Types of
visual material:
We may divide visual material in two
main categories:
a)
pictorial:
this category includes single pictures and picture sequences.
b)
Plans, maps,
diagrams: diagrams include material such as graphs and charts ( i.e. they
contain figures and perhaps a few items, such as headings, in words).
The use and
abuse of visual material:
By its very nature visual material
provşdes a much more open-ended framework for language practice then texts. The
visual content does of course determine to some extend the language which can
be used, particularly in the lexical area. İn other respects, however, we are
free to exploit the material as we wish. The special advntage of this is that
we can use the same piece of materials at different levels and also different
types of writing.
On the other hand, the very fact that visual material is open-ended has its dangers. There is the risk that the learners will be interpret the visual content in a more sophisticated way than their proficiency in the language permits. This may involve some form of mental translation, which in term results in inappropriate and incorrect expression. Even if errors are not or main concern, it is undesirable that they should result from the learners failing to full and proper use of the language they have acquired. Writing tasks, therefore, have to be very carefully defined and the learners given appropriate preparation for them.
The role of the teacher:
Visual material clearly has great potential as an aid to developing writing skills and can provide both contexts 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 the following
a) Identify and define an appropriate writing task which relates to the theme of the visual material. The students may of coarse be given a choice or be asked to work on different but perhaps complementary activities. It is unlikely that the writing task will call for any form of strait narration or description, which is an aspect, which may be explored through oral preparation for writing. On the contrary, the writing task should have a clearly defined form, which will deal with the theme from a particular angle or viewpoint.
b) Identify the language, which the learners will need in order to carry out the task. In order to do this, it will generally be necessary actually to write out a version of the writing task to see what language entails.
c) Decide how to prepare the learners for the writing task. The classroom preparation stage is a delicate one. As was noted in (b) above, we want to ensure that the learners have the necessary language for the task they are set. At the same time, the writing activity must never be simply a replica of the oral preparation; otherwise there is no challenge in the activity. If the writing task involves dealing with the theme presented from a different angel or viewpoint, the problem is largely resolved, because the learners have to decide how to restructure and select from the language practiced at the oral preparation stage.