The Use of Audiovisual Aids (Videos) for Spanish Vocabulary Acquisition of A1 level Thai learners

Abstract

One of the goals that all of the language teachers look for during their career, is to be able to teach students in a way that they feel motivated and comfortable with learning another language. In order to achieve this, teachers must select the best practices that fit the specific required outcomes and needs of their students as well as the plan that will help them through the class. This study’s aim is precisely to give some insight into what patterns of videos are more useful for Thai students learning Spanish as a foreign language, in terms of vocabulary acquisition. We conducted our research with 83 informants who are studying in A1 level in extracurricular courses organized by Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. We used questionnaires to stratify the informants, a variation of the VKS (Vocabulary Knowledge Scale) to make the vocabulary tests and a segment of a movie as the audiovisual aid. The results obtained in the study displayed that the best pattern of videos to use in the class of Thai students studying Spanish as a foreign language is the use of videos with audio in English with subtitles in Spanish.  Consequently, these findings can help teachers select the suitable pattern of video to use with students so that they acquire vocabulary in a more attractive way.