Yen lac education office
Phạm công bình secondary school




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Seminar
Using teaching aids
in a language class





The writer : Trương Quang Khánh
The teacher: Trần Thị Liên










School year: 2007 – 2008
Using teaching aids in a language class – By Truong Quang Khanh

A. The acknowledgement.

I. Reason for choosing the topic:
Firstly, “Teaching aid” is one of the subjects in the “Frequency Improving Book” and using teaching aids is also an obligatory thing in class. So I think this is a good chance for us to discuss how to use teaching aids effectively in a language class.
Secondly, Teaching aids can be used to teach in most of the contents of an English lesson such as teaching new vocabulary, structures, grammar, listening and speaking, etc. Necessary teaching aids not only make our periods more lively and exciting, but also help our students more enthusiastically in learning English.
Further more, In the reality of teaching different aspects and skills, teaching aids produce countless unpredictable results which an ordinary class without any aids can not do. A class with a good exploitation of suitable teaching aids is always exciting and sucessful. The teacher can save a lot of time from trying to present and explain new item for students’ practice. The students find it easy to perceive, understand, practise and use the item with confidence and creativity.
Finally, using teaching aids is very important and necessary in new method of teaching English.
II. Understanding the subject:
What are teaching aids ?
1. Definition:
According to Peter Wingard in Teaching English as an international Language – A Practical Guide – teaching aids are any thing from a detailed syllabus, a text book to audio, visual and audiovisual equipment that is used to facilitate and better the result of teachers’ teaching and learners’ learning. They are regarded as the useful servants not masters of the language teaching and learning process. They appear beacause the need of this process.
2. Kinds of teaching aids:
From the obove definition, teaching aids can be grouped into three main kinds:
- Audio aids.
- Visual aids.
- Audio-visual aids.
( Audio aids:
Audio aids such as language laboratory, radio, cassette, tape, teacher’s and student’s voice, etc, are often used for listening comprehension practice.
( Visual aids:
Visual aids are anything visible to students, which the teacher uses for different purposes in the class. They may be objects, pieces of classroom furniture, pictures, cut-out magazine pictures, drawings, cards, maps, teacher and learners themselves and so on. They can be used in different stages of a lesson, and they are rich in forms , cheap to make, easy to find, convinient and effective use in a language class.

Tổ KHXH – English Group
Using teaching aids in a language class – By Truong Quang Khanh

( Audio-visual aids:
Audio visual aids are the combination of the audio and visual aids for convinient, multi-purposed use in a language class, e.g. telivision, recorded film, video, plays, etc. They may be good for listening, speaking and other language skill activities.

Among these three main kinds of teaching aids, the visual ones are the most common and effective in a language class, which Vietnamese teachers at all school levels can find, make and use easily.
III. Some principles of using teaching aids:

The first principle is “good preparation of suitable aids”. When we are assigned with a new language item to teach, for instant, a dialogue, a grammartical structure or a new word, we must ask ourselves the following questions:
- Does it need any teaching aids ?
- What teaching aids will be needed for the presentation, practice and production ?
- Are they easy for us to prepare and simple for students to understand ?
- What language content or exercises will be used with these aids ?
- When is this or that aid used ?
- How is this aid used to achieve the best result ?
- How long is this aid used ?
These questions may help us to decide on the use of teaching aids, type os suitable aid and to prepare the language content, time and way to use it effectively.
The second principle is that it must be exploited to the maximum in the class or else it may waste a lot.
Another principle is that the chosen teaching aid must be suitable to the teaching item and simple enough for students to understand.
The final principle is that the teaching aid must be big enough to be seen or heard by all the students from different parts of the classroom and it must be economic, durable to make and use.
B. Content:
Techniques of using some common audio and visual aids
The most common, effective teaching aids at