Foreign Language Teaching Methods: Technology

Increasing Quality of Time on Task

The use of online video not only increases time of task, it has the potential of increasing the effectiveness of the study time. Here is a list of ways to use Portuguese Communication Exercises to increase the quality of time on task:

1. Ask students to prepare their own oral presentations, using the samples from native speakers as a guide. Since there are always at least four different recordings for each task, students can mix and match the comments that they would like to incorporate into their own oral presentation.
2. Encourage students to analyze the speech of the native speakers in the videos. For example, students can study the use of prepositions, word order, verb tenses, etc. Have them reference the transcriptions of the oral speech, an added benefit.
3. Since the speakers in the video clips come from various regions from all over Brazil (and a few from Portugal), students can study regional dialects and general Portuguese pronunciation. Ask them to look for characteristics that identify the speakers from one region to another.

Online videos can also be used to reinforce in-class teaching activities. Here are a few ideas using Portuguese Communication Exercises:

1. When presenting lessons or lectures on almost any language topic, video clips provide a resource for samples and examples. When teaching the preterite versus the imperfect for example, instructors can view the video clips where people talk of the pets they used to have.
2. Analyze transcripts of clips line by line to help students to see the subtleties that would have gone unnoticed. For example, instructors might say something like, "Did you see how this speaker used the verb ficar in this sentence to mean 'to be located'."
3. Use the video clips as a springboard for other projects. For example, instructors who teach a course in phonetics might ask students to make phonetic transcriptions of the video clips.