Slides of Verbal Messages in the German Classroom

Abstract

There are several obvious reasons for using slides of verbal messages in the German language classroom, some motivational, others linguistic. Slides are first of all visual sources of information. At the lowest linguistic levels, they bypass the students' limited abilities in the language through a different communications channel. This is highly useful in elementary classrooms where teachers attempt to use only the target language. At a somewhat more advanced stage, the image or visual context of the verbal message can support or confirm the linguistic interpretation a student gives to the text. Slides of verbal messages can be of minimal length and can thus foster students' concentration on single vocabulary items or constructions. Even at very high levels of sophistication, slides have the potential for yielding unexpectedly large amounts of cultural information and can provide points of departure for discussion and analysis in the target language. The texts contained on the slides are genuine, i.e., not simplified or edited for the classroom. Such unedited texts have a very different psychological value for students. When they are understood and when the students are aware that these texts are meant for German speakers (as they are), their feeling of accomplishment at comprehending them is much greater than for edited materials. This sense of accomplishment offers the strongest possible encouragement to a student to learn more and faster. Success breeds the desire for more success.