Brigham Young University
Henry Niedzielski
Universität Bonn
This year the second annual symposium Man and the Media cosponsored by AILA and CETALL was held at the Institute for Romance Languages at the University of Saarbrücken, Germany from September 16 to September 19. The symposium was convened by Udo Jung of the University of Marburg and organized by Wolfgang Bufe of the University of Saarbrücken and Viktor Burowsky of the University of Bonn. Because of its emphasis on cross-cultural communication and Saarbrücken's immediate proximity to France, the conference attracted a large number of French speaking participants from France, Switzerland, Denmark, Hawaii, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Poland as well as German and English speakers from Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Malaysia, Sweden, and the United States.
Presentations during the first day concentrated on comparisons between German and French news coverage on TV and in the press. Because of his multifaceted experience as a language teacher at the University of Limoges, as a research specialist at the B.E.L.C., and especially as a journalist attached to the national France-Presse Agency, Amr Ibrahim shared many ideas which are not usually considered by members of the academic community. He explained, for instance, how most international information relayed by mass media is standardized for all languages and, therefore, void of any cultural content. This presents a problem for language educators and also for the average viewer who becomes more and more attracted to extremely demagogical politicians who emphasize local or national ideologies.
Charles de Margerie, a foreign language teacher trainer and research associate at the C.R.E.D.I.F. addressed some aspects of interactivity—or the possible lack of it—in language learning with computers and other machines. Because the individual learner usually interacts only with the program, in computer assisted instruction, he suggested that new strategies should be developed to generate inter-group interaction.
Ekkehard Eggs and Beate Gerken, both from Hannover, addressed the problem of plausibility and credibility in television reporting and compared standard news and interview coverage of French and German TV. Eggs contended that credibility is produced by means of techniques which take into consideration the sociological and cultural tradition of the country. Gerken demonstrated such techniques with an example of a political interview on camera of a popular French and a popular German politician by a French and by a German TV crew. She pointed out special effects created by linguistic, gestic and mimic devices employed by the politicians with the aim of producing credibility. Richard Batz of Berlin continued the discussion of television news coverage by pointing out the didactic nature of French news. He had analyzed approximately 80 French news reports and discovered certain didactic devices used by French TV which were used to inform the public and keep up interest. One interesting example showed how the didactic intent was so overwhelming that the TV news program showed in great technical detail how a gang of bank robbers was able to gain entrance into bank vaults. The explanations and visual demonstrations were so detailed that they could be considered a most useful model for robbing a bank. Interesting was also the technique of introducing the major news items at the front of the newscast in the form of riddles which invite the viewer to become actively involved in the solution of the riddle by watching the ensuing coverage.
Georgette Stefani-Meyer of Saarbrücken, restated the importance of the press in the acquisition of communicative competence. She emphasized the role of a skill that is much too often ignored in foreign language teaching, and yet indispensable for spontaneous and natural communication: the language socializing mode.
Letitia van den Heuvel of Tilburg offered a new too] for the teaching of language, culture, and literature: literary criticism published in newspapers and journals, She researched this subject extensively and involved the participants through a short questionnaire, asking everyone what had determined the choice of their most recent reading.
The day ended with an evening reception by the Vice President of the University of the Saarland.
The second day was opened with a lecture by Alois Palzer of Mainz on the subject of the importance of both the eye and the ear in language acquisition. Recent research has shown that language learning already begins in the mother's womb from the seventh month on and continues most effectively until the child is seven years old. Palzer pointed out the great importance of media in addressing both the eye and the ear in teaching language. He added, however, that teachers and researchers must also take into consideration emotional factors on the part of the learner as well as classroom structure and teaching techniques. We do not yet know enough about the emotional background of the learner to help us in the development of better teaching techniques.
Claude Gauthier and Beat Münch of Basel presented an interesting TV program showing how German speaking students of the French language planned and produced cultural vignettes in French-speaking Switzerland. The various interviews were made with individuals from several social and professional groups and were of high technical and pedagogical quality.
Isabelle Durousseau of Copenhagen continued the discussion and reported how she also involves her Danish students in planning, creating, and presenting a French newscast for the French TV programs in Denmark. The students find their material in French newspapers and on Danish TV. Their styles of presentation imitate those which they have observed on video tapes of French newscasters. Both Gauthier/Münch and Durousseau report that their students are highly motivated.
Thomas Szende of Budapest has obtained a series of VHS videotapes containing sequences of newscasts from the French TV network TFI directly from the Institut National de la Communication Audiovisuelle. Szenda has excerpted some scenes in order to isolate certain sociocultural features and thus to facilitate the socio-linguistic learning process in its evolution from a controlled situation to creative, spontaneous communication.
Pawel Plusa of Czestochowa reviewed the teaching of French as a foreign language on Polish public television since 1965. He compared several courses which were broadcast during this twenty-year period and showed how they were adopted in Polish secondary schools. The latest courses have been copied on videotapes and can be used both at school and at home in conjunction with public television.
In the late afternoon the group had the opportunity to participate in a sight seeing tour of the city of Saarbrücken.
