Use of Audio-Visual Aids in Foreign Language Teaching [613173]

Use of Audio-Visual Aids in Foreign Language Teaching
Author(s): Laura B. Johnson
Source: The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 30, No. 7 (Nov., 1946), pp. 404-412
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations
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Use of Audio-Visual Aids in Foreign Language
Teaching
LAURA B. JOHNSON
Wisconsin High School, Madison, Wisconsin
(Author's summary. There is no academic subject in which all kinds of audio-visual aids are so
essential for the achievement of both linguistic and cultural objectives as in the field of foreign
languages. Use of such material should be carefully planned and utilized as an integral part of
the course; the use of audio-visual aids does not interrupt the learning; it is a vital part of the
learning process.)
M ANY things have contributed to the renewed interest that the general
public is taking in the study of modern languages. The publicity
given to the A.S.T.P. in radio, newspapers, and magazines, and the reports
of returning veterans help to keep this interest alive. If we are to exploit
this favorable situation, we teachers of foreign languages must do three
things: a. continue the present emphasis on the oral and aural aspects of
language study; b. include background material to replace the area studies
emphasized in the army program, and c. make use of the many mechanical
aids that are now available.
It is no longer permissible to base a foreign language study exclusively on
text-book material. It is as essential in language work as in science studies
to have access to a laboratory. Instead of gas jets and test tubes, our
linguistic equipment will include a piano, a victrola, a radio, a recording
machine, a screen with projector for films, filmstrips and slides, maps, wall
charts, bulletin boards, flags, games, illustrated books, magazines, news-
papers, and pamphlets, costumes, products of foreign countries.
This equipment is not to be thought of as delightful "frills" to sugar-
coat the course, but as basic tools for facilitating the learning of many
aspects of the language, such as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar as
well as for acquiring information about the history, geography, art, music,
economy, living standards and customs of the various countries, and
through such knowledge, for building desirable attitudes of sympathy,
understanding and appreciation.
All foreign study should be thought of as a sort of vicarious travel, and as
many travel experiences as possible should be reproduced in the classroom
by means of victrola records, radio programs, films and other audio-visual
aids. How to find time to use this equipment should be no more of a problem
for us than it is for a science teacher to find time for laboratory work. To try
to teach without it should be as unthinkable for us as for him. It is rather a
question of what equipment is available and how it can be used most
effectively. In order to clarify our thinking let me suggest that we have
three clearly marked aims: 1. to teach the language itself; 2. to give as much
information as possible about the civilization that produced that language;
404
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USE OF AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS 405
3. to develop constructive attitudes of international understanding and good
will. These aims are not mutually exclusive; they often overlap and they
always enrich and supplement each other. But let us take them up one at a
time.
What contribution can audio-visual aids make to the achievement of
these goals? If, by teaching the language, we mean the four-fold aim, we
must break it down into teaching the students to understand, speak, read
and write the language. In developing ability to read and write, audio-visual
aids are only of indirect advantage, to the extent to which they enable the
student to achieve ability to pronounce, add to his vocabulary or familiarize
him with grammatical usage, as basic tools with which to build; but, if
speaking and understanding the spoken language are admitted as legitimate
objectives in our course, then the inclusion of these mechanical aids in our
language curriculum becomes imperative. Pupils can learn to understand
only by having many opportunities to hear the language. Effective use of
victrola records with and without the script emphasizes the importance of
correct pronunciation of individual sounds and words, and clear enunciation
of complete phrases. It trains students to listen, to distinguish differences in
sounds and to imitate what they hear.
