LCB-TTC – Taller Didáctico

Teacher: Gladys Baya

Student: Maria Perez Armendariz

Seminar Report
The impact of video and DVD on the acquisition of vocabulary

Date: June 14, 2008.

Organized by APIBA
Lecturer: Lic. Maria A. Casco

The aim of this seminar presentation was to show how video images have an important impact in
the learning of vocabulary. This applies to all kinds of students of all ages. Images are more easily
remembered and provide an extra stimulus to the senses.
In the first place, she showed the differences between VHS and DVD and how this technological
advance came in handy to teachers everywhere. There was the problem with the tape; the issue of
fast forwarding and rewinding movies; quality.
She described how videos are usually used in classrooms everywhere. One example was of an
episode of The Simpsons in which we can see Homer chasing Bart. This situation was used to elicit
a structure such as the present continuous. She made a point of using video images to teach the very
famous ways of... that so many students fear. By providing a simple sequence of a movie like Snow
White many items of vocabulary could be reviewed or taught.
She followed these examples by providing theoretical background on the topic of vocabulary
learning and images. Some of the theories go as far as the 1600s, when Comenius published Orbis
Sensualium Pictus (The world explained in pictures). The Orbis was a visual book for learning
Latin and other languages; the objects in the pictures had a numbered reference with words or
sentences describing the picture. This was the first attempt ever to provide visual aid in foreign
language learning. Modern bibliography moved several steps forward by showing how the brain
processes information contained in images making it easier to recall items connected to the visual
stimuli.
After the theoretical aspect of her research was explained, she provided some sample activities to
work with video. They were very simple and easily adapted to any level and class. One was ticking
the items that you find in the video sequence and justifying the answer with a sentence. Another
kind of activity was to decide who or what in the sequence did a specific action from a prepared list.
The list read as follows:
1. Someone GLARES at something.

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LCB-TTC – Taller Didáctico – Seminar Report
Maria Perez Armendariz
 2. Someone CLUTCHES something.
3. Something SCURRIES away.
Etc.
This seminar was really interesting from several point of view. From the theoretical standpoint, it
showed that the lecturer had done a lot of research in the matter and was able to 'translate' her
knowledge for an audience who was less familiar with the topic. Her passion for the topic became
evident by the conviction of her words about the reasons why this kind of activities were extremely
useful in the English lesson. From a teaching standpoint, it provided several examples of real
activities for the classroom that, although it may take some trouble to guarantee resources, they
were simple and easily prepared; teachers today are in great need of time-saving activities.
As a whole, the seminar was well balanced between the theoretical and the practical and I hope I
can learn how to use this kind of resources in the future to make the most of them. I completely
agree that images are a helpful aid in learning vocabulary, but I do not forget that everything has its
limitations.

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LCB-TTC – Taller Didáctico – Seminar Report
Maria Perez Armendariz