Video in the ELT classroom

I have been using video technologies in the classroom since the late 1980’s. From videotapes to DVDs and streaming video from the Internet, the visual mode is still the most powerful and popular medium of communication. Far from being mere entertainment, carefully chosen films are, in fact, useful and highly motivational teaching tools for practicing listening skills and stimulating speaking and writing.
Though video technology became affordable in the late 1970s, video became an even more widely available teaching aid in the next twenty years or so. Today, although the CBSE[1] recommends the use of selected films in the classroom, its penetration into everyday classroom practice and course/syllabus design hasn't been deep. In fact, the video is still an outsider in over 90 percent of Bihar’s ‘English Medium’ classrooms. It’s a shame that even in University classrooms, the number one teaching aid at an ELT teacher’s disposal is usually a stick of chalk.

How can teachers use video in the classroom? Most often it is used either to present students with spoken language input for listening practice or to elicit student language output via speaking or writing. Videos may also illustrate cultural and nonverbal behaviour and can also be used for teaching a variety of content (e.g., “about” linguistics) and skills (e.g., media literacy, literary criticism, comparing book and film versions). [2]
Looking back at the early days, it may be recalled that the first pedagogical practice was the direct adaptation of existing methodologies to incorporate the new technology. The 1960s and 70s had seen the emergence of the functional/notional approach to describing and teaching language, and this had begun to substitute transformational grammar as the main underlying principle behind materials and course design. One example is the appositely titled "Video English", a series of videos which took the main functions of the English language (e.g. greetings and introductions, asking for and giving information, etc.), and developed short sketches around them. The videos were accompanied by useful teaching notes, classroom activities, transcripts, suggestions for teachers and additional language material.

I use videos in several ways in my language classes. Actually, there are broadly three kinds of videos that I use. The first category is gleaned from BBC English language teaching resources. These are specially designed teaching videos that are developed around a teaching point and come with a downloadable script that can be very useful for teacher and student alike. The second category is popular films and episodes from television series.
The third category – which the teacher in India can acquire with a little bit of resourcefulness – is the adaptation of authentic TV and video material for language teaching. Two examples are the BBC's "Television English" series, in which excerpts from (mainly non-dramatic) UK broadcast TV programs are the focal point for well-written language learning activities, and Sony Corporation’s teaching materials based on a limited number of major feature films.
In addition to these three main categories of video resources, there is content or theme specific course material such as “Business English" and "Tourist English" videos, as well as courses using cartoons, aimed at children.

How does one use video in the classroom? Like other ELT practitioners, I have developed my own techniques. These techniques are far from new. One such technique is silent viewing. The students view a sequence, for example of a couple ordering a meal in a restaurant, and then attempt to generate an appropriate dialogue for the scene. The actual dialogue can then be used as a model from which to adapt the students' efforts. Alternatively, if the students are already familiar with the dialogue, they can use the silent re-viewing to reproduce the conversation. The reverse technique is to play the sound only, and have students discuss what the scene might look like. The teacher may also make good use of the ‘pause’ or ‘freeze-frame’ option, to check comprehension and to answer unanticipated questions. In some viewings, students should be encouraged to indicate if they want a pause in the viewing to pick up on points of confusion or general interest.
There are a number of features found in real spoken language but not in typical teaching materials. Real people mumble and talk with food in their mouths; some speak rather rapidly and use nonstandard forms; they incorporate different levels of formality and colloquialisms; they talk in incomplete sentences and use all sorts of pause fillers, hesitation phenomena, and the like. Differences in speech may be found from those of different regions, ethnic groups, social classes, ages, even gender. Speech is full of variety and ambiguity and students need to develop some ability to deal with this, even if it’s just to learn how to ask for clarification when they don’t understand something. Using video examples, teachers can guide students do deal with language as it is really used.[3]

Normally, however, merely watching and listening is not enough in the classroom. Teachers have to structure activities around the video. We may have the students summarize the plots of movies or entertaining TV shows; they may be encouraged to describe specific scenes or characters in detail. For news or information programmes, students may be encouraged to locate specific information by looking for the answers to WH-questions such as What happened? To whom? Where? With some other stories , they may be interested in discovering he answers to: What is the problem? What are the effects? What caused it? Are any solutions suggested?
The abovementioned activities incorporate listening and understanding, as well as writing down key information, and talking about the video with others. The activities might take the form of comprehension questions (multiple choice, ticking off, or completion), note-taking, and discussion. The students may also be asked to fill in blanks in the transcript while listening or to focus on certain lexical and grammatical usage. This, of course means that the teacher has to do his (her) homework well, planning out the activities and developing the task sheets that are to be used in the class.

On a more practical level, where the classroom is fitted with a television and cable connection, such as the one we have at the Department of Communicative English with Media Studies in Patna Women’s College, it is possible to let the students have access to English news programmes aired on satellite channels such as NDTV 24x7, Times Now or CNN-IBN. The English news on Doordarshan can be a fairly useful tool to help beginners with weak vocabularies and limited exposure to the spoken word familiarise themselves with registers.
The television programmes that I have found most useful are those that relate directly to the students’ worldview. The popular chat show ‘Koffee with Karan’ , NDTV’s talk show ‘We the people’, and the quiz show ‘Are you smarter than a fifth grader?’ can be potent language teaching tools.

One of the great advantages of video is that it provides authentic language input. Movies and TV programs are made for native speakers, so in that sense video provides authentic linguistic input. Students in Bihar are usually taught to memorize some grammar rules and vocabulary; the actual ability to use the language may or may not follow. When faced with a real native speaker, they panic. The unfortunate situation prevalent today, especially in the ELT ‘teaching shops’ is that ELT teachers in are not native speakers of English, and in this context, the judiciously used film/TV show can be used as a substitute for the ‘authentic’ native speaker.

[1] Central Board of Secondary Education
[2] Katchen, J. E. (1996). Using authentic video in English language teaching: Tips for Taiwan’s teachers. Taipei: Crane.

[3] ibid


Author: Frank Krishner
Frank Krishner is a journalist, film-maker and documentation specialist who has authored the weekly column “Wordsmith” on English usage in the Education Times (Times of India). He has been teaching mass communication at Patna Women’s College for the past decade.