Editorial
Wei Lee is a core member in Prof. Alan Maley's circle which is called "the Asian Teacher-Writer Group"

Integrating Visualization Techniques into English Language Teaching and Learning

Wei Lee, P.R. China

Wei Li is based at Division of English Language and Literature, School of Foreign Languages, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, Guizhou, China. She holds a Master's degree in English Language Teaching from Assumption University of Thailand. She became a participant in the Asian Teacher-Writer group in 2006 and joined the Creative Writing workshops and conferences in Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia. Her main research interests include creative approaches in language teaching and intercultural communication. E-mail: lwapply2007@yahoo.com

Language education has put the greatest emphasis on developing learners’ language skills. As a language teacher, we treat students as language learners and our evaluation focus on the development of their language competence. The single-mindedness of the training focus highlights the importance of intellectual development of language learners; however, it can cause us to underestimate the importance of other aspects in their learning process as a whole person. We may fail to motivate them intellectually if we ignore their emotional, mental, physical, spiritual and social needs as human beings. All those aspects of an individual are interrelated and involved in their learning experiences. How can we involve language learners as whole persons with head and heart to participate actively in the language class?

Besides our concern about their language development, we may need to really care about their lives outside the classroom; we may encourage sharing ideas and feelings freely among learners and between learners and their teacher; and by establishing a relaxing atmosphere in the class, we may allow individuals have their own creative and different answers. The teacher’s role changes during this process; she/he may raise more questions but without knowing the answers in advance; she/he may listen more carefully rather than constantly imposing his/ her ideas on learners; she/he may facilitate learners’ self-expression rather than dominating the class; she/he will feel curious about students’ ideas as well as helping students feel comfortable to share their ideas equally with classmates and their teacher. This kind of student-centered classroom atmosphere can be achieved gradually after establishing mutual trust among learners and the teacher. To help learners make meaning of their own learning and their own life then becomes the major goal of our teaching. If learners can make sense of their language learning, they can learn more efficiently.

The technique we are going to explore in this paper is visualization, which is a process of creating mental images/pictures in the mind’s eye for certain purposes (Arnold, 1999:260, Eggen & Kauchak, 1999:259, Nakaji, 1991: 79). It can also be used as a strategy in reading by converting words into images in the mind (Tomlinson, 1998: 265). The mental image we form in the mind is a combination of what we recognize, as a result of the interaction between what we have in storage and what is going on at the moment - which is not only seen in the mind’s eye, but also that may be heard and felt; they are mental pictures or impressions which are triggered by words or sentences that we read or listen to. (Arnold, 1999:260, Stevick, 1986: 11, Richards & Schmidt, 2002: 247).

To understand the process of visualization thoroughly, we may can relate it to several concepts about learning which are interrelated through the basic mental process of forming mental images. These include experiential learning, brain-based learning, neuro-linguistic programming, multiple intelligences, emotional intelligence, metaphorical thinking, creativity and imagination. If we explore these theoretical concepts in depth, we can see that visualization plays an important role in all of them.

The main characteristics of visualization are as follows: it requires the human mind to be simultaneously alert yet physically relaxed. This relaxed-alertness helps maintain the best learning state for the brain. During the process of visualization, it also helps to involve personal experience and engage personal emotion. We can use visualization to stimulate positive thinking by seeing the good outcomes of our effort in the mind’s eye and imagining the smoothness and success of fulfilling the task. Visualization can also stimulate the creative potential through making connections between different aspects of life experience. The main reasons for using visualization in the language class then are to keep learners’ minds in a state of relaxed alertness and to encourage them to process their experiences actively in multiple ways. In addition, using visualization also engages learners emotionally in the process of meaningful learning, enhances creative thinking, and stimulates the curiosity to explore fresh new ideas. Furthermore, visualization is a personal mental process that uses the individual self as an inexhaustible resource for exploring different perspectives on the world. This also helps to personalize language learning by promoting individuality and self-expression.

