AUDIO MEDIA
Betty Sekarasih H.Y, S.Pd
A. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the growth of instructional media and
technologies for learning becomes inevitable part in people’s life. There are
many kinds of media which support teaching and learning process. One of them is
the audio media.
The fact shows us that listening is the only learning
activity that consumes the major portion of a student’s classroom time.
Elementary and secondary students spend about half of their in-school time
listening to others and at the college level, about 90% of class time is spent
listening. The importance, then, of audio experiences in the classroom should
not be underestimated.
The audio media is mainly needed in the teaching and
learning process. It can make some unique contributions to the process such as
self study for non readers, realistic foreign language practice, stories to
stimulate imagination and music for physical activity.
Cassettes, records and CDs are abundantly available in
every curricular area and are easy to use. To use the audio media effectively
requires an understanding of the hearing listening processes and thoughtful
selection of materials based on our objectives by considering ASSURE model. We
also can produce our own audio materials by using some techniques such as
recording, duplicating and editing.
B. DISCUSSION
1. The Hearing- Listening
Process
Hearing and listening are not
the same thing, although, they are of course interrelated. Simply, we can say
that hearing is physiological process, whereas listening is psychological
process.
Physiologically, hearing
is a process in which sound waves entering the outer ear and transmitted to
eardrum, converted into mechanical vibrations in the middle ear, and changed in
the inner ear into electrical impulses that travel to the brain.
The psychological
process of listening begins with
someone’s awareness of and attention to sounds or speech patterns (receiving),
proceeds through identification and recognition of specific auditory signals
(decoding), and ends in comprehension (destination). The hearing-listening process can be
described as:
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The message will be encoded by the sender and decoded by
the receiver. The quality of the encoded message is affected by the ability of
the sender to express the message clearly and logically and the
understandability of the decoded message is affected by the ability of the
receiver to comprehend the message.
The transmission-reception
process might be inhibited by a number of obstacles such as:
- The volume of the sound might be too low or too high.
- The sound that is sustained monotonously may trigger auditory fatigue.
- The individuals’ ability to hear may be physically impaired.
- Limited listening skills of the receiver
- Lack of experiential background to internalize and comprehend the message
2. Developing Listening
Skills
Listening has been considered as important skills in teaching
learning process. It has similar position just like reading, speaking and
writing. Teachers need to know some techniques to improve student listening
abilities. The following are some techniques to improve the listening
abilities:
- Guide listening
1)
give the students some
objectives or questions before hand
2)
start with short passages with
one or two objectives
3)
Gradually increase the length
of the passage, the number and the complexity of the objectives or questions.
b. Give directions
1) Give the
students directions individually or as group on audiotape
2) Evaluate
students ability to follow the instructions
c. Ask students to listen for main ideas, details or
inferences.
1) pay attention to
the age level of the students
2) present oral
passage
3) ask students to
listen the main idea and write it down
d. Use context in listening
1) Ask the students
to listen sentences with word missing
2) Supply the appropriate words
e. Analyze the structure of a presentation
1) Ask the students
to outline an oral presentation
2) determine how
well the were able to determine the main idea and to identify
the sub topics
f. Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant
information
1) Have the
students listen to oral presentation
2) Ask them to
identify the main idea and the rate (from most to least relevant)
3. Audio Format
The followings are some audio
format which commonly used for instructional purposes. Each of the audio
formats has the strength and the weakness as well.
a. Audiotapes (Magnetic
tape recording)
Advantages
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Limitation
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We can record our tape easily
and economically
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When outdated material is no
longer use, we can erase the magnetic signal on the tape and re use it.
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It is not easily damaged
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It can store easily
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- In recording process, background noises or mechanical hum may
sometimes be recorded along with the intended material.
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b. Cassette tape recorder
(Cassette)
It is the most
commonly used audio device found in the classroom. It has various length based
on the amount of recording time they contain.
Advantages
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Limitation
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Durable (immune to shock and
abrasion)
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It can be snapped into and
out of the recorder in seconds.
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Easy to use (can be played on
any cassette machine)
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Very portable (small and
light)
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Tapes sometimes stuck or
tangled in the recorder because of the thinness of the tape.
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Poor fidelity with
inexpensive player
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Noise and Hiss
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Difficult to edit
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c. Rate – Controlled Audio
Playback
Rate – Controlled Audio Playback is an audio tape system
that can play back recorded speech at either faster or a slower rate than the
rate at which it was recorded without loss of intelligibility.
Advantages
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Limitation
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It has pedagogical
significance as it can help to improve the students listening and reading
speed
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Since it still uses cassette
as the audio device, it also has some limitations as what the cassette has.
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It is less known and tends to
be more expensive than the ordinary cassette player
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d. Phonograph records
It was really famous until
the 1980s. We use long playing record to operate this.
Advantages
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Limitation
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It has excellent frequency
response
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Wide variety of selection
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Selection easily cued
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Inexpensive (it is made of
cheap materials)
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we cannot economically
prepare our own record
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It is easily damaged (easily
scratched)
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Can warp
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Requires much storage space
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e. Compact Discs (CD)
Physically the
compact disc looks like a small, silver phonograph record without the grooves.
The music or sounds are stored as digitized bits of information. It is very
attractive addition to education program.
Advantages
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Limitation
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Very durable
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High fidelity
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No background noise
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Random search
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Expensive *(in the past)
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Skipping
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Impractical to prepare *
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Requires more complex player
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f. Audio Cards
An audio card is approximately the size of business envelope. It
contains a strip of magnetic recording tape near the bottom edge.
Advantages
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Limitation
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It uses dual track systems
that allow the students to record their response
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Designed for individual use
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There are participations and
involvement of the students
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Time consuming to prepare
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Requires special machine
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Most cards hold less then 15
seconds
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4. The Attributes of
Cassettes
Since the most popular format
of the audio formats available is the cassettes, we will have more discussion
about the attributes of cassettes.
a. The advantages
1) