CHART

A chart is a good means or aid of teaching.  It brings environment to the process of teaching inside the class
indirectly.  Instead of visiting the actual fields of a lesson in real life, the chart can bring such scene into class to
be seen by learners.  The purpose is to give life to the theoretical learning. It facilitates the process of
presentation in class. A chart is a useful way to present and display information or instructions, especially in a
classroom or other educational situation. It can range from a large wall chart to a single piece of paper. A chart is
an excellent tool that can help students become independent thinkers and problem solvers. Although the
standards are complex, when the processes are broken down and displayed for students, they can more easily
internalize and master them. Charts don’t have to be perfect! They are most successful when they are created by
or with students, and modified or altered as students’ understanding of the concept changes.
-A chart is a group of related facts presented in the form of
-a diagram, table, graph, or other visually organized model.

Kind of chart include:

1. Alphabet chart.
2. Consonant chart.
3. Enlarged primer page.
4. Number chart.
5. Punctuation chart.
6. Song chart.
7. Vowel chart.

How can teachers create charts?

1. Charts should reflect the students’ reading level. Smarter Charts recommends that the charts created in the
classroom mimic the amount of print on a page, the spacing between words and the number of lines of print that
children are used to seeing in their reading. Therefore, first grade charts would look much different from fourth or
fifth grade charts.

2. Charts should be created with students so that they have some ownership of what goes on it, and will
therefore refer to it. It is not necessary that the entire chart is created together, but it should not be something
that is completely pre-made either. Charts should be a work in progress, one that helps students to remember
the major points of the mini lessons you teach.

3. There has to be some system in place that helps students to remember to refer to charts when needed. After
all, that is why they are created…to help students become independent problem solvers! Systems could include
simple things such as having students post-it note the chart they used (or want to use); students can sign charts
they have become “expert” on and then other students can go to them for help; teachers could ask students
“Which chart could help you with that?” during mini-lessons, after workshop shares or conferences. The idea is to
constantly remind students to use the charts and information that is available to them. They are NOT wallpaper!

Characteristics of Charts:

– be clear, easy to understand and easy to find.

– display content that is current and supports complex skills.
– have a clear purpose.
– include steps for how to do specific strategies or procedures.
– have visuals including symbols, pictures, or photos to go with word

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Example of a chart, is the K.W.L.

FLASH CARDS

Flash cards are a simple, versatile, yet often underexploited resource

Why use flash cards?

Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory reminds teachers that there are many types of learners within any
one class. Gardner's research indicates that teachers should aim to appeal to all the different learner types at
some point during the course. It is particularly important to appeal to visual learners, as a very high proportion of
learners have this type of intelligence. Flash cards can be bright and colorful and make a real impact on visual
learners. Many of the activities outlined below will also appeal to kinesthetic learners.

For children at reading age, flash cards can be used in conjunction with word cards. These are simply cards that
display the written word. Word cards should be introduced well after the pictorial cards so as not to interfere with
correct pronunciation.

Flash cards are a really handy resource to have and can be useful at every stage of the class. They are a great
way to present, practice and recycle vocabulary and when students become familiar with the activities used in
class, they can be given out to early-finishers to use in small groups. I sometimes get the students to make their
own sets of mini flash cards that can be taken home for them to play with, with parents and siblings.

Where to get flash cards?

 Buy them. Some course books provide a supplementary pack of flash cards or they can be bought in
sets.

 Make them yourself. If you don't have access to professionally produced flash cards, don't worry, it's
really easy to make your own even if you're not very artistic. You can use pictures from magazines,
draw simple pictures or copy from the internet or clip art. The most important thing is to make sure they
are all of the same size, on card (different colors for different sets) so you can't see through them. If
possible you can laminate the sets as you make them and they will last for years. The advantage of
making your own, apart from the fact that they're cheap and yours to keep, is that you can make sets for

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 your specific needs. You may like to make a set to use in conjunction with a story book or graded
reader, or even to accompany project work.

 Students make them. Begin to incorporate the production of flash cards into the classroom. After
introducing a new lexical set, using realia or the course book, ask students to produce the flash cards
for you. Give each one an item to draw. They can be mounted on card to make the set.

Activities for using flash cards

Memory activities

 Memory Tester
o Place a selection of flash cards on the floor in a circle.
o Students have one minute to memorize the cards.
o In groups, they have two minutes to write as many of the names as they can remember.

Drilling activities

 Invisible Flash cards

o Stick nine flash cards on the board and draw a grid around them.
o Use a pen or a pointer to drill the nine words. Always point to the flash card you are drilling.
o Gradually remove the flash cards but continue to drill and point to the grid where the flash card
was.
o When the first card is removed and you point to the blank space, nod your head to encourage
children to say the word of the removed flash card.
o Students should remember and continue as if the flash cards were still there. They seem to be
amazed that they can remember the pictures.
o Depending on the age group, put the flash cards back in the right place on the grid, asking the
children where they go, or ask students to come up and write the word in the correct place on
the grid.

This activity highlights the impact of visual aids. It really proves that the images 'stick' in students' minds.

Identification activities

 Reveal the word

o Cover the flash card or word card with a piece of card and slowly reveal it.
o Students guess which one it is.
o Once the card is shown, chorally drill the word with the group using different intonation and silly
voices to keep it fun. Vary the volume too, whisper and shout the words. Children will
automatically copy your voice.
o Alternatively, flip the card over very quickly so the children just get a quick glimpse.
o Repeat until they have guessed the word.

Total Physical Response (TPR) activities

 Point or race to the flash cards

o Stick flash cards around the class.
o Say one of them and students point or race to it.
o Students can then give the instructions to classmates.

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 o You can extend this by saying 'hop to the cat' or even 'if you have blonde hair, swim to the fish'
etc.
o You can also incorporate flash cards into a game of Simon Says. 'Simon says, jump to the T-
shirt' etc.

POCKET CHARTS
What is Pocket Charts?

