20.2513, Sum: Linguistics Instruction - Use of Media Clips

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LINGUIST List: Vol-20-2513. Wed Jul 15 2009. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 20.2513, Sum: Linguistics Instruction - Use of Media Clips

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1)
Date: 13-Jul-2009
From: Lauren Squires < lsquires at umich.edu >
Subject: Linguistics Instruction - Use of Media Clips
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:59:08
From: Lauren Squires [lsquires at umich.edu]
Subject: Linguistics Instruction - Use of Media Clips

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This summary is posted in response to an FYI announcement, LINGUIST issue
20.2209:  http://linguistlist.org/issues/20/20-2209.html
----------
Several weeks ago I solicited responses to questions about the use of media 
clips in teaching linguistics. I received many helpful responses from the 
following LINGUIST members, to whom I am grateful:

Janet Bing, Stephanie Schlitz, Alexander Brock, Philippa Mungra, Kanjana 
Thepboriruk, Wayne Cowart, Martin Paviour-Smith, Maria Gouskova, Harold 
Schiffman, Jarek Weckwerth

Thanks to everyone who replied! I combined these comments with the few I 
received from a similar request sent to the TEACH-LING list, and this 
summary is the result (by question). If anyone has further thoughts please 
feel free to email me (lsquires at umich.edu); we hope that the results of our 
research on this topic will be of interest to the linguistics teaching 
community at large.

Thanks and best,
Lauren Squires
PhD Candidate in Linguistics
University of Michigan
lsquires at umich.edu

----------
1.) Which courses do you tend to use mass media clips for?

Most people reported using clips for sociolinguistics-type classes 
(especially varieties of English, language and gender/sexuality, language 
and popular culture, language across cultures) and introductory classes (it 
was mentioned several times that media material is an effective way to 
reach students who aren't linguistics majors). People also mentioned using 
clips for phonetics (for illustrating sounds, voice quality), morphology (for 
illustrating word formation patterns), grammar/structure of English, 
applied contexts (teaching pronunciation and pragmatics for language 
learners), and field methods (showing videos of speakers of the language 
being worked on or of elicitation techniques).

2.) What are your pedagogical goals in using this type of material? How 
useful do you find the material in meeting these goals?

On the side of classroom strategies, the most common response was that 
clips are used to increase student engagement, by making links between 
linguistics and ''the real world'' and by making course content more lively. 
Several people said that they use media clips for appealing to different 
learning styles of their students, reinforcing important points with visual 
material. Several also said that clips are a good ''alternative'' kind of
course 
content to lectures or reading, which can help break up class periods, break 
the focus on the lecturer, and keep students interested.

On the side of linguistics pedagogy, people primarily reported using clips 
for three purposes: showing popular understandings of language (e.g. in 
news broadcasts); showing language ideologies/language stereotypes (e.g. 
in film characters); and demonstrating the use of a language variety, 
linguistic features, or pragmatic phenomena (e.g. in documentaries or 
interviews). A few people give students assignments based on the clips, 
using the clips as data for the students to apply their knowledge to - for 
instance, doing transcription practice or an analysis of language use. 
Documentaries were also mentioned as a way to show students some 
aspects of how to do linguistics or what linguists are interested in, and one 
person reported using media clips of their own lectures to supplement in-
class lectures.

A few people gave caveats to using media clips: they work best when 
students have some prior knowledge about the media being used (for 
instance, they've seen the TV show before and know the characters); they 
work best when students are given a clear idea of how the clips should be 
tying into course content; students can often view the clips as ''just 
entertainment'' so having a sound reason for using them in class is critical.

3.) How do you find that media clips relate to student engagement with 
course content?

Most people said that students hearing more examples of linguistic 
features - like unfamiliar dialects or sounds - effectively helps them 
understand the phenomena, and this is accomplished well through media 
examples. Several people also said that media clips lend credibility to 
scholars' claims about language, especially language ideology, which 
students can sometimes be resistant to. Most people said that students 
really like media clips in class, and several people mentioned course 
evaluations that show that students like the media clips. 

4.) What is the format in which students typically interact with this material 
(in class on a projector; posted online as homework; etc.)?

By far the most common reported use is in the classroom, as material to be 
followed with class discussion. People use both audio (through speakers) 
and audiovisual (through projector via computer). A few people also post 
clips on the class discussion or Blackboard site; some give optional 
postings online for students to respond to the clips. One person posts the 
clips online that then are discussed in lecture the following class.

5.) How do you locate, collect, and/or store this material?

Searching/locating clips:  have students suggest clips to be used; keyword 
searches on YouTube; searches through YouTube to see if a specific show 
has examples of the thing being looked for; see references in news, daily 
papers, radio, journals, etc. (then find the corresponding media via internet 
or other means); find them on the website of a TV show; store URLs on 
Blackboard or course website, or embed into the syllabus or assignments 
for the course.

Storing clips:  Most common methods were DVD/CD storage, laptop hard 
drive storage, and keeping a list of links on YouTube (including storing the 
links in bookmarks or notebooks, storing them in a browser, or converting 
the files and saving them to disk). Some people said they don't save the files 
because they are too large. 

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics




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