The use of video materials for the practice and development of

listening skills

What additional types of information does videomaterial make available to the language learner? What

are the advantages of using video material for the practice and development of listening skills?

Each user of the language possesses different language abilities. The person can listen to the radio,

speak on the phone, read newspapers or write letters. However, to perform certain actions he/she should

be able to acquire some language skills. Jeremy Harmer identifies four major skills which he further

divides into two groups: receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (speaking and

writing) (16-17). Even though they belong to different groups of language skills, listening and speaking

are closely connected. It is impossible to develop speaking skills unless one develops listening skills. In

order to communicate successfully with others, students must understand what is being said to them.

The teachers job is to prepare the students for listening to and understanding spoken English because

this ability is essential for communication. Therefore, the students should be exposed as often as

possible to English spoken at natural speed. Listening to spoken English is an important way of acquiring

the language for the students pick up structures and vocabulary just as they would pick up their own

language. When the students live in an English speaking country they are constantly exposed to English

sounds which makes it easier for them to master the listening skills. Thus, the teacher of English who is

responsible for teaching listening skills to students in the classroom environment should create

opportunities for the students to listen to English spoken at a natural speed. Jeremy Harmer claims that

students need to hear the language used so that they can both imitate the pronunciation and also

subconsciously acquire some of its sounds and patterns [...] students should be given as much exposure

to people speaking the language correctly as possible (22).

In his book Teach English A Training Course for Teachers Adrian Doff singles out two ways in which

people listen in real life. One of them is casual listening. This takes place when we listen with no

particular purpose in mind, often without much concentration, e.g. listening to the radio while chatting to a

friend. We usually listen very closely only to information that particularly interests us. After casual

listening we usually do not remember much of what we heard. The other type of listening Doff mentions

is called focused listening. This takes place when we listen for a particular purpose. In this kind of

listening we listen more closely but still we do not listen to everything we hear with equal concentration.

We usually know beforehand what we are listening for and we concentrate on the most important and

essential points of information (17-18). David Nunan, in Designing Tasks for the Communicative

Classroom, also reports two types of listening: reciprocal where there is the opportunity for the listener to
interact with the speaker, and to negotiate the content of the interaction and nonreciprocal, which

involves listening to the radio or a formal lecture where the transfer of information is in one direction only

from the speaker to the listener (12). In order to be able to face the complexity of listening successfully

one should learn the skill of identifying spoken signals from other surrounding sounds and segmenting

the stream of speech into words. In addition to the mentioned skills the listener should also possess a

wide range of non-linguistic knowledge and skills, like the social and cultural knowledge and an

appropriate purpose for listening.

In her book Teaching Listening Comprehension Penny Ur gives main factors which influence listening in

real life. Some of them would be mentioned here. The first one is purpose and expectation she claims

that we listen for certain key phrases or words but in order to do so we must have a purpose in listening

to something, otherwise we shall not listen at all, let alone understand. Heard discourse which

corresponds closely to what the listener expects and needs to hear is far more likely to be accurately

perceived and understood than that which is unexpected, irrelevant or unhelpful (4). The other very

important factor is the visibility of the speaker- it is usual that in real-life listening situation, towards

which the teacher wishes to train his/her students, the speaker is present. Ur claims that one of the

drawbacks of using audio recordings is depriving the students of the ability to see the speaker, his facial

expression and movements which may provide the students with some aids to comprehension. However,

by using the recordings the teacher still provides the students with some valuable expose to a far greater

range of different voices and accents, moods, registers and background effects (4-5). The other one Ur

mentions is environmental clues where Apart from the speaker himself his facial expression,

posture, eye direction, proximity, gesture, tone of voice a real life listening situation is normally rich in

environmental clues as to the content and implications of what is said (5). Ur continues that visual clues

and the general surroundings contribute valuable background information about the situation, speakers

and general atmosphere. Even though they do not provide information about the actual topic of discourse

they contribute all additional information which helps the listener to comprehend the sense of what is said

if he/she understands at least some of the language. Anderson and Lynch, in Listening, also claim that

we listen for a purpose [...] Since we have non-linguistic purposes in listening, it follows that listening

effectively also involves non-linguistic skills (4). They also claim that listening is an active process and

should never be regarded as passive. According to Anderson and Lynch the listener has to use various

type of knowledge and apply what he/she knows to what he/she hears. Only then can the listener try to

find out what the speaker wanted to say (6). In addition to these, they also state that the relationship

between the first language and the second language listening comprehension and the process of

understanding of the first and the second language are fundamentally the same, apart from specific
additional L2 problems and that the available research points to similarities, rather than differences,

between L1 and L2 listening comprehension process (21).