A pocket chart is a specific type of storage system with plastic pockets that many teachers use in their
classrooms for organization and lesson planning. Usually made of vinyl, a pocket chart has metal eyelets at the
top for easy hanging and plastic pockets sewn on the front. Pocket charts vary in size, color, and style and can
serve many different purposes.
In the classroom, the possible uses for a pocket chart are nearly endless. Teachers can place pieces of
paper or cardstock into the individual pockets, creating anything from attendance and behavior charts to a lesson
plan for spelling, reading, or writing. A pocket chart with very large pockets can be used to hold student’s folders
or schoolwork, while charts with smaller pockets could be used to create calendars or used to hold monthly
curriculum themes for various classroom centers. Teachers can also insert prompts for journaling and foreign
language lessons.
Since pocket charts are available in a variety of sizes and are reasonably priced, they make an ideal
organizational and display tool. Though most are square or rectangular in shape, some pocket charts come in
fun shapes like apples. They can be used interactively in the classroom when combined with specially designed
flashcards made for teaching numbers, letters, sequencing, and more.
Pocket charts serve a wide variety of purposes in the classroom, but they can be used at home for
some of the same purposes. Parents can organize children’s schoolwork, keep school supplies handy, and store
reference books and supplemental workbooks all in one place. When using a pocket chart at home, be sure to
place it at a level where children can easily reach it. A pocket chart can also be a useful organizational tool for
the office.

FLANNEL BOARD
Flannelgraph (also called flannel board or flannelgram) is a storytelling system that uses a board
covered with flannel fabric, usually resting on an easel. It is very similar to Fuzzy Felt, although its primary use is
as a storytelling medium, rather than as a toy. The flannel board is usually painted to depict a background scene
appropriate to the story being told. Paper cutouts of characters and objects in the story are then placed on the
board, and moved around, as the story unfolds. These cutouts are backed, either with flannel, or with some other
substance that adheres lightly to the flannel background, such as coarse sandpaper.

Plain, undecorated flannel boards can also be used as a visual aid during presentations, allowing the speaker to
display and remove charts and graphs as needed.
Covered in colored cloth, a flannel board is a beautiful way to teach very young children about the
alphabet, allegorical tales and more. A flannel board, or felt board, helps a child explore stories, use their
imagination, improve fine motor skills and open up their creativity with shapes, colors and objects. Sturdy but
covered in soft cloth, a flannel board is a benefit to small children as well as teachers who are looking for a way
to change up typical teachable moments.

Flannel Board Ideas

Made for retelling simple stories from classic books such as Mother Goose or the Brothers Grimm,
flannel boards are fun on many levels. Add googly eyes, buttons and other craft items to increase the level of
play on a flannel board. Get creative.
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 For counting, cut out tan triangles and use them for cones and add up the scoops of ice cream or
semicircle shapes in a wide variety of colors. Make monsters by trimming the corner on one side of a square and
add hair, eyes, mustaches and more. Have a competition as to who can come up with the scariest, most colorful
or decorated monster on a flannel board.
Flannel Board for Education

Teachers often reach for the flannel board to assist children with learning fables, the alphabet and how to
count to 10 as well as by 10, the basics of a young child’s curriculum. The visual aid assists with fine motor skills
as well as increases the child’s learning abilities. It can be used as a counting board, alphabet board, sorting
shapes space and more. Little hands can manipulate the soft fabric easily on the flannel board.

How to make Flannel Board

You can buy a flannel board on Amazon or at big box craft and toy stores, but you can also make your own for a
fairly low price and finish it in a small amount of time. Choose flannel that will make a fun and interesting
background for storytelling. A pale green one can double as grass or a field. A blue background makes for
beautiful skies, and beige backgrounds can let a child’s imagination soar with the possibilities.

Buy a sturdy wooden board that is not too heavy or awkward to hold and is big enough for children to manipulate
characters on the felt background. Glue or a staple gun will affix the flannel securely to the board. Although
staples can eventually tear at the flannel, so be careful in your stapling and position of the staples so that they
don’t catch on tiny fingers.

A canvas for painting can also serve as a handy board to adhere the flannel to with glue or Modge Podge. A
large canvas can work for teaching, while small, handheld ones can be used by individual children in a group.
After the flannel is fixed on the board or canvas, trim any excess so that it won’t easily be torn by tiny hands. Etsy
flannel characters can add to your stable of flannel fun shapes.

SONGS, VERSE AND GAMES FOR TEACHING GRAMMAR

Grammar teaching has often been regarded as a structure based, formal activity. After the integration of
several sources and techniques, which are mainly based on communicative activities, the teaching of grammar
gained a new insight. In the teaching of grammar, technique-resource combinations are often modified to
structure-discourse match and if well developed, they can be used effectively for all phases of a grammar lesson.
In order to make a grammar lesson effective, beneficial, and interesting a teacher should use some well-
developed and fascinating techniques in the classroom. In the present paper, the examples of such integrated
sources and techniques -the use of songs, verse, games, and problem solving activities- will be clarified and
several examples will be provided.

Using Songs and Verse

Songs
Since the meaning is an important device in teaching grammar, it is important to contextualize any
grammar point. Songs are one of the most enchanting and culturally rich resources that can easily be used in
language classrooms. Songs offer a change from routine classroom activities. They are precious resources to
develop students’ abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They can also be used to teach a variety of
language items such as sentence patterns, vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, adjectives, and adverbs. As
stated by Lo and Fai Li (1998:8), learning English through songs also provides a non-threatening atmosphere for
students, who usually are tense when speaking English in a formal classroom setting.

Songs also give new insights into the target culture. They are the means through which cultural themes are
presented effectively. Since they provide authentic texts, they are motivating. Prosodic features of the language

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such as stress, rhythm, intonation are presented through songs, thus through using them the language which is
cut up into a series of structural points becomes a whole again.

There are many advantages of using songs in the classroom. Through using contemporary popular songs, which
are already familiar to teenagers, the teacher can meet the challenges of the teenage needs in the classroom.
Since songs are highly memorable and motivating, in many forms they may constitute a powerful subculture with
their own rituals. Furthermore, through using traditional folk songs the base of the learners’ knowledge of the
target culture can be broadened. Correctly chosen, traditional folk songs have the dual motivating attack of pretty
tunes and interesting stories, plus for many students- the added ingredient of novelty (Hill, 1999:29). Most songs,
especially folk songs, follow a regularly repeated verse form, with rhyme, and have a series of other discourse
features, which make them easy to follow.

In consequence, if selected properly and adopted carefully, a teacher should benefit from songs in all phases of
teaching grammar. Songs may both be used for the presentation or the practice phase of the grammar lesson.
They may encourage extensive and intensive listening, and inspire creativity and use of imagination in a relaxed
classroom atmosphere. While selecting a song the teacher should take the age, interests of the learners and the
language being used in the song into consideration. To enhance learner commitment, it is also beneficial to allow
learners to take part in the selection of the songs.

Teaching Procedure
There are various ways of using songs in the classroom. The level of the students, the interests and the age of
the learners, the grammar point to be studied, and the song itself have determinant roles on the procedure. Apart
from them, it mainly depends on the creativity of the teacher.

