2. Language as a subject
is a whole entity
that cannot
be separated from
its constituent elements
3. Media: A Definition
∎ Media: technological innovations in language
teaching; mechanical equipment; commercial
stuff
∎ media: teacher-made, non-mechanical aids that
have been adapted for classroom teaching
purposes
∎ Texts & non-texts, print & non-print, audio &
visual, on-line & off-line
4. Fallacies about the Use of
Media
”I'm all thumbs. I can't use
media.”
“The school district has no budget for
media.“
“I have no time to prepare media materials of
my own.“
“The syllabus I teach from is too tightly structured to
allow for media materials to be brought into the
classroom.“
“I teach advanced levels (alternatively, a given skill
area such as composition or reading) and therefore
don’t need to use media.“
5. Rationale for MELT (1)
∎ assist teachers in their jobs
the outside world in the classroom; language in more complete
communicative context.
contextualization & a solid point of departure for classroom
activities
a density of information & richness of cultural input not possible in
classroom,
freedom from excessive explanation,
∎ motivate students:
bring a slice of real life into the classroom
make the task of language learning a more meaningful and
exciting one
∎ can and do enhance language teaching,
6. Rationale for MELT (2)
∎ Given the role media play in the world outside the
classroom, students expect to find media inside the
classroom as well. Media thus serve as an important
motivator in the language teaching process.
∎ Audiovisual materials provide students with content,
meaning, and guidance. They thus create a
contextualized situation within which language items
are presented and practiced.
∎ Media materials can lend authenticity to the
classroom situation, reinforcing for students the
direct relation between the language classroom and
the outside world.
7. Rationale for MELT (3)
∎ Since the learning styles of students differ
(Oxford 1990; Reid 1987; Skehan 1989;
Wenden and Rubin 1987), media provide us
with a way of addressing the needs of both
visual and auditory learners.
∎ The role that input plays in language learning is
virtually uncontested (Krashen 1987). By
bringing media into the classroom, teachers can
expose their students to multiple input sources.
Thus, while decreasing the risk of the students'
becoming dependent on their teacher's dialect or
idiolect, they can also enrich their language
learning experiences
8. Rationale for MELT (4)
∎ With reference to schema theory (Schank and
Abelson1977), which proposes that we
approach new information by scanning our
memory banks for related knowledge, media can
help students call up existing schemata and
therefore maximize their use of prior background
knowledge in the language learning process.
∎ Finally, research suggests that media provide
teachers with a means of presenting material in
a time-efficient and compact manner, and of
stimulating students' senses' thereby helping
them to process information more readily
(Mollica 1979).
12. Technical Media
∎ With reference to schema theory (Schank and
Abelson1977), which proposes that we
approach new information by scanning our
memory banks for related knowledge, media can
help students call up existing schemata and
therefore maximize their use of prior background
knowledge in the language learning process.
∎ Finally, research suggests that media provide
teachers with a means of presenting material in
a time-efficient and compact manner, and of
stimulating students' senses' thereby helping
them to process information more readily
(Mollica 1979).