When we try to help learners visualize in the process of listening, speaking, reading and writing, we need some material to stimulate this in the learners’ minds. We can use four kinds of material or methods to help learners visualize in their mind’s eye. Concrete images are commonly used to stimulate visualization, for example, pictures, cartoons, drawings, photographs and movies. Audio materials can also help visualization by encouraging listening with imagination. For instance, music, including instrumental music and songs from different cultures, can be used for different purposes. Story-telling tapes and even natural sound recordings can be integrated into the language teaching lesson. For example, in a creative writing class, students can listen to the story and sound and imagine what happened at that moment in the story setting. Representational texts such as poetry, short-stories, novels, and drama can also be used in the language class by integrating visualization technique to stimulate imagination and creativity. Another source is movement in the class, such as organizing role-play activities, mime, drama, and dance to express personal understanding about the language material and encourage multiple ways of self-expression in the English class.

When using those multi-sensory materials in the class, we encourage learners to obtain and process information and express ideas in various ways. The multiple choices of receiving information and expressing personal understanding can cater to learners’ different learning styles and multiple intelligences. The process of visualization can be integrated in the process by raising learners’ awareness of this useful mental process. Besides the normal four skills, we can invite learners to carry out singing, dancing, performing, drawing, thinking, and simply playing in the process of learning a foreign language. The professional use of visualization can create many new ways of information processing and break the rigid picture of traditional classroom teaching. Quiet classrooms and well disciplined students may be one way of conducting language courses; but more vibrant and flexible teaching methods may create better classroom atmosphere and encourage active learning and learners’ creativity.

If we focus on the language learning process, visualization can help develop long-term memory and stimulate mental rehearsal. We can also use mind-mapping to help organize ideas in speaking and writing. Visualization also helps learners to focus on the meaning and how to express it by translating the mental picture into words. According to Helgesen (2004:107), “the mental rehearsal makes the speaking part of the activity flow a lot better. It also encourages learners to process the story through multiple sensory modalities: they think about what they see, hear and feel.” It is also helpful to use visualization throughout the reading process. Tomlinson recommends that using literary texts can engage the learners both cognitively and affectively. They give responses from the aesthetic aspect rather than focusing on the language only. In short, as Arnold (1999) points out, visualization can prepare the existing schema to facilitate comprehension or enrich production in the language learning process.

The following is one possible model for integrating visualization into language teaching and learning, We offer multi-sensory input at first, then students make connections with their own experience and actively process the input. We guide them to use visualization and make sense of their personal imagination. Then, through the process of discovery and using creativity, learners may want to express themselves in verbal or non-verbal ways. Next, they can engage in classroom interaction by discussing their point of view with classmates and exchanging ideas with one another. Later the teacher will encourage students to reflect on what they think and express and learn from different ideas. They may write reflective journals after class. Through this process of exploration, students may come to a deeper understanding.. They will then be motivated to start a new circle of learning and thinking. Without the mental process of visualization and reflection, the input may not easily become output and rote learning and memorization may happen in this direct transfer of information.

The application of visualization is becoming more and more popular in different areas of educational field, such as creative writing, foreign language learning and teaching. Majoy (1993:64 cited in Arnold 1999) predicts that ‘visualization will become one of the most powerful, effective, and necessary tools for teachers in the years to come. Harnessing inner space will revolutionize teaching and learning. We must use it as an essential and basic teaching skill’. Visualization will open up the potential inner source of every learner's unique experience and creativity. The free mind of imagination with mental images will make learning more exciting and more personalized. As teachers, learning to stimulate visualization in the process of teaching will offer us a treasure house of colorful resources which are located in every learner's mind.

References

Arnold, J. (1999). Visualization: language learning with the mind’s eye in Arnold, J. (ed) Affect in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Eggen, P. and D. Kauchak (1999). Educational Psychology. Windows on Classroom. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Helgesen, M. (2004). Mind’s Eye. In Bamford, J. and R. Day. (eds.) Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Majoy, P. (1993). Doorways to Learning. In Arnold, J. (ed.) Affect in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nakaji, D. M. (1991). Classroom Research in Physics: Gaining Insights into Visualization and Problem Solving. In Angelo, T. A.(ed.) Classroom Research: Early Lessons from Success. New York: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publisher.

Richards, J. C. and R. Schmidt (2002). Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. London: Longman

Stevick, E. W. (1986) Images and Options in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: CUP.

Tomlinson, B. (1998) Seeing what they mean: helping L2 readers to visualize. In

Tomlinson, B.(ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.