Media in the Classroom

First Part: Theoretical Introduction into Possible Media Use in the Classroom The different media that exist nowadays can be divided into four separate subcategories. The first subcategory is the instructional media, which can be both technical and non-technical. To this subcategory belong ordinary media such as textbook, board and maps. The just named media can also be comprised in the subcategory called visual media. In addition to that, photos, worksheets and overhead transparencies are also visual media. Audio files of all kind, which can be found on CDs or in the Internet as mp3-files, belong to the subcategory auditory media. The last subcategory summarizes the audiovisual media (any video files available on DVD, Blu Ray or via the Internet). Even though modern media highly influence our lives, the traditional board and the textbook are the media most often used in schools. The reason for the popularity of the board lies in the fact that it allows a fast and straightforward structuring of contents by writing and drawing. It can also be expanded by sticking posters or maps onto it. Another advantage of the board is the easy interaction with students, since they can contribute to the appearance of the contents written or drawn on the board. Overall, media use in general offers many promiscuous advantages. Media are able to motivate students and to visualize complex contents. Moreover, they cover all important fields of learning, i.e. processing of information, cooperation, presentation, communication. Another potential of media is the possibility to create an authentic English-speaking atmosphere by listening to native speakers communicating, which is often the case in plays, songs and movies. When relating to people from a different culture, the students cultural competence can be enhanced as well. In order to show reasonable examples for media use in the second language learner classroom, I focus on songs, movies and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Starting with songs, one can easily make out their attraction on adolescents. This is due to the fact that modern songs in most cases deal with topics like love, identity crises and finding ones identity. These topics include real-life experiences of adolescents and also demonstrate the utilization of every day language. The tasks that can be performed are helpful for developing listening, reading and writing skills and can be divided into pre-listening,

while-listening and post-listening activities. For example, the students can discuss about the songs main topic before listening, fill in missing words in a text (while-listening activity) or read the lyrics (post-listening activity). Movies are also of increasing interest when it comes to foreign language teaching. Their task structure can also be subdivided into pre-viewing, while-viewing and post-viewing activities and they inspire the students even to a higher degree than songs do. The movie database Film Education (http://www.filmeducation.org) provides the teacher with loads of study materials for movies of any genre. I have searched the database in order to obtain interesting study questions for discussing the movie Inception. For this movie, many interesting questions are suggested, such as: How are DiCaprio and the character he plays different or similar to the muscle-bound action heroes of the 1980s (e.g. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone as well as contemporary equivalents such as Vin Diesel)?. During the 1950s and 60s, the computers potential for foreign language learning was discovered. However, its usage was mainly limited to questionable drill and practice programs. Later on, with its development into a multimedia machine that is connected to the Internet, additional potentials were revealed. The main advantage is that computers offer an easy way to step away from the teacher-centered classroom and to approach a learnercentered environment, in which the teacher functions as an advisor who initiates and monitors the individual learning processes. In order to use the computer in an appropriate way, both the students and the teacher have to be proficient in using the new media that are implemented by the multimedia capabilities of computers (electronic literacy). If utilized correctly, the computer fulfills the major demand of all foreign language teaching approaches, i.e. the negotiation of meaning. Possible tasks are the communication with native speakers via Internet (E-mail, chat or video chat) or the construction of websites, wikis and podcasts. Another field of application is the research over the Internet concerning given topics. After finishing the research, the students can present their findings using programs like Power Point or its open source alternative Impress. By doing so, the students reading, writing, presentation and technical skills improve. Written by Jan Kahlenberg

Sources: Mller-Hartmann, Andreas and Schocker-v. Ditfurth, Marita (2011) Introduction to English Language Teaching. Stuttgart: Klett Lerntraining GmbH. Ha, Frank (ed.) (2006) Fachdidaktik Englisch. Tradition Innovation Praxis. First edition. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH. Lecture slides: Introduction to Teaching English as a Foreign Language by Prof. Dr. Christiane Ltge, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitt Mainz (winter term 2010/11) Lecture slides: Einfhrung in die schulische Medienpdagogik by Prof. Dr. Stefan Aufenanger, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitt Mainz (winter term 2011/12) http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/resources/secondary/Inception(2).pdf