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THE
USE OF VISUAL MATERIAL
7.1. Some general considerations
At first glance, visual material
offers an attractive and stimulative and stimulating framework for writting
practice, especially if some form of picture sequence is used, and for this
reason no doubt the learners generally respond favourably to tasks which relate
to some kind of visual context.
7.1.1
Types of visual material
We may devide visual material into
two main categories:
a. Pictorial : this category includdes single pictures
and picture sequence.
b. Plans, maps, diagrams: diagrams include material
such as graps and charts.
7.1.2
The use and abuse of visual material
By its very nature visual material
provides a much more open-ended framework for language practice than texts.
7.2. The role of the teacher
Visual material clearly has great
potential as an aid to developing writing skills and can provide both context
and stimulation for a variety of activities but unless it is properly used, it
may create more problems than it solves. It is essential, therefore, to do the
following:
a. Identify and define an appropriate writing task
which relates to the theme of the visual material.
b. Identify the language which learners will need in
order to carry out the task.
7.3 The use of visual material:
Some example
This section contains some examples
of how visual material may be exploited at the post-elementary level for
different kinds of writing task.
7.3.1
using a map to practice paragraph construction
The following activity is based on a
simple map like the one shown below, which may be drawn on the board or
reproduced on a transparency for use on the overhead projector.
The information which
appears on ten different cards is as follows:
1)
The building in Harbour Road between
Central Road and New Road is the market.
2)
The market was built in 1875.
3)
The market sells fish.
4)
The market sells vegetables.
5)
The market sells fruit.
6)
The market used to sell meat.
7)
Meat is now sold in the supermarket.
8)
The market is open on
Tuesday,Thursdays,Friday and Saturday.
9)
The market is open from 8 a.m to 2 p.m on
weekdays.
10)
The market is open from 8 a.m until 5 p.m on
Saturday.
There are two main ways
in which the dialogue element may be “extracted” :
a)
The student may be first asked to say
what they think the picture are
about.(for example the picture in the material).
b)
Alternatively,the dialogue may be cued
by providing the first line of the exchange.
In the picture A and B,the picture is describe
about conversation between Mrs ball with her husband.picture C,a short conversation about gardening and
the weather.Mr ball ordering thr tings but forgetting the sugar(D).A
conversation about the news (E) picture F involves asking for and giving
direction and in picture G and H,the conversation between Mrs ball with her
husband has taken such a long time and her husbang tries to make excuses.so,the
student have to describe picture and make dialogue about the picture.
Other uses for visual
sequences are :
-
Speculation ; get the student to give
their own ideas about the people and the setting
-
Roleplay and dramatisation; get the
student to work out how they would present people shown in picture and how they
would act out some or all of the sequence.
-
Discussion.most people sets will
stimulate some kind of discussion.
Some key writing
activies will be :
-
Notes
> make a note any important ideas which come up during the oral work.
-
Diary entries > write up an account of what happened
from the viewpoint of one of the people in the sequence.
-
Role description > write rolecard for one another if they
are going to act out the sequence.
-
Letter writing >
the activity will involve
selective reporting.
-
Report
> depend on the content of the sequence,write one for the one above.
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