For primary students, the best songs would be those that are either familiar to the children or those, though
maybe not familiar, which have an international nature, such as Old MacDonald. Since there is not a strict
teaching procedure, the teacher can mainly concentrate on what to teach rather than on how to teach. For
instance, while teaching them individual letter sounds or spelling the words, the traditional camp song 'Bingo', or
while teaching them counting 'Johnny Works with One Hammer' will be useful. In order to make the songs more
meaningful and more enjoyable, motions can be added to the song which parallel the words of the song. Since
most children enjoy singing fun and nonsensical lyrics, using easy children songs will be useful. Furthermore,
choosing lively action songs through which they can dance or act while singing will ensure a lively atmosphere.

For teenagers or adults in the intermediate or advanced level, it is better to use more meaningful or popular
songs, which not only review or introduce grammar points but also reflect cultural aspects. At the primary level of
singing the song, the prosodic features of the language is emphasized. At the higher levels, where the practice of
grammar points is at the foreground, songs can be used with several techniques. Some examples of these
techniques are:

 Gap fills or close texts

 Focus questions
 True-false statements
 Put these lines into the correct sequence
 Dictation
 Add a final verse
 Circle the antonyms/synonyms of the given words
 Discuss

A teacher's selection of a technique or a set of techniques should be based on his or her objectives for the
classroom. After deciding the grammar point to be studied, and the song and the techniques to be used, the
teacher should prepare an effective lesson plan. Since songs are listening activities, it is advisable to present

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them as a listening lesson, but of course it is necessary to integrate all the skills in the process in order to
achieve successful teaching.

When regarding a lesson plan, as a pre-listening activity, the theme, the title, or the history of the song can be
discussed. By directing the students toward specific areas, problem vocabulary items can be picked up in
advance. Before listening to the song, it is also beneficial to let the students know which grammar points should
be studied. At this stage, pictures may also be used to introduce the theme of the song. In the listening stage,
some of the techniques listed above can be used, but among them gap filling is the most widely used technique.
Through such gaps, the vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation are highlighted. This stage can be developed by
the teacher according to the needs of the students and the grammar point to be studied.

In the follow-up, integrated skills can be used to complete the overall course structure. Since many songs are on
themes for which it is easy to find related reading texts, it may lead the learner to read a text about the singer or
the theme. Besides, many songs give a chance for a written reaction of some kind. Opinion questions may lead
the learner to write about his own thoughts or reflections. Some songs deal with a theme that can be re-exploited
through role plays. Acting may add enthusiasm to the learning process. Finally, some songs deal with themes,
which can lead to guided discussion. By leading the students into a discussion, the grammar point could be
practiced orally and, in a way, naturally.

Exploitation of songs for grammatical structures can be illustrated through several examples. For present tense
'Let It Be' by the Beatles, for past tense 'Yesterday' by the Beatles, for present progressive 'Sailing' by Rod
Stewart, for present perfect 'Nothing Compares to You' by Sinead Occonor, for past perfect 'Last Night I Had...'
by Simon and Garfunkel, for modals 'Blowing in the Wind' by Bob Dylan, and for conditionals 'El Condor Pasa' by
Simon and Garfunkel can be used. However, it should be kept in mind that songs, which provide frequent
repetitions, or tell a story, or provide comments about life, or introduce cultural themes are the effective ones,
since they provide authentic and meaningful material.

As a consequence, the use of songs in language classrooms provides many advantages. They entertain and
relax the learners while they are learning or practicing a structure, and they often eliminate the students negative
attitude towards learning. Through providing authenticity and context they make the grammar points more
understandable and easy. As language teachers, we can benefit from using songs, since our concern is to
motivate the students and draw their utmost attention on the subject during teaching.

Poems
Poems, like songs, contextualize a grammar lesson effectively. Since poetry is often spoken, repeated,
dealt with, and considered, it acts as an effective tool for practicing a specific grammatical structure. Through
repeating and considering the poem, the grammatical structures become more deeply internalized. Thus, poetry
not only provides a rewarding resource for structured practice of grammar, but also a proper basis for review. If a
poem that exemplifies a particular structure is also a good poem, it engages the eye, the ear and the tongue
simultaneously while also stimulating and moving us; this polymorphic effect makes poetry easier to memorize
than other things for many students (Celce-Murcia and Hills, 1988:123).

Like songs, poems exaggerate the rhythmic nature of the language. Thus it is an important aspect to be taught,
since English is a syllable timed language with stressed syllables being spoken at roughly equal time pauses,
even in everyday speech. Similar to songs, poems have an enormous linguistic value as they provide authenticity
and cultural views. A poem's capacity to comfort the reader or the listener also increases its effectiveness as a
teaching resource. Once a poem or song has been learned, they stay in the minds of the students for the rest of
their lives, with all the rhythms, grammatical features and vocabulary.

Poems may bring the use of creativity and the rhythm into the language classroom, though they may also bring
some difficulties. Poems are not constructed in a simple way and syntactically they are at a higher level than
prose, thus it might be very difficult for a foreign language learner to comprehend them completely. As stated by
Povey (cited in Celce-Murcia and Hills, 1988) there are three main barriers for literature including poetry. They
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are linguistic, cultural, and intellectual barriers. Linguistic difficulties are the problems caused by the syntax or the
lexicon of the poem. Cultural difficulties include imagery, tone, and allusion. At the intellectual level, the students
should be intellectual and mature enough to understand the theme of the poem. These difficulties could be easily
removed if the teacher provides a poem which is syntactically and thematically appropriate to the level, age and
the interests of the students. Thus, by removing or minimizing the potential problems, poetry can provide an
enormously rich, enjoyable and authentic context for foreign language learners.

In the selection of a poem, the teacher should first consider the grammatical structure to be presented, practiced,
or reviewed, then the level and the age of the students, next the theme and the length of the poem and its
appropriateness to the classroom objectives. It is advisable to select a poem from 20th century poets. As older
poems often provide a more difficult lexicon and syntax, and as they reflect some old-fashioned ideas, it is more
convenient to use contemporary poems than older ones. Poems, which reflect cultural themes, universal
features, humanistic values, or emotional aspects, will be more relevant to the foreign language learners. Finally,
through taking the classroom objectives into consideration, a teacher should effectively benefit from poems as
teaching aids.

Teaching Procedure
At the teaching stage of a poem, it is not advisable to talk about the meaning of the poem in advance.
Since they offer a reading and listening activity, poems could be presented through a reading plan. At the pre-
reading stage, students might be motivated through some enthusiastic talks about poetry or the poet. Some
necessary vocabulary can also be handled at this stage. At the reading stage, in order to create images and
stress the prosodic features, the teacher may want the students to close their eyes while he/she is reading the
poem. After the poem has been read at least twice, it is better to elicit the primary responses of the students
about the poem. Next, after distributing the poem to students, students may be asked to read it either loudly or
silently. In order to practice the determined grammar point, students may be asked to paraphrase the poem.
Through transforming the verse into prose students get acquainted with the structure.

