Video as an Instructional Aid for English-as-a-Second-Language Teaching

Timothy Hodapp

doi:10.58680/rte197817897

Research in the Teaching of English May 1978

Video as an Instructional Aid for English-as-a-Second-Language Teaching

Timothy Hodapp Education Authority

Abstract

Since 1966 approximately 120,000 children aged 14 years or younger have been admitted to Canada as landed immigrants from non-English speaking countries {Canadian Citizenship Statistics, 1975). A substantial number of children born in Canada of immigrant parents do not know English well, if at all, because the mother tongue of their parents is used extensively in the home (O'Bryan, K., Kuplowski, O., & Reitz, J., 1976). To accommodate these children school boards have initiated and expanded English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programs in their schools. These programs teach children regular academic subjects in an atmosphere designed to facilitate the transition from their mother tongue to English. During the course of program development for ESL, few attempts have been made to provide video aids for ESL teachers (Sherrington, 1973). However, television has the ability to provide services essential to effective ESL instruction. In order for the meaning of new words to be grasped, many concrete examples of a word must be provided (Titone, 1970). While a teacher may find this difficult, especially for action or abstract words, video aids can provide examples from widely diverse contexts. Video aids can also provide examples of speaking, listening, and writing. Cultural information, a requirement for effective language comprehension (Nostrand, 1966), can be provided incidentally. Television programs could even go beyond the instruction of the basics of language in an ESL setting. Programs such as the Electric Company have been shown to be effective in aiding English speaking students with reading problems (Ball et al., 1974). It is possible that such programs could be used to teach ESL students reading in conjunction with regular ESL instruction. Indeed, Paulston & Bruder (1976) have stated that, because of the substantial transfer of reading skills in one language to reading skills in a new language, reading instruction should begin early in ESL studies. Thus, the present study was designed to experimentally demonstrate that video can be an effective aid for ESL instruction.

Journal: Research in the Teaching of English
Published: 1978-05-01
DOI: 10.58680/rte197817897
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Topics: teacher development multilingual writers
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Video as an Instructional Aid for English-as-a-Second-Language Teaching

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