The third day was opened with a report by Wolfgang Bufe of Saarbrücken on his investigation into the phenomenon of anxiety in foreign language acquisition by adult learners. He based his observations in part on his experiences with German evening school students who are studying French. As part of the acquisition of the French language, Bufe takes students across the border into France and affords them the opportunity to function in the country of the target language. With the help of a video film he showed that anxiety can be reduced by exposing learners quite early during their schooling to the foreign culture on location in the country. He found that in his experimental group, anxiety was reduced through personal contact with Frenchmen living in a small farming community. This was especially the case when the German students began to realize that the French also experienced a certain amount of anxiety about meeting German "intellectuals."
Relying on 15 years of experience with the British and German broadcasting media, Leo Koesten of Saarbrücken, together with professionals from the Westdeutsches Fernsehen has produced five 30 minute documentaries on Brittany. Because he established an excellent rapport with the natives before he began the actual filming, the final product is completely authentic. Through these films Koesten is able to share his own views and feelings for this part of France.
Adile Challe of Paris, a successful author of French textbooks, gave a fascinating presentation of her polychromatic review of French TV programs and the numerous possibilities they offer to teachers and learners of French. Henry Niedzielski of Hawaii and Bonn reported a successful experiment he has conducted with his students at the University of Hawaii on teaching genuine French gestures and facial expressions with the aim of fostering better understanding of the French language and culture. He teaches this technique with the help of videos and slides. Ulrich Hann of Bonn showed how video films can sensitize language learners and teachers about cultural differences between countries. With film clips taken from Pakistani television programs, he demonstrated how the perception of Moslem students from Pakistan concerning the subjects of religion, eating and drinking, and the relationship between the sexes varies quite considerably from the perception of German viewers. He raised the question as to how we are to present the native culture to learners coming from a greatly different culture and what type of video material provided readily by information agencies might be appropriate.
David Little of Dublin introduced the autotutor which he and others have been developing, a video device for self instruction. This device allows for computer interaction with a video component and has interesting possibilities for both the teacher and the learner of a language. Zofia Jancewicz of Warsaw contended in her lecture that intercultural understanding releases and facilitates communication. She showed English language material produced by the BBC which she adapted for language learning in Poland.
On the last day, Sarah Gill of Malaysia opened the proceedings with a report on research she is conducting as part of her Ph.D. dissertation at the University of London. She feels that traditional video materials are not necessarily adequate in teaching English as a second language to students in Malaysia because the cultural content may be distracting to them. Such culture-based materials may not be appropriate in countries like Malaysia where English is used as a language of communication between speakers from various Asian cultures. What kind of video materials might be best suitable and motivating to language learners who are not primarily interested in the culture of the target language but who want to use the language as a means of international communication?
According to Soia Koester-Thoma considerable difficulties are encountered by the Slavic Language Institute of the University of Berlin in finding adequate video materials for teaching Russian. She rejected most available material from the Soviet Union because of its obvious propagandistic nature.
Philippe Durant de Saint Andre of Paris and Poitiers discussed various exercises presently used in CAT and showed how they, unfortunately, limit interactivity and creativity, two fundamental elements of communicative competence. He proposed new activities partly based on cloze techniques which two French research groups are currently developing for the teaching of German. They will enable the learner to use newly acquired vocabulary and to compose paragraphs creatively. The available software can presently be used with Apple Writer, MacIntosh, and Word Star.
A clever analysis of German Videotext was presented by Sonja Klug of the University of Bonn. In her research she is analyzing German Videotext to determine how difficult and how appropriate the text is for language learners. She wants to find out which linguistic aids a teacher must give to his students before they can understand selected television programs. Her study will also determine if television is more appropriate for intermediate or advanced learners and if there exists a relationship between regular newspaper reading and the understanding of Videotext. Robert Baker of Southampton reported on his involvement with the development of both hardware and software materials suitable for teaching English to deaf children in Great Britain. He reported that the cost for video equipment has been substantially reduced so that it is now more readily available for teaching the deaf. Television and video recorders are a distinct blessing to the deaf whose chances of learning language are greatly enhanced through the use of these devices. The use of word processors and interactive video will even be a greater blessing to these handicapped persons in the future.
The final presentation was made by Hans-Wilhelm Kelling, the only participant from mainland USA. He demonstrated a computer interactive video model that was developed by Brigham Young University and gives the learner the option of constant interaction with a video. The video films, shot on location in Germany, present everyday situations which the foreigner encounters. A computer is connected to audio and videodisc players in such a way that selected audio and video sections can be quickly and precisely accessed as needed. The computer accepts the student's input and determines what should be presented to each student. The interaction between the student and the computer is tailored to each student's need, and the individualized instruction functions like a very good tutor.
Thanks to excellent preparation and sensitive guidance during the symposium primarily by Wolfgang Bufe, a pleasant spirit of interaction and learning developed during periods of questioning, commenting and breaks. Man and Media II was a resounding success, and we are looking forward to next year's conference in Australia.
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