Monday, July 9, 2012

Summary of The Use Media in Language Teaching


SUMARRY OF
THE USE OF MEDIA IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
(Written by: Donna M. Brinton)


By:
Teguh Raharjo
NIM : 100221509261

Abstract – In “The Use of Media in Language Teaching.” Brinton presents a rationale for and an overview of media materials and equipment traditionally used in second/foreign language classroom. To better guie teachers in their use of media, she provides a five-part framework for structuring media-based language lessons, accompanied by a variety of sample lessons that illustrate this framework.


A.    INTRODUCTION
As a tool for language learning/teaching, media have undoubtedly always facilitated the task of language learning for both instructed and non-instructed learners. In the second language classroom, the extent to which media are used has varied widely, depending on the methodology selected.
In other methods, media are relegated more to the design or procedure level. In communicative language teaching, much emphasis is placed on the need for real-life objects or texts (maps, railroad time tables, application forms) to lend authenticity to the communicative situation. In the Natural Approach, magazine pictures are used as an elicitation device in the listening comprehension and early production stages, and charts, maps, and props are used to motivate and enhance communicative interchange in later stages of acquisition. The last in experiential approaches to language learning, language teaching media are often taken out of the hands of the teacher and placed in the hands of   the students. Whatever the approach, language teachers seem to agree that media can and do enhance language teaching.

B.     MEDIA: A DEFINITION
            The definition of media is media means many different things to different people. The most immediate connotation of the term “media” at least must be related to language teaching. All aids, mechanical and non-mechanical, glossy and non-glossy, commercially available and teacher-made, should be part of our definition of language teaching media.
C.    A RATIONALE FOR THE USE OF MEDIA IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
The reasons why we should use media when teaching second or foreign language are self-evident to experienced classroom teachers. In short, media help us to motivate students by bringing a slice of real life into the classroom and by presenting language in its more complete communicative context. The following statements summarize the rationale for using media in the language classroom:
§  Given the role media play in the world outside the classroom, students expect to find media inside the classroom as well.
§  Audiovisual materials provide students with content, meaning, and guidance.
§  Media materials can lend authenticity to the classroom situation, reinforcing for students the direct relation between the language classroom and the outside world.
§  Since the learning styles of students differ, media provide us with a way of addressing the needs of both visual and auditory learners.
§  The role that input plays in language learning is virtually uncontested. By bringing media into the classroom, teachers can expose their students to multiple input sources.
§  Media can help students call up existing schemata and therefore maximize their use of prior background knowledge in the language learning process.
§  Media provide teachers with a means of presenting material in a time-efficient and compact manner and of stimulating students’ senses.
D.    CLASSROOM MEDIA: AN OVERVIEW
1.      Nontechnical Media
The advantages of this category are in setting where electricity is unreliable, technical resources are scare, funding is limited, low cost, availability, accessibility, and user-friendliness. Items that belong in this category typically include: blackboard, whiteboard, pegboard, flashcard, poster, photo, cartoon, object, newspaper, magazine, etc.
2.      Technical Media
These forms are costlier and less user-friendly than nontechnical media, however they carry with them a larger degree of “psychological reality” in that they can bring the outside world in all its complexities into the classroom. Items that belong in this category typically include: record player, CD player, television, telephone, OHP, film projector, computer language lab, multimedia lab, etc.

E.     GUIDELINES FOR USING MEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM
In fact, guidelines for selection, adaptation, development, and implementation of media-based materials do not differ radically from the kinds of guidelines we find mentioned more universally regarding lesson planning and textbook evaluation.

F.     A FRAMEWORK FOR STRUCTURING MEDIA LESSONS
The framework is intended to put the application of media to language teaching into a unified perspective and to assist teachers in better structuring media lessons. In constructing this framework, Brinton had divided up the typical “lesson” into five stages:
1.      The information and motivation stage
The topic and relevant background information are presented.
2.      The input stage
The teacher ensures comprehension of the item or items presented.
3.      The focus stage
The students practice the tasks and are provided with guided opportunities to manipulate items until they feel comfortable and confident.
4.      The more communicatively oriented transfer stage
The students are given opportunities to offer personal comments or share experiences relating to the given context.
5.      An optional feedback stage
Audio or video recordings of students are used to guide the assessments of the students, performance.

G.    CONCLUSION
Instructional media come in an almost infinite variety of forms and can play equally varied roles. The following are factors that should be considered when incorporating instructional media into our language teaching goals:
§  Type of skill/concept to be presented
§  Student preference: the age, interests, experiences, and learning styles of the students concerned.
§  Teacher preference: facility with equipment, familiarity/adroitness with the given medium, teaching style.
§  Availability of software and hardware
§  Physical circumstances of the classroom/lab
We should keep in mind that language teaching is a collective title for a variety of activities undertaken by different people in very different circumstances.
Use media materials:
§  when variety is called for
§  when they help you to reinforce the points you wish to make or serve as contextualization
§  when they expedite your teaching task and serve as source of input
§  when they help you to individualize instruction and appeal to the variety of cognitive styles in your classroom.

























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