How these records should be used will depend on many things-the type
of record involved, the length of time at the teacher's disposal, the objective
of the exercise–whether the emphasis is to be on development of aural
comprehension, improvement of pronunciation, or aesthetic satisfaction. If
the record is to be used for improvement of pronunciation, a text in the form
of a dialogue or conversation lends itself to repetition and drill in many
different ways. For instance, after any new words have been explained, the
students could listen to the record with the text before them, then listen a
second time without the text, for the sake of ear-training. Then they might
be asked to repeat as many phrases or sentences as they could remember. In
a first year class in Spanish recently, after hearing a record twice without
ever seeing the text, the students could repeat, by memory, about sixteen
short sentences. This number could undoubtedly be increased by additional
practice in this type of aural and oral drill. Subsequently, the text could be
practiced, impersonated, dramatized and even memorized by the students
with frequent replaying of the record to correct and perfect the pronuncia-
tion. Students could make up their own conversations based on the text,
learning to imitate intonation and accent at the same time that they are
learning to imitate idiom and speech patterns. Let him explain it who can;
the fact remains that a victrola record, by its very impersonal objectivity,
perhaps, has a validity, an authenticity, not to say an authority that the
teacher lacks. And it has been my experience that the pupils try harder to
imitate a recording than they do to imitate the teacher-especially if it is
dramatic or amusing, with appropriate sound effects, like train whistles or
taxi horns. An excellent linguistic exercise for a student of language on any
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406 LAURA B. JOHNSON
level is to read aloud simultaneously with the record. One learns a great deal
about speed, pauses, word grouping, stress and intonation.
To be most effective these records should be made available to the stu-
dents through the use of ear phones, if necessary, during their study hours;
and call it blackmail or motivation, students should occasionally be graded
on their pronunciation. What is important is always tested by the teacher,
and conversely, what is to be tested becomes important to the student.
Recordings of folksongs with which the students are already familiar or
which they are about to learn again emphasize, in a pleasurable way, correct
sounds, accentuation and stress. For more advanced students, dramatized
recordings, reading of poetry or literary prose can be used not only for
pronunciation drills, but to set a high standard of excellence toward which to
aspire, or merely for the aesthetic satisfaction of hearing the language
beautifully spoken. The student who has not learned to enjoy the sounds
of the language apart from or in addition to the meaning has been deprived
of one of the greatest satisfactions of language learning. And for creating
atmosphere for club activities, special fiestas, and assembly programs and
for accompanying songs, dances and dramatizations, nothing can take the
place of albums of French, Spanish or Latin-American music.
Another device for creating a desire to pronounce well is the making of
records of the students' pronunciation. This is a very time-consuming pro-
cedure and is apt to get crowded out of a busy schedule, especially if the
classes are large. Such an opportunity might be offered as a reward for the
best ones or remedial work for those who need additional help.
There are, as yet, too few teaching films available in which simple
French or Spanish is spoken. There are some excellent French and Mexican
feature films with English captions in which even beginning students can
identify and understand many words, phrases and sentences. Much could be
done in developing aural comprehension, if such films could be shown twice
with class discussion and vocabulary drill as preparation. There is, perhaps,
no area of language teaching in which there is such need for development of
suitable materials and it is a matter of some surprise to me that commercial
companies have been so slow in providing them, or teachers so slow in
demanding them. The sooner we clamor for them, the sooner we will get
adequate mechanical aids, but we ourselves must see the possibilities in
their use.
Most Spanish teachers are doubtless familiar with the excellent teaching
film, Buenos Dias, Carmelita. The showing of such a film might have a
three-fold objective: 1. to build vocabulary; 2. to develop aural compre-
hension; 3. to increase facility in self-expression. In order to measure
achievement in these three areas, the film was shown on two successive days
in both first and second year classes without any preliminary preparation
and the same test was given on both days. The vocabulary test, which was
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USE OF AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS 407
dictated, consisted of 27 words used in short simple sentences. Although
there was improvement in nearly every instance, and some students recog-
nized as many as 14 or 15 new words, the results would not seem to justify
the use of a film as a means of presenting new vocabulary. The results would
undoubtedly have been more satisfactory if the words had been adequately
presented before the showing of the film. If that had been done, I think there
would have been almost 100% mastery of the meanings and a high degree of
retention if they had been tested a week later. Such an opinion remains to
be vindicated by further experimentation.
There was only slight improvement in aural comprehension as tested by
questions asked in Spanish to be answered in English. This was due to the
fact that a second showing of the film did not reveal the meaning of un-
familiar words not understood at the first showing. This was, perhaps, to be
expected.
The greatest improvement was shown in their facility in expressing
themselves. Although there was no great increase in the number of sentences
they wrote after the second showing, there was a marked increase in the
number of words they used that had been used in the film. In many instances
there seemed to be an unconscious echo and many of the phrases and words
of the text were written down verbatim. It is not without significance, I
think, that ever since the showing of the film, the excuses for absence and
tardiness have been written in Spanish.
