Using environmental news clips in an integrated way . . .

Using environmental news clips in an integrated way:
Language learning, genre, critical awareness, and conflict resolution
by Kim Bradford-Watts
(Kyoto Univ. of Foreign Studies, Kyoto Inst. of Technology, Ryukoku Univ., Kyoto Tachibana Women's Univ., Osaka Int. Univ., Osaka Gakuin Univ.)

Abstract

Integrating media to present a current news topic of a global or environmental concern can be useful for increasing learners' critical awareness of the complexity of views about a topic. As Jacobs (1995) states, "content-based approaches are not incompatible with attention to form. While content is key, form can be taught as it relates to purposes of language use ... [C]ontent-based instruction, particularly the use of socially oriented themes, represents an effort to link school with the world in which students live". This paper shows how one news story on an environmental theme was used as an umbrella to focus students on vocabulary, the news story and the issue itself, discussions, learning about oral summaries (a genre), and using the information from the oral summaries to become a participant in a simulated meeting designed to encourage problem - solving and negotiation for conflict resolution.

The unit described is one developed in response to requests through the end of first semester feedback form from four classes of third year students at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies to focus on current events and issues, debate, round table discussions and negotiation. The students also indicated a wish to study idioms and other "useful" language. As this was to be the initial unit for the second semester, I wished to introduce oral summaries, since they would be useful in the upcoming unit on gender selection and the debates decided and researched by the students on "a current scientific concern", which eventually included genetically manipulated foods, cloning, and euthanasia.

Keywords: environmental education, critical pedagogy, EFL news clips.

The lessons

The unit was based on a news report of the rehabilitation and future release of Keiko, the orca which appeared in "Free Willy" (1992). I chose this story for the following reasons:

The students had previously expressed an interest in animals. The theme was a story about an animal with which the students were familiar, having seen the "Free Willy" movies.

It was a story which was unfolding at the time, and the students had indicated a wish to address current topics in their end of semester feedback forms.

Whales are a controversial topic in Japan because of the whaling issue, but I did not wish to address this directly.

The release of sea mammals back to their natural environment is a complex issue, with many arguments.

The unfolding adventure of Keiko had many Internet sites devoted to it, including a web-cam in the new environment, and students could easily access these sites to follow the story over the months (and years, if interested) ahead.

The release of this whale is a kind of ongoing experiment, the results of which surface on news programs from time to time.

The issues of the capture and holding of wild animals for entertainment could also be addressed.

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After a "back from holidays" activity in the first class of the semester, I explained the semester plan to the class and gave the first handout to the students (see Fig. 1). This was to be done for homework. It consists of definitions, a "language box" of idioms and some sentences to complete with the new words and idioms introduced.

1st Graphic: BrWatts1.jpg

Fig. 1. A handout used for a content-based environmental awareness class. (Source: http://www.clipart.com/)

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The video lesson

In the next class, we checked the homework and the students had time to discuss the following questions with a partner:

Do you like watching movies?

What is your favourite movie? Why?

Have you seen any movies recently? (If yes, tell your partner about the movie.)

Who is your favourite movie star? Why?

Have you ever seen a movie which stars an animal? (If yes, tell your partner about it.)

Do you like movies about animals? Why / Why not?

Following a quick class response to these questions, the news clip was shown without sound. Students wrote down what they saw. Answers were solicited from several students, and keywords written on the board. Following this, the news story was played three times with sound while students wrote what they heard. Again answers were solicited from students and keywords written on the board. Students then answered the following comprehension questions in groups, and there was a quick quiz to elicit the answers:

In which movie is Keiko the star?

Where is Keiko's new home?

Why is he going there?

Where was Keiko found?

Why will Keiko live in a sea pen?

Students then discussed these questions in small groups:

Have you ever been to an aquarium, marine park, or zoo?

Do you like to visit such kinds of places? Why / Why not?

What animals are kept in such places?

Why do think these places exist?

Do you think that the animals in these places are happy? Why / Why not?

Do you think that any animals from such places should be released? Why / Why not?

Did you know about the rehabilitation of Keiko before this class? (If so, where did you learn about it?)

What do you think Keiko did when he got to his new home?

Finally, each pair of students were given a series of pictures showing stages of Keiko's release and asked to put them in order and tell the story of Keiko's journey, first orally, then in writing. A related article was provided for those who wished to read more about Keiko's sea pen, and the URL for Keiko's sea pen web-cam was also distributed.

At the end of the class, each group of 3 or 4 students was given a different handout describing either a positive or negative argument for the release of sea mammals. These were collected from the Frontline website devoted to the issue, and included: a partial transcript of a 2000 interview with Ric O'Barry (an animal advocate); a partial transcript of an interview with Naomi Rose (a marine mammologist for the U.S. Humane Society); a message from the Alliance of Marine Mammals Parks and Aquariums; an extract from Hoyt's (1992) "The Performing Orca - Why the Show Must Stop"; and a partial transcript of an interview with Jim McBain and Brad Andrews, representing Sea World. Students also received a guide to writing a summary for oral presentation (a genre), reproduced below, and needed to write a summary of their handout in preparation for the following class.

