PRINCIPLES AND PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES FOR EMPLOYING VIDEO MATERIALS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION

3 85 4 7.2 PRINCIPLES AND PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES FOR EMPLOYING VIDEO MATERIALS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION Abdujalilova Ra'no Baxramjon qizi, English language teacher at the Alfraganus University E-mail: [email protected] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17918555 Abstract. This article examines the criteria and strategies for selecting and using video materials in English language teaching (ELT). It synthesizes theoretical perspectives, such as Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, and practical frameworks proposed by Gallacher, Stempleski, Sherman, and Wedlock & Binnie. The analysis highlights content appropriateness, learner proficiency level, clarity of message, authenticity, and motivational value as central criteria for effective video integration. The study concludes that while Mayer’s principles serve as a solid theoretical foundation, practical approaches by Gallacher and others offer more accessible guidelines for teachers. The findings suggest combining these frameworks to create a balanced methodology that supports student engagement, language acquisition, and cultural understanding. Keywords: Video materials; English language teaching; selection criteria; teaching strategies; multimedia learning; authenticity; learner motivation. Annotatsiya. Ushbu maqolada ingliz tilini o‘qitishda video materiallarni tanlash va ulardan foydalanish mezonlari hamda strategiyalari tahlil qilinadi. Mayerning Multimedia o‘qitishning kognitiv nazariyasi, shuningdek, Gallacher, Stempleski, Sherman hamda Wedlock & Binnie tomonidan taklif qilingan amaliy yondashuvlar qiyosiy o‘rganilgan. Tadqiqotda mazmunning mosligi, o‘quvchilar bilim darajasi, xabar ravshanligi, autentiklik va motivatsion qiymat samarali video integratsiyasi uchun asosiy mezon sifatida ajratib ko‘rsatilgan. Xulosa sifatida, Mayerning nazariy prinsiplari metodik asos bo‘lsa-da, Gallacher va boshqalarning amaliy mezonlari o‘qituvchilar uchun qulayroq ekanligi ta’kidlanadi. Tadqiqot ushbu yondashuvlarni uyg‘unlashtirish orqali o‘quvchilarni jalb qilish, tilni o‘zlashtirish va madaniy tushunishni rivojlantirish imkonini beradi. Kalit so‘zlar: Video materiallar; ingliz tili o‘qitish; tanlash mezonlari; o‘qitish strategiyalari; multimedia o‘qitish; autentiklik; motivatsiya. Аннотация. В данной статье рассматриваются критерии и стратегии отбора и использования видеоматериалов в преподавании английского языка. Анализируются теоретические основы, такие как когнитивная теория мультимедийного обучения Майера, а также практические подходы, предложенные Галлахером, Стемплески, Шерман и Уэдлоком и Бинни. Выделяются ключевые критерии эффективного использования видео: соответствие содержания, уровень владения языком учащихся, ясность сообщения, аутентичность и мотивационная ценность. Сделан вывод, что принципы Майера служат прочной теоретической базой, однако практические рекомендации Галлахера и других являются более удобными для применения в классе. Предлагается комбинировать эти подходы для формирования сбалансированной методики, способствующей вовлечению учащихся, усвоению языка и развитию межкультурного понимания. Ключевые слова: видеоматериалы; преподавание английского языка; критерии отбора; стратегии обучения; мультимедийное обучение; аутентичность; мотивация. Introduction. In the era of digital pedagogy, video has emerged as a powerful instructional tool in English language teaching (ELT). Its audiovisual nature allows learners to experience language use in authentic, contextualized, and engaging ways. Despite its 3 86 4 7.2 widespread application, many teachers face challenges in selecting appropriate video materials. First, teachers must be careful with the content of video materials such as Hollywood movies and soap operas. Driven by voracious commercial interests, many producers try to attract viewers with movies fraught with violence and adult content. Teachers should not include such video materials in their class. In addition, teachers should not choose movies that are too obscure for students to understand. Movies and soap operas that reflect everyday life and culture of different periods and regions of English speaking countries are very good learning materials. Video materials that tell stories of historic figures and events are very informative and interesting materials too. Musicals and animations could also be very exciting and relaxing choices. In general, to attract students’ attention, teachers should choose video materials with simple and morally correct stories, realistic characters and conversations that are brief and clear. Secondly, because teachers are helping students with their English in the classroom, they must scrutinize the language of video materials used for teaching in terms of pronunciation, intonation, authenticity, and imitability. Non-standard English used by characters in videos has negative impacts on students’ acquisition of the language. Some nasty language such as four-letter words could be very bad influence for students and if teachers do not give them proper explanations students could make very pragmatic mistakes when they use these words in conversations with native speakers of