Audio & Video Aids

Audio

Classroom audio equipment is an area where new technology hasn’t

necessarily replaced old tools. In many classrooms around the world,
schools and teachers choose to stick with the seemingly ancient
cassette recorder rather than upgrade to CD players. Most
comprehensive coursebook series still offer a choice between
cassette and CD. Why do some EFL educators stubbornly use a
technology that hasn’t been used for almost two decades in other
environments? Let’s take a look at the chart below for some ideas.
As you can see, the CD wasn’t a step forward in EFL classroom
environments and did not completely replace cassettes.

Schools are now starting to adopt portable audio formats (such as

MP3) in the classroom. These provide much of the recording benefits
of cassettes, are easy to use with a computer interface, and easy to
carry around in the form of USB drives. Smartphones have made
working with digital audio even easier, as recordings can be made,
emailed, or connected to speakers for playback from the same
device.

MP3 and other portable digital audio formats give us the ability to
download other recordings online which can be used in class,
including:

 EFL listening texts

 News casts

 Audio Books

 Music

 Audio players are used in the classroom for students to listen

to recordings in order to complete comprehension
questions, gain information to complete a task, listen to role
plays to model, sing along with music and much more.
  Teachers may also use audio recorders during their lessons
to self-evaluate teaching performance and lesson plans,
for assessing how students respond to different teaching
approaches, and/or for peer-evaluation purposes.
 Likewise, students might choose to record classes, in order
to review and reinforce learning. Often, students miss certain
points, or misunderstand some parts of the class; reviewing a
recording ensures they get the most out of the lesson.

Some EFL schools have language laboratories, which are rooms

equipped with multiple listening stations with headphones and
microphones. In language laboratories, the following activities
can be performed:

 Students can carefully listen to recordings in order to

complete listening homework and assignments on their
own time.

 The teacher can feed audio to a single station, multiple

stations, or all stations, allowing for one on one
practice, group work, or entire class listening and
speaking exercises.

 Students can listen to texts, then repeat them back

into the microphone and record their own voices. They
play back their recordings to compare pronunciation,
stress and intonation.
  While students practice repetition and pronunciation,
teachers can tune in and listen to any station, and
offer feedback to individual students.

 Teachers can perform assessments of students'

speaking and listening skills.

 Teachers and students can save their recordings to

track progress and analyze their language
performance/areas over time.

Video

Most EFL classrooms are equipped with a TV and DVD player. More
modern classrooms may use computer systems, projectors, or
electronic whiteboards instead for more options and versatility.

There are plenty of video/video clip resources out there, including

coursebook DVDs, YouTube, news sites and EFL resource sites.

The key to successful use of video is to set clear learning goals and
objectives, and let students know them beforehand. Do not simply
play a video without defined educational objectives. Here are some
tips for effective use of video in the classroom:

 Be prepared – Familiarize yourself with the

screen/video player and its controls (play, pause,
rewind, volume etc), fast forward and pause the video
to the correct position before class begins.
  Do not show long videos – Effective activities can be
completed based on video clips of 30 seconds to 5
minutes in length.

 Use subtitles/captions appropriately – The use of

English subtitles improves grammar, vocabulary
knowledge, word recognition, and reading
comprehension by letting students:

1.see how English words are spelt and appear

2.match pronunciation to words

3.more clearly understand the context in which they are

used

Video

Most EFL classrooms are equipped with a TV and DVD player. More
modern classrooms may use computer systems, projectors, or
electronic whiteboards instead for more options and versatility.

There are plenty of video/video clip resources out there, including

coursebook DVDs, YouTube, news sites and EFL resource sites.

The key to successful use of video is to set clear learning goals and
objectives, and let students know them beforehand. Do not simply
play a video without defined educational objectives. Here are some
tips for effective use of video in the classroom:
  Be prepared – Familiarize yourself with the
screen/video player and its controls (play, pause,
rewind, volume etc), fast forward and pause the video
to the correct position before class begins.

 Do not show long videos – Effective activities can be

completed based on video clips of 30 seconds to 5
minutes in length.

 Use subtitles/captions appropriately – The use of

English subtitles improves grammar, vocabulary
knowledge, word recognition, and reading
comprehension by letting students:

1.see how English words are spelt and appear

2.match pronunciation to words

3.more clearly understand the context in which they are

used

Inappropriate use of video instruction

When video materials are used in the classroom, there should

always be educational pre and post activities that further the
learning objectives of the course.

Keep in mind age and cultural appropriateness when choosing clips.

Teachers may avoid videos that include:
o vulgar language

o depictions of gory violence

o nudity

o racial slurs

o content that is age inappropriate