Universidad Austral de Chile
Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades
Escuela de Pedagogía en Comunicación en Lengua Inglesa
Lead Advisor: Mg. Eduardo Roldán Yañez.
Visual Aids in English Language Teaching
Seminario de Tesis para optar al Título de Profesor en Comunicación en Lengua Inglesa
y al Grado de Licenciado en Educación
Pamela Carrasco Muñoz
Nury Miranda Hidalgo
Valdivia – Chile
2013
i
Acknowledgments
Pamela:
Many people contributed to the construction of this research paper and they deserve to be
thanked for. First of all, I would like to dedicate this work and thank my parents María Angélica
and Oscar for giving me their unconditional support especially through the hardest times. Similarly, I
want to thank my three brothers Patricio, Oscar, and Rodrigo, for being part of this process, making
it livable by giving me their friendship and enjoyable moments. Likewise, I express my gratitude to
my beloved Antonio, for the love and support he gave me even though the hard circumstances we have
undergone. I also want to extend thanks to Marianela and Facundo, my boyfriend’s parents, for their
invaluable help throughout the good and the bad situations. Finally I thank my little daughter who
is the greatest reason to reach my objectives.
Nury :
I want to dedicate this achievement to my sweet daughter Lía for being my light throughout
this long journey. I want to thank my thesis partner Pamela for her support, patience, companionship
and advice.
I would like to thank all the great teachers I had during my life who were my role models
and inspire me to choose the path of teaching
We would like to gratefully thank Mr. Eduardo Roldán for his mentorship and guidance.
Table of Contents
Page
Acknowledgments
i
Abstract
ii
Introduction
1
Antecedents
3
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
5
1.1. State of the Art
5
1. 1.1Visual Aids in Chile
5
1.1.2 Oral Communication in Chile
6
1.2. What Visual Aids are
10
1.2.1Visual Aids in the Teaching-learning Process
13
1.2.2 Development of Skills
18
1.2.3 Receptive and Productive Skills: Listening and Speaking
20
1.2.4Design of Visual Aids and Advantages
24
1.3Oral Communication.
28
1.3.1 What is Oral Communication
28
1.3.2Oral Communication in English Language Teaching
30
1.3.3The Role of the Teacher
32
1.3.4 Free Oral Production
34
1.4 Comprehensible Input
35
1.4.1Pre-modified Input
37
1.4.2Interactionally Modified Input
38
1.4.3 The I+1 Hypothesis
40
1.4.4 Comprehensible Input in EFL Classroom
41
CHAPTER 2: DISCUSSION
2.1 Visual Aids, Oral Communication and Comprehensible Input; Relationships
44
44
2.1.1 Visual Aids Patterns
45
2.1.2 Oral Communication Patterns
46
2.1.3 Comprehensible Input Patterns
47
2.2 The Teaching-learning Process from the Oral and i+1 Perspective
47
2.3 The Role of the Teacher and Free Oral Production from Oral and i+1
Perspective
49
Conclusions
References
52
ii
Abstract
This research paper was conveyed to determine how visual aids are used and
benefit English language teaching. Likewise, two concepts were identified: oral
communication and comprehensible input whose main concern is to conclude how they
and visual aids can be related to each other to hone and improve oral skills in the process
of English language teaching and learning. Different theories and authors support the
hypothesis about the incorporation of different and varied visual aids due to great
amount of comprehensible input it offers when learning English. In this sense, the above
mentioned concepts can cover the contents that the Ministry of Education demands in
English language lessons to enhance oral skills.
Key words: Visual Aids, Oral Communication, Comprehensible Input, Teachers’ Role,
Foreign language Acquisition.
1
Introduction
The English language plays an essential role in society owing to the fact that it
has become a valuable international language tool (Crystal, D., 2003). It has become an
important component of living in society and its relevance comes from the necessity to
communicate with each other in this global village and the wide range of opportunities it
offers. Chile is not exempt from this phenomenon, and it is well known that many
changes are taking place in the Chilean educational system in relation to the skills and
competences that students must achieve to succeed as English language learners.
According to the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) “Communicative skills, especially
in this level, are fundamental tools that students should develop and implement to
achieve the expected learning outcomes”1 (MINEDUC, 2013, p. 15).This is the reason
why in Chile there is a special awareness of the importance of learning English as a
foreign language (EFL). As it has been reported, most of Chilean students are far from
achieving the level that MINEDUC expects them to reach (MINEDUC as cited in Bravo
& Villalón, 2011). In this regard, the teaching of English has undergone some
modifications which attempt to train students who are capable of communicating in the
target language (MINEDUC 2009; Unidad de Curriculum, ICF.2009). Therefore, the
emphasis is in the development of communicative skills despite the required
improvements in the entire EFL Chilean praxis.
It is well known that visual aids are beneficial in English language teaching and
make it comprehensible is one of the main aspects to consider in this paper. In spite of
1
Las habilidades de comunicación, especialmente en este ciclo, son herramientas fundamentales que los
estudiantes deben desarrollar y aplicar para alcanzar los aprendizajes propios de cada asignatura”
(Ministerio de Educación, 2013). Translations were made by the researchers.
2
the amount of work related to visual aids, when the teaching of oral production is
complemented with oral comprehensible input, students can feel more comfortable in
their classrooms. Previous work have been made in Chile to teach grammar through
visual aids, despite this, using visual aids to enhance oral skills is not mentioned in the
work “On the Possibility of Teaching English Grammar through Visual Aids. You Will
See What We Mean” (Bravo, Gonzalo. & Villalón, Margarita, 2011).Visual aids offer
many advantages (Vale & Freunteun, 1995; Meredith, 1947) and can improve students’
development of oral skills since they provide students with real life simulations.
The main objective of this paper is to examine how the use and integration of
visual aids in EFL classrooms enhance and foster oral communication in English
language learning. The sections of the paper are organized as follows: Chapter 1 refers
to the context in which visual aids are used in Chile and how they foster oral skills
comprehensibly. To reach this, the present paper will illustrate different authors’ ideas
focusing on the significance of incorporating visual aids with comprehensible input. The
concepts visual aids, oral communication and comprehensible input will be described
and defined separately to give the readers a wide understanding. Chapter 2 will offer a
discussion on the relevance of the relationships of the aforementioned concepts. Finally,
conclusions, suggestions and further research are presented.
The literature review was designed with the objective of improving and fostering
the communicative skills and competences that XXI century students need to develop
following the contents the Ministry of Education suggests in the current English
Curriculum.
3
Antecedents
Research Questions:
1- To what extent do visual aids benefit the English language teaching in EFL
classrooms?
2- Which concepts can be related to visual aids in order to complement the process
of language teaching?
Hypothesis:
Visual aids as essential tools in the teaching-learning process can enhance
students’ oral skills in EFL classrooms.
General Objective:
•
To determine the implications and the benefits that visual aids have when they
are properly integrated in English language lessons.
Specific Objectives:
1.- To select the principles that will guide the literature review describing the theoretical
aspects which support the use of visual aids in the process of English language teaching.
2.- To discuss and relate the main components of the research to support the benefits of
using visual in English language teaching.
4
Justification:
Nowadays, the teaching of English language must respond according to the
development of updated teaching techniques. It is known that learners need extra
instruction for them to understand better contents, and comprehend a second language.
When teaching English, educators must find ways to exemplify and clarify contents to
reach different kinds of learners. For this reason, the design and management of visual
aids take an important role for the development of linguistic skills in the target language
inside the EFL classroom. As Cauley (1954) states, with a broader, richer and more
functional concept of the purpose of teaching of English in mind, the search begins for
material around which a problem or unit involving the use of English skills can be built.
5
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1
State of the Art
1.1.1 Visual Aids in Chile
Nowadays the Chilean Ministry of Education has made a great effort to provide
public schools with appropriate materials. For instance, manifold kinds of games, stories
full of pictures, didactic text books, and images for students to learn. In regard to the
educational material, it can be said that the MINEDUC has also created audio-visual
material due to the effective impact they have on students. This visual support consists
of high technology devices with the main purpose of supporting better learning which
also motivates the continuous updating of them. According to ReCrea (2013), a
publishing company, these new visual elements have to be entertaining, mixed with
learning elements, innovating and interesting for the students.
The Ministry of Education has also made emphasis on the kind of educational
audiovisual aids that are being created, including games and softwares that motivate
children and have them interested in such a way that they utilize them correctly so that
the main purpose of enhancing the learning process can be accomplished. ReCrea also
emphasizes that one of the mayor necessities that audiovisual aids must satisfy is to have
the capability of addressing the different stages learners go through (2013).
How appealing the educational material is, is an important factor. In this sense,
one can say that if the material is not motivating for students they may lose interest and
the purpose of the material may be lost. The importance of the designed material for
children and teenagers is also essential (ReCrea, 2013). In regards to the kind of visual
6
aids, the Ministry of Education considers essential the kind of supplies that are presented
to the students, and as they usually do not know how to read, the material needs to be
“plenty of sounds, simple and easy to comprehend” (ReCrea, 2013). The creators of
these educational materials also emphasize the fact that if they want to succeed with the
material for adolescents, they must focus on the context of the students, they must feel
identified and the stories must be real. This company also mentions that another
possibility is to make those materials interactive motivating the participation of the
students (ReCrea, 2013).
