Introduction My presentation is about using ICT in ELT and more precisely about using videos in EFL context. Let's start with a theoretical background to put this presentation in context. Theoretical background Every teacher has his/her own way of teaching a foreign language according to how he/she views language systems and therefore foreign language learning. In other words, he/she sets his/her own objectives according to the theory of language and the theory of learning he/she adopts. Views of language and language learning have undergone a tremendous change over the last decades. First, language has been seen as structural systems then as notional/topical then as functional, transactional, and recently as an interactional system. So, Language is no longer seen as a set of structural rules. It is rather viewed as a tool of interaction and communication. This shift in language views has resulted in change in how language learning is viewed, which gives birth to the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). CLT has emerged as a reaction to other methods that are far away from empowering students with skills that enable them to communicate using the language studied. According to CLT, language is a system for expressing meaning. It is primary function is establishing interaction and communication. Therefore, foreign language teaching consists of bringing to FL classrooms activities that involve real communication and that aims at teaching meaningful language to FL learners, which gives rise to learner-centered learning. Accordingly , learning should be personalized regarding learners’ needs, learning styles and characteristics. Additionally, teachers are no longer viewed as the solo holders of information as learners are perceived as contributors to the learning process. I will not spend much more time elaborating on this theoretical side as the main focus of this presentation is to provide an example of how these notions are brought into practice i.e. are implemented in the classroom. Accordingly, this presentation aims at presenting an example of a lesson delivered to my Turkish pupils in Turkey. As I said earlier, each teacher sets his/her own objectives according to the theory of language/theory of language learning he/she adopts. However, the teacher's objective can differ from the curriculum developers' objectives, which was my case while teaching my Turkish eight grade students.

1. Using Videos as a Tool to Motivate
Students
First International Conference
6-8 February 2014
Cité de Sciences, Tunis.
Marwa Mekni Toujani
marwaISLT@gmail.com
Yildirim Koleji, Turkey
TESOL

2. Introduction
• Every teacher has his/her own way of teaching a foreign
language according to how he/she views language and
therefore foreign language learning.
• Views of language and language learning have undergone a
tremendous change over the last decades.

3. Fig 1: Views of Language
Interactional
transactional
Functional
Notional/Topical
Structural

4. Language Theories and Language Learning
Theories
• Language is no longer seen as a set of structural rules. It is
rather viewed as a tool of interaction and communication.
• This shift in language views has resulted in change in how
language learning is viewed, which gives birth to the
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).

5. Communicative Language Teaching
• CLT has emerged as a reaction to other methods which are far
away from empowering students with skills that enable them
to communicate using the language studied.
• CLT is a learner-centered approach. Learning should be
personalized regarding learners’ needs, learning styles and
characteristics.

6. The Unit Example
The Context
• The textbook that I was provided with is mainly a grammar/
vocabulary based textbook. Skills and strategies teaching are
overlooked. Grammar teaching is de-contextualized.
Curriculum developers also adopted translation approach.
• Teacher-learner relationship: English becomes a lingua
franca.

8. The unit example
objectives & classroom implementation(1)
• Materials:
 The video entitled 'The Turkish War of Independence was
downloaded from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s-
601lu6-o
 Handouts.

9. The unit example
objectives & classroom implementation (3)
• Implications:
Thanks to a 10 min video,
• Sts were motivated and more interested in learning English.
• Sts with different learning styles were engaged.
• Multimodal learning was emphasized.
• Sts were engaged voluntarily in communication: Processes
such as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and
interaction were involved.
• Sts viewed themselves as both givers and takers.
• The unit objectives were met.

10. The unit example
objectives & classroom implementation (2)
• Main objectives:
1. To introduce the topic of the unit & to motivate students (sts).
2. To teach listening for the gist.
3. To introduce the key vocabulary items.
4. To teach grammar in context (wh-words).
• Who’s the leader of the Turkish war of independence?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it take place?
• Why did it take place?
5. To engage sts in discussion and to develop their critical thinking.

11. Conclusion
• Teaching the ‘War of Independence’ unit as previously
demonstrated ,I tried to reconcile my own objectives with the
curriculum developers’ objectives.
• Curriculum developement should follow a bottom-up approach
rather than a top-down approach.
• The textbook is not a Holy Book to be taken for granted.
Acordindg to his/her students’ needs, any teacher can adapt the
textbook to handle the learning situations at hand.

12. Thank You for Your Attention