Because of the nature of the subject matter, the vivid, dynamic way the
words and situations were presented, such a film seems ideally suited to
develop oral facility, based on a practical vocabulary. Whether the teacher
uses the film as drill material or not, it should be included in the program
as a vital learning experience; and the showing of the film should be fol-
lowed up by some teaching or testing devices. Otherwise, it becomes merely
a pleasant, but somewhat meaningless interlude. One reason why teachers
are often slow to utilize these mechanical devices is that they think of them
as unnecessary interruptions in the business of learning, instead of including
them as vital steps in the learning process.
In speaking of visual aids, we tend to limit our thinking to movie films,
but they include all materials that can be seen, beginning, for instance, with
something as simple and obvious as a map of France or South America and
ending with a four-reel film on the Pan-American Highway. Here again,
visual aids may be used for the attainment of any or all objectives. In
linguistic training, it is rather in the field of grammatical usage, the de-
velopment of vocabulary and idiom, that visual aids are of inestimable
value. What easier way, for instance, could one invent for teaching two of
the main uses of these eternal bugbears of elementary students ser and estar,
than by pointing to places on a map of S. A. with the comments-Buenos
Aires estA en la Argentina–Santiago est en Chile-or Lima es la capital del
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408 LAURA B. JOHNSON
Peri–Bogoti es la capital de Colombia? I know of no better way to teach
the geography of France, and at the same time the correct usage of preposi-
tions and the definite article as well as such idiomatic phrases as "Il fait
chaud en Provence" or "Il pleut souvent en Bretagne," etc. than by point-
ing to the places on the map as the phrases are being repeated. Almost any
speech pattern could be utilized such as "Je voudrais aller en Normandie"
or "Quand j'irai en France, j'irai a Marseille" or "Si je voyageais en France,
j'irais en Alsace" ad infinitum.
Lantern slides, too, can serve a useful purpose in developing oral facility.
At the end of a week's study on "El Patio," each student in a first year class
was given a postal card of a patio and was told to prepare a description of it
in Spanish. Some were in Spain, some in Mexico, some in S. A., some in
New Orleans and California. They were in private homes, schools, hotels,
convents, public buildings. These pictures were thrown on a screen and each
student in turn described his or her picture in fluent and idiomatic Spanish.
Instead of writing a test on this unit, these students had the satisfaction of
finding themselves giving an illustrated lecture in a foreign language and
surprised and delighted their teacher by repeating almost unconsciously
such Castilian speech patterns as "Aqui tienen Vds-aqui se ve-se puede
entrar en el patio; ne se pone el auto en el garage sino en el patio. Este patio
sirve para comedor." Many of the sentences were identical but their repeti-
tion was made bearable by the fact that all the pictures were different.
Such a class exercise fills a double function; in addition to giving the
speakers a chance to express themselves in a foreign language, it gives the
audience contact, as in actual travel, with many different kinds of patios in
many lands. Implicit in the use of patios in local architecture is a difference
in climate, historic tradition and ways of living that furnishes the basis for
an interesting class discussion of national differences, causes for those
differences, foreign influences in the U. S., infiltration of Spanish words into
the English language, relationship of history and language.
I don't know whether the game of Bingo belongs properly among audio-
visual aids but the numbers are certainly both audible and visible; and I
know of no more effective device for teaching and testing numbers than by
playing Bingo even if a Puritanical clientele might make it seem advisable
to call it "Lotto."
When a beginning class in French had completed a unit on Jeanne
d'Arc, appropriate pictures were projected on a screen and the students
were invited to formulate sentences in French summarizing what they had
learned. The ingenuity with which they utilized vocabulary and speech
patterns memorized in other contexts was a source of constant amazement
to the teacher.
As part of a final examination in an elementary conversation class in
French, the teacher threw on the screen pictures showing typical views of
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USE OF AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS 409
Brittany, Normandy, Alsace and Provence. The pupils were called upon to
identify in French the province represented and justify their opinion by
significant comments in French-again utilizing vocabulary and idioms that
had been assimilated during the study of the text.