Educational material creators have also thought about the educators when
designing visual aids. Teachers of English use videos and other devices to present and
contextualize situations in which the vocabulary can be used in such a way that students
can appreciate the real setting in which they can use the contents (ReCrea, 2013). It is
not a surprise that the schools which have used these materials have obtained good
results because the students learn more and adapt the contents to real life situations.
1.1.2 Oral communication and visual aids in Chile
Chile is growing in all senses, economically, socially, technologically and
especially in education. It is worldwide known that English is essential nowadays and
Chile has intended to be inserted in an increasingly globalized world in which a certain
level of English proficiency is an indispensable element. There are certain competences
people must develop in order to take part of this globalized world. The MINEDUC
(2013) states that “Through English, it is possible to gain admission to a great range of
information, and by means of the mass media to know other cultures and realities” (p.
7
30)1.Therefore, the competences to develop in education are focused on oral
communication.
Language learning comes from the necessity of all the aforementioned. In
education, English has taken an important part of the curriculum where the teacher, the
students and the contents are the main components. Therefore, “there is a didactic
triangle that should allow students to construct their own knowledge, a process that is
not always easy to grasp and produce autonomously” (Díaz, C., 2011). Crooks, 2003, (as
cited in Díaz, 2011) states:
“The purpose of teaching English as a foreign language via Chilean public
education, semi-public and private education is to give students a linguistic tool
that can enable them to understand and communicate information, knowledge
and technologies as well as to appreciate other cultures, traditions and ways of
thinking”. (para. 4)
One of the major issues when teaching a foreign language is how to prepare
learners to develop their linguistic competences and enable them to use the language.
The Chilean curriculum is concerned with the development of skills “according to the
methodological and communicative approach” (MINEDUC, 2013, p. 34) to enhance
students’ competences. The English curriculum establishes that: “by means of the
development of communicative skills, our students will have the possibility of acquiring
the necessary tools to get access to information and participate in communicative
1
Por medio del inglés, es posible acceder a una amplia gama de información a través de los medios de
comunicación y de las tecnologías, y conocer otras culturas y realidades. (MINEDUC, 2013)
8
situations, through conversations, reading and writing” (MINEDUC, 2013, p. 30)2. This
means that with the enhancement of the communicative skills students will be able to
use their knowledge and will be part of communicative in situational contexts nowadays.
In relation to the communicative skill the English curriculum (2013) contends
that “the development of oral skills […] opens the possibility to start using English to
communicate information and to interact with the language in meaningful and familiar
situations of daily life and personal interests” (p. 30)3
One of the tools that can be used to enrich the Chilean English language lessons
is the use of visual aids. The Chilean curriculum also proposes that “to develop and
present information through the use of text processers, presentations (power point)
graphs, tools and audio and visual applications” (MINEDUC, 2013, p. 15)4.
The contents proposed by the Ministry of Education are topics appealing to the
students’ level, but they also consists of grammar and structures that the students should
be able to show and manage. In this regard, the curriculum indicates that “grammar
should be taught contextualized through interesting contents, relevant and motivating,
available to interact and communicate” (MINEDUC, 2013, p. 34)5. All these suggestions
2
Mediante el desarrollo de las habilidades de comunicación del idioma inglés, nuestros estudiantes
tendrán la posibilidad de adquirir las herramientas necesarias para acceder a la información
y participar en situaciones comunicativas de esta lengua, tanto por medio de conversaciones como
de la lectura y la escritura. (MINEDUC, 2013).
3
El desarrollo de las habilidades de producción oral y producción escrita en estos niveles les abre la
posibilidad de comenzar a usar el inglés para comunicar información e interactuar en el idioma en
situaciones comunicativas cercanas y familiares, de la vida diaria y de su interés personal. (MINEDUC,
2013)
4
Desarrollar y presentar información a través del uso de procesadores de texto, presentaciones (power
point), gráficos, y herramientas y aplicaciones de imagen, audio y video. (Chilean English Curriculum,
2013)
5
La gramática debe enseñarse en forma contextualizada por medio de temas y contenidos interesantes,
relevantes y motivadores, y estar al servicio de la interacción y la comunicación
9
help the teacher conduct and guide (Harmer, J. 2007) the teaching process in benefit of
the students and their learning progress, with the final purpose of enhancing their
communicative skills in English language.
At Universidad Austral de Chile, some researchers have carried out some
investigations about these topics as well. For instance, in relation to visual aids, there is
a proposal called “On the Possibility of Teaching English Grammar through Visual
Aids: You Will See What We Mean” (Bravo, G. & Villalón, M., 2011). This study
attempts to teach grammar through visual aids since the Ministry of Education
emphasizes the Communicative Approach. Another research paper “The Impact of
Multisensory Teaching Material on Elementary Schools Students’ English as a Foreign
Language Acquisition Process under The Focal Skill Approach” (Bennett, D. & Zubber,
k., 2012) looks for acquiring English through the use of multisensory teaching materials,
but it is not directly focused on communicative skills. It can be said that visual aids have
always been an issue of investigation for all the benefits they offer but not all of them
intended to foster oral skill specifically.
10
1.2
What Visual Aids are
This section refers to the contributions and descriptions some authors give to the
concept of visual aids it description and classification. Visual aids have been used since
the beginning of learning and teaching. Most early reviews were concerned with the
meaning of visual aids. As there are many authors who refer to visual aids, this literature
review attempts to define them from manifold different points of view, thus provide the
audience with complete and varied information. Moreover, this paper defines visual aids
in different aspects; use, design, function, and the advantages of using them in the
teaching-learning process. Gilbert Weaber and Elroy Bollinger (1949) define visual aids
as “any specifically prepared drawing, illustration, model, motion picture, film strip, or
other device that will expedite learning through the sense of vision” (p. 1). Current
thinking contends that “[. . .] educational media or aids refer to all forms of information
carriers that can be used to [. . .] store, preserve and transmit or retrieve information to
promote and encourage effective teaching and learning activities” (Babalola, B., 2013, p.
108). Therefore, visual aids yield in improving the teaching-learning process. Visual
aids are intended to help both the teacher and the students in order to make the contents
better understood, to contextualize vocabulary and make it meaningful for the learners.
In this respect Yi-Hsun Lai (2011) maintains that using visual aids “not only stimulate
students’ learning interest, but students can also interact with these visual aids, and can
relate them to their past experience or their daily life experience” (p. 3). This leads us to
confirm that using visual aids properly in the teaching-learning process stimulate
students to participate and be familiarized with their own experiences.
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Not exempt of defining visual aids, M, Jessa (2008) claims that they “refer to graphs,
maps, pictures etc. used as aids in learning” and these can be separable into four
categories:
-
NON-Projected 2D: wall board, roll-up board, picture, poster, chart, cartoon,
cue sheet, flannel board, flash card
-
NON-Projected 3D: cut-out, model, mock-up, puppet, marionette, diorama,
vocabulary wheel, keyboard, teaching machine
-
Projected 3D: slide, transparency sheet, film strip, microfilm, videocassette,
CD
-
Verbal: text book, supplementary reader, workbook, magazine, document,
duplicated materials, reference book, newspapers, and clippings. (p. 93)
Regarding this categorization Callista (1938) suggests how visual aids contribute to the
teaching-learning process pointing out that visual aids firstly “provide for the learner a
concrete picture of the situation in question” (p. 4). Visual resources accompany what is
verbally said and help to understand ambiguous situations. Moreover, the school and the
teacher must provide interesting sources to offer attractive educative experiences to the
students. Callista (1938) also asserts that “another significant value of visual aids is
economy of time” (p. 3). Teachers in general must be aware of the time while teaching,
and in order to make use of it according to the contents and the learning outcomes it is
necessary to manage every single activity and save as much time as possible in order to
fulfill the objectives of the lesson.
M. Aina (2006) establishes useful characteristic of visual aids and makes
suggestions to prepare and use them inside the classroom. The author includes some
12
features of visual aids as well. The characteristics Aina (2006) contends are the
following:
-
The pictures, maps and charts should be attractive and with suitable colors.
-
Writing must be large enough and clear enough to be easily read from the
back of the class.
-
The charts and posters should be accurate in spacing and planning.
-
The figures and the letters should be well formed.
-
Objects and pictures should be big enough for children to see from their
sitting places.
-
There should be a great deal of pictures or materials to go round the children
if possible.
-
Apparatus must be accurately prepared and be ready before the lesson.
-
Let all pupils first see any materials or apparatus before individuals or age
group can see [them].
-
All pictures on the television must be clear and the radio should have a clear
sound.