After easing the grammar and understanding the vocabulary, students get an idea about the theme of the poem.
Reading the paraphrased poem reinforces the grammatical structure under consideration. Asking questions
about context may follow the reading. Through asking Wh- questions, providing additional information about the
culture, and asking students to share their experience with the subject matter, the cultural content of the poem
becomes more real and vivid. Words, pictures, and shared experiences can eliminate the gap that is created by
different cultures, as no one can deny that poems cannot always evoke the same sounds, sights, smells, and
associations for both native speakers and foreign language learners. After discussing the surface content of the
poem, students may again asked to close their eyes and visualize the poem while listening to it.

As a follow-up activity a discussion may be held. After reviewing the plot of the poem and providing adequate
artful questions, the students will eventually discover the deeper meaning of the poem. As being a facilitator, a
teacher should always avoid telling the meaning. After each student grasps his or her own meaning, it is proper
to discuss the depth of the poem. In this procedure, the teacher's aim is to support the students in their attempts
to understand the poem and make it relevant to their lives. Once they have understood it and perceived its
relevance, they will have no objection to practicing the poem or even memorizing it, for it will have become
special for them (Celce-Murcia and Hills, 1988:126). At the follow-up stage, providing the determined structure,
students may also be asked to write a poem about anything they want. In such a procedure the four skills are
effectively integrated to practice or present any grammar point.

Since every class is different, teachers should creativity determine the teaching procedure. It is not advisable to
apply one procedure too strictly. A teacher should adopt the activities according to the needs of the learners.
However, it might not be very useful to use poems for young students or for beginners. Instead of poems, using
nursery rhymes or songs would be more helpful since they provide more joyful and easier contexts. From pre-
intermediate to advanced levels, it is really beneficial to use either songs or poems. Several poems can be
adopted from contemporary poem books. The poems of the W.H. Auden, Robert Frost, Stanley Kunitz, Delmore

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Schwartz, W.D. Snodgrass, Theodore Roethke, Gary Snyder, Richard Wilbur, and Robert Lowell, etc. are
suggested for the language teachers who want to use poems in their grammar lessons.

Using Games and Problem-Solving Activities

The latest concern of the foreign language teachers is to make the students use the language
communicatively. After the realization of communicative competence, activities or techniques that are task-
oriented and that lead students to use the language creatively have gained importance. Games and problem-
solving activities, which are task-based and have a purpose beyond the production of correct speech, are the
examples of the most preferable communicative activities. Such activities highlight not only the competence but
also the performance of the learner. Yet they are the indispensable parts of a grammar lesson, since they
reinforce a form-discourse match. In such activities the attention is on the discourse context.

Both games and problem-solving activities have a goal. Games are organized according to rules, and
they are enjoyable. Most games require choral responses or group works, whereas problem-solving activities
(though they are structured) require individual response and creative solutions. Games and problem-solving
activities are generally used after the presentation, in the practice part, because such communicative tasks can
only be handled after mastering sufficient grammar and lexical points.

Through well-planned games, learners can practice and internalize vocabulary, grammar and structures
extensively. Play and competition that are provided by games enhance the motivation of the students. They also
reduce the stress in the classroom. While playing games, the learners attention is on the message, not on the
language. In a way, students acquire language unconsciously since their whole attention is engaged by the
activity. By providing personal, social, and cross-cultural issues to define, they sometimes simulate real life
situations. Many grammar games can be found in teaching grammar or course books.

There is a great overlap between games and problem solving activities. Though games generally place
an emphasis on competition and wining, they also require some type of problem-solving activity. Like games,
problem-solving activities have communicative purposes. Questions which require students to use available
evidence to reach a conclusion and the logic problems which assist language learning by challenging students to
demonstrate their understanding of English in an interesting way are the types of problem-solving activities. In
problem solving activities, the problems are either based on real or imaginary situations. In the activities students
are given a real or an imagery situation, and they are expected to find solutions for the problems.

Games and problem solving activities can be used for all levels. By regarding the proficiency, age and
experience of the learners, appropriate activities might be applied successfully. It is also important to design clear
and easy directions for the games or the activities.

Through problem solving activities students’ utmost attention is to the detail and to the meaning. The
solution part of the problem can be used to generate any specific grammar point. In such activities a teacher
should act as a facilitator rather than a director. It is also possible to integrate all skills in such activities. Reading
or listening to a situation, a problem, or a question; responding or commenting either through speaking or writing.
It is also advisable to keep in mind that such activities provide entertaining opportunities to practice thinking
clearly while focusing on the form unconsciously.

In sum, games and problem solving activities provide favorable usages for extended communicative
practice of grammar. They are both motivating and challenging. They encourage students to interact and
communicate. Through such activities students match the discourse with the context of the game or the problem
solving activity. So these activities create a meaningful context for language use. The use of such activities both
increases the cooperation and competition in the classroom. Thus, potential classroom ideas come into being,
and a successful, joyful and enthusiastic learning is provided.

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REAL OBJECT (REALIA)
So what exactly is realia?

Realia is everyday objects, such as newspapers and train tickets, used in the classroom to enhance the
students´ learning process in the target language. These authentic materials aid the teacher in delivering the
most realistic and useful lessons possible.

Why is realia important in the classroom?

How many times have you been forced to memorize a list of odd vocabulary in a language class? You
might have thought that reviewing words like “snorkel” and “asbestos” was an absolute waste of time. However,
the vocabulary learned from realia emphasizes essential words that the student would encounter in the country
of the target language. The use of realia with your students will not only be fun, but it will also provide a practical
and interactive approach to learning English. You students will immediately find relevance in the lesson by
navigating through the vocabulary on things like bus timetables, signs from airports, listings online, and receipts.
Additionally, students are more likely to remember the vocabulary presented in realia as they recall the real
contexts where they learned it, and your kinesthetic learners will benefit from the tangible examples you provided
for them.
How to use it in the classroom

There is no doubt that your students will be curious and eager to explore the authentic materials you
bring toclass

Below we have a few ideas of how to integrate realia into your classroom:
Rotation:

Put your students into groups of two and give each group material and a set of accompanying
comprehension questions.  Set the timer for 7 minutes, and when the time is up, discuss what the material is and
review the answers to the questions.  When the discussion is over, distribute the next material and repeat the
cycle. Continue until you’ve facilitated conversations (in the target language!) for at least four different materials.
Recreation:

A fun way to let your artistic students shine is by

recreating the realia you have presented to them.
Spend at least 10-15 minutes distributing realia and
discussing each piece. As you review each piece, be
sure to write useful vocabulary on the board for the
students to reference later on in the class. Next, pass
out materials such as paper, scissors, markers,
colored pencils, etc. for your students to use to make
their recreations of the realia. Check each student’s
work to make sure they are using proper vocabulary. 
BONUS ROUND: Foster a bit of a competitive
environment by rewarding the student with the best
and most accurate recreation with a tasty treat or a “get out of homework” pass.