What are the implications of all these for listening comprehension and practicing language skills in the

foreign language classroom? The teacher should try to incorporate all the characteristics of real-life

listening into the classroom practice. It would be perfect if the heard discourse could be accompanied by

some environmental, visual clues. They can be represented by various visuals, like pictures or the like.

However, video materials seem to be the perfect choice for the foreign language classroom. Films or

video programmes can provide students with enjoyable listening, especially because they are usually

associated by students with pleasurable recreation. As Penny Ur states, they are an excellent medium

for giving students some entertaining and useful listening practice (67). The major advantage of video

tapes is that students, usually, see the speakers and can have the visual context for what is being said.

Thus, the factors which influence listening skills in real life, which were already mentioned, can be met in

the English classroom: the visibility of the speaker, the presence of environmental clues and, thanks to

the use of certain techniques, purpose and expectation.

Many video materials, prepared specially for the use in an English classroom, have appeared in the last

years. Margaret Allan classifies them in accordance to the role they can serve in an English classroom:

presenting language; presenting the country and its culture; telling stories; presenting topics (19). Video

materials make many additional type of information available to the language learner and thus, they can

help with the effective learning of listening skills. Video makes full use of environmental clues and the

visibility of the speaker. By exploiting the visual the teacher may introduce the real life elements into the

classroom. This could be considered a great advantage, especially for the visual type students, for they

may feel more secure while listening to foreign sounds which are accompanied by visual aids. Listeners

benefit from further help in the form of visual supportmaterial that is designed to assist their

interpretation of what they hear [...] Since the medium of videotape provides access to more information

than is the case with audiotape [...] video material will offer the language learner greater support

(Anderson and Lynch, 58). The students confidence may help to build his/her competence in listening

comprehension. Margaret Allan claims there are different ways you can transmit a message to another

human being: by waving, nodding, [...] frowning, slamming the door, moving away from someone who

sits beside you, pointing, raising your eyebrows. All of this is in addition to, and often accompanying,

speech (66-67). The gestures, smiles, as well as the background all carry some clues which can help the

learners to deduce what is being said and guess the characters feelings even if the students do not

understand all the words and utterances which are being said. In real life communication the speakers

apart from verbal interaction (speech) also engage other, non-verbal elements. With video we have the
opportunity, if we want to take it, of paying attention to the visual as well and these are: gestures, facial

expression, eye contact, posture, proximity, appearance, setting (Allan, 68). In her book Teaching

English with Video Margaret Allan gives a thorough explanation of the above mentioned additional type of

information: visual aids. According to her many gestures and facial expressions are similar and tend to

occur in various cultures. Thus, they may be quite easily understood by the foreign language learners

and may give them some support in their development of listening skills. However, the eye contact,

posture (body language) or proximity (social norms for the distance people stand or sit from each other)

may differ depending on cultural norms. Appearance can, though, tell the learners a lot about the people

engaged in the conversation. Even if they come from a different country, there are certain clothes or

personal belongings which became symbolic of a group or a nation, e.g. a kilt, and may be easily

recognized by the language learners thus, adding information about the interlocutors. Also the setting

may provide many clues as to the content of the conversation. The learners may have certain

expectations of how people should behave in certain physical surroundings, e.g. a shop or a church, and

this may help to get the message. Allan calls the last two visual elements extralinguistic elements (69).

The students knowledge of the world and the aid of extralinguistic context may certainly add to the

development of listening comprehension. One of the arguments for introduction of the

videomaterial which includes learnt gesture is the fact that they are used, in some cultures, in the same

way the language is learnt and so, the teaching of the learnt gestures could help with mastering listening

skills. However, it is not always easy to predict just what problems a particular group of learners is likely

to have with any materials. This is perhaps even more the case with interpretation of visuals (Allan, 71).

Yet, thanks to video materials, which present the second language learners with the target language

culture, the students may learn not only about a linguistic system but may become familiar with the

foreign cultural system. Gaps in our knowledge of the L2 culture, of the associations and references

available to native users, can present obstacles to comprehension (Anderson and Lynch, 35). By giving

the visual support, the video may help to avoid the obstacles.

The visual signs can help with understanding the verbal message. However, they should be well chosen

and adjusted to the level of the language learners. Jeremy Harmer states that A close link between what

the picture tells you and what the sound conveys is important for elementary level students. They need

all the help they can get in following a language they dont know at all well. For more advanced students,

on the other hand, you may be looking for material where the pictures give less support and the

comprehension challenge is correspondingly greater (23). At the basic stage of learning videos main

role is to provide the language learners with realistic examples of language in use. The presented

situations should be simple but happening outside the classroom. The teacher should try to fulfill the
purpose and expectation factor. This means that he/she should use video material which provides as

much visual support as possible and situations where the language is highly predictable (Allan, 73).