-
When preparing apparatus, the correct, accurate language and spelling must
be considered. (p. 28)
Aina (2006) also outlines that these characteristics are essential when using visual aids
properly because they “transmit information in such a fashion that will modify the
attitude, habits and practices of students” (p. 35). The fact that the students are interested
in an activity provides teachers with a useful tool that teachers must take advantage of.
13
This section alluded to visual aids in general; its categorization, characteristics,
definition, usage and some other interesting features that some authors such as: Callista,
Aina, Jesa point out. Next, visual aids are going to be defined from the perspective of
the teaching learning-process.
1.2.1
Visual Aids in the Teaching-Learning Process
This section makes mention of the process where teaching and learning can be
improved through the use of visual aids. Moreover, it makes reference to how students
and teachers are benefited with this improvement in EFL classrooms. Students not only
need to be told about specific topics, but they also need to verify the information
according to what they have lived or experienced. The presence of visual elements in
today’s teaching and learning is increasing as the integration of images and visual
presentations with textbooks, instructional manual, classroom presentations, and
computer interfaces broadens (Benson, 1997; Branton 1999; Dwyer as cited in Kleinman
& Dwyer, 1999). Earlier thinking however, does not disregard this theory, but asserts the
idea based on its magnitude as “visual aids in the teaching-learning process contribute
significantly and allow students and teachers to fulfil their goals by using them properly”
(Callista, 1938, p. 4).
The teaching-learning process is two-sided ( Wilhelm, J., Dube, J., Baker, T., 2003);
it needs the teacher as well as the student. Not only can the teacher guide this whole
process on his/her own, but s/he also needs an audience willing to give feedback. The
student’s concern should be receiving information, constructing knowledge, and
expressing outwardly personal ideas. This teaching-learning process is an active non-
14
stop phenomenon where “the teacher is the skilled workman and any good visual aid is
merely a tool which the teacher and a group of children can use intelligently in a
learning situation, so as to achieve the desired objectives” (Callista, 1938, p. 5). This is
the reason why teachers need to do their best to retrieve as much as they can from their
students, especially when teaching English as a foreign language. However, this must be
accompanied by a proper environment as the study Towards a Comprehensive School
Health Program contends that “The school environment must provide for enrichment as
well as remediation for optimal learning” (The Health Curriculum Guide, 2013, p. 1). In
this sense, the teacher is the main responsible providing the best atmosphere inside the
classroom, and make students feel comfortable to participate.
EFL stands for English as a foreign language, which refers to the English language
spoken in a country where it is not official, as it is the case of Chile. In this country to be
a teacher of English is a difficult task, not only because of the language itself, but also
due to the lack of exposure to the language. Hence, teachers must draw on other sources
at the moment of performing their work using as many available possibilities as they can
to enrich their labor. Yu Ren Dong (2004) states that “we need to lighten the language
load of the text for our [non-native English speaking] students using whatever we can,
including physical movements, facial expressions, drawings, and real objects” (p. 205).
From this, it can be said that teachers must include extra visual resources to give life to
what it is said and taught.
Visual aids in teaching English have an important function in educating students and
using them in every single class brings several benefits to teachers as well as to learners.
Callista (1938) reports that “Visual methods not only increase efficiency of teaching [. .
15
.] when properly used” (p. 5). Consequently, one can assume that visual aids mean a
significant tool for both students and teachers: students learn effectively and teachers
save time to fulfill all the topics to be taught.
Any idea or information can be perfectly conveyed by visual material without using
necessarily verbal communication. Because of this, visual materials become an
indispensable instrument that gives ease at the moment of learning a language or
understanding something that implies verbal communication. This occurs because the
brain will withhold more information when using dual input during the learning process.
“Learning is the result of integrating all information perceived and processed. This
integration takes form in structural modifications within the brain” (Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007, pp. 25-26). The brain lateralization
process explains that each hemisphere of the brain has different capabilities according to
cognitive functions. Visual input reinforces language learning and makes that both
hemispheres work together, thus improving the learning process. M. Hunter and E.,
Torrance (n.d.) claim the following:
“Schools favor left brain-dependent activities, like the fact of always sitting,
learning algebra, etc. Favoring the right hemisphere would include allowing
students to stretch out, learn geometry, etc. These remarks led to the methods
that engage the two hemispheres, some even going so far as to reinforce
activities related to the right hemisphere. An example of these new methods
is “show and tell.” Instead of merely reading texts to the students (left
hemisphere action), the teacher also shows images and graphs (right
16
hemisphere actions). (Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development, 2007, p. 9)
Nonetheless, recent study has pointed out that “It's absolutely true that some brain
functions occur in one or the other side of the brain. Language tends to be on the left,
attention more on the right. But people don’t tend to have a stronger left- or right-sided
brain network” (Jeff Anderson, 2013 as cited in The Huffington Post Newspaper, para.
4). This basically means that people can use both sides of the brain for the same
cognitive functions that were used to be assigned just to one side of the brain.
Other theories have come out regarding visual communication in learning. For instance,
David Sless (as cited in Canning-Wilson, C., 1999) conceived the term of the Thinking
Eye to explain the relationship between the functions of the brain and the eyes when
learning. The author suggests that vision and thinking are just one process in which none
of those concepts can be separated one from another. To support this statement,
Canning-Wilson (2001) argues that “the eye is not [biologically] separated from the
brain [and] they are part of the same organ” (para. 25).
Both theories The Thinking Eye and The Brain Lateralization point out two different
perspectives of the vision and thinking process which converge in the fact that visuals
enormously contribute to one’s understanding when learning, and facilitate the
conceptualization of abstract ideas, thus producing a mental image of something
concrete. Canning-Wilson (1989), in trying to find out why sometimes people tend to
forget words when taking an exam even though they know the answer or at least have a
general idea, came to the conclusion that images can be retrieved easier in memory.
17
Visual aids provide more and indispensable resources to students, especially for
those students who learn visually. The purpose of visual aids is to increase students’ and
teachers’ practices in the teaching-learning process, but in order to do this it is essential
to know how to use them. Callista (1938) clearly specifies that:
In order to get good results the teacher should know the different kinds of visual
aids together with their use, design and management. Visual aids are creative and
easy to use, bragging visual flexibility and brain geniality that makes them an
invaluable tool for teaching and learning English. (p. 9)
In other words, Callista (1938) intends to put across that teachers have a powerful tool
when they make the most of visual aids, not only for their own benefit, but also for the
students giving additional material for them to build new information.
In the teaching process where the teacher has to transmit what s/he knows to the
learners, it is well known that the use of visual aids gives good results in teaching
English and they have been used for a long time since “the increasing complexity of life
urges educator on to find vital, interesting and happy ways of teaching children to
understand and appreciate their environment and of stimulating their interests” (Callista,
1938, p. 3). One can infer that the student’s context is as important as their interests, the
visual aids have to make them relate their lives’ reality to make it interesting. Moreover,
“visuals can be used in any subject area when teaching about concepts as Barbara
Allison and Marsha Rehm (2007, p. 4) suggest. Under these theories, researcher can
contend that visual aids address different students and contents. In this sense, students
are familiarized with the visual aids and will be exposed to other cultures, which
undoubtedly makes the learning process meaningful and contextualized. However,
18
Patrick Meredith (1947) states “. . . their function is not always clearly appreciated-even
by teachers who use them” (p. 61). The author also contends that there are some fallacies
such as “to suppose that visual aids can do the teacher’s job for him [. . .]” (Meredith,
1947, p. 61). Another significant assumption in the opinion of Meredith (1947) is that
visual aids are “merely a superficial and unessential addition to the teacher’s job,
making it more entertaining but contributing nothing fundamental to it” (p. 61). As one
can see, there is a down side within all the benefits visual aids provide in the field of
teaching. It depends on the teachers’ commitment to their work.
This section mentioned visual aids as a tool that can improve the teaching and
learning process through the use of them. Moreover, it made clear reference to how
students and teachers are benefited in EFL classrooms. Following visual aids are going
to be alluded in the sense of how they help in the development of students’ skills.
1.2.2 Development of Skills through the Use of Visual Aids
In this section the main point is to put forward the fact that not only visual aids are
used with a particular purpose, but also there are reasons why in teaching it is so
important to address all the students and their diverse capacities. Visual aids imply
visual methods, visual requirements and visual skills, but as teachers must know, visual
skills are not well developed in all the students from the same classroom due to the
different sensory preferences and learning styles. Visual aids can provide very useful
tools for many students but some of them might not learn by looking at pictures or
flashcards, therefore, visual aids must be carefully used in daily activities. Lai (2011)
asserts that “Visual aids enable learners to use more than one sense at the same time” (p.
19
2). In this sense, visual aids support the learning process by addressing every student and
their learning styles.
It is recommended to include the sensory preferences as well as skills in the learning
process while using visual aids. According to Jack Richards and Theodore Rodgers
(2002) “Unlike listening and reading which are receptive skills of a given language,
speaking and writing skills are widely classified by many researchers as productive and
active skills” (p. 293). This means that speaking and writing are the two more reinforced
skills during classes, and using visual aids is not exempt of contributing in this aspect.
