboard or blackened. A suitable activity may require students to speculate about the setting, action and characters but this speculation is exclusively based on audible clues e.g. gunshots, background noises, dialogues.
SILENT VIEWING.
This technique works best with dramatic sequences that contain strong visual cues (see lesson plan no.1, 3). Learners can be asked questions about the characters or events that take place and also to put down the dialogue (see lesson plan 3). Teacher may stop the tape e.g. every few seconds and ask the students to “jog down” what the characters are saying. Moreover, the teacher can stop the tape and ask students directly about what they see e.g. to name all the items visible on the screen. Of course all of these variations pivot on the kind of video material chosen to be used in the classroom.
JIGSAW VIEWING.
This term describes the activity when one half of the class watches the video without sound and the other half listens only to the soundtrack. Then the students are put in pairs or groups and combine their information. It is advisable for the teacher to state some additional questions to help the students reaching a consensus. This kind of technique is rather time consuming for it involves two groups of students to leave the classroom interchangeably. “Split viewing” is another variation of this technique that is easier to apply. One group of students instead of leaving the class is seated with their backs to the screen and hears only the sound whereas the other group hears the sound and sees the picture simultaneously.
FREEZE FRAME.
Freeze frame is a simple technique basically involving stopping the tape and asking students for predictions (see lesson plan no. 2). Before employing it the teacher must carefully plan in what specific moments on tape it can be used. After it is thoroughly planned it may swimmingly foster learners’ attention and curiosity about the particular video piece.
SOUND ONLY.
It is yet another type of predictive technique where the students only listen to the sound and the television screen is covered with a cardboard or blackened. A suitable activity may require students to speculate about the setting, action and characters but this speculation is exclusively based on audible clues e.g. gunshots, background noises, dialogues.
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