Job Discussion Forums

[marblez]

I am writing a research essay for an undergrad communications class. My thesis is:

"Although there are numerous teaching styles that are implemented, the use of visual aids may be the best way for ESL students to improve literacy."

I would like to know if anyone here finds that using pictures, videos and computer programs is more helpful to their students than rote memory and constant reading. I have found in my own classroom practicums that it IS helpful.

Thanks for any comments, you will be properly cited in APA style. (Although, I wonder if the 5th edition has guidelines for forum comments?)

[Tonester]

My take on it is that Computer Aided Language Learning (or CALL in the ESL field) is good as it provides an element of interactivity for students to apply what they have learned and use it. How it helps is that the programs used in those language labs provide a personalised guide for every ESL student and gets the learner to have owndership of what he/she is learning.

Pictures and videos are also effective as they add another dimension to your lessons. Videos are helpful because students can see native speakers (movies) or proficient ESL students (Skits) in action and can learn different ways of expression and help solicit further interest in the language itself.

Pictures are helpful because they save you having to describe everything and can help to simplify your explanations as well as allow students to hear what you have to say in english and allow them to comprehend things better than if you weren't using them and were simply just talking.

I hope this is helpful.

[lily]

I definitely find pictures / visual aids very useful - I can't imagine teaching without them, particularly to kids. I have what I call "word cards" - these are A4 size, with a picture covering 3/4 (say of a dog), and the word "dog" at the bottom. All I have to do is hold up the word card, say "dog" and the kids know that "dog" is the english for what the call "guo". No translation neccessary.

I did a lesson recently on pirates (a role-play, story etc) and then used parts of Pirates of the Caribbean to give the students a much clearer picture of what they looked like, did etc. They loved it.

On another note, you might also want to look a little into TPR (Total Physical Responce). TPR for kids is especially important. It means getting them up and moving while learning. Say, playing a game, having a mini running competition (up and down the hallway) for things like: quick, slow, stop, go, who is faster, slower etc.

One that combines both is teaching a word like "hop" and then hopping, and then making the kids hop too. Helps cement is their minds that this action is called "hop" in english.

I know these are mainly just examples, so I hope they are helpful.

Lily.

[Roger]

If they keep seeing the words written in plain English they will easily forget how to write them themselves...
What enables them to retain the spelling of a word is when they DON'T see the word, so they have to figure out how to write it themselves.

Surely if you use posters, cards, pictorial books, whatever, you can cover up the words and ask the kids to spell the word; you will have a higher success rate than if you allow them to sneak an eye on it.

I notice for example that Chinese teachers always show the "appropriate" number of fingers to support their oral communication act that involves numbers; this is a disservice as it keeps the mind dormant.
The script is an extended memory; use it only to deposit knowledge and data, not to prompt reflexes and speech acts!

How do you memorise someone's phone number? The act of writing it down helps you to remember it much better than the written number itself; if you have to consult your notes again you prove that you have no memory!
Ask people to repeat your phone number loudly, then silently, and they will remember it for much longer!

Too much visual aids - you get unimaginative learners!

[dmb]

You'd have to take learning styles into consideration. We all learn differently. Some people are visual learners and some are not.

[merlin]

[marblez]

Hi,

Thanks for all your opinions, they have really helped!

(Sorry I should clarify: This is NOT an honours BA thesis or MA thesis, it's just a simple 1200 word essay for a communications class. It's graded on grammar, style and use of citations, and not actual content. I saved it for my third year in order to boost my GPA!)

[zaneth]

there's a book by Penny Uhr called Discussions that Work, which includes a number of picture based exercises. These appear simple but can be challenging even for more advanced students. One is the old two pictures with some differences puzzle. But students are only allowed to look at their own picture and have to communicate everything they see using language. Really forces them to generate a lot of language.

The Cambridge First Certificate in English uses two different pictures and examinees must describe the pictures, tell how they relate to each other, and to the person's life.

Pictures can also generate speculative language. What happened right before the picture? What happens next? The Uhr book has some nice examples of pictures with ambiguous meaning that could prompt discussion and disagreement.

There's a lot more to pictures than just relating meaning.

[voodikon]

[shmooj]

not graded on content? Now that's a flawed thesis

[merlin]

Well, he's obviously attending one of those traditional universities. What do you all expect from traditional face to face instruction?

[marblez]

I think I've already explained that it is not an MA-style thesis. It's a "learn to write an essay in college without plagurizing 101" course, and the grading is based on use of APA or MLA citations, using an introductory paragraph, 3 supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Remember, like in high school?

[justcolleen]

Well, now, this is intersting. How did you manage to get through the first two years of college without having to write an essay?

Colleen

[marblez]

I'm in my third year and I am taking this as an elective to boost my GPA. This is getting off topic. Thanks for everyone's comments, I have incorporated them into my essay, which will be done by the 6th.

[moonraven]

This is the breakdown on learning styles: 65% visual, 25% kinesthetic and 10% auditory. Those percentages may vary slightly from one group to another, but I have several years of checking this out first hand with students and can tell you that it's not something someone arbitrarily came up with.

The problem--and this is why visual aids are so critically necessary--is that while only 10% of learners are primarily auditory in style, 90% of what is taught in schools is delivered as bla-bla-bla.

In a course I designed in Spanish for incoming unversity students the students came up with some pretty good strategies for dealing with this problem.