Neeta Sharma (2010) contends “in language learning visual aids are helpful in
developing language skills such as speaking and writing as they stimulate the learners’
sense of sight (p. 127). Visual aids can be stimulating and also enjoyable teaching
materials for the learner by increasing the attractiveness of the tasks. Moreover, visual
aids provide more and indispensable resources to students, especially for those students
who learn visually. The purpose of visual aids is to increase students’ and teachers’
practices in the teaching learning process, but in order to do this it is essential to know
how to design them addressing students skills, learning styles, among others.
To conclude the main points of this section, it can be said that visual aids are
important to address students’ skills and their diverse capacities. Therefore their learning
process is enhanced and strengthened. In the coming section receptive and productive
skills are going to be depicted.
20
1.2.3 Receptive and productive Skills: Listening and Speaking
The aim of this section is to introduce the four language skills focusing, in
particular, on listening and speaking. As it is well known, “learning styles are the
general approaches that students use in acquiring a new language . . .” (Oxford, R.,
2003, p. 2). However, it is important to mention that “the instructor’s teaching style
should address the learning styles of the learners as much as possible” (Oxford, 2001, p.
1) since he or she is the one in charge of encouraging the students through the activities
he or she plans. This implies that teachers must attend “to the practice of the four
primary skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing because acquiring a new
language necessarily involves developing these four modalities in varying degrees and
combinations” (Oxford, 1990. p. 5). Vernier, Barbuzza, Del Giusti, Del Moral state that
“if the teacher intermixes these four language skills “EFL students are likely to become
communicatively competent” (n. d. p. 2).
The four language skills that teachers have to pay attention to while planning
their lessons “are often categorized as receptive or productive” (Nunan, D., 2003, p. 24),
what according to Broughton, Brumfit, Flavell, Hill, and Pincas, (1980), are classified as
“On the one hand, listening and reading with understanding are receptive (but not
passive) decoding skills; on the other, speaking and writing are productive, encoding
skills” (p. 66). The same authors state that a receptive skill “is involved in understanding
the message” (p. 65), what is manageable through training in the teaching process as
well as the productive skills. The Ministry of Education maintains that:
“Although these skills distinguish areas of learning they should not be developed
separately. In the context of real communication, skills occur in an integrated
21
way, since the interaction in the language involves understanding information
and sending messages in response to the information received” (p. 31)6.
Therefore, the integration of the skills should be considered by teachers in order
to carry out meaningful and contextualized lessons.
The communicative competence movement that began in 1970s makes emphasis
on speaking proficiency (Vernier et al., n.d., p. 276). Speaking as a productive skill
cannot ensue without the receptive ones (listening and writing). These authors contend
that “students do more listening than speaking” (p. 276) what makes it crucial to define
listening skills in this chapter. Regarding the input students can obtain through the
receptive skills, the importance of acquiring a language is evidenced in many research
studies (Vernier et al., n. d.) which highlight the relevance of some approaches like the
Total Physical Response (Asher, J. 1968) and The Natural Approach (Krashen, S. &
Terrell, T. 1977) to give students the necessary input before they produce orally.
However, “it is undeniable that the emphasis has been put on speaking proficiency in the
last years” (Vernier et al., n. d.).
The development of oral production is not exempt of being associated to others
skills, as Vernier et al. (n.d.) claim “the emphasis on oral proficiency does not and
should not mean that other skill areas ought to be neglected” (p. 276). We cannot
separate them but we cannot put them together in every scenario as when we asses
listening and speaking; we should bear in mind that “the product of listening and reading
6
Aunque estas habilidades distinguen ámbitos de aprendizaje, no deben desarrollarse de manera separada.
En el contexto de la comunicación real, las habilidades ocurren en forma integrada, ya que la interacción
en el idioma implica comprender información y emitir mensajes como respuesta a la información
recibida.
22
is not the spoken or written response” as Douglas Brown (2003, p. 118) reports. People
tend to associate productive skills as the result of listening and reading assessments, but
“the productive skills of speaking and writing allow us to hear and see the process as it is
performed” (Brown, 2003, p. 118).
On the other hand, the receptive skills are “the two more enigmatic models of
performance” in Brown’s words (2003, p. 118). The author asserts that “[one] cannot
observe the actual act of listening or reading, nor can [one] see or hear and actual
product. [One] can observe learners only while they are listening or reading” (p.118).
The result of this is what Vernier et al. (n.d.) suggest as “through reception we
internalize linguistic information without which we could not produce language” (p.
276). However, as the focus of this section is to enhance oral production listening and
speaking skills will be described.
Listening, as a receptive skill and an element in teaching and learning, “is often
implied as a component of speaking” (Brown, 2003, p. 119), that is to say, in order to
speak a language we must listen to it first. The author also contends that “a good speaker
is often valued more highly than a good listener” (p. 119). However, regarding the
aforementioned, to be a successful speaker it is necessary to succeed in language
acquisition and it “requires a person to receive and understand incoming information
(input)” (Nunan, 2003, p. 24). According to Broughton et al. (1980) “listening should
precede speaking” (p. 65), that is to say that not only the teacher needs to focus on
speaking of expecting an ideal level of speaking without working on listening or
providing listening input to the students first. The authors also mention that:
23
At first sight it appears that listening is a passive skill, and speaking is an active
one. This is not really true, since the decoding of a message (i.e. listening) calls
for active participation in the communication between the participants. (1980, p.
65)
This means that listening skill seems to be inactive, but as the person listens, he or she
has to make different internal processes to decode the meaning of a message when the
people have a conversation and interchange ideas. As Nunan (2003) states “nothing
could be further from the truth. Listening is very active” (p. 24) since people do more
than listening they make connection to what they know, their experiences or their ideas.
English language teachers must be aware if students understand what they are
listening, and here there are components that help the listener to interpret a message:
stress, rhythm and intonation, lexis and grammar for instance (Harmer, 2007). Another
alternative is “to listen to a passage of natural English speech suitable to their level”
(Broughton et al., 1980, p. 68) or as Nunan (2003) suggests “It’s not just what they are
listening to. It’s what they are listening for” (p. 30). It is important to set a purpose, or
let students find a purpose.
As one can see, speaking or oral communication cannot be mentioned without
taking into account the listening skill. It is central to enhance one first and both at the
same time. A good listener precedes a prepared speaker ready to decode and feedback
inside a lesson, especially when learning a second language.
Regarding speaking, Josef Essberger (2013) claims that “it is the delivery of
language through the mouth” (para. 1). Speaking is usually the second language skill
24
that we learn in our mother tongue as Essberger points out (2013, para. 2). Sari Luoma
(2003) asserts that speaking “is generally the most complex process [. . .] in the
educational context (as cited in Bougandoura, F., 2013, p. 2). The same author claims
that “speaking in a foreign language is very difficult and competence in speaking takes a
long time to develop” (p. 7). In this regard, Broughton et al. (1980) outline that:
“However good a student may be at listening and understanding, it need[s] not
follow that he will speak well. A discriminating ear does not always produce a
fluent tongue. There has to be training in the productive skill of speech as well”.
(p. 76)
In this sense, the role of the teacher is fundamental. Despite all the difficulties, the
process of teaching English should be contextualized and advantageous for the learners.
Not only skills should be developed by using visual and other resources or strategies, but
how to do this is important to reach the objectives in teaching.
The aim of this section is was to acquaint the four language skills focusing, in
particular, on listening and speaking and how these are related to visual aids and how are
fostered when including visual elements inside the classroom. In the following section
visual aids are going to be covered from the viewpoint of design and advantages.
1.2.4 Design of Visual Aids and Advantages
This section refers to what must be taken into account when designing visual aids
and advantages bearing in mind some authors’ advice and tips. The design of visual aids
must be focused on the needs of the target in order to be effective. For achieving this
aim, visual aids should be “. . . simple, relevant, and reinforce the content of the speech”
25
(p. 1) as Gates Matthew (2009) contends. The author also asserts that visual aids “. . .
convey what words alone cannot, explain abstract concepts, aid retention of information,
and maintain audience interest” (p. 1). Regarding Matthew’s point of view, it is not
difficult to think that visual aids must be concise and give the necessary information
according to the audience or target. A recent research points out that “visuals have been
found to be especially helpful when teaching students whose first language is not
English (Carrier, 2005; Vaughn, Bos, & Schumm, 2003, as cited in Allison & Rehm
2007). In this regard, visual aids facilitate learning as it has been stated in this research.
When designing visual aids, there must be a starting point as Matthew (2009)
suggests, “there are some good design rules to follow. A rule can serve as effective
guide, but also can be a constraint . . .” (p. 5). This means that many rules help in
creating to design, but there are some rules which according to the situation may be not
necessary at all. However, the rules which this author refers to, in order to have an
effective result, are the following:
-
Choosing colors: the color choice when preparing visual aids will impact the
audience´s ability to read them.