As a means of developing appreciation, sympathy and understanding of
France, no more satisfactory tool for learning can be suggested than the
excellent film strip entitled "The People of France" recently published by
Film Publishers, Inc., 12 E. 44th St., N. Y. 17, N. Y. And as a means of
supplementing the students' general cultural background, the set of colored
slides sent out by "Services du Conseiller Culturel," 934 Fifth Ave., N. Y,
will give even beginners in the language vital, if brief contact, with the his-
tory of French Art. Just listing the names of the artists represented and
basing phonetic drill on such significant content would alone justify the use
of this material.
So much for our first objective, that of learning the language itself. In
order to achieve our second-i.e. to give as much information as possible, we
will find the many excellent films now available of invaluable help. In
"Focus on Learning" by Charles F. Hoban, the author says: "One of the
major values of motion pictures is not that they entertain the students but
that they develop interest among them. After seeing a film, nearly half the
students indicate a desire to carry on some form of research and reporting
activities. To be successfully used, films should have a definite and func-
tional relation to other materials and activities within the unit. They should
neither be isolated within this series of experiences nor tacked on as an ap-
pendage."
The use of such a documentary film as "Our Neighbors Down the Road"
can be made much more significant and effective if an entire unit is built
around it, relating to it other learning activities such as making of a map of
S. A. or of different South American countries, presentation of various topics
as chosen by individual pupils and the preparation of a Latin-American
exhibit. The "frame of reference" for such a unit might well be a chapter in
the textbook on the Pan-American Highway. After the textbook material
has been adequately covered by oral and written exercises, pupils may
choose the activities in which they prefer to engage. The film may be shown
at the beginning, as a means of opening up the whole subject, creating an
interest in it, or at the end, as a summary of the class reports and activities,
but, in either case the showing of the film becomes an integral part of the
unit.
At the same time that students are learning, through the use of illustra-
tive material, facts about the history, geography, climate, economics,
standard of living, racial makeup of foreign countries, they can acquire in-
sight into their problems, sympathy for their difficulties and appreciation of
their culture. In order to determine whether or not such linguistic and
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410 LA URA B. JOHNSON
cultural objectives are reached by the use of visual aids, let us permit the stu-
dents to speak for themselves. At the end of a five day unit on the Pan-
American Highway, during which the previously described activities had
been carried out, the students were asked to write an unsigned answer to
the question "What did you get out of this unit?"
One student wrote:
A better understanding of South American people
A good idea of what each country looks like, and some characteristics
I became more interested in learning Spanish
A more adequate understanding of the need for friendly relations
A knowledge of the worth of the South American people
Another said:
I think that this has been a very interesting unit. I have learned much despite the fact
that I missed the film. The booklets from which we got the information for our speeches are
full of pertinent, interesting facts about many of the South American countries. The story in
our book, the pictures, the exhibit (which is really very good) all have contributed to making
this an unusually interesting chapcer.
A third one wrote:
I have learned to know the countries of South America better through the film. I didn't
realize the length of the Pan-American Highway and the different kinds of lands that the road
goes through. I also learned to use the map more through recitation in class. 1 got a general
idea of how the people of those countries live and work and what some of their customs are.
Another expressed himself thus:
This unit on the Pan-American Highway has been very interesting for me. One of my
main ambitions for later on is to travel around South America. This highway would be one
way of doing it. I found out so many more things about the highway and South America that
I hadn't known, through this unit. For instance-
1. The movie-I never thought of such a vivid contrast between primitive and modern
in South America. I knew there was some contrast, but not that much.
2. The route of the Pan-American Highway and what parts are completed. The movie
showed the types of roads and the weather effects upon them.
3. The story and reports gave me an idea of the countries themselves (much more de-
tailed than any previous one.
Still another:
The unit has helped me see the great length and magnificence of the highway which I
hardly thought about at all before. It shows that countries can cooperate very well when they
have to. It helps promote the "good neighbor" policy. I see now the great contrasts in South
America between the modern and old things. For example, the airlines, subways, and some
modern buildings next to barefoot Indians and ancient ways of agriculture. It is a conflict
between modern and ancient civilizations. It has made me feel closer to the people of South
America, especially the thought that it is possible to get there by automobile.
