Visual Representations as Effective Instructional Media in Foreign Language Teaching

Although research on the effective use of visual representations in instruction has concentrated predominantly on the teaching of scientific and technical subjects, the principle that visual elements can only be used effectively if they are perceived as important instructional resources that require attentive processing is equally valid in foreign language learning. A study of language learners performing an authentic classroom task in which they were asked to use visual information as a basis for free language production suggested that pictures in this instructional context were processed efficiently but superficially, and were frequently not regarded as significant sources of information. The study also suggested that divergent picture interpretations are not unusual and could lead to communication problems mistakenly attributed to language deficits. A pragmatic way to achieve effective processing of the visual elements in language teaching materials, I propose, is to design materials which include explicit, specific guidance on how the pictures they contain are intended to support language learning activities, together, where needed, with processing instructions.