Impact of multimedia in learning English as a second language - Literature review Example

IMPACT OF MULTIMEDIA IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE Lecturer: IMPACT OF MULTIMEDIA IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGEAccording to Robertson and Ford (2008), language acquisition comes in two major forms, which are first language acquisition and second language acquisition. In most cases, first language acquisition comes as a result of natural processes and interactions between a person and the environment (Resnick, 2011). Because of this, the learner hardly requires any strategic skills in acquiring first language.

The evidence of this is in the ability of babies, who hardly have any learning intuition to acquire first language (eLearningGuild, 2006). In the acquisition of second language, however, there is much effort that the person acquiring language has to put in as a form of learning. Meanwhile, learning happens as a process rather than an event. This means that for the acquisition of second language to take place, there are series of things that a person should do, as learning a second language will not happen overnight.

Mayer (2003) used the cognitive theory to explain the processes that take place in the course of second language acquisition. It was noted that the more interaction a person has with the language being learnt, the better the chances of acquiring it more easily and quickly. Meanwhile, the interactions that a person has with language often differ in potency and impact. For example using the multimedia principle, Mayer (2003, p. 33) explained that ‘the human information processing system contains an auditory/verbal channel and a visual/pictorial channel’.

By implication, a person gets an easier grip of a particular language being learnt if provisions are made for all of auditory, verbal, visual and pictorial channels. However, using multimedia such as audio and video easily provides all these channels at a go (Neal, 2006). Based on this, when designing a website for acquisition of English as a second language, it will be beneficial to include audio and video files that will provide multimedia learning platforms, rather than use only written and verbal means of acquisition.

References eLearningGuild (2006). Future directions in e-learning research report 2006 [online]. Available at www.eLearningGuild.com [accessed 13 February 2014].Mayer, R. E. (2003). Cognitive theory of multimedia learning. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 3(2), pp. 33–39. Neal, L. (2006). Predictions for 2006 — E-learning experts map the road ahead. Elearn Magazine [online]. Available at http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=31-1 [accessed 13 February 2014].

Resnick, L. B. (2011). Cognition and instruction [online]. Available at http://www.leaonline.com [accessed 13 February 2014].Robertson, K. and Ford, K. (2008). Language acquisition: an overview [online]. Available at http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/26751/ [accessed 12 February 2014].