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*This module is the intellectual property of WVSU. It can be used for instruction purposes provided that prior
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As you can see, it doesn’t take much to prepare a lesson using realia and it will go a long way. Students will feel
accomplished when they successfully recall useful vocabulary and you will feel proud when your student comes
back from vacation bragging about how they fearlessly conquered the tube in London thanks to your practical
lessons!

Tape and tape recorder

            A tape is a memory device consisting of a long thin plastic strip used to record sounds. The tape recorder
is an electrical device used for recording sounds on tape and for playing back the recorded material.
            Tape and tape recorder are often used for teaching English language in the classroom. Listening to tapes
provides students information not only about vocabulary and grammar, but also about pronunciation, intonation,
rhythm, stress and pitch.     
            Listening to tapes is a method of bringing different kinds of speaking into the classroom. The teacher can
play varied types of tape to the students. Examples of them are conversations, advertisements, news broadcasts
and interviews.
            Besides, listening to tapes exposes students to spoken English of different varieties and accents rather
than just the teacher’s. Harmer (1998, p. 97) stated that students need to be exposed not only to one variety of
English (British English, for example) but also to other varieties (American English, Australian English etc) in
today’s world. This is to equip students with the skills to communicate with people from other countries.
            Winter (2011, p. 129) noted that learning to speak a language requires imitation. The teacher can play
tapes containing suitable materials and ask students to role play the same situation. Students will produce the
language by imitating the speaking in the tapes.
            The teacher can record the speech of students in English language lessons. The teacher may then play
back the recording and correct poor speech habits. The speech quality can be revealed efficiently by the
playback. Amanda (1996, p. 201) commented that many students recognize their own speech deficiencies upon
listening to the playback.    

LANGUAGE LABORATORY
Kinds of Language Laboratory

The language laboratory assists educators in delivering foreign language instruction, and has been
through many developmental stages over the years.

Four kinds of laboratories are being focused on here:

Conventional Laboratory

This is the primitive form of the language laboratory. The conventional lab has a tape recorder and a
few audiocassettes of the target language to teach the learners. The teacher plays the tape and the learners
listen to it and learn the pronunciation. As it is used in a normal classroom setup, it is prone to distractions and
this type of laboratory is no longer common.

Lingua Phone Laboratory

This is again a conventional type of lab, with a little modernization. Learners are given a headset to
listen to the audiocassettes being played. Here distractions are minimized and a certain amount of clarity in
listening is possible.

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There is also a modernized lingua phone laboratory available today, which uses an electronic device that has two
functions. It works as a cassette player with all the features of a normal cassette player on the left side, and as a
repeater on the right side that helps one to record one’s voice and play it back for comparison.

Computer Assisted Language Laboratory (CALL)

CALL uses the computer to teach language. The language course materials are already fed into the
computer and are displayed according to the features available in the system. Nowadays, there are also
laboratories with computers with a connection to the Internet. These are called Web Assisted Language
Laboratories (WALL). The development of CALL has been gradual, and this development has been categorized
into three distinct phases: Behavioristic CALL, Communicative CALL and Integrative CALL (Barson & Debski,
1996). Though the development of CALL has been gradual, its acceptance has come slowly and unevenly.

Multimedia Hi-Tech Language Laboratory

There is a lot of software available on the market that can be used in the multimedia language
laboratory, for example:

Renet; Aristoclass; Hiclass; Globarina; Console OCL-908W; Histudio MHi Tech; Online Software

The Significance and Relevance of the Language Laboratory

The significance of the language laboratory has been much felt in the domain of communication. We
live in a multilingual and multicultural world, which is being shrunk to the size of a village by the advancement of
science and technology. The language laboratory exists to help one to use technology effectively to
communicate. It is not merely for learning a single language, but can be used for teaching a number of
languages efficiently. To acquire a sensibility for the sounds and rhythm of a language, one has to hear the best
samples of a spoken language (Richards, 2001). This is precisely the function of the language laboratory. Some
highlights of the language laboratory are given below:

1. It is a tool designed for teaching any language.

2. It helps one to learn pronunciation, accent, stress and all other aspects of the phonetics of a language.

3. Effective communicative training programs for the general public, private and corporate sectors, junior and
senior level officers can be given through the lab.

4. Web-content creation, the setting up of in-house news magazines, corporate publicity and identity, and
teaching materials can be generated through the language laboratory.

5. General documentation, software documentation and all forms of technical documentation can be done.

6. Experts can utilize the laboratory for creating and editing scientific and technical materials for teaching
language.

7. The language laboratory enables one to conduct courses for various groups of people like students, faculties,
businesspeople, etc.

8. Short-term and long-term coaching classes for international examinations like IELTS, TOEFL and other
competitive examinations can be organized.

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9. Online courses and paperless examinations can be conducted through the language laboratory.

As the ability to communicate effectively has become the prerequisite for anyone who ventures into a
new profession, the need for developing such a skill is a much-felt phenomenon today. Both governmental and
private institutions focus their attention on students developing their communicative skills. As technology has
entered into every aspect of human life, it has extended its advanced products into the field of communication.
So everyone strives to get the best on the market.

Using Computers in Language Teaching

Computers have made a triumphal entry into education in the past decade, and only a dyed-in-the wool
Luddite would deny that they have brought significant benefits to teachers and students alike. However, an
uncritical use of computers can be just as disadvantageous to students as a refusal to have anything to do with
them. In this article I discuss some of the ways that computers can be used in English language teaching, with a
view to helping colleagues make the most of the opportunities they offer to ESL students.

It is helpful to think of the computer as having the following main roles in the language classroom:

 teacher - the computer teaches students new language

 tester - the computer tests students on language already learned
 tool - the computer assists students to do certain tasks
 data source - the computer provides students with the information they need to perform a particular task
 communication facilitator - the computer allows students to communicate with others in different
locations

Computer as teacher.

