Using VISP (VIdeos for SPeaking), a Mobile App Based on Audio Description, to Promote English Language Learning Among Spanish Students: a Case Study

Using VISP (VIdeos for SPeaking), a Mobile App Based on Audio

Description, to Promote English Language Learning Among Spanish

Students: a Case Study

Ana Ibáñez Moreno and Anna Vermeulen

A mobile assisted language learning application called VISP (VIdeos for SPeaking) is used to promote oral production, vocabulary learning and the students’ awareness of the importance of using accurate vocabulary, and intercultural competence through the awareness that what they communicate is strongly influenced by their particular way of looking at things and also the awareness of the importance of taking into account the recipient in communication. The task of an audio describer consists in adding visual information orally in the gaps between discourses which contains a short movie clip that has to be audio described (Basich Peralta et. al, 2009)

Students assume the role of audio describers, performing a real task as presented in everyday life and thus emulating the use of language in authentic situations. They have to: read a small introduction to AD, watch an example and complete a pre-test questionnaire, view a clip, draft a small AD script (if necessary) for the clip, record the AD script over the clip (that is, produce an audio described clip) and complete a final questionnaire.

There are some plans to implicate in the future such as: we should have to enjoy the activities and learn something new, improve standardized phraseology instead of on the use of single words, do something to improve our own assessment, include a large battery of clips that will be divided according to their learning content per level, and per lexical and/or grammatical categories, and become an inspiring teacher.