Using Multimedia in the Foreign Language Classroom | Page 47
students become active viewers, as it provides them with a different purpose each
time they watch the video. The various stages of the lesson are described, in turn,
below:
4.1 Pre-viewing stage
As Motteram and Slaouti (2000, Unit 2: 32) stress, the purpose of pre-viewing
tasks is to activate the learners’ prior knowledge of both topic and appropriate
language or to compensate for a lack of such knowledge. Thus:
Task 1 (see appendix IV) aims at presenting students with new vocabulary.
However, students do not just watch and repeat passively but they are given a purpose
for this, which refers to an activity they all like doing. Painting and labeling a number
of pictures within a relaxed environment facilitates natural acquisition.
Task 2 (see appendix IV) uses the prediction technique as it is described in
Tomalin (1990: 18). Students are shown the introduction to the story and are asked to
make predictions about what follows next. This helps them create expectations and
gives them a purpose for viewing.
4.2 While-viewing stage
According to Motteram and Slaouti (2000 Unit 2: 33) while-viewing tasks
should give the chance for holistic viewing comprehension. Thus:
Task 3 (see appendix IV) is a silent viewing task as described in Tomalin
(1990: 10-11) which helps students pay attention to the visual elements of the video,
as there is a good deal of information conveyed by this channel. To help them focus
on the visual, the sound is turned off. Students watch the animated story in the video
and confirm or reject the expectations which they had created in task 2. They are also
asked to use the information they have gained in order to complete a short summary
of the story.
Task 4 (see appendix IV) asks students to watch the story, this time with the
sound turned on. After watching the story they are asked to tell the story by filling in
some speech bubbles, taken from the printed version of the story as it appears in the
coursebook. According to Tomalin (1990: 26), asking students to tell the story after
watching the video is a good way of stimulating written production. The task demands
a more detailed viewing and aims at helping students focus on the language used.
Although they watch the same story again, they remain motivated as they are engaged
in a completely different task this time.
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