In the early days of computers and programmed learning, some students sat at a terminal for extended
periods following an individualized learning program. Although we have come a long way from the rather naïve
thought, held by some at that time, that the computer could eventually come to replace the teacher, there has
been a return to a much more sophisticated kind of computerized teaching using multimedia CD ROMS. In such
programs, students can listen to dialogues or watch video clips. They can click on pictures to call up the names
of the objects they see. They can speak into the microphone and immediately hear a recording of what they have
said. The program can keep a record of their progress, e.g. the vocabulary learned, and offer remedial help if
necessary. Many of these CD ROM programs are offered as complete language courses. They require students
to spend hours on their own in front of the computer screen, usually attached to a microphone headset. For this
reason alone I prefer not to use them in my language teaching. Another of their serious drawbacks, in my view, is
the fact that in many cases the course content and sequence is fixed. The teacher has no chance to include
materials that are of interest and importance to the particular students in his or her class.

As an alternative to large CD ROM packages, there is an increasing number of useful sites on the World Wide
Web, where students can get instruction and practice in language skills such as reading, listening and writing.
Some examples.

Computer as a tester.

The computer is very good at what is known as drill and practice; it will tirelessly present the learner with
questions and announce if the answer is right or wrong. In its primitive manifestations in this particular role in
language teaching, it has been rightly criticized. The main reason for the criticism is simple: many early drill and
practice programs were very unsophisticated; either multiple-choice or demanding a single word answer. They
were not programmed to accept varying input and the only feedback they gave was Right or Wrong. So for
example, if the computer expected the answer "does not" and the student typed "doesn't" or " doesnot" or " does
34 | ELT 202 – TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF GRAMMAR
*This module is the intellectual property of WVSU. It can be used for instruction purposes provided that prior
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not ", she would have been told she was wrong without any further comment. It is not surprising that such
programs gave computers a bad name with many language teachers. Unfortunately, there are now very many of
these primitive drill and kill programs flooding the Internet.

Despite their obvious disadvantages, such programs are nevertheless popular with many students. This is
probably because the student is in full control, the computer is extremely patient and gives private, unthreatening
feedback. Most programs also keep the score and have cute animations and sounds, which many students like.

There are some programs which do offer more useful feedback than right or wrong, or that can accept varying
input. Such programs blur the role of the computer as teacher or tester and can be recommended to students
who enjoy learning grammar or vocabulary in this way. If two or more students sit at the same computer, then
they can generate a fair amount of authentic communication while discussing the answers together.

Computer as a tool.

It is in this area that I think the computer has been an unequivocal success in language teaching.
Spreadsheets, databases, presentation slide generators, concordances and web page producers all have their
place in the language classroom, particularly in one where the main curricular focus is task-based or project-
work. But in my opinion, by far the most important role of the computer in the language classroom is its use as a
writing tool. It has played a significant part in the introduction of the writing process, by allowing students easily to
produce multiple drafts of the same piece of work.. Students with messy handwriting can now do a piece of work
to be proud of, and those with poor spelling skills can, after sufficient training in using the spell check, produce a
piece of writing largely free of spelling mistakes.

Computer as a data source.

I'm sure I don't need to say much about the Internet as a provider of information. Anyone who has done
a search on the World Wide Web will know that there is already more information out there than an individual
could process in hundred lifetimes, and the amount is growing by the second. This huge source of information is
an indispensable resource for much project work, but there are serious negative implications. I shudder to think
of how much time has been wasted and will continue to be wasted by students who aimlessly wander the Web
with no particular aim in mind and with little or no guidance. I generally do not turn my students free to search the
web for information. Instead, I find a few useful sites beforehand and tell the students to start there; anyone who
finishes the task in hand can then be let loose!

As an alternative to the Web, there are very many CD ROMs, e.g. encyclopaedias, that present information in a
more compact, reliable and easily accessible form.

Computer as communication facilitator.

The Internet is the principal medium by which students can communicate with others at a distance,
(e.g. by e-mail or by participating in discussion forums). In fact at Frankfurt International School the single most
popular use of computers by students in their free time is to write e-mails to their friends. Some teachers have
set up joint projects with a school in another location and others encourage students to take part in discussion
groups. There is no doubt that such activities are motivating for students and allow them to participate in many
authentic language tasks. However, cautious teachers may wish to closely supervise their students' messages.
Recent research has shown up the extremely primitive quality of much of the language used in electronic
exchanges!
Computers in education have been disparaged as: Answers in search of a problem. And certainly many
computer activities of dubious pedagogical value have been devised in the past simply to justify the existence of
an expensive computer in the classroom. Nowadays, however, I think it is much more clearly understood that the
computer can play a useful part in the language class only if the teacher first asks: What is it that I want my
students to learn today, and what is the best way for them to learn it? In most cases, the answer will probably not
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involve the computer, but there will be occasions when the computer is the most suitable and, for the students,
most enjoyable way to get the job done.

EFFECTIVE EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS: PRINCIPLES AND

GUIDELINES FOR MAXIMIZING STUDENT LEARNING FROM
VIDEO CONTENT
Educational videos have become an important part of higher education, providing an important content-delivery
tool in many flipped, blended, and online classes. Effective use of video as an educational tool is enhanced when
instructors consider three elements: how to manage cognitive load of the video; how to

 Cognitive load

 Student engagement
 Active learning

Together, these elements provide a solid base for the development and use of video as an effective educational
tool.

COGNITIVE LOAD

One of the primary considerations when constructing educational materials, including video, is cognitive
load. Cognitive load theory, initially articulated by Sweller (1988 , 1989 , 1994 ), suggests that memory has
several components. Sensory memory is transient, collecting information from the environment. Information from
sensory memory may be selected for temporary storage and processing in working memory, which has very
limited capacity. This processing is a prerequisite for encoding into long-term memory, which has virtually
unlimited capacity. Because working memory is very limited, the learner must be selective about what
information from sensory memory to pay attention to during the learning process, an observation that has
important implications for creating educational materials.

Based on this model of memory, cognitive load theory suggests that any learning experience has three
components. The first of these is intrinsic load, which is inherent to the subject under study and is determined in
part by the degrees of connectivity within the subject. The common example given to illustrate a subject with low
intrinsic load is a word pair (e.g., blue = azul); grammar, on the other hand, is a subject with a high intrinsic load
due to its many levels of connectivity and conditional relationships. In an example from biology, learning the
names of the stages of mitosis would have lower intrinsic load than understanding the process of cell cycle
control. The second component of any learning experience is germane load, which is the level of cognitive
activity necessary to reach the desired learning outcome—for example, to make the comparisons, do the
analysis, and elucidate the steps necessary to master the lesson. The ultimate goal of these activities is for the
learner to incorporate the subject under study into a schema of richly connected ideas. The third component of a
learning experience is extraneous load, which is cognitive effort that does not help the learner toward the desired
learning outcome. It is often characterized as load that arises from a poorly designed lesson (e.g., confusing
instructions, extra information) but may also be load that arises due to stereotype threat or imposter syndrome.
These concepts are more fully articulated and to some extent critiqued in an excellent review by deJong (2010) .

