Using Multimedia in the Foreign Language Classroom | Page 48

Task 5 (see appendix IV) is the activity Tomalin (1990: 24) refers to as
‘watchers and listeners’. Students work in pairs. In each pair one student watches the
video, while the other has his/ her back turned round. The teacher uses the ‘freeze
frame’ technique which, as Motteram and Slaouti (2000, Unit 1: 26) stress, has rich
implications for descriptions, and asks the students who are watching to describe the
picture to their partners in order for them to identify the room being described. The
task gives students the chance to produce language engaging in a real interaction
where they ask and answer real questions.
4.3 Post-viewing stage
As Revell and Selingson (1990) emphasise, this stage should give the chance
for a take-off for varied activities. Thus:
Task 6 (see appendix IV) is a follow up activity, fully contextualized, which
gives students the chance to use language for communication. After being presented
with a model text, they are asked to describe their own house. When they finish, they
exchange writings in order to find out whose house has got more rooms.
Task 7 (see appendix IV) is a bingo game which helps students consolidate the
new vocabulary. The activity has a purpose other than language as such and this helps
natural acquisition. Students finish the lesson with a positive attitude which helps
them remain motivated.

Conclusion

Video is considered by many as a dated apparatus, as computers can do most

of what this can do. However, it still remains a powerful tool for learning in the
foreign language classroom and it can be used in conjunction with computers when
the teacher feels the need for whole class or group activities. Its efficiency, as with all
tools, lies on the way this will be exploited by the teacher. A purposeful viewing
accompanied by a number of related activities provides the chance for an integrated
skills lesson and gives students the chance to watch, listen and use language in its real
context.

47