-
Margins: ignoring margins might be unreadable to the audience as speakers
attempt to place too much content on a poster, slide, or overhead.
-
Beyond bullet points: Less can be more. Bullet points are to serve as signposts for the audience.
-
Readability: when visual aids are an afterthought and created just for the
purpose of having a visual aid.
26
-
Professional appearance: the credibility can be enhanced or diminished based
on the professional quality of their visual ads. (Matthew, 2009, p. 5-7)
Matthew (2009) also claims that “the decisions you make in preparing visual aids
“. . . should always include how to best achieve these benefits while avoiding the
temptation to overwhelm your audience” (p. 9). This statement can be proved when
there is “. . . absence of planning and poorly designed visual aids . . .” (Matthew, 2009,
p. 9). Planning visual aids poorly can be easily noticed by the audience since what one
person is saying should be related with the visual aids s/he is using. Designing visual
aids is a matter of compromising with the audience and being conscious of this
compromise since what is said must be reflected on the visual aids, which also give
information about the next steps to follow. Likewise, Sharma (2010) argues that “a welldeveloped language program supported by suitable, relevant and effective aids provides
a number of enriching experiences” (p. 127). In this sense, the same author claims that
this influences the development of skills.
After knowing how to design visual aids it is appropriate to set the advantages of
using them which are manifold especially when they are properly utilized inside the
classroom. When one says properly, it means that their optimal utilization leads to a side
effect: saving time as Callista (1938) suggests. In this sense Sharma (2010) also asserts
that “through such aids we can say much in a short time and in a short form what
otherwise would take a lot of time and space” (p. 127).
27
The purpose of visual aids is to increase students’ and teachers’ practices in the
teaching learning process, but in order to do this it is essential to know how to use them.
Lenny Laskowski (1997) sets several advantages of using visual aids as follows:
-
You don’t have to worry about what you’re going to say next - Your next
visual aid has your next major idea on it.
-
Visual Aids allow you to move around the room –Movement helps you to
relax and adds energy to you presentations, and allow the listeners to follow
you and pay closer attention to you.
-
You can have good eye contact with your audience – You can look at your
audience all the time.
-
Your audience feels comfortable knowing you’re on your planned track well designed visual aids show that you have a plan and have properly
prepared (p. 1)
These advantages can serve people in any situation; presentations, teaching, among
others, as they “can serve as your notes when speaking” (Laskowski, 1997, p. 1).
Moreover, they establish interesting pieces of advice to be aware of when using and
designing visual aids and how it is possible to obtain good results in teaching English.
Visual aids are not easily to design and not only a set of rules come to organize their use,
but also some tips have been developed in order to prepare good and organized visual
aids in oral presentations. “In any oral communication, concrete images are always more
powerful than abstracts concepts” (Tamblyn, D., 2003, p. 214). This leads to suggest that
oral presentations must be carefully prepared.
28
Summing up, the application of visual aids in EFL classrooms implies several
issues to take into consideration in order to address students with different
characteristics. They refer to anything which is used by teachers or students to facilitate
the language learning process. However, the role of the teacher is fundamental in this
process; it is the teacher’s duty to conduct the learning and to provide the necessary
tools. In this sense, visual aids contribute significantly in this process and in other
scenery as is oral communication process.
1.3
Oral Communication
1.3.1 What is Oral Communication?
Apart from the already mentioned concept of visual aids, this literature review
deals with another important aspect in teaching; oral communication. In a world where
everything is made by computers and communicated through mobile phones, written
communication has taken an important part of people’s lives. That it is why in this
global technological world, there are different and manifold platforms where people can
have constant oral interaction with others. Donna Swarthout (2013) defines oral
communication as “the process of verbally transmitting information and ideas from one
individual or group to another” (para. 2). This means that there has to be a need to
transmit and idea or information to somebody who is willing to receive it. Oral
communication is essential in several fields, business, mass media but more importantly,
in education.
29
Oral production leads us to oral communication and both of them can be defined
as any type of interaction that makes use of spoken words, an interaction that is really
important and essential nowadays. It has also been pointed out that “the ability to
communicate effectively through speaking as well as in writing is highly valued, and in
demand” (Johnson, K., 2001, as cited in Diaz, 2011, para. 7).
When talking about oral skills, there are two ways in which they can be divided.
The first division is the motor-perceptive skills, which involve perceiving, recalling and
articulating the correct order of sounds and structures . . . The second division is the
interaction skills, which involve making decisions about communication and the ability
to use language in order to satisfy particular demands (Buck, 2001; Osada, 2004, as cited
in Díaz, 2011).
Moreover, David Berlo (1960) states that the purpose of communication is fourfold and it is:
-
Not logically contradictory or inconsistent with itself.
-
Behavior-centered; that is, expressed in terms of human behaviors.
-
Specific enough for us to be able to relate it to actual communication
behavior.
-
Consistent with the ways in which people do communicate. (p. 10)
According to the previous categorization of the purpose of communication, it can be
assumed that communication is an implicitly well-designed process, where students or
any natural person can demonstrate their facilities or fallacies in language. Berlo (1960)
makes clear that oral communication is connected to behavior.
30
Oral Communication is paramount in all processes that involve human
interaction, especially in teaching. Teaching could not be carried out without oral
communication; both the teacher and the students need to have feedback in this process.
Erik Palmer (2011) establishes that “all of our important communication is verbal . . .
Teachers hand out all kinds of materials, but how they speak in the classroom controls
the learning in the class” (para. 5). Here, the author emphasizes the importance of the
complementation of a good instruction. Not only teachers must use “all kind of
materials”, but also the instruction can be carried out if teachers make use of their oral
communicative abilities to regulate and guide the learning process inside the classroom.
According to Wan-Yu Liu (2013) “without interaction and cooperation, oral
communication loses its essence” (p. 2). In this sense the teacher and the students must
contribute to the process of English teaching where the teacher is the main facilitator but
not the main actor since oral communication is preponderant in the teaching of English.
1.3.2 Oral Communication in English Language Teaching.
This section focuses on how oral communication is accomplished inside EFL
classrooms and on what leads the teacher and the students to communicate effectively.
To start with, it is suitable to refer to oral communication inside a classroom as an
indispensable activity. It is true that non-verbal and written communications are
important, but oral communication is imperative. When teaching a foreign language,
students cannot absorb the structures, the new phonemes, and everything this process
implies without trying to produce or interact with the teacher verbally.
31
In order to retrieve students’ ideas in classes, or just make them wanting to share
an opinion, it is necessary for them to search inside their registers and find something
that can be related to the topics which are being covered in the lesson. It is true that
contents have to be part of the lesson as well as grammatical rules and structures, but
without a context to relate them, it is useless.
This is not an easy issue to accomplish, and calls for considerable creative
thought on the part of the teacher to provide situations and stimuli that will get all
the students to make active use in a communicative way of the language they
have learnt. (Broughton et al., 1980, p. 83)
This means, when educating, teachers must be focused on what learners need or are
interested in. The main purpose of doing this is to present students enough motivational
visual incentive to accomplish the language learning in a communicative way, where the
student is capable of expressing ideas in a context that is meaningful for him/her.
Likewise, not only the teacher is involved in this process, but also the students.
A. Geetha, (2008) claims that the “teaching-learning process is a mean through
which the teacher, the learner, the curriculum, and other variables are organized in a
systematic manner to attain pre-determined goals and objectives” (para. 2). This leads us
to emphasize that both the teacher and the students at the same time of the curriculum
are needed to reach the expected outcomes and that should not be separable in this
process. Broughton et al. (1980) maintain that “He (the student) must be prepared by his
teacher for actual communication with others . . . and the teaching must develop this
competence in the learner” (p. 77). This quote attempts to deliver the responsibility to
the teacher, which cannot be denied since the teacher is the facilitator in the teaching-
32
learning process; the one in charge of molding the oral communication skill to be
applied in different contexts, situations and purposes. Sometimes students’ oral
production is individual, they put into practice oral skills independently and therefore
they are not applying the input in the proper context or in a real situation. The English
language learning must be carefully guided and the teacher must incorporate as many
sources as s/he can; provide real situations in which the language can be used, and also
propose interesting activities for the learners to be developed in the lesson.
Broughton et al. (1980) contend, the teacher should control the students’ speech,
but when students have reached certain progress the guidance is not as rigorous as it is at
the beginning, quite the contrary, it must “culminate […] in situations where the student
is free to produce utterances appropriate to the situation” (Broughton et al., 1980, p. 76).
Once this has been reached, it is possible to conclude that oral communication in English
is a process which should be guided until every student is free to produce orally and that
the teacher’s role is not teacher-centered anymore.
