Live programmes English language lesson
As with radio, it is often more convenient to use material which has been recorded on video tape. This gives the teacher a
chance to prepare specific tasks and questions. But it is possible to use live material. This makes different demands on the
teacher and student.
There are certain psychological elements that come into play when you listen to a broadcast for the first time and you
know you can only hear it once. Your concentration usually becomes sharper and that’s very, very useful in a classroom
situation.
Barry Tomalin, author and ELT expert - Teaching With Technology, Programme 5
If your students know that they have only one chance to watch a broadcast, they are more likely to pay attention, especially
if you give them a task to complete as they watch. It is important that students are given something to do as they watch. It
helps to focus the mind and provides material to use for following up.
By using carefully graded tasks it’s possible to use authentic broadcasts even with lower level students. For example, if
using live or recorded news broadcasts it’s simple to create a worksheet that is suitable for any level. Give the students a
chart with four columns - time, people, place, events. As they watch the news broadcast they fill in information in the four
columns. This information they use after viewing in feedback. Of course the amount of detail the students complete will
vary depending on the level, but because news bulletins contain pictures as well as words even lower levels should be able
to fill in a reasonable amount of detail.
However, it is important to remember that for lower level students shorter broadcasts are more suitable.
Preparation for live programmes can be difficult, but many broadcasters provide support material for educational
programmes. If you know the topic of the programme, it’s a good idea to do some work on that subject before, either
through discussion of the topic - even in the mother tongue - or by pre-teaching some anticipated vocabulary. The students
can even create their own tasks.
Before the programme comes up on the air, either by looking in the TV bulletin or by looking at the title of the
programme as it comes up, they write down very quickly three questions that they want to get answered during that
programme and they see whether the programme answers those questions. The questions might be answered directly,
they might be answered by inference, or they may not be answered at all. In which case you’ve got a perfect
opportunity to get the students to go to the library and do a little bit of research.
Barry Tomalin - Teaching With Technology, Programme 5
Here’s another interesting and challenging way to use live television in the class. It’s called ‘zapping’ and it’s easiest if you
have a television with a remote control.
You show a channel for let’s say ten, fifteen seconds and then you go to another channel and then you go to another
channel and then you go to another channel and then you stop and you say, ‘Right, I want you to tell us what those
programmes were about!’.
Barry Tomalin - Teaching With Technology, Programme 5
As with radio, it is often more convenient to use material which has been recorded on video tape. This gives the teacher a
chance to prepare specific tasks and questions. But it is possible to use live material. This makes different demands on the
teacher and student.
There are certain psychological elements that come into play when you listen to a broadcast for the first time and you
know you can only hear it once. Your concentration usually becomes sharper and that’s very, very useful in a classroom
situation.
Barry Tomalin, author and ELT expert - Teaching With Technology, Programme 5
If your students know that they have only one chance to watch a broadcast, they are more likely to pay attention, especially
if you give them a task to complete as they watch. It is important that students are given something to do as they watch. It
helps to focus the mind and provides material to use for following up.
By using carefully graded tasks it’s possible to use authentic broadcasts even with lower level students. For example, if
using live or recorded news broadcasts it’s simple to create a worksheet that is suitable for any level. Give the students a
chart with four columns - time, people, place, events. As they watch the news broadcast they fill in information in the four
columns. This information they use after viewing in feedback. Of course the amount of detail the students complete will
vary depending on the level, but because news bulletins contain pictures as well as words even lower levels should be able
to fill in a reasonable amount of detail.
However, it is important to remember that for lower level students shorter broadcasts are more suitable.
Preparation for live programmes can be difficult, but many broadcasters provide support material for educational
programmes. If you know the topic of the programme, it’s a good idea to do some work on that subject before, either
through discussion of the topic - even in the mother tongue - or by pre-teaching some anticipated vocabulary. The students
can even create their own tasks.
Before the programme comes up on the air, either by looking in the TV bulletin or by looking at the title of the
programme as it comes up, they write down very quickly three questions that they want to get answered during that
programme and they see whether the programme answers those questions. The questions might be answered directly,
they might be answered by inference, or they may not be answered at all. In which case you’ve got a perfect
opportunity to get the students to go to the library and do a little bit of research.
Barry Tomalin - Teaching With Technology, Programme 5
Here’s another interesting and challenging way to use live television in the class. It’s called ‘zapping’ and it’s easiest if you
have a television with a remote control.
You show a channel for let’s say ten, fifteen seconds and then you go to another channel and then you go to another
channel and then you go to another channel and then you stop and you say, ‘Right, I want you to tell us what those
programmes were about!’.
Barry Tomalin - Teaching With Technology, Programme 5
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