English. Thirdly, teachers should control the difficulty of video materials they choose because they have to take into consideration the actual level of students’ English. As a rule of thumb, teachers should select movies that will interest students and match their English level of proficiency. Video materials that are far higher or lower than their English proficiency will not hold students’ attention. Sometimes the use of subtitles could help students understand video materials. Finally, teachers must keep in mind that they should not play the movies for students only because video materials like movies are only used to help students to learn English language and culture. To address the possible struggles, scholars have proposed various criteria and strategies for integrating video into language instruction. This article reviews leading scholarly contributions to establish a practical framework for informed video use in ELT. Literature review. The use of video in language teaching is underpinned by multiple pedagogical theories. Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (2009) emphasizes dual-channel processing, signaling, and coherence as essential principles for effective multimedia design. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) encourages the use of authentic materials to enhance real-world communication, while constructivist approaches support learner-centered activities like reflective viewing, discussion, and video creation. 3 87 4 7.2 Other scholars, including Lynn Gallacher, Sherman, Wedlock & Binnie and Stempelski also carried out their own principles and criteria of selecting video materials. Mayer’s research focused heavily on cognitive overload in rich, multimedia teaching. From all his research over many years, Mayer identified 12 principles of multimedia design, based on how learners cognitively process multimedia (Mayer,2009): 1. Coherence. People learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds are excluded rather than included. Basically, keep it simple in media terms. 2 Signaling. People learn better when cues that highlight the organization of the essential material are added. This replicates earlier findings by Bates and Gallagher [1977]. Students need to know what to look for in multimedia materials. 3 Avoid Redundancy. People learn better from graphics + narration, than from graphics, narration and on-screen text. 4.Spatial contiguities. People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen. 5.Temporal contiguities. People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively. 6.Segmenting. People learn better when a multimedia lesson is presented in user-paced segments rather than as a continuous lesson. Thus several ‘YouTube’ length videos are more likely to work better than a 50 minute video. 7.Pre-training. People learn better from multimedia lessons when they know the names and the characteristics of the main concepts. This suggests a design feature for flipped classrooms, for instance. It may be better to use a lecture or reading that provides a summary of key concepts and principles before showing more detailed examples or applications of such principles in a video. 8.Modality. People learn better from graphics and narration than from animation and onscreen text. This reflects the importance of learners being able to combine both hearing and viewing at the same time to reinforce each other in specific ways. 9. Multimedia. People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. Make all four media available to teachers and learners [Bates, 1995]. 10. Personalization. People learn better from multimedia lessons when words are in conversational style rather than formal style. 11. Voice. People learn better when the narration in multimedia lessons is spoken in a friendly human voice rather than a machine voice. 12. No image. People do not necessarily learn better from a multimedia lesson when the speaker’s image is added to the screen. So, Mayer presented 12 detailed criteria to consider in selecting videos. In my opinion, Lynn Gallacher gave more simple and understandable criteria [Lynn Gallacher, undated]. 3 88 4 7.2 1)Watchability. Is the video interesting? Would a young native speaker want to watch this video? 2)Completeness. Tomalin [1991] 'The ideal video clip…… tells a complete story or section of a story'. This idea of completeness is important for young learners whose primary motivation for watching a video is enjoyment. 3) Length. The length of the clip is important, it shouldn't be too long, perhaps between 30 seconds and 10 minutes depending on the learning objective. 4) Appropriateness of Content. The content should be suitable for Young Learners. How has the video been rated; 'Universal', 'Parental Guidance', for ages '13'or '18'? Would the video be suitable for viewing in all cultures? 5) Level of maturity. Children mature very quickly so a group of 7-year-olds watching a video made for 5-year-olds would probably regard it as 'too babyish'. On the other hand, using a video intended for older children with a group of younger children might lead to the children not being able to understand the concepts in the video. 