Sue Kay has been an ELT materials writer for over 25 years. She is the co-author of app's Focus Second Edition and is one of the co-founders of . In this article, Sue takes us through her experience of using video in the classroom and shows us how to motivate and engage students with authentic video.
When I started teaching in the early 80s, video was a novelty in the classroom. We only had one video player for the whole school and had to book it a week in advance. There was very little published material available, but thanks to the rarity factor, the students lapped it up.
There was no problem with getting them motivated, even if the lessons accompanying the videos were not particularly exciting and consisted mainly of comprehension questions. Lucky for me, our school had a very dynamic Director of Studies who gave great teacher training sessions and I was very taken with a presentation he did on active viewing tasks.
I was, and still am, a big fan of the Communicative Approach and I embraced the more interactive video tasks enthusiastically: freeze frame and predict, watch with the sound down and guess what people are saying, listen with the screen hidden to guess the action, etc.
When I’m preparing a video lesson, I still try to include at least one of these activities because the information gap provides an ideal motivation for students to watch the video and check their ideas.
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In the old days, video could motivate and engage a class because it was something relatively new, but what about nowadays when video has gradually moved from a ‘nice-to-have’ element of new courses to a ‘must-have’?
We teachers have unlimited access to videos, either those that accompany our course or on the internet. But has this affected motivation? Has video also become harder to use as a motivating factor in the classroom?
Yes and no.
Teenagers have grown up with a smartphone in their hand. They live their lives through video - filming themselves or one another, uploading and sharing video content on TikTok or other similar platforms, accessing YouTube on a variety of devices, and even aspiring to be like the YouTubers they spend hours and hours watching.
The importance of this to the way we teach is summed up by this quote from The Age of the Image, “We can’t learn or teach what we can’t communicate – and increasingly that communication is being done through visual media.”
Video is the ideal medium for teaching 21st-century skills and visual literacy. None of my students bat an eyelid when I ask them to make a video for homework, film themselves telling an anecdote, watch a grammar explanation online, or do some online research.
But in terms of what we watch in class, our videos need to work harder than before. In my experience, students won’t tolerate boring or unnatural videos, just because they’re in English. Because they watch so many online films, documentaries and series, students are used to high production values, strong narratives and authentic material.
When we were writing the second edition of Focus, we were lucky enough to have access to the BBC archives. However, just because something has appeared on the BBC it doesn’t mean it is suitable for our students. In my experience, there are certain criteria that needs to be fulfilled in order to motivate and engage students with video.
First of all, it helps if a video has a visual wow factor. This may be an unusual setting or a location with breathtaking scenery. If there’s no visual interest, you may as well do an audio lesson. However, stunning places and incredible landscapes won’t hold the students’ interest for very long.
There also has to be something in the video that the student can relate to their own lives. For instance, one of the clips we chose for Focus Second Edition is set in an amazing place in Turkey, popular with tourists who visit in hot air balloons. The students are unlikely to have visited this place, but to make it relatable and interesting for students, we chose an extract that focuses on the caves that older generations still inhabit, while the younger generation have moved to the nearby cities. The topic of young people leaving the countryside for the big city is a topic that will be familiar anywhere in the world.
A generation that have access to endless TV series and films on demand expect a good story. While this can be an episode from a drama - it doesn’t have to be fiction. It can be an inspiring story of human achievement or any kind of human-interest story that follows a journey and has a story arc.
Generation Z and Alpha tend to be very socially engaged and open-minded; they want to change the world. So videos that air social issues are ideal as stimulus for discussion. For example, in Focus Second Edition we’ve included a video clip about a project that’s underway in Holland, where students can have low-priced accommodation in a Care Home in return for some help with the elderly residents. In class, we’ve used this video clip as a springboard for discussing relationships across generations.