2nd Graphic: BrWatts2.gif

Fig. 2. A list of sample phrases for EFL students to be used when making oral summaries

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The Skills Extension Lesson

Students began this lesson by sitting with the other 2 or 3 students who had completed the same oral summary homework, comparing their summaries and amending them as they thought necessary. This took approximately 5 minutes.

Students were then jig-sawed, so each group consisted of about 5 students who had each done a different summary. They were given a copy of the skills extension handout, reproduced below, and followed the directions for presenting their summaries, then brainstormed qualities of a "good" summary. This took approximately 10 minutes.

3rd Graphic: BrWatts3.jpg

3rd Graphic: BrWatts3.jpg

Fig. 3. Sample class activities for a content-based environmental awareness class. (Graphics reprinted by permission from OrcaNetwork.org.)

Next, students listened to the case of Lolita, a killer whale at the Miami Seaquarium. After listening to the description of Lolita's situation, available from OrcaNetwork.com, students compiled a list of pro's and con's for freeing her, which were compared, each group adding to their list as they felt necessary. This took approximately 10 minutes.

Finally, the groups were introduced to the simulation wherein they each assumed the role of a member of the Board of Management of Seaquarium to decide the fate of Lolita, one of the major attractions of the park. They chose a Chairperson for the meeting, whose responsibilities were to seek opinions and guide the discussion towards a solution of the problem, and also a spokesperson to present the suggested solution and reasons to the rest of the class. The simulation lasted for 30 minutes, and the reporting lasted about 5 minutes.

The discussion generated by this simulation was heated. Not only did students contribute to the discussion as members of the board, but they actively represented the views and facts they had read in their particular summary handouts. By the time each group had come to a decision, they had done some very difficult problem-solving , negotiating and consensus-building.

The reporting by each of the groups was challenged spontaneously by the group or groups who had not reached the same conclusion. Thus, the debriefing, which took about 10 minutes, was extremely important. Through reflection, the students came to recognise the complexity of the issues involved, the validity of each of the points raised, the necessity of listening to all points of view, and the role of problem-solving, negotiation and consensus-building in society. As the teacher, I needed to stress that in many real-life situations, there are no "correct" answers, since most issues are complex and decision-makers can only attempt consensus.

Students recorded their experience of the class on their "Reflections" sheets (Bradford-Watts, 2002), which were immediately added to their clear files. Although I briefly read each of the student's papers, I neglected to keep copies of their reactions to the lesson.

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Teacher reflections

Overall, I felt that this was a valuable unit. Students were exposed to natural language in a way that was accessible to them, using key vocabulary and structures in a variety of tasks. They were able to play the part of the "expert" in the area in which they did their summary, sharing their knowledge with their peers in two contexts; the first had little emotional context, but the second was emotionally loaded.

The development of the unit from the unthreatening vocabulary introduction to the face-threatening simulation was effective, allowing increasing levels of knowledge, confidence and engagement. Reflection time allowed students to see the range of tasks which had been successfully completed, realise their knowledge of the issue, acknowledge the importance of the experience for personal growth and become increasingly motivated to share their ideas and opinions in the class.

The video lesson introduced the topic, awakening interest. Essential vocabulary and structures were encountered and practised in a number of forms in an integrated four-skills approach. There is nothing special about this lesson format, but it formed the backbone for the simulation in terms of shared knowledge, as well as providing an information gap through the materials for summary. Summarising skills were encountered as well as the means of preparing a summary for oral presentation, contributing to the student's growing genre awareness.

I was very happy with both the amount and level of language produced in the simulation lesson. This was the first time that many of the students had participated in an activity where there are no clear answers and many conflicts. The students did an admirable job of reaching consensus within a limited time-frame. Although there was conflict, they recognised that a solution was important and worked towards solving the problem. I did not offer my opinions about the issue, allowing them to work out their positions for themselves.

The students left that day having felt the need to make their opinions known, realising that opinion needs to be based on facts, willing to listen to other's opinions and rationale for their opinions, able to state their positions clearly, able to problem-solve, negotiate and reach a consensus, and understanding why these are important in decision-making.

How to build this kind of unit

Find a short news clip with good visuals. It should be no more than two minutes in length. Many of the commercially available collections in use in Japanese classrooms have suitable materials; videos which have prior permission to be used in educational settings can be purchased through www.libraryvideo.com; or individual news stories may be ordered through the news service websites. N.B. Do not use copyright materials without obtaining permission.

Ensure that the topic will be of interest to the students. Topics about natural disasters, environmental issues, refugee issues, or terrorist attacks are of interest to many Japanese university students.

