Video Content from the Web (página 2)

After having done different kind of activities in class, the
students will have the extension work which will be achieved by
the students as homework. They should consult the website that
appeared in the video and find out other websites related to the
same topic. After having found and read them, they should write a
summary and present it in a power point the next day in class
that will be a sequence of the previous day dealing with the same
topic but without using videos.

It can be said that students will achieve different kind of
activities taking into account the video selected. The main
purpose of the idea about using the video in this lesson is to
increase students" motivation and interest towards the
environment and to develop the listening, speaking, writing and
reading skills in the students. These are university students
studying in the first level English as a second language.

The evidence suggests that the use of videos is very useful
and important for both teachers and learners, but the students
are the most favoured. In the case of the video selected it will
develop students" target language, mainly the listening and
speaking skills because they have the possibility to listen to an
authentic material and then reproduce, talk and discuss about it.
The material presented will increase students" motivation and
interest towards the topic giving them the chance of adding a new
or different detail about with respect to this issue. Besides if
there is any student in class who was not interested in that
topic, after watching it, he/she can feel concern and might start
thinking about it. Then when students are learning and increasing
the knowledge about any topic they are acquiring not only the
knowledge concerning the target language, but also the culture
and this is another main benefit that can be acquired by the
means of the video. So, when talking about the benefits it is
also significant its contribution with respect to the development
of input. Students while watching and listening to the video are
absorbing and making an effort for understanding and
comprehending the information, so they are receiving an input
that after doing the activities and discussing in class with the
teacher and pair work with the students, this input will become
output and the target language will be highly developed. In this
sense, as students are acquiring the information through the eyes
and ears they are learning a new knowledge in an explicit way
that will be processed in their brains, this process is called
working memory. So, after students had done a variety of
activities that can repeat several times, it will be difficult
for them to forget them and also if the video had a great impact
on the students it also allows joined to the aspects mentioned
before, the transition from the working memory to the long term
memory.   

It is clear from the above that the use of this video is
beneficial for the students" development, but it also makes some
contribution to the lesson because as Gallacher L. considered
with respect to this topic, the video develops listening skills,
listening for global understanding and listening for detail, it
provides information, providing content relevant to students'
needs and interests, presenting or reinforcing language, grammar
or vocabulary. Additionally, the use of the video stimulates the
production of the language.  These are some aspects that
allow enriching the lesson through the use of the video.

Besides, despite the fact, the video is short; it motivates
students because it was spoken by natives and students enjoy
listening to them and watch real situations. Both elements are
evident in the video chosen and enhance the second language
lesson.

It is clear evident that using video in class offers excellent
opportunities for improving the teaching learning process of
languages. However, it is not easy when the teacher is planning
and writing the lesson, to find the appropriate video content
from the web, as a support of it, because as Stannard R. (2007)
argues it can take a long time to find
things that are suitable for use in class. The trouble is that
lots of the videos are too crazy, contain sexual images or really
don"t have much of a storyline.  So, the teacher should be
very careful when selecting the video for using in class, it
should be short interesting, and not very difficult to
understand, otherwise, students can feel uninspired and do not
pay attention to it.

That is why it is so important to achieve the motivation of
students trying to get them involve in all the activities, but
this is not an easy issue. The main key is the selection of the
videos. According to the video content chosen from the web it
adds important elements to the lesson that the teacher would not
achieve with out it, because, it shows images in movement such as
the aggressiveness of the sea crashing into the rocks, the
tractor deteriorating the plantations, the animals running away
trying to solve their lives, the video shows the cracks on the
streets due to the gasses in the atmosphere, the darkness in the
sky, so the whole environment getting worst every day. These
images from the video really cause a great impact on the students
that allow them to think about the damages in the atmosphere.
Besides the video provides an authentic English language, that
help students acquire the knowledge from the natives and this is
a very favourable aspect to take into account. The background of
the video is really amazing and makes students go deeper into the
dramatic situation and it allows them to understand better the
content of the video. 

To conclude it can be said, that there are several reasons why
the use of videos is beneficial to the teaching learning process
of the languages in general. First, it contributes to the
students" improvement, mainly in terms of linguistic and culture
and second, it is a great support for an efficient development of
the language lesson.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gallacher, L., (undated). Video and young learners
1. BBC World Service Bush House, Strand London,
UK.

Available from:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/resources/video_young1.shtml

[Accessed 26th December, 2007]

Central Office of Information for Department for Environment
Food and Rural Affairs (2005). Climate Change – Tomorrow"s
Climate – Today"s Challenge. Public Information Films.

Available from: http:// www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

[Accessed 26th December, 2007]

Stannard, R., (2007). Russell Stannard finds some funny films to feature in
his classes. 49- WEBWATCHER R. English
Teaching Professional. Publishing Ltd. U.K

Dudeney, G. and Hockly, N., (2007).
How to teach English with technology. Pearson Education
Limited. England.

Pictures from the video content title "Climate Change-
Tomorrow"s Climate- Today"s Challenge".

Autor:

Yordanka Brunet Valle