Videos that fulfil these criteria raise motivation in class because they facilitate more interesting lessons. If the video is visually engaging, it’s easier to write the active viewing tasks I mentioned earlier. If the topic is relatable on some level, the lesson can include personalization and discussion, which wouldn’t work if the content was so far removed from the students’ reality that they have nothing to say about it.
I’m particularly keen on videos that are engaging enough to facilitate follow-up tasks that might spark the students’ imagination and help to put them in other people’s shoes. For example, in Focus Second Edition, we’ve included a video about window cleaners on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world.
As you can imagine, the film shots are breathtaking and have not only the wow factor but the ‘agh factor’ too for people who are afraid of heights. The presenter, Dallas, joins the experienced window cleaners, and you can’t help but hold your breath as he climbs out onto the side of the building, which is a sheer drop of 800 meters below him. No wonder he has a dry mouth.
The short clip is so engaging that the lesson practically writes itself. Here are a couple of examples of follow-up tasks that are only possible because the video holds the students’ attention and ignites their imagination:
All this increased volume and choice of video is great, and video certainly still has the power to motivate our students, but I believe we teachers and materials providers need to focus more on the quality of the videos we use in class than the quantity.
Read our posts '21st-century skills and the English language classroom' and 'Key challenges in secondary education'.
Learning English with music can enhance learning and create a more engaging and dynamic classroom environment. In a previous post, we discussed if music can help you learn a language; this post looks at how music can be incorporated into the classroom.
Using music in your classroom can help improve student motivation, focus, and retention of information. Here are some ways you can use music to enhance your classroom teaching:
Learning a new language can be daunting, requiring time, effort, and consistent practice to master. One learning tool that’s been researched and examined over the years for its effectiveness, is music and sound.
Music is sometimes overlooked or forgotten about, but it can be a beneficial tool when learning a new language. Today we will explore how music can aid language learning and what benefits it can provide. Here’s how:
Song is a powerful tool that can help us memorize new words and phrases. When listening to a song, recollecting the lyrics and melody long after it's finished can often happen. This is because our brains retain information better when associated with a melody/rhythm.
Research has found that exposure to a language's rhythm leaves a lasting impact on a person's ability to segment speech patterns[1]. Listening to songs in a foreign language can help learners memorize new words, patterns and phrases more easily.
Music can improve our pronunciation and tone. When singing along to music, listeners may mimic the singer's pronunciation and cadence when listening to a song. This can help us develop a more natural and authentic accent when speaking the language.
Additionally, it can broaden our knowledge and comprehension of diverse dialects and accents. Exposure to different accents and pronunciations can make real-world interactions with a foreign language less daunting or confusing.
Two people may speak the same language but pronounce words very differently due to accents, a great example of this is in the UK and how the English language varies throughout areas.
In the UK, someone from the north may sound completely different to someone from the south, despite speaking the same language. So if you were trying to learn English with music and listened to English songs from different parts of the country, you'd be exposing yourself to different accents. Making yourself more familiar with the varied pronunciation.
It can expose us to the culture of the language we are learning. Music can be a deep-rooted part of a culture, and hearing music in a different language can provide insight into that culture's beliefs, practices, and heritage. This can give us a deeper understanding of the language and help us communicate more effectively with fluent speakers.
Often, songs use informal language and slang words we may not otherwise know or make us aware of a culture's situation or troubles. Academics Mark Gant & Dr. Carmen Fonseca-Mora discuss how although no one type of music works the best, foreign protest songs are a good example.
They're typically motivational, clear, and repetitive and give an insight into a country's culture without causing problems for the learners. Listeners may even feel inclined to discuss or research that situation – which could be a good learning opportunity.
In addition, music can improve our listening skills. When we listen to a song in a foreign language, we’re often compelled to pay close attention to the lyrics, melody, and rhythm. This can help us develop our listening skills and train our ears to distinguish different sounds and accents in the language.
Being exposed to foreign languages in any output can be beneficial; having the added layers of music adds that little extra challenge for your ears and brain. It’s almost like immersing yourself in the language without the need for traveling.
