Using Entertainment Video in EFL
Paul Maglione, Co-founder, English Attack! EFL Techniques 26 November 2013
Oh Edward… I don’t think I’ll ever get the
hang of these irregular verbs!
Unfortunately there’s no other way to learn them than just being exposed to them and
drilling. But it will be fine Bella darling…
Video Lesson Experience To DateQ1 –Q2 2009
Comparative review of Video-based EFL pedagogy
Q3 – Q4 2009Creation of English Attack!
Q1 2010 – Q2 2011Beta version with 350+ Video Boosters, tested by 25k Beta users
July 2011Launch of site
January 2012Launch of Premium Subscription; Schools Platform
November 2013• 1000+ Video Lessons• Launch of Coaching
functionality
Why Video?
• Our brains are wired for it hunting / danger
• Closest to life, to human experience
• The human eye is attracted to movement, even more than our ears are to sound
• YouTube, Facebook, smartphones, tablets have made short-form entertainment video ubiquitous and available 24/7 no longer a special occasion, but a must-have.
Graded or Authentic?
• Better at sparking emotion creates the intellectual opening for learning to occur
• Huge choice omeans we can motivate anyone according to their interests
BUT:- Impossible to shoehorn into structures like
CEFR- If not packaged properly, can be too difficult
for beginners
• Can be tightly targeted at specific skills or tasks
• Created for specific levels / consistency re level
BUT: - Production values / entertainment
often lacking- Can be perceived by learners as
“talking down” to them
Subject Matter of Authentic Video(in order of popularity with English Attack! users)
1. Current Movies
2. TV Series
3. Music Videos
4. Documentaries
5. How-To
Other topics of interest
• News (“evergreen” best, normal headline stories age fast)
• Business (movie scenes can be effective)
• Advertising (especially creative / humorous extended ads)
CHOICE = AUTONOMY = MOTIVATION
Ideal length• Too short (sub-1 minute): little chance
to build up dialogue in context• Too long (4 minutes+) : to many
linguistic elements upon which to focus confusion
• Ideal length is between 1 and 3 minutes – Average length of Youtube video is 3+
minutes– 87% of video shared on Facebook is
between 1 and 4 minutes long
Difficulty Level• Subject matter• Vocabulary• Speech speed• Speech clarity• Accent• Idioms• Slang• Visual clues• Is there a story or an
understandable context?
Related exercises need to be calibrated to the video’s intrinsic
difficulty level
Difficulty vs Content
• Our experience to date shows that the content type is the primary motivator. Learners don’t mind a difficulty “stretch” if the video content is of interest to them.
5,580,000 searches
22,000,000 searches
(learn English)
(songs in English)
Google France searches:
Subtitles?Can help with comprehension but creates listening “tune out” in favor of reading.
So call me maybe..
Donc appelle-moi peut-etre…
♫♪ ♬♭♭ ♫♪ ♬♭♭
English
L1
None
Great… if you want learners to improve their L1 reading skills.
Full emotional impact of source; no skills confusion; forces learner to focus and to look for visual / tone clues.
Video Transcript?• Be clear on purpose of providing: to work reading skills
• Thus, do not mix with gist comprehension exercises provide only sequentially, after listening skills have been covered
• Can be used for Detail Comprehension and to practice scanning for information.
• Buttresses development of Listening Skills
Structuring the Video-based lesson• The fun-factor of video should not obscure the
need for a pedagogical structuring of the video-based lesson.
• The sequencing of video-related activity must be planned as carefully as any other lesson
GistComprehension
ListeningSkills
DetailedComprehension Vocabulary Grammar
& Usage
Structuring the Video-based lesson• Pre / Tasks / Post jumping-off point for class
discussion
PRE TASKS POST• Summary• Target Vocab
• Practice Games• Discussion
Structuring the Video-based lesson• Error Correction / Positive Reinforcement
Structuring the Video-based lesson
Score vs Grade:
integrating the motivational dynamics of gamification into the video exercise scoring logic
Structuring the Video-based lesson• Providing assistance dictionaries, translation
Structuring the Video-based lesson• In-class vs. Homework
Requirements: interactivity, good design, visibility, stimulating content
Requirements: large selection of stimulating content, Teacher Tools for assignment and compliance monitoring
Achieving Repetition for MemorizationPractice Game: Swap Mania
Practice Game: Word Rescue
Practice Games are dynamically driven by
target vocabulary items in learning units
Making video-based learning Social
• Posting comments• Facebook • Twitter
SampleVideo Lesson
Pre-Task
Target Vocabulary
Clip Summary
Task Set-Up Instruction
First Exposure to Video Clip
Learners can start, pause, and replay video as often as desired
Gist comprehension exercise set-up
Gist comprehension exercise
Video resource
Expandable vocab resource
Instant error correction
Optional word-for-word translation tool
Gist comprehension exercise debrief
Interstitial Score
Encouragement regardless of segment performance
Listening exercise set-up
Listening exercise
Learners can do the exercise simultaneously with video
playback
Gap-filling from three similar-sounding alternatives actually
completes the transcript, which will be available for next exercise.
Listening exercise debrief
Detail comprehension exercise set-up
Detail comprehension exercise
Full video transcript now available as a resource; learners can either review
video or scan transcript to find details in exercise.
Detail comprehension debrief
Vocabulary exercise set-up
Vocabulary exercise
Vocabulary resource
automatically switches to selected
answer option
Vocab exercise: using target lexis in similar
story context
Vocabulary exercise debrief
Grammar / Usage exercise set-up
Grammar / Usage exercise
Sample line of dialogue taken from
video clip
Explanation as to why this form was
used
Exercise working same grammar or usage concept
(with instant answer feedback)
Grammar / Usage exercise debrief
Final Video Booster Debrief screen
Points breakdown
“Learnometer”
Coaching instructions
Progression metric
Points total
Post-task Practice Games: Swap Mania
Lexical items from the video clip
Definition clues and sample sentence
reveal
Pedagogical function: vocabulary
Post-task Practice Games: Word Rescue
Lexical items from the video clip
Definition clues and sample
sentence reveal
Pedagogical function: vocabulary
Post-task Practice Games: SayWhat?
Lexical items from the video clip
Pedagogical function: listening skills, vocabulary, spelling
Post-task: In-class or Online Messenger discussion
• What are some of society’s “distractions” you can think of?
• What could possibly cause a rebellion in your city or country?
• Is there anyone you would consider to be a “mentor” of yours?
Sample Class Discussion Topics
Pedagogical function: comprehension, vocabulary, speaking
User feedback
Conclusions• Video is a powerful, emotive stimulus to learning.
• Short-format authentic video without subtitles can be a highly motivational and effective pedagogical tool for helping build EFL/ESL competence.
• Video-based lessons need to be engineered just as carefully as any classroom lesson, with pre- and post-tasks and a natural flow from exposure and gist comprehension through to more detailed or nuanced skills.
• Specialist online learning platforms such as English Attack! package authentic video together with exercises to offer a huge choice of learning units of all difficulty levels across many topics and categories.
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