Criteria for Selection and Use of Instructional Media

8 The resource should provide for integration of subject matter. 9 The material should be physically or visually attractive in real colour and neatness. 10 The material should present up to date information on the topic. 11 The material should be worth the time, expense and effort involved in its use. 12 The lesson should be content driven and not media driven. Instructional media according to Mustapha et al. 2002, p. 89 and Azikiwe 2007, p. 111 are usually classified based on the characteristics they exhibit. There is a wide variety of instructional media which could be profitably and effectively used in the second language classroom learning situation. They could broadly classified into four groups namely visual aids, audio-visual aids, audio aids and resources human and materials Visual aids are resource materials and devices that appeal to the sense of sight and touch as well as sense of smell. Learning resources that fall under audio-video aids appeal to the senses of sight, hearing and touch. They include records and record players, tapes and tape recorder, radio and language laboratories. Resources could be human or materials, materials include the teacher, the students and other resource in the community. Materials include all those physical objects mentioned earlier such as whiteboard and realia real objects such as bottle, yam, cup, stone, spoon and knife. Visuals like chart, pictures, diagrams, cartoons, slides and transparencies convey messages that are hard for words. These can be hung on boards or walls to be viewed over a long period of time long after the lesson is over. Visuals evoke emotional responses that promote desired attitudes. Visual aids are intended to increase the learners’ concentration and retention. Research has shown that a learner retains 80 percent of what they hear and see but only 50 percent of they hear Gathumbi, et. al, 2008, p. 70. Video stimulates learning. Tape recorders are good in presenting speaking skills. Computers and cyber media offer many tools for teaching and learning from the ubiquitous courseware management systems, teleconferencing systems to newer technologies like blogs, wikis and podcasting. The internet offers seemingly unlimited potential to encourage learning. The Web can be a valuable research tool, helping students’ access resources in other institutions or nations, and letting them learn about other cultures. Moreover, computers combine almost all aspects of oral and literacy cultures and provide a way for students to learn in an individualized setting. The effectiveness of visual aids has been found to be higher than that of the lecture method. Visual aids have been used to enhance learning successfully and teachers are taught and encouraged to utilize instructional media when teaching. They can therefore exploit current techniques at their disposal. Teachers need to make informed choices to select from numerous types of resources, equipment and materials at their disposal for English language learning and teaching. These equipment and materials, both of electronic, audio and visual forms however, unless used effectively by trained and qualified personnel as expected may not enhance student learning in English language. Students should be granted maximum opportunity to understand what they are being taught, which is only possible if content given is clearly understood within the available context and with proper utilization of the existing resources. Teachers of English need to plan for and select instructional media prior to their lessons so as to enable them to teach effectively. They should objectively plan for, and utilize the instructional media available during lessons so as to achieve effective learning on the part of their learners Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell, 2000, p. 106. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to implement instructional media such as audio-video and audio-picture in order to explore if this research is useful for developing the learners’ listening comprehension and their motivation in learning English.

C. Video

Harmer 2007, p. 144 explains that using video can be much richer than using audio. Video doesn’t only produce sound but also produce moving picture; speaker can be seen, their body movements give clues as to meaning; so do their clothes they wear, their location, etc. background information can be filled in visually. Basically video is a form of moving pictures recorded in a video tape. Recently, videos have been sources of authentic language and selected as the means of teaching and learning ESL. Liou, Katchen, and Wang Eds., 2003, pp. 231 –236 also explain that; ‘ Video, and in particular films, offers some advantages for enhancing listening skills. Although films are scripted, they are made to sound natural to the native speaker and thus they do represent authentic language. Too much teaching material is presented in artificially slow and clear language, but at some point students need to be able to deal with language as it is naturally spoken. Since they do not live in an ESL context, films to some extent substitute for the input of students they cannot get from outside the classroom.’

1. The Role of Video in Listening Comprehension

Video can be a very valuable tool for language learning. The first major advantage of using video is that it can provide samples of real-life situations. Lonergan cited in Lustigová, 2013, pp. 4 –5 pointed out that video is able to present “complete communicative situations. At their best, video presentations will be intrinsically interesting to language learners. The learner will want to watch, even if co mprehension is limited.” Learners can use video to study how language use may be employed by age and how the relationship between language use and paralinguistic features can be focused, including how to convey moods and feelings. Employing video materials in a classroom can enhance students’ motivation to learn since it can expose them to a wide variety of situations that can help them comprehend similar situations in real life Xhemaili, 2013, pp. 62 –66. In order to choose the video material for the classroom, topics must be chosen based on students’ interest and their level of English proficiency, as well as cultural aspects. The design of listening cycles is an important consideration, which involves selecting the content of the video or audio recording and dividing it into sections for presenting in stages to learners Nunan, 2003, p. 11. Teachers can design cycles of activities in which learners can participate. Teachers should also be a reflective observer in order not to distract the learners’ attention from the video. Therefore, it would be very beneficial for teachers to select video materials that are conducive to language learning. Learners are more motivated to cope with the instruction when given the opportunity to study with the use of video materials. The videos in this research are selected from various sources, i.e. film, short home videos, news program etc. The writer only selects some parts of the film which may contain interpersonal or transactional dialogue or conversation and also monologue. The videos used for the teaching aids last no longer than ten minutes. These short forms of videos are chosen to give the students chance understanding videos in detail i.e. the background of information, situation, topic of the dialogue etc. Moreover giving the students long terms videos may trap them in unexpected situation like uncritically and lazily and just enjoy the story in the video like they always do when they watch film or movie at home. Harmer 2007, p. 144 has warned about the danger of videos. The students may treat them rather as they treat watching television, uncritically and lazily, on the other hand teachers want them to engage; not only the content of what they are seeing but also other language features.

2. Types of Videos Supporting Listening Comprehension