Identify key words and associated language points.

Search the Net for graphics and opinion pieces . . . ensure there are plenty of facts. N.B. Do not use copyright materials without permission.

Edit opinion pieces for classroom use.

Identify genres and pragmatic features which need to be addressed prior to or during the unit.

Identify tasks and rank in order of difficulty.

Design the unit, integrating the above.

Make handouts.

Run through the unit a couple of times using your handouts and the video to check for any difficulties and to ensure smooth transitions between sections of the lesson.

Teach it. Reflect on it. Make necessary changes. Teach it again.

Talk about it with colleagues, present about it, write about it.

In designing any unit of work, I have found it useful to refer to the macrostrategies suggested in Kumaravadivelu's (1994: 32) strategic framework for L2 teaching, which are described as "general plans derived from theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical knowledge related to L2 learning/teaching". This unit conforms to these macrostrategies as outlined below:

1. Maximise learning opportunities.

In this unit, learning opportunities are maximised by the organisation of a number of learning tasks, organised from easiest to most difficult across the unit.

2. Facilitate negotiated interaction.

In this unit, negotiated interaction occurs in the homework check, group quiz, discussions, summary check, simulation and debriefing.

3. Minimise perceptual mismatches.

In this unit, perceptual mismatches are minimised in the initial stages through language focus activities, building shared knowledge, and sharing of unique knowledge. However, in the simulation, students must actively seek to minimise perceptual mismatches through problem-solving and negotiation techniques, and finally through the debriefing and reflection process.

4. Activate intuitive heuristics.

In this unit, students are able to notice the differences in structural and genre choices in the news clip, newspaper report, and the written piece which they summarise. Although all are dealing with the same basic topic, they do it in different ways for different purposes.

5. Foster language awareness.

In this unit, the fostering of language awareness is achieved through vocabulary and idiom work, as well as through genre awareness work.

6. Contextualise linguistic input.

In this unit, linguistic input is contextualised initially through the theme represented by the video, and then through the simulation. It is also contextualised macrolinguistically through reference to genre.

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7. Integrate language skills.

In this unit, language skills are integrated, but also graded from easiest to most challenging. In terms of language outcomes, students: write definitions in English; use new words and idioms in sentences; record what they have seen; record what they have heard; answer comprehension questions; discuss; read and summarise; present their summaries orally to a group; listen to summaries; use the information gained from the summaries in a meeting format, negotiating until a solution is reached; reflect orally on their meeting experience; and write about their reflections of that experience, as well as encountering several genres.

8. Promote learner autonomy.

This unit attempts to promote learner autonomy through language awareness activities; raising critical awareness abilities; exploring critical listening and explanatory abilities; and awareness of conflict resolution skills.

9. Raise cultural consciousness.

In this unit, students are exposed to the real-life drama of a movie star they know; they follow the story of the rehabilitation of a captured marine animal and understand the debate which has arisen world-wide about the capture and release of these animals; and they are confronted with the morality of keeping animals for commercial purposes.

10. Ensure social relevance.

We have all experienced being consumers of captured creatures as objects of entertainment in the circus, zoos or aquariums. It is therefore relevant to introduce this topic. Students can extend their questioning to other issues such as whaling, battery farming, keeping pets, etc. Students are interested in the fate of animals, and extend the questioning approach to issues of human welfare.

Using an integrated approach such as this allows the students to experience language learning in a context important with respect to their personal growth. By interacting with their peers in the building of this knowledge, they learn to employ a questioning approach to issues which they are able to employ both inside and outside the language classroom.

Useful websites

A large selection of videos for use in educational settings is available at the Library Video Company's website at www.libraryvideo.com. Individual CNN newsclips and transcripts may be purchased through the Federal Document Clearing House, Inc. at www.fdch.com/net4.html. Please read copyright and usage information for these sites.

Bradford-Watts, K. (2002). Keeping Students and Teachers Organised and Empowered in Communication Classrooms. ETJ Journal, 3 (1), 1-7.

Humane Society of the United States. (n.d.). Available online: hsus.org/ace/352. (23 Dec. 2002).

Hoyt, E. (1992). The Performing Orca - Why the Show Must Stop. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society: Bath, U.K. (Chapter 7 of this book is available online at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/debate/trainers.html).

Jacobs, G. (1995, Mar.). Language Use or Language Usage? Global Issues in Language Education, 18. (p. 17). Available online: www.jalt.org/global/18Lan.htm. (12 Jan. 2002).

Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). The Postmethod Condition: (E)merging Strategies for Second/Foreign Language Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 28 (1), 27-48.

OrcaNetwork.com. (n. d.). Available online: orcanetwork.com. (23 Dec. 2002).

PBS and WGBH/Frontline. (1998). FRONTLINE presents "A Whale of a Business". Available online: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/. (23 Dec. 2002).

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