These definitions have implications for design of educational materials and experiences. Specifically,
instructors should seek to minimize extraneous cognitive load and should consider the intrinsic cognitive load of
the subject when constructing learning experiences, carefully structuring them when the material has high

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*This module is the intellectual property of WVSU. It can be used for instruction purposes provided that prior
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intrinsic load. Because working memory has a limited capacity, and information must be processed by working
memory to be encoded in long-term memory, it is important to prompt working memory to accept, process, and
send to long-term memory only the most crucial information (Ibrahim et al., 2012 ).

The cognitive theory of multimedia learning builds on the cognitive load theory, noting that working
memory has two channels for information acquisition and processing: a visual/pictorial channel and an
auditory/verbal-processing channel (Mayer, 2001 ; Mayer and Moreno, 2003 ). Although each channel has
limited capacity, the use of the two channels can facilitate the integration of new information into existing
cognitive structures. Using both channels maximizes working memory’s capacity—but either channel can be
overwhelmed by high cognitive load. Thus, design strategies that manage the cognitive load for both channels in
multimedia learning materials promise to enhance learning.

These theories give rise to several recommendations about educational videos. Based on the premise that
effective learning experiences minimize extraneous cognitive load, optimize germane cognitive load, and
manage intrinsic cognitive lead, four effective practices emerge.

Signaling, which is also known as cueing (deKoning et al., 2009 ), is the use of on-screen text or symbols to
highlight important information. For example, signaling may be provided by the appearance of two or three key
words (Mayer and Johnson, 2008 ; Ibrahim et al., 2012 ), a change in color or contrast (deKoning et al., 2009
), or a symbol that draws attention to a region of a screen (e.g., an arrow; deKoning et al., 2009 ). By
highlighting the key information, signaling helps direct learner attention, thus targeting particular elements of the
video for processing in the working memory. This can reduce extraneous load by helping novice learners with the
task of determining which elements within a complex tool are important, and it can also increase germane load
by emphasizing the organization of and connections within the information. Mayer and Moreno (2003) and
deKoning et al. (2009) have shown that this approach improves students’ ability to retain and transfer new
knowledge from animations, and Ibrahim et al. (2012) have shown that these effects extend to video.

The benefits of signaling are complemented by segmenting, or the chunking of information in a video lesson.
Segmenting allows learners to engage with small pieces of new information and gives them control over the flow
of new information. As such, it manages intrinsic load and can also increase germane load by emphasizing the
structure of the information. Segmenting can be accomplished both by making shorter videos and by including
“click forward” pauses within a video, such as using YouTube Annotate or HapYak to provide students with a
question and prompting them to click forward after completion. Both types of segmenting have been shown to be
important for student engagement with videos (Zhang et al., 2006 ; Guo et al., 2014 ) and learning from video
(Zhang et al., 2006 ; Ibrahim et al., 2012 ).

Weeding, or the elimination of interesting but extraneous information that does not contribute to the learning goal,
can provide further benefits. For example, music, complex backgrounds, or extra features within an animation
require the learner to judge whether he or she should be paying attention to them, which increases extraneous
load and can reduce learning. Importantly, information that increases extraneous load changes as the learner
moves from novice toward expert status. That is, information that may be extraneous for a novice learner may
actually be helpful for a more expert-like learner, while information that is essential for a novice may serve as an
already known distraction for an expert. Thus, it is important that the instructor consider his or her learners when
weeding educational videos, including information that is necessary for their processing but eliminating
information that they do not need to reach the learning goal and that may overload their working memory.
Ibrahim et al. (2012) has shown that this treatment can improve retention and transfer of new information from
video.

Finally, the utility of video lessons can be maximized by matching modality to content. By using both the
audio/verbal channel and the visual/pictorial channel to convey new information, and by fitting the particular type
of information to the most appropriate channel, instructors can enhance the germane cognitive load of a learning
experience. For example, showing an animation of a process on screen while narrating it uses both channels to
elucidate the process, thus giving the learner dual and complementary streams of information to highlight
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*This module is the intellectual property of WVSU. It can be used for instruction purposes provided that prior
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features that should be processed in working memory. In contrast, showing the animation while also showing
printed text uses only the visual channel and thus overloads this channel and impedes learning (Mayer and
Moreno, 2003 ). In another example, using a “talking head” video to explain a complex process makes
productive use only of the verbal channel (because watching the speaker does not convey additional
information), whereas a Khan Academy–style tutorial that provides symbolic sketches to illustrate the verbal
explanation uses both channels to give complementary information. Using both channels to convey appropriate
and complementary information has been shown to increase students’ retention and ability to transfer information
(Mayer and Moreno, 2003 ) and to increase student engagement with videos (Guo et al., 2014 ; Thomson et
al., 2014).

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Another lens through which to consider educational video is student engagement. The idea is simple: if
students do not watch videos, they cannot learn from them. Lessons on promoting student engagement derive
from earlier research on multimedia instruction and more recent work on videos used within MOOCs (massive
open online courses.

The first and most important guideline for maximizing student attention to educational video is to keep it
short. Guo and colleagues examined the length of time students watched streaming videos within four edX
MOOCs, analyzing results from 6.9 million video-watching sessions (Guo et al., 2014 ). They observed that the
median engagement time for videos less than 6 minutes long was close to 100%–that is, students tended to
watch the whole video (although there are significant outliers; see the paper for more complete information). As
videos lengthened, however, student engagement dropped, such that the median engagement time with 9- to 12-
minute videos was ∼50%, and the median engagement time with 12- to 40-minute videos was ∼20%. In fact,
the maximum median engagement time for a video of any length was 6 minutes. Making videos longer than 6–9
minutes is therefore likely to be wasted effort. In complementary work, Risko et al. (2012) showed 1-hour videos
to students in a lab setting, probing student self-reports of mind wandering four times in each lecture and testing
student retention of lecture material after the lecture. They found that student report of mind wandering increased
and retention of material decreased across the video lecture (Risko et al., 2012) .