And another:
I enjoyed this chapter in the book more than any other. It is much more interesting to be
able to actually see what we have been reading of and discussing, rather than just sticking to
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USE OF AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS 411
the book. Preparing our paragraphs today was much more helpful than doing themes because
I found problems in the sort of sentence construction and the type of writing I would be doing
and was able to get help on them.
And finally:
1. The mixed influences in South America-Spanish, Colonial, Indian and modern.
2. The necessity and importance of the Pan-American Highway, especially to the South
American countries. I hadn't realized that transportation was so poor down there.
3. The bright, colorful things in the exhibit helped me to realize a bit how the Indians
live and dress, the beauty of their handwork, and an example of the types of things
to be seen or bought while traveling on the highway.
4. The very beautiful scenery and interesting customs to be seen in South America.
The fact that such a unit was planned by the pupils themselves under
the teacher's guidance and that therefore they chose the activities in which
they preferred to engage, is of significance as a source of motivation. They
"asked for it," so to speak, and therefore assumed more responsibility and
took more interest than they would otherwise have done, in setting up the
exhibit, making maps, reading and preparing reports on their chosen topics.
As a result of their individual and group efforts, the whole class acquired
adequate information on which to build for further study and on which to
base constructive attitudes of interest, understanding and appreciation.
Whatever time was lost from acquisition of vocabulary, or grammatical
drill was compensated for by the increased interest in Latin America and
hence, in the language, aroused by the topics, reports, map study and visual
aids used in the unit. In the subsequent reading of stories of South American
origin, setting and tradition, it was apparent that the students' understand-
ing and appreciation were greatly enhanced by the rather thorough geo-
graphical and economic background they had acquired during the carrying
out of the unit. And so, though the use of the film can hardly be said to have
improved their reading ability, there can be no doubt that by enriching their
background it increased their enjoyment and understanding of what they
read.
In closing, I repeat that visual aids are not limited to moving picture
films. All sorts of illustrative materials should be used such as the excellent
French and Latin-American calendars that were published last year,
colored reproductions of French and Spanish paintings, Ribera's murals,
the famous caricatures of Molina Campos, illustrations from Life magazine,
the excellent book on the Pan-American Highway by Harry Franck, such
books as France Will Live Again and Stones of France, Stones of Glory, the
splendid illustrated booklets and pamphlets published in the interest of the
Good Neighbor Policy. There should be a generous use of bulletin boards in
classroom, library or hallways for legitimate publicity and preparation of
exhibits of handicrafts from France, Spain and Latin-American countries.
Costumes, stage settings, dramatizations, gestures and impersonations,
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412 LAURA B. JOHNSON
folk dances, railroad posters, illustrated pamphlets issued by travel agencies,
all play their part in visual education and in helping to interpret the foreign
nation by other means and through other experiences than merely by verbal-
ization.
Closely allied to the second objective and dependent on it is our third
one-namely, to develop attitudes of interest in, curiosity about, and ap-
preciation for a foreign civilization-in other words, to develop a desirable
attitude of sympathy and understanding which can be based only on knowl-
edge and factual information. The comments of the students themselves
reveal to what an extent the Pan-American exhibit, the film, the study of
the maps and pictorial material increased their awareness, their interest,
their curiosity, their sympathy, their understanding and in some instances,
their appreciation and admiration of South American countries, and aroused
in them a desire to travel and see these places and people for themselves.
Even if this natural and praiseworthy desire is never to be fulfilled, to have
opened up to students of high school age, horizons beyond the corner drug-
store and the Junior Prom is not to have lived in vain, pedagogically
speaking. I am firmly convinced that there is no subject in the curriculum
to which the use of almost any and all kinds of audio-visual aids can con-
tribute more than in the field of modern languages. Let us, then, make
generous use of all the mechanical devices at our disposal and create an in-
sistent and persistent demand for bigger and better records, and films and
other aids to make our teaching of modern languages truly modern.
"AMERICANS, AWAKE TO LANGUAGE NEEDS!"
"FOREIGN LANGUAGES, AMERICA'S NEED FOR THE FUTURE!"
"FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR GLOBAL WAR AND GLOBAL PEACE!"
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