“The Importance of Audio Visual Materials
in Teaching and Learning English
Are you an auditory learner? If you listen to foreign language
tapes or CD’s under your pillow at night before an exam, chances are, if you
are an auditory learner, you will do quite well on the test! Do you even know
what kind of learner you are? Perhaps, you are a combination of an auditory and
visual learner. Do you learn quicker if a kin esthetic approach is
used? In other words, are you a “hands-on” person? You probably
learn by “doing”, rather than passively listening. Children that are these
types of learners, do very well in Learning Centers that were prevalent in the
1960’s and have come full-circle! Some educators think that they are a waste of
time, where they like whole group instruction better than breaking children
into groups; regardless, whether these centers are visible in the classroom or
not, they might very well be
tactile/kinesthetic learners, even outside the
classroom.
Do you have to be shown something repeatedly before
you “catch on”? Can you learn by merely reading directions? Reading
does not make you a visual learner; visually, you need to be shown. If
students are given audio visual materials in combination with visual
stimulation, such as a video, they may or may not learn better than if given
just audio. Chances are that when they are just listening, they will focus and
use their imagination more, such as the task of their listening to a story on
tape, or an E-book, but the combination of the two learning tools, audio and
visual will enhance their learning, most of the time.
Students will not only hear but also see and make a
connection. They will remember what they have seen and recall is so
important. Collectively, the audio visual learner will recall the words of
songs? What implication is this for life? That learner will
remember phone numbers, formulas, and recall names, with the latter being
important in social and business situations. Since auditory learners are good
listeners, they generally work well in groups, because they have the skill of
explaining well to others. If that learning style is combined with visual
characteristics, then one style is used in conjunction with the other.
Mere visual learners often find it difficult to study; they may not understand
what concepts are and have difficulty in processing
information, therefore they must take
notes. They have to copy, write, outline, write spelling words in the
air, have flash cards to be drilled, and watch videos. It is important to understand
how the visual learner learns in order to understand how the auditory/visual
learner absorbs information. When the strategies above are used in
conjunction with listening, recall is that much easier; in fact, rote learning
and drilling doesn’t help them understand the process in which they learn, but
rather, the concept of using auditory skills aides in their
understanding. It is fine to memorize the periodic table or
multiplication tables when using auditory aides but the use of both styles enables
the auditory/visual pupil to make sense of it all.
Audio visuals are useful for most students,
regardless of their learning characteristics, when used together. Think
of watching a movie and while remembering the lines might not be prevalent to a
discussion afterwards, the concepts which the words were used as tools, would
be highly effective and important. Merely using audio tools, while
imagination is crucial, might change the author’s purpose in one’s eye and the
viewer’s perception, substantially. Interpretation, separate from mere
opinion, would wane, when audio and visualization are coerced together.
Transmitting and communicating information would have a very different
outcome.
An educator’s in-depth studying would be beneficial
in understand the research of various scholars. It is recommended that the
following research be read, then digested, so that as an educator, one would
become for cognizant of their own understanding of learning, to be passed down
to students, whether elementary or university-level learners. (May,
C. R., May, B. A., Rogers, B. G. and Ensworth, L. C. , 2008-10-15 "The
Learning Styles of Prospective Elementary Education Teachers and Implications
for Teacher Education" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
MWERA Annual Meeting, Westin Great Southern Hotel, Columbus,
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