Thanks to the use of video materials the learners have a possibility to listen to the language as it is used

in real world and they gain confidence in coping with real life listening situations. Allan also claims that

with students at an intermediate level video gains the new role. It can provide variety, interest and

stimulation and it is a good medium with which to move [the students] away from the beginners

preoccupation with individual words to an attempt to follow the general drift of the message (73). At the

advanced level students can be presented with the authentic video materials which were designed for

native speakers of English. Such materials provide the language learners with the real life type of

listening experience and the students can build up their listening and comprehension skills.

As was stated before, there are various purposes for which video material could be used. The video

drama in which the language learners can see the actors or speakers whose facial expressions usually

give clues to their spoken message is not the only type used by the teachers to help in developing

listening skills. The other type, quite often used in the classroom, is a documentary. The students cannot

see the person who is speaking. In linguistic terms, the commentary displays features of written

language rather than spoken language. The soundtrack voice comments on the scenes which are

presented visually and adds further information. It does more than simply tell the viewers what they are

looking at (Dawson, 5). With the use of such a video material the teacher may practice focused

listening, mentioned by Doff, that is, listening for a particular purpose. However, the factor of purpose

and expectation, mentioned by Ur, has to be fulfilled for the listening to be successful. The students

should be prepared for the viewing, they should be encouraged to make predictions about what they are

going to hear and see. Such a preparation will certainly help in their comprehension of the commentary

to the video. Apart from practicing listening comprehension the students also have a chance to gain new

information about the country that speaks the language they are studying and its culture. Video materials

can also serve as the source of information on how to behave and lead the conversation in specific

situations, e.g. business presentations or discussions. Thanks to the recorded video material the learners

who study English for specific purposes can not only listen to but also look at records [of] real

discussions between real people working in a factory, the travel industry and an office (Allan, 21).

In the visual aided comprehension the target language is presented in a well-contextualised setting

where the learner sees and hears the target language in use at the same time. Combining of the two

elements to make the meaning clear for the students of a foreign language is a great advantage of

videos. The target language phrases are presented in communicative situations, which contain enough

visual clues to leave the learner to focus on listening. This reinforces the point that we need both
components, hearing and seeing, for successful comprehension. Printed material may give the learners

little information about how the language is spoken. Not only is it important to know how language is

spoken, but learners must also be made aware of the appropriate register, and accompanying

paralinguistic and non-linguistic features, which the video can be used to demonstrate to great effect.

Video material combines visual and audio stimuli, provides context for learning. It usually shows facial

expression and other body language appropriate to the dialogue taking place thus presenting the visual

context. What is more, video is a powerful tool in helping English language learners to improve their

language skills for learners tend to learn more when their interest is engaged. Due to the fact that films

are popular and have universal appeal across cultures, not only do they provide the students with the

current language usage but they also make the lessons more interesting and help to increase the

learners motivation. The listening skills can be practiced and developed by the use of various

techniques, like: freeze frame, sound only, jigsaw viewing, repeated viewing or silent viewing followed by

the activities which would confirm students expectations. The technique has [...] advantages for listening

[...]: the students expectations and interest are aroused, and they have a definite purpose for listening

(Harmer, 215).

It should be well understood by all teachers that, as Michael Rost claims, listening is an active process

which plays an active part in language learning (3).To become good listeners, students have to be able

to distinguish not only the linguistic clues like sounds or words, but also all paralinguistic cues like

intonation and stress, as well as non-linguistic cues like gestures and background information. In an

English classroom there should always be a place for using video materials since they make all the

additional, paralinguistic and non-linguistic, information available to the students. They are also

interesting and as Rost states it is vitally important for the listener to become engaged in the process of

listening and develop a desire to understand (5). The video can help the learners to become

independent listeners by giving them an opportunity of the contact with real life listening experience in

the classroom conditions.

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Bibliography:

Allan, Margaret. Teaching English with Video. Burnt Mill, Harlow Essex: Longman, 1985
Anderson, Anne and Tony Lynch. Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988

Dawson, Nick. Introducing Great Britain. Teachers Notes and Workbook Answer Key. Burnt Mill, Harlow

Essex:Longman ELT VIDEO, 1991

Doff, Adrian. Teach English A Training Course for Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1991

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London and New York: Longman, 1991

Nunan, David. Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 1989

Rost, Michael. Listening in Action. Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall, 1991