German Videos with German Subtitles: A New Approach to Listening Comprehension Development

Abstract

The opportunity for the use of audio-visual material in German language instruction today is widespread. Videocassette players and film projectors are available to virtually every teacher at any level, videodisc players with computer programmed random access and laser beam technology make interactive video possible on more and more college and university campuses, and satellites can bring American students instantly into contact with German TV programs-technology today makes real what yesterday was only a dream. And yet, the adaptation of these technologies to the teaching of German at both the intermediate and advanced level has been slow and all too often nonexistent. To be sure, authentic German language video programs, i.e. video programs made for natives, are available in ever increasing numbers.' Live programs received via satellite also offer a variety of exciting new approaches to teaching German, both in the classroom and in the language lab.2 But while technology provides for increasingly easier access to more and more authentic material, the actual application of these authentic programs with the specific purpose of teaching the language has received little attention3 and has been almost unchanged for the past two decades.4 To teach German with the aid of authentic film or video material, the instructor has two options. The first is that the film or video program can be used as it is shown to natives, i.e. with the original sound track and no subtitles. In this case, the audience must have from very good to excellent knowledge of German, and the instructional value of showing the visual material lies mainly in refining the existing language competence and/or perhaps also in serving as a base for a follow-up discussion of nonlinguistic questions and ideas. This is generally the case in German literature and civilization courses.