The Benefits of Using
Multimedia in the ESL Classroom
24 May 2008
Brian J. Reece
- Introduction
- What's So Special About Multimedia?
- It May Be Fun, But Is It Useful?
- Conclusion
- References
In a nation in which cultural integration is becoming key to the success of our future leaders, the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom is becoming an important place for students from other nations to learn how to function both culturally and linguistically within our society. In this classroom, students are given the chance not only to learn how to communicate effectively within their new community, but also how to learn efficiently in the new environment (one reason for which many ESL classrooms are now referred to as English Language Learning (ELL) classrooms). At the same time, these more complicated goals, which move beyond simply teaching students the English language, make classroom instruction more difficult for the ESL teachers. Fortunately, with advancement in modern technology comes advancement in educational technology, and ESL classrooms are no exception when it comes to taking advantage of such opportunities. The use of multimedia has skyrocketed in the past several years as school districts test the waters and find that such technology has greatly improved the rate of successful integration of ESL students into traditional classrooms.
What's So Special About Multimedia?
In any classroom, we may ask what is so special about multimedia—why is it so important to include it in curricula? To begin answering this question, we must first realize that multimedia has been present as a way to educate for much longer than we can imagine. Putting up slides or using transparencies while discussing them with the class is a form of multimedia, placing image and text together in a way that creates a more meaningful message. However, as technologies advance, so does the multimedia, and it Is not a hard stretch to think that these advances can also create a more advanced method of communicating the educational material presented by an instructor. In addition to more advanced communication of information, the newer technology allows instructors to create multimedia that is specific to the needs of their individual classrooms, something that would have been quite costly in the past: "Through multimedia technologies, educators can also develop work tailored not to the commercial needs of Hollywood, but to the specific educational needs of the students in their classroom" (Houghton 2004). According to Houghton, the power in multimedia comes from the boundless opportunities for creation and interaction among educators and learners, and those who understand this have an astounding opportunity to maximize the educational goals of their institutions. Further, they can now do it without outspending their budgets: "Internet and DVD capable computers now provide the most cost-effective way to deliver or utilize an enormous and still rapidly growing base of free multimedia based material of great value to educational classroom activity" (Houghton 2004). Computers provide teachers with a great way to provide students with the essential opportunities to both create and interact in a way that is tailored to their needs.
The ESL classroom is no exception when it comes to students with needs that are different from the traditional classroom experience. In many cases, it is a place where students are not just learning how to speak and understand English; they are learning how to learn in English as well. This is quite a challenge for many students because it involves not only learning conversational English, but they must also learn the language specific to the other subjects they are learning. Imagine attempting to learn algebra in another language—this is what many ESL instructors must do. Technology has recently been moving to the forefront as a teacher's aide when it comes to such tasks. The San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District in Texas began incorporating the use of video iPods into its ESL curriculum. A district that maintains "two academies for immigrant children in grades 612 [sic] that teach everything from English to science and math," San Marcos uses the iPods to provide students with an interesting and engaging way of learning material. In this way, they are able to accomplish two goals at once: "If students were learning algebra, for instance, teachers looked for videos about linear equations as a way to increase their understanding of the English language and math at the same time" (Millard 2007). The use of multimedia in the classroom is a fun way to accomplish a serious goal, which is to ensure the success of students in a country where the native language differs from their own.
It May Be Fun, But Is It Useful?
An
important question, especially in any pedagogical study, is whether the
incorporation of something new into a curriculum is useful. While multimedia
may be a fun and interesting way to engage students, is it making a tangible
difference in the students experiencing it? At least two tangible benefits of the
multimedia exist—more efficient learning and a higher level of engagement.
Two teachers at Great Basin College were able to use the Oxford Picture Dictionary (OPD) in order to combine the various
media in its package to create a customized learning environment for each
student in their adult ESL classroom. The result of the experiment was
encouraging to ESL educators considering the possibility of a
multimedia-enhanced classroom, as the scores on posttests of the students in
the classes increased. In addition, the level of engagement was also
increased—most of the students felt that the material was more
interesting. According to the study, the teachers felt that the multimedia
materials kept students alert "so that they
came more often to class and that this increased attendance, along with the
variety of the presentation of the materials, led to increased test scores" (Bettles 2000). By keeping students more interested in the
materials, educators also increase the likelihood of students attending
classes, which in turn will increase the amount of knowledge they are able to
disseminate.
In
addition to potentially increasing teacher-student interaction time by
increasing attendance, multimedia is useful when considering the difficulties
that face teachers who attempt to teach English to students who speak a
language unfamiliar to them. While disseminating such knowledge, multimedia's
usefulness can be understood quite well when considering the difficulties of a
teacher who is attempting to teach English to a student whose native language
is one the teacher is not very familiar with. Adding image, sound, or video to
the textual/verbal component of education greatly enhances the ESL teacher's
ability to create a concrete connection between word and meaning. In a study
done on multimedia in a high school classroom, the student's ability to give
meaning to his verbal explanation of his career aspirations were made much
clearer through the addition of a presentation that included pictures of his
childhood: "By drawing on the representational resources of various media,
students were thus able to convey a semiotically richer portrayal of
themselves than the print texts alone would have permitted" (Parks
2003). Drawing on Saussure's Course
in General Linguistics, multimedia allows a more deeply understood
relationship between the signifier (the text) and the signified (its meaning),
which creates a clearer conceptualization of the sign (text coupled with its meaning)
itself (963). The English language learner will be able
to better understand the meaning of the English language because the
awkwardness of translation can be substituted with the meaning of image, sound,
and video.
Beyond
the improved linguistic aspect of multimedia in the ESL classroom, there is
evidence that there are cultural benefits as well. In a study done by several
university professors, ten ESL students participated in an experiment in which
they worked with graduate students in order to create interactive multimedia
stories. The results of the project showed that the creation of such stories by
these students benefited them by enabling "second-language learners to
celebrate their cultures and be proud of themselves by integrating their
cultural backgrounds into their stories" and "encouraging students to reflect
on their own cultural experiences in writing and illustrating their stories and
to provide their perspectives and ideas through multimedia" (Peng
2006). In other words, this is exactly the sort of project Houghton
mentions as the most beneficial aspect of multimedia. Creation and interaction
between educators and learners through the use of multimedia in the classroom
has great advantages, and in the ESL classroom, this is especially true. With
this multimedia projects, the benefits extended beyond simply aiding students
in learning the English language into the realm of cultural
acceptance—both of one's own culture and the culture of which he or she
is becoming a member.
Multimedia
is a useful tool in any classroom, and although teachers have been using
multimedia for a long time, advances in technology have made its uses much more
practical and cost-efficient. By keeping up with technological improvements,
teachers will be able to increase the productivity of their lessons as well as
to create a more engaging and interactive classroom. Specifically in the ESL
classroom, however, multimedia is an important, perhaps necessary, aspect of
the learning environment. It allows ESL teachers to present material they may
have great difficulty communicating to their students, especially those who
speak a language the teacher does not know. Through the incorporation of
multimedia in the ESL classroom, the students are better able to learn the
nuances behind the language they are learning as well as how to understand
subject matter such as science and math in ESL classrooms that teach more than
English language. Perhaps equally important, multimedia gives students new and
exciting ways to express themselves culturally and individually so that they
may feel secure in their own identity as they continue to immerse themselves
into a new culture. Overall, multimedia in the ESL classroom benefits everyone
involved and can help ensure the success of students who are moving out of the
ESL classroom and into the traditional classroom setting.
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