6) Availability of Related Materials. Many authentic videos now come with ready-made materials that can be used for language teaching. Other videos may have been adapted from books, which could be used in the classroom to support the video (The 'Spot' series and Eric Carlyle stories such as 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'). If, however, the video is being used for presenting language or for comprehension tasks there are further factors which should be considered when selecting a video. 1) Degree of visual support. A good idea is to choose scenes that are very visual. The more visual a video is, the easier it is to understand - if the pictures illustrate what is being said. 2) Clarity of picture and sound. If the video has been copied from the television, it is important to make sure both the picture and sound are clear. 3)Density of language. This refers to the amount of language spoken in a particular time. Videos where the language is dense are more difficult for learners to comprehend. 4) Speech delivery. 'Clarity of speech, speech rate and accents are all factors in determining how difficult a video excerpt will be for students to comprehend.' Arcario [Undated: 115] 5) Language content. Authentic videos for young learners will often contain a lot of repetition. It is also useful to see if the linguistic content in the video can be linked to that of the language curriculum or the course book thus providing a way to integrate video work into the course. 6) Language level. The language level of the video should be appropriate for the level of the class without the teacher having to explain too much. Moreover, there are some criteria in selecting videos as proposed by Stempleski [1992]. 1)Inspiration, motivation, and interest. A video should give inspiration, motivation, and build students’ interest in learning. 3 89 4 7.2 2) Content. The teacher should make sure that the videos are suitable with the instructional goal and culturally appropriate for the students. 3) Clarity of Message. The teacher should make sure that the instructional message is clear to the students. For the teacher, it will be a great attempt to prepare the students to understand what they are going to see. 4) The pace. The teacher needs to make sure that the pace of the videos should be suitable with the students’ proficiency level. Discussion and findings. Well, the strategies of using educational videos in English teaching in any educational activities, teachers must be able to supervise students’ learning process effectively to realize their teaching goals. Teaching English with video materials is no exception. To achieve systematic and goal-oriented teaching with video materials, teachers must plan their teaching strategies carefully. Below we can see another two scholars’ research on selecting criteria. Sherman (2003) emphasizes the pedagogical significance of authenticity and contextual richness in video selection for language education. Her framework highlights key principles such as providing comprehensible input, ensuring cultural relevance, utilizing short and segmental clips, and aligning materials with clear learning goals. Building upon this foundation, Wedlock and Binnie (2022) propose a more comprehensive set of criteria for selecting authentic video materials. Their framework includes: (1) the learner’s proficiency level, (2) the density of vocabulary and grammatical structures, (3) the length of the clip and its potential for segmentation, (4) the cognitive and content depth, (5) the engagement level, clarity, and ethical suitability of the material, and (6) its potential to stimulate learner reflection. This classification can be compared to Gallacher’s classification as it reveals more similarities. Thus, the first list of criteria given by Mayer can be used for theoretical purposes as it is more complicated, since the rest are very comfortable to use for practical purposes, especially by Gallacher, and Wedlock & Binnie. Since Stempleski had given only four, strikingly he listed out the criterion which has very important value in choosing video. The rest of scholars stressed out content properly as the most significant criteria, besides the appropriateness of video to the learners' level has a vital role in those classifications of criteria. Furthermore, when selecting educational videos in EFL classrooms, I would use Lynn Gallacher's classification by adding Stempleski’s principal Inspiration, motivation and interest. References: 1. Arcario (undated) Video in Second Language Teaching and Learning TESOL Inc 2. Bates, A. (1995) Teaching, Open Learning and Distance Education London/New York:Routledge 3 90 4 7.2 3. Bates, A. and Gallagher, M. (1977) Improving the Effectiveness of Open University Television CaseStudies and Documentaries Milton Keynes: The Open University (I.E.T. Papers on Broadcasting, No. 77) 4. Lynn Gallacher, British Council www.teachingenglish.org.uk 5. Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed). New York: Cambridge University Press 6. Stempleski, S. (1992). Teaching Communication Skills with Authentic Video. In Stempleski , S.,& Arcario, P. (Eds.), Video in Second Language Teaching: Using, Selecting and Producing Video for the Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. 7. Sherman, J. (2003). Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom. Cambridge University Press. Tomalin B (1991) 'Teaching young children with video' in Stempleski S & Arcario P (eds) 8. Wedlock, M., & Binnie, L. (2022). Teaching with Authentic Video: A Research-Based Framework for English Language Learners.