I'm interested to collect ideas / thoughts about the audio and video recording of students in class. I have some experience doing it, but would like to hear of other people's experiences.
I've recorded students in speaking tests, with the aim of making sure the marks I give them are fair. I've also used some of those recordings in class, to highlight good examples of pronunciation that students themselves used.In one-to-one classes, I've recorded the student with a sort of 'before and after' aim. For example, if I've been trying to teach appropriate intonation, I've recorded students at the beginning of a series of lessons, in the middle and then when they've started to really get better. After each recording, I've had the student listen and critique himself.In a sort of one-to-one Dogme lesson I've recorded my conversations with my student and had her transcribe parts of it. Then, after checking it together, I've used our own grammar, vocab and pron as teaching points.
I seem to have more ideas recording students in one-to-one situations. Have you recorded students who are in a group class and then used the recordings in class? If so, what were your aims, and how did it turn out? Thanks Lynn in Taipei
This question Lynn Conant, Taiwan
Comments
joe
I find that recording students preparing for the Cambridge suite of exams is extremely useful. Usually, I choose two of the more confident students and interview them in front of the whole class. While we're doing the interview I ask the other students to see if the interviewees are following the advice we have previously talked about and what they could do to improve their performance. I record the interview using a ordinary digital camera and then transfer the recording to my laptop. I then burn a CD for the students, which they take home and listen to. I also ask them to transcribe part or all of their contributions and think of ways in which they can improve.
Charanjit Singh, India
We do audio and video recording for groups who are at an advanced level of learning. We frequently show recordings of talkshows and other discussions to these students. As far as the beginner and inter levels are concerned, I feel recording gives the desired results only in "one-to-one" or in a maximum of three members group activity. I am not very sure about group audio recording at this level because it is fairly laborious and it is difficult to bring home any worthwhile teaching points.Group video on the other hand could be fun and more appealing because a student sees himself onscreen and can make corrections regarding gestures, body language and so on. I am not sure it would do much to improve the English bit as both video and audio recordings are beneficial only at a slightly advanced level. By then the students are speaking coherently and distinctly and can pick out their mistakes.I feel any recording for beginners may not be much help.
James Lara, Japan
I teach Jr. High School English classes at an International School in Japan. During our recent 2006 summer school program, I experimented with using technology to assist in the teaching of speech skills using Reader's Theatre.
I initially downloaded from the internet several levelled reader's theatre scripts (I have an online subscription from a commercial reading site) and asked my students to select from these, based on their interests.I also searched and downloaded a Reader's Theatre Rubric which included several speech skills. I provided copies to my students and discussed it with them. The rubric was then used for teacher assessment, and for student self-assessment.
For recording the student's performances, I used a Macintosh mini which was connected to our school's high speed LAN. I attached a digital camcorder to the mini (using a firewire cable) and used the iMovie application to directly record my student's performances. The computer was connected to a TV monitor (a shared resource, mounted on a cart) which was used to view the ongoing reader's theatre presentation, and was also used later for group discussion activities.
In order to listen to the student's discourse and to provide feedback, I had a separate microphone and headset. I actively monitored and corrected speech problems as the students read their lines. The students spoke into a shared microphone, which was mounted on a stand, and they each had their own listening center headphones.
During our final week (we had a month-long summer school program), the students did a regular Reader's Theatre presentation without the supporting technology. The differences between their "before" and "after" performances were quite remarkable!
For the short time that I used the above Reader's Theatre / interactive technology feedback system, I feel that it was very effective in helping my students to quickly become aware of, and to correct, their individual speech difficulties. Having individual headphones and a microphone focused their attention, and made them extra aware of their speech patterns.
Because the students were classmates during the regular school year, they already were very comfortable with each other. They readily accepted/supported each other (well, most of the time!), and I had little behavior problems.
This aside,and it being summer school, the students were still very, very motivated to learn, displayed surprising creativity and ability, and showed what I observed to be a sustained learning and improvement in their speech skills.
I plan to apply what I did over the summer to my regular listening & speaking lessons this coming schoolyear.
Sunil, India
As a teacher what you have been doing is fruitful and will certainly inculcate greater confidence in every student. I, too, am a Trainer on Communication and have, for over a couple fo decades, been following this method and most of my trainees have comfortablly been settled around the world.
No speaker can acknowledge his speaking skill when he keeps speaking but the listerner will easily be able to judge the speaker provided the latter has a good grasp. While training our students we ask them to speak on some topics and record their speech. The speakers later on become listeners as well.
Jasmina Djordjevic, SerbiaWhen a student listens to his own voice he gets ideas as to how he has spoken and how better he can / could have spoken. This method has been appreciated by most of my students and I am a zappy trainer in their eyes.
I have tried recording my students several times and it showed very valuable in cases of error analysis. My students were sometimes reluctant to agree to being recorded but when they realised the benefits, they couldn't get enough of it. I used it to record games, oral exercises and discussions. I tend to be only a mediator and let them speak as much as they want. At home I listen to the recording and write down their mistakes. In class the students then correct themselves. I think it is very productive and I am going to use it even more. The usage is boundless and one can make a lot of it!