Another method to keep students engaged is to use a conversational style. Called the personalization
principle by Mayer, the use of conversational rather than formal language during multimedia instruction has been
shown to have a large effect on students’ learning, perhaps because a conversational style encourages students
to develop a sense of social partnership with the narrator that leads to greater engagement and effort (Mayer,
2008 ). In addition, some research suggests that it can be important for video narrators to speak relatively
quickly and with enthusiasm. In their study examining student engagement with MOOC videos, Guo and
colleagues observed that student engagement was dependent on the narrator’s speaking rate, with student
engagement increasing as speaking rate increased (Guo et al., 2014 ). It can be tempting for video narrators to
speak slowly to help ensure that students grasp important ideas, but including in-video questions, “chapters,” and
speed control can give students control over this feature—and increasing narrator speed appears to promote
student interest.

Instructors can also promote student engagement with educational videos by creating or packaging
them in a way that conveys that the material is for these students in this class. One of the benefits for instructors
in using educational videos can be the ability to reuse them for other classes and other semesters. When
creating or choosing videos, however, it is important to consider whether they were created for the type of
environment in which they will be used. For example, a face-to-face classroom session that is videotaped and
presented within an online class may feel less engaging than a video that is created with an online environment
as the initial target (Guo et al., 2014 ). A video’s adaptability can be enhanced, however: when reusing videos,
instructors can package them for a particular class using text outside the video to contextualize the relevance for
that particular class and lesson.

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ACTIVE LEARNING

Schacter and Szpunar (2015) propose a conceptual framework for enhancing learning from educational videos
that identifies online learning as a type of self-regulated learning. Self-regulation of learning requires students to
monitor their own learning, to identify learning difficulties, and to respond to these judgments; in other words, it
requires students to actively build and interrogate mental models, practicing metacognition about the learning
process. Novices within a field, however, have difficulty accurately judging their understanding, often
overestimating their learning (Bjork et al., 2013 ). This problem may be enhanced when new information is
delivered via video, which students report as easier to learn and more memorable than text (Salomon, 1994 ;
Choi and Johnson, 2005 ). Incorporating prompts for students to engage in the type of cognitive activity
necessary to process information—to engage in active learning—can help them build and test mental models,
explicitly converting video watching from a passive to an active-learning event. The means to do this can vary,
but the following strategies have demonstrated success in some contexts.

Package Video with Interactive Questions

Szpunar et al. compared the test performance of students who answered questions interpolated
between ∼5 min video lectures and students who did unrelated arithmetic problems between the videos, finding
that the students in the interpolated question group performed significantly better on subsequent tests of the
material and reported less mind wandering (Szpunar et al., 2013 ). Students who received the interpolated
questions also exhibited increased note taking, reported the learning event as less “mentally taxing,” and
reported less anxiety about the final test. These results suggest that interpolated questions may improve student
learning from video through several mechanisms. First, they may help to optimize cognitive load by decreasing
extraneous load (i.e., anxiety about an upcoming test) and increasing germane load (i.e., note taking, reduced
mind wandering). Further, interpolated questions may produce some of their benefit by tapping into the “testing
effect,” in which recall of important information strengthens students’ memory of and ability to use the recalled
information (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006 ; Brame and Biel, 2015 ). Finally, interpolated questions may help
students engage in more accurate self-assessment (Szpunar et al., 2014 ), an important benefit for a medium
that students may perceive as “easier” than text. Tools like HapYak and Zaption can also allow instructors to
embed questions directly into video and to give specific feedback based on student response. This approach has
similar benefits to interpolated questions in increasing student performance on subsequent assessments (Vural,
2013 ) and has the additional benefit of making the video interactive (see following section).

Use Interactive Features That Give Students Control

Zhang and colleagues compared the impact of interactive and noninteractive video on students’ learning
in a computer science course (Zhang et al., 2006 ). Students who were able to control movement through the
video, selecting important sections to review and moving backward when desired, demonstrated better
achievement of learning outcomes and greater satisfaction. One simple way to achieve this level of interactivity is
by using YouTube Annotate, HapYak, or another tool to introduce labeled “chapters” into a video. This not only
has the benefit of giving students control but also can demonstrate the organization, increasing the germane load
of the lesson.

Use Guiding Questions

Lawson and colleagues examined the impact of guiding questions on students’ learning from a video
about social psychology in an introductory psychology class (Lawson et al., 2006 ). Building on work from
Kreiner (1997) , they had students in some sections of the course watch the video with no special instructions,
while students in other sections of the course were provided with eight guiding questions to consider while
watching. The students who answered the guiding questions while watching the video scored significantly higher
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on a later test. Guiding questions may serve as an implicit means to share learning objectives with students, thus
increasing the germane load of the learning task and reducing the extraneous load by focusing student attention
on important elements. This strategy is often used to increase student learning from reading assignments (e.g.,
Tanner, 2012 ; Round and Campbell, 2013 ), and it can translate effectively to helping students learn from
video.

Make Video Part of a Larger Homework Assignment

MacHardy and Pardos (2015) have developed a model relating educational video characteristics to
students’ performance on subsequent assessments. One observation from their analysis of Khan Academy
videos was that videos that offered the greatest benefits to students were highly relevant to associated exercises.
This result is supported by results observed in a “teaching-as-research” project at Vanderbilt University (for
background on teaching as research, see www.cirtl.net). Specifically, Faizan Zubair participated in the BOLD
Fellows program, in which graduate students develop online learning materials for incorporation into a faculty
mentor’s course and then investigate their impact in teaching-as-research projects. Zubair developed videos on
that were embedded in a larger homework assignment in Paul Laibinis’s chemical engineering class and found
that students valued the videos and that the videos improved students’ understanding of difficult concepts when
compared with a semester when the videos were not used in conjunction with the homework (Zubair and
Laibinis, 2015 .

The important thing to keep in mind is that watching a video can be a passive experience, much as
reading can be. To make the most of our educational videos, we need to help students do the processing and
self-evaluation that will lead to the learning we want to see.

Bibliography
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Saricoban-Songs.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannelgraph
https://www.theclassroom.com/flannel-board-5044291.html
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-flash-cards-young-learners
http://www.bchmsg.yolasite.com/a-chart.php
https://ttmadrid.com/blog/using-realia-with-your-students/
https://sites.google.com/a/myport.ac.uk/su-chin-s-site/tape-and-tape-recorder
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140808080603-51876784-the-significance-of-the-language-laboratory-in-
communication
http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/teach.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5132380/

40 | ELT 202 – TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF GRAMMAR

*This module is the intellectual property of WVSU. It can be used for instruction purposes provided that prior
approval is granted by the University. Likewise, the designer(s) of the module must be properly acknowledged.