1.3.3 The Role of the Teacher
Considering that the teacher is an important element in the teaching-learning
process, this section alludes to the role of the teacher in this procedure. As it is well
known that the teacher must carry out and create activities inside the classroom in order
to accomplish what Broughton et al. (1980) suggest that the situations and the stimuli are
fundamental to make students communicate what they have learnt. This means that the
teacher’s role is to provide, create and maintain an adequate classroom atmosphere, in
order to make students feel confident and comfortable enough to express their ideas. It is
33
important, therefore, to allow learners to practice speaking as an opportunity to use the
grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary previously taught and, of course, the most
essential task is the practice of the oral skill (Bygate, 1987 as cited in Diaz, 2011). Liu
(2013) believes that a lesson based on oral communication, and if the main purpose is to
have students motivated to do it, the result will be a significant improvement and will
keep them interested.
If oral communication does not take place in the English lesson, maybe the
responsibility lies on the teacher. As it has been remarked, the teacher is the guide and if
oral communication is deficient it is because the method and activities proposed by the
teacher are failing in some points. Making mistakes while teaching may be common,
because the teacher must put into practice and test what best suits the learners’ abilities,
but to improve is a must.
There are certain mistakes teachers make while teaching that interfere in the
process of developing oral skills; some teachers still worry about teaching grammar,
memorizing concepts and reciting most used structures, they tend to adopt the method of
reading and writing, focusing mainly on developing these skills, teachers do not leave
enough time to practice what students learn orally. Instruction should be “studentcentered” Likewise, some activities have a lack of clear purpose or the “contents are not
consistent with students’ reality” Liu (2013, p. 14).
Oral communication may fail inside the classroom because of the teaching
material and the lack of interaction. On the one hand, materials need to be motivating to
catch the students’ interest and to promote communication inside the EFL classroom. On
34
the other hand, interaction should be a matter of participation; individualism may also
interfere on the success of the oral communicative teaching-learning process. Finally,
what usually happens is that there are some students who always want to participate, and
give answers. For managing this situation, the study called “Speaking for Better
Communication” suggests that the teacher must “take the more enthusiastic students
aside and tell them you need their help” (2012). What the Ministry of Education
suggests in relation to the teacher’s role is:
“. . . the teacher has to take into account the diversity among students in cultural,
social, ethnic and religious terms, and relation to the difference between men and
women, styles and learning rhythm, and levels of knowledge. That diversity it
attached to a challenge that teachers must bear in mind” (2013, p.16)7.
Considering all the mentioned before, the teacher as an important element in the process
of teaching-leaning English has evolved according to the necessities providing
opportunities instead of the entire knowledge encouraging students to feel free to
produce in the target language.
1.3.4 Free Oral Production
This section alludes to how free oral production gives students more
opportunities to communicate naturally. Broughton et al. (1980) claims “it is important
that a student should be able to produce naturally the language which has been presented
7
En el trabajo pedagógico, el docente debe tomar en cuenta la diversidad entre los estudiantes en términos
culturales, sociales, étnicos, religiosos, y respecto de las diferencias entre hombres y mujeres, estilos y
ritmos de aprendizaje, y niveles de conocimiento. Esa diversidad lleva consigo desafíos que los docentes
tienen que contemplar. (MINEDUC, 2013)
35
to him and which he has practiced in various more or less controlled situations” (p. 82).
Obviously, free oral production comes after orally communicating in different situations
inside the classroom which allows students to feel confident when producing in real life
and in not much controlled situations.
There are some tips a teacher can follow in favor of having an adequate context
in which student can express themselves freely. To mention some of them, it can be said
that the teacher can have his or her students to choose the topic to talk about, give
demonstrations about how to say and what to say in different situations, to give the
opportunity and time to the student to express their opinion. Other good piece of advice
is to make clear turns to speak, so students can know that they will have the opportunity
to talk and be respected when doing so (Broughton et al., 1980).
This is how free oral production’s main objective is to promote the productive
skill and moreover it enhances that students speak freely and voluntarily giving to the
teacher the chance to be a guide and lose some prominence during the lesson. It is
important to mention that the following section is going to deal with the comprehensible
input which comes to be the third main component in this research project.
1.4
Comprehensible Input
The last section in this literature review is concerned with how students should
be able to understand a message, an activity, or a lesson in spite of the language they are
learning. In teaching, this concept is called The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis. It is
impossible to talk about comprehensible input without citing Stephen Krashen who
coined this concept in his theory the Input Hypothesis which “is only concerned with
36
acquisition, not learning” (Krashen, 1982, as cited in Ricardo Schütz, 2008, para. 11).
This means that the theory focuses on how the learner acquires a language which is
supposed to be in a natural manner to be comprehensible.
The Input Hypothesis also suggests that people acquire a second language by
means of comprehensible input. Moreover, Krashen (1982) contends that “the learner
improves and progresses along the 'natural order' when he/she receives second language
'input' that is one step beyond his/her current stage of linguistic competence” (as cited in
Schütz & Cook, 2008, para. 11). In other words the student is at level “i” before
acquisition, but when he or she faces comprehensible input he or she is beyond that
level, which would be “i+1”. The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis emphasizes mainly
the fact that the teacher must use more than just his or her knowledge to make him or
herself comprehensible. It is necessary to use other sources, materials or body language
to convey what he or she wants to transmit in order to make the second language
message as comprehensible as possible. As Andrew Wright (1989) states: “non-verbal
information helps to predict what [something] might be about” (p. 137). Usó-Juan and
Martinez-Flor, (2006) claim that “processing [language] is made possible both through
non-linguistic means . . . , and through linguistic means (p. 53). One way in which nonverbal information is represented in the classroom is through visual aids (Wright, 1989).
William Littewood (1981) asserts, “the ideal input for acquiring a second
language is similar to the input received by a child, comprehensible, relevant to their
intermediate interests, not too complex, but not strictly graded either” (p. 59). These
assumptions provide the optimal situations to acquire a language which are meant to be
relevant for every single student, as well as the activities that the teachers carry out.
37
Krashen (1982) asserts that “the best activities for the classroom are those that
are natural, interesting and understood” (as cited in Hasan, A. 2008, p. 32). Designing
activities with these characteristics, a lesson can be successful and can make students
reach oral communication. Finally, this hypothesis states that “speaking fluency cannot
be taught directly. Rather, it “emerges” over time, on its own. The best way…to teach
speaking according to this view, is simply to provide comprehensible input” (Krashen,
1982, p. 23). This means that production is not directly taught since it emerges naturally.
Besides, it may keep students interested and willing to participate sharing valuable
personal opinions. The teacher must provide enough situations to give students the
chance to express their ideas clearly and make this scene profitable, as Hasan (2008)
points out, “a conversation in which the [learner] has some sort of control over the topic
and in which the other participants exert an effort to make themselves understood
provide valuable intake” (p. 32). In order to promote acquisition and intake, there must
be a proper environment where the learner feels comfortable and confident with the
topic to discuss, so that the comprehensible input takes place.
The literature specifies that there are two approaches to make input
comprehensible and to approach it; pre-modified input and interactionally modified
input, which will be described in the next sections.
1.4.1 Pre-modified Input
Pre-modified input, which comes to be discussed in this section, means that
“speakers modify their input to facilitate . . . comprehension” (Maleki, Z. & Pazhakh,
A., 2012, p. 128). This assumption provides non-native speakers with comprehensible
38
input, but modified by the speaker who sends the message who also simplifies this
message as Leily Ziglari (2008, as cited in Maleki & Pazhakh, 2012) argues. This makes
modified speech be characterized with reduced complexity. The teacher wisely chooses
the material, prepares the lesson or activity with a specific intention and makes
adjustments with the main purpose of allowing students to comprehend better.
According to a study which Pica, T., Doughty, C. and Young, R. (1986) carried
out “the pre-modified input was characterized by a greater semantic redundancy and less
complex syntax, which was achieved by means of repetition or paraphrase” (as cited in
Salazar, P., n. d., p. 2). This quotation means that the teacher must paraphrase the
messages and make the use of various verbs, adjectives, and simple syntax in general, in
a manner in which students can retrieve messages from the teacher. In this manner
interaction comes to be a matter of significant comprehension where speakers can
negotiate the input as the interactionally modified input suggests.
1.4.2 Interactionally Modified Input.
The second approach is the interactionally modified input which is essential in
the “negotiation” of the input through interaction as Michael Long (1980) contends. The
opportunity for interaction between native speakers and non-native speakers does not
cause comprehension but facilitates it. In the teaching-learning process, the input
becomes comprehensible thanks to the interaction the teacher has with the learners and
how she or he uses and conveys the messages she or he wants to transmit. For instance,
at the moment of having a conversation the teacher leads the discussion depending on
the responses of the students. The purpose of the input changes as the process takes
39
place. Likewise, Hasan (2008) maintains that “For language acquisition to be promoted,
teaching should provide comprehensible input and involve the use of modified
language” (p. 48). From this point of view, modified language avoids the input to be
comprehensible.
The stages where speakers have to “negotiate” are highly important due to the
fact that they can be an active part of the learning process and give solutions to the
possible problems they may face. Long (1980) states “negotiat[ing] interaction is
essential for input to become comprehensible” (as cited in Maleki & Pazhakh, 2012, p.