Finally, music can make language learning more enjoyable. Learning a new language can be challenging and sometimes even frustrating. However, listening to music in a foreign language can make learning more enjoyable and engaging.
Singing along with the lyrics can be a fun way to practice the language and boost motivation and confidence. Pairing those with interesting and engaging music videos can also make it more enjoyable. Check out some examples in our post11 great English language song lyrics.
So when you find yourself taking on a new linguistic challenge, give music some 'airtime' – and watch how it helps you expand your vocabulary and improve your language skills.
What is it about music that helps boost your English skills, confidence and pronunciation? A song can provide an emotional connection between the music and the listener, providing learners with new ways to express their feelings. Music and rhythm have also been shown to benefit memorization, which is a key component of learning.
Here are some of our favorite lyrics to some of our favorite songs:
The Beatles are the best band to help you learn English. There are many Beatles songs with catchy melodies and simple lyrics, but Blackbird captures the Fab Four at their most poetic:
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
This song is a great way to help learn the days of the week (that may be obvious). Love is also a very popular English word, so this one is for all the romantics out there.
Always take a big bite
It’s such a gorgeous sight
To see you eat in the middle of the night
Another one for the lovers, Ed’s heartfelt lyrics are huge in the mainstream pop charts. Here, he tells the sweet story of long-time love in this ballad and he’s becoming one of the world’s most sought-after songwriters.
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
This classic from Morrissey and co was voted runner-up in VH1’s Top Lyrics poll, for the lyrics: So you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home and you cry and you want to die’ but it’s the opening lines of the song that are the most intriguing. Firstly, they’re adapted from George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch and include some rather clever double meanings – namely ‘son’ (sun) and ‘heir’ (air).
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
This was Neil Young’s only number-one hit single from 1972’s Harvest album. He uses simple lyrics and melodies to tell his story of searching for true love.
I’ve been in my mind
It’s such a fine line
That keeps me searchin’ for a heart of gold
And I’m gettin’ old
U2 is the second-best band to help you learn English and frontman Bono is the second-best male artist to help you learn (edged out by Justin Timberlake). The chorus was inspired by a moment during a performance in New York City, when Bono saw the audience lit up and shouted, “Oh, you look so beautiful tonight!”
And I miss you when you’re not around
I’m getting ready to leave the ground
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
These lyrics are a good use of repetition and rhyme, which is excellent for helping memorization. Most people consider this a love song, but that’s a common mistake. In 1983, Sting was interviewed for New Musical Express and explained: “I think it’s a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership.”
Every move you make and every vow you break
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I’ll be watching you
Every move you make, every step you take, I’ll be watching you
Dylan’s whimsical, poetic lyrics might be difficult for an English language learner to interpret, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a pleasure to listen and sing along to.
Hey! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you
This song takes you through the daily goings-on in a typical household in the 80s. This song has been around for a while now but is a story that most people can still connect with. This is an excellent song for understanding the concept of nostalgia!
I remember way back then when
everything was true and when
we would have such a very good time
such a fine time
Sadly, Otis Redding lost his life in a plane crash shortly after this song was recorded, and it was released after his death. His lyrics are quite reflective, provoking both contentment and sadness. You can really imagine yourself sitting on the dock with his simple yet descriptive words.
Sittin’ in the morning sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
Then I watch them roll away again
No list of standout turns of phrase would be complete without Leonard Cohen, a man whose songwriting process is so painstaking he’ll often spend years on the same song. When quizzed on his process, Cohen once said it often took so long because, “After a while, if you stick with the song long enough it will yield.” It’s interesting to note then that, even for a master of the English language, the words don’t always come easily. Everybody Knows remains a firm favorite among fans, with the majority of lines starting with the words ‘Everybody knows…’ It’s a lengthy song, but for the sheer beauty of its words and phrasing, the opening lines are a highlight:
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows that the good guys lost