129). Ali Shehadeh (1999) also maintains that “it is through the negotiation of meaning
that both learners and their interlocutors work together to provide comprehensible input
and produce comprehensible output” (para. 3). Likewise, Canning-Wilson (2001) asserts
that:
“the visual can offer input, output and/or feedback on materials learned
[and] a learner using a visual may be more apt to give an added response
to the traditionally expected form [which] may change according to the
picture in collaboration with the task as it works as an interactive
negotiator” (para. 30)
This quotation intends to explain that not only messages can be negotiated but also the
visual elements that teachers use in their classrooms.
Other authors, who investigated the relationship between interaction and
acquisition, assert that “interaction yields to better [Non- native speaker]
comprehension” (Gass, S. & Varonis, M., 1994, as cited in Salazar, n. d., p. 4). The
40
same authors also remark that “negotiated input make [students] [produce] fewer errors”
(p. 4) due to the chance they have to correct themselves and apply what they learn in an
appropriate context of the situation. Moreover, these authors emphasize that “students
who were given the chance to negotiate their problems in comprehension were more
successful in carrying out the directions” Gass and Varonis, 1994, as cited in Salazar, n.
d. p. 4). Therefore, in regard to the quotation, there is no doubt about the importance of
the interaction between the learner and his/her role in the process of learning. The same
study makes clear the importance of using this approach, emphasizing that “learners
receiving input through interaction would achieve higher levels of L2 comprehension
than those exposed to other types of input” (Gass & Varonis, 1994, as cited in Salazar, n.
d., p. 4). In other words, the more the students interact the more the benefits they will
get; reaching the “i+1” level which Krashen (1982) promotes.
Comprehensible input comes to be an important hypothesis in the field of
teaching of a language. That it is why it was paramount the facts of including it in this
literature review.
1.4.3 The I + 1 Hypothesis
This section deals with the “i+1” hypothesis which was coined by Krashen (1982).
This hypothesis suggests that comprehensible input should be one step beyond the
learner’s current language ability, which according to Krashen (1982) is represented by
this formula “i+1”. This means that the comprehensible input that contains i+1 is
understood by learners. In other words, this theory emphasizes that the instructions and
activities must be challenging and should encourage the learners to participate, even
41
though they do not feel linguistically competent. It is clear that comprehensible input
plays an indispensable role in acquisition, and that this is the reason why Krashen (1982)
emphasizes a set of conditions that should be included in activities in order to make
students acquire the language. Krashen’s (1982) beliefs regarding the input hypothesis
are the following:
-
The best input is so interesting and relevant that the acquirer may even “forget”
that the message is encoded in a foreign language”
-
Optimal input is not grammatically sequenced (when [one] focuses on
grammatical considerations, there will be less genuinely interesting input).
-
Optimal input must be in sufficient quantity . . . much time should be devoted to
supplying comprehensible input.
-
It requires meaningful interaction in the target language. (as cited in Shultz &.
Cook, n. d. p. 4)
These beliefs make the learners reach comprehensible input in EFL classrooms which
will be discussed in the next section.
1.4.4 Comprehensible Input in EFL Classroom
In this section comprehensible input comes to stress the significance of using the
target language inside the classroom. Krashen (1982) maintains, “a learner must be
exposed to and understand the comprehensible input that contains language structures
beyond his or her current stage of competence which he calls i+1” (p. 21). There is not a
better way to learn something than receiving input, especially in language teaching.
However, Krashen (1982) suggests that there are other aspects to consider when
42
acquiring a language “[the] use [of] context, our knowledge of the world, our extralinguistic information to help us understand language directed at us” (p. 22). Learning a
language implies more than grammatical structures; it involves learners with culture,
customs, and manifold of other features to take into account at the moment of thinking
about a language.
Not only the learner must understand what is communicated inside the
classroom, but he or she must also be able to move from stage i+1 as Krashen asserts.
The author also argues that “when the acquirer does not understand the message, there
will be no acquisition” (1982, p.57). If the teacher talks comprehensibly to the students
during lessons learners can be aware of what they are learning and increase their
understanding in the learning experience. To achieve this, it seems important and crucial
that both the teacher and the student could have an open communication in order to give
opportunities to the students to express their ideas and to know what suits them best.
In practical terms, during a lesson, comprehensible input must be accompanied
by others components such as “the use of consistent language, frequent use of visuals [. .
. ] , use of graphic organizers, concrete objects, and gestures when possible to enhance
understanding”(TeacherVision, para. 5), what is crucial for promoting comprehensible
input in every student. Moreover, Hatch (1979, as cited in Buri, 2007) has recapitulated
the aspects of simplified input which are:
-
Slow rate: longer pauses, exaggerated intonation, extra volume.
-
Vocabulary: High-frequency vocabulary definitions will be marked; form class
information semantic feature context information; and gestures and pictures.
43
-
Dislocation of topics; repetition and restatement; summarizes non-syntactic
utterances; fills the blank for incomplete utterances.
-
Discourse: gives reply within question; offers correction. (para. 8)
The above mentioned aspects are observed when the message is modified by the
speaker, who attempts to cover the possible misunderstandings. Likewise, bearing in
mind that the input is activated through practice, this can work as a possible solution to
some unexpected events regarding the communication process.
As it has been shown, teaching is not an easy task¸ especially when the teacher is
constantly finding strategies to achieve students’ different skills of learning,
understanding and processing. The aforementioned comes to support teachers inside the
classroom in order to generate comprehensible input and to let students reach the
optimal levels as the i+1 stage is. Not only can teachers facilitate comprehension but
also pre-modified and interactionally modified input, since different speakers and
receptors are needed to modify the message and negotiate the input.
Throughout this chapter three concepts have been explained, which were defined
and supported by authors expert in those topics. Visual aids were described mainly by
Callista (1938). This Author deeply portrayed the characteristic of visual aids in teaching
and how they help in lessons as an important tool in the learning process. Oral
communication, as it was mentioned, is paramount in the process of language teaching,
especially in English learning. The role of the teacher in this process of orally
transmitting ideas and retrieving plays a fundamental task. The teacher needs to guide
activities to help students to produce and to make students be acquainted with the
44
language little by little, until the students reach individual, voluntarily oral production.
In this chapter Comprehensible Input theory was explained by Stephen Krashen.
Comprehensible input is another key factor in English lessons especially in activity
where students need to produce and share their ideas.
44
CHAPTER 2: DISCUSSION
Not only benefits can be mentioned in this paper, but there are some aspects that
may impede the complete realization of what it has been put forward regarding fostering
oral skills by the use of visual aids in English language teaching. Firstly, Chilean
teachers in general have a heavy work load, their functions as teachers can reach several
hours per week, leaving no time to plan meaningful and complete activities to
complement what the Ministry of Education demands. Secondly, and next to what the
MINEDUC demands. Students begin to study English when they are in 5th grade of
primary school. Thirdly, some researchers have observed that most teachers carry out
their classes in Spanish, not giving the appropriate input to the students when learning
English, and this may hinder students of receiving an appropriate amount of input to
produce English orally.
2.1 Visual aids, Oral communication, and Comprehensible input; Relationships
Throughout this paper the following concepts have been discussed: visual aids,
oral communication, and comprehensible input which come to be related in this chapter.
We all know that there are several benefits of using visual aids in the classroom, but
visual aids used solely will not have the expected impact, that is to say, to provide
comprehensible input enough to enhance oral skills in EFL classrooms. The three
elements will be related to each other and incorporated in the activities to achieve what
we have hypothesized at the beginning of this paper.
As future English language teachers, we want the best for our students, we want
to retrieve what they think and construct from their thoughts. As it has been mentioned
45
before, there are many activities that can be implemented with visual aids, but in order to
make the purpose of the activities consistent and complete, we have decided to combine
the three main concepts defined in the theoretical framework. This will be achieved by
identifying the relationship among the concepts and their functions.
Visual aids have specific purposes in English language teaching; motivate
students and give setting to certain contents, their use can help to create a strong
communicative environment in which students feel motivated to acquire the language
and make it comprehensible and contextualized. In this sense, interested students will
pay more attention to what is being presented, and if what is being presented is
meaningful enough it will encourage them to express themselves orally and to learn
comprehensibly.
2.1.1 Visual Aids Patterns
The main benefit of visual aids is to help people to describe what they cannot
explain orally, and they can be found in several sceneries such as education, business,
among others (Laskowski, 1997). However, the major enhanced area is teaching, since
the incorporation of visual aids is necessary for reaching pedagogical purposes as well as
the teachers and students’ goals (Callista, 1938) .Visual aids as non-verbal information,
conveyed by someone while speaking, can help people to understand others’ messages
without completely understanding the verbal input in order to comprehend the target
language (Wright, 1989). As visual aids also offer input and interactive negotiations,
students will be more willing to participate in communicative situations.
46
The relationship between visual aids and oral communication is represented by
visual scenes, that is to say, when recognizing meaning visual aids support oral
communication by giving anticipated information, or when the meaning is not explicit
and not orally communicated, (Wright, 1989). When students accomplish the purpose of
recognizing verbal communication through visual aids, where they can infer from noninternalized concepts, means that they are one step beyond their current level: I+1
through comprehensible input (Krashen, 1982).
This is how the main concept of this literature review was defined in terms of the
benefits it has in the field of English language teaching.
2.1.2 Oral Communication Patterns
The main benefits in oral communication are consistent with the ways in which
people communicate and specific enough for us to be able to relate it to actual
communication behavior (Berlo, 1960). As it was mentioned before, oral communication
is an implicitly well-designed process where students or any natural person can
demonstrate his or her facilities or fallacies in language (Berlo, 1960). Interaction is
fundamental for accomplishing communication (Liu, 2013). It can be from one person or
group to another (Swarthout, 2013). In teaching, children expect to obtain visual input to
support communication thus the use of visual aids come to support words in terms of
their meaning in context (Piske & Young-Scholten, 2009). In this regard, learning is
controlled by the teacher´s speech together with good instructions (Broughton et al.,
1980 & Palmer, 2011). Moreover, the teacher has to prepare the students to
communicate with others (Broughton et al., 1980). To sum up, oral communication is
47
prevailing in English language teaching together with the implementation of enough
visual aids and comprehensible input activities whose benefits are going to be discussed
later.
2.1.3 Comprehensible Input Patterns
Comprehensible input comes to be the last concept being described. This source
of language acquisition provides students with important benefits. If the teacher talks
and develops the instruction comprehensibly during his/her lessons students can increase
their understanding in the learning experience. The exposure to this situation benefits the
student immediately. In this sense, it is necessary to point out that the use of visual aids
promotes understanding which leads to acquisition (Krashen, 1982). Oral
communication is also crucial here, since the negotiation of messages and their
simplification are orally transmitted, and orally interchanged and modified. Oral
communication is directly related to comprehensible input if the lessons need to be
carried out in the target language.
The use of visual aids in general is positive and convenient; the integration of
comprehensible input and oral communication is optimal likewise.
2.2
The Teaching-Learning Process from the Oral and i+1 Perspective
The teaching and learning process which is going to be discussed may have
various components, but this time the focus will be on visual aid, oral communication
and comprehensible input. As it was mentioned before, the use of visual aids in the
teaching-learning process has increased (Brenson et al., 1997), which leads us to think
48
that the process of teaching and learning is enriched due to the amount of input that the
visual elements provide. Visual aids are also meant to promote productive skills
(Sharma, 2010) which are based on the training once the messages have been understood
(Broughton et al., 1980). In this regard, teachers must bear in mind that if there is not
understanding there is no acquisition (Krashen, as cited in Maleki & Pazhakh, 2012)
which could eventually hinder the process of fostering students’ productive skills.
The use of compatible, congruent, and steady language in the class is crucial to
improve understanding (Buri, 2007). It is essential to point out that the messages the
students are exposed to enable them to give steps in the “i+1” stage (krashen, 1982). The
modification of messages is also important, since the way a speaker negotiates meanings
is decisive for oral interaction (Long, 1980). On condition that the teacher conveys the
messages the interaction as well as the negotiation of the emitted messages causes the
input to be comprehensible (Long, as cited in in Maleki & Pazhakh, 2012). Interaction
allows comprehension and the negotiation of messages and input let students make
fewer errors (Gass & Varonis, as cited in Salazar, n. d). In this sense, the teacher must
make use of simple structures and different verbs and adjectives to make the input be
comprehensible in a good classroom atmosphere (Pica et al., as cited in Salazar n. d.).
The teaching-learning process is also focused on the classroom objectives, and
the teacher must use a variety of strategies in order to reach every student’s learning
styles (Oxford, 2001). The teachers’ commitment is fundamental for accomplishing the
objectives; it is the support that the students require in the process. This support may
also need changes in strategies, materials, or approaches (The Health Curriculum Guide,
2013). Careful considerations should be given for providing congruence between the
49
objectives and the students’ needs. It is also important that the environment provides
enrichment to contribute in meeting students’ aims (The Health Curriculum Guide,
2013). If the students feel comfortable, they may feel motivated to produce language
orally. The environment is also a key factor in the teaching-learning process.
To sum up, the inclusion of visual aids, negotiation of messages, interesting and
relevant input through interaction will ensure high levels of comprehension in the
process of teaching and learning, leading students to produce orally in a comfortable
environment.
2.3
The Role of the Teacher & Free Oral Production from the Oral and i+1
Perspective
In English language lessons the teacher not only “teaches”, but also she or he
plays different roles namely prompter, participant, feedback provider, controller,
organizer, assessor, tutor, resource and observer (Harmer, 2007). However, we cannot
lay aside the guiding role. Considering all the previous qualifications, the teacher
provides situations that are appealing to students (Liu, 2013) that could eventually foster
oral communication among students using the language they are learning actively
(Broughton et al., 1980). Broughton et al. (1980) and Liu (2013) conclude that teachers,
in terms of oral communication, need to guide the process of production first inside the
classroom. It is important in language teaching to base lessons on oral communication
goals to have students motivated (Liu, 2013). To achieve such goals the teacher uses
activities in his/her lessons to reach the students’ interests integrating a variety of visual
aids for the lesson not to be monotonous or just focused on one skill.
50
It was clearly posted before that visual aids have positive aspects and beneficial
impacts on students; the more visual input the teacher provides the more enhanced his or
her students will be, in terms of oral production. Visual aids offer a range of
possibilities for teachers to do their best, and not to center the lesson in grammar
exercises and drills all the time (Lai, 2011).
In the learning process there should be an order in which the teacher first,
provides the tools to the students and stimulates them. Secondly, to give more chances to
speak in some free activities and get proficient in English (Broughton et al., 1980). Other
possibility is to have students actively choosing what they want to speak about and
participate in their own learning process, in that way the teacher makes sure that students
are taking part in the lesson.
What it is optimal in English language lessons is to provide students with
challenging comprehensible activities to go a step beyond what they know about a
specific topic. For instance, the teacher can utilize the i+ 1 theory (Krashen, 1981) and
always offer extra contents and resources to make his or herself comprehensible enough
to appeal to all students’ different learning styles, interacting and modifying the input
when necessary.
What can be remarked about this chapter is the relationship established among
the concepts. The three concepts have been associated to each other and incorporated.
We can conclude that some authors agree in some point where they establish that visual
aids are fundamental tools to be included in the lessons. In this sense, students receive
enough comprehensible input which allows them to feel secure and confident when
51
speaking. Despite the different concepts which can be bestowed on teachers, many
authors come to an agreement in suggesting the teacher is a guide. It was markedly
stated that the role of the teacher in the teaching-learning process is indispensable to
guide and construct this process.
52
Conclusion
This paper provides information related to the importance of considering certain
factors involved when fostering oral skills in students of English as a foreign language.
After elucidating the relevance of promoting oral communication through visual aids
and comprehensible input in Chilean EFL classrooms, and having considered the actual
context for teaching and learning, it is pertinent to withdraw conclusions and to suggest
directions for further research.
Several researches have carried out investigations in relation to visual aids and
oral communication. Most have concluded that visual aids are a source of
comprehensible input, but the amount of input depends on the quantity of visual
materials teachers offer to students in every activity. In this concern, researchers agree
that oral communication is a process which involves as much input as possible to reach
learning outcomes. Through oral communication students can improve their oral skill;
however, the role of the teacher is fundamental to make it possible. The Chilean
Ministry of Education expects students to develop communicative skills in order to
benefit from using the language in several areas such as education and technology
(MINEDUC, 2009).
According to the literature review, the main factors that influence the
enhancement of oral skills are visual aids and comprehensible input. When the
curriculum contents are provided to EFL students, by means of visual aids, the language
learning process becomes appealing and meaningful for them (MINEDUC, 2013) In this
regard, visual aids provide a natural environment to the teaching-learning process by
53
emulating reality for English language learners which is favorable in terms of accuracy
to convey messages.
The exposure to the target language is fundamental to reach the levels of English
expected from Chilean students. Therefore, visual aids, comprehensible input, and oral
communication complement each other in a way that makes the foreign language
learning process more effective in such a way that it can contextualize the contents
proposed by the Ministry of Education.
Further Research
By researching within EFL classrooms and into teaching and learning, future
teachers should focus on improving their performance to help students to develop
communicative skills. However, one should bear in mind that teaching English not only
involves looking for the best strategies using contextualized material, but also to give
attention to students’ abilities and learning styles. Regarding this, cognitive aspects
related to the teaching-learning process should be known by teachers when addressing
students. Apart from that, the kind of resources used in the teaching-learning process,
the amount of English used within the classroom, and the teacher’s role are other factors
to consider in further research. However, there is still much more work to do in relation
to the improvement of the teaching-learning process.
Finally, it can be concluded that visual aids are practical useful tools to
encourage speaking strategies in oral communication, reinforcing oral tasks and
interaction among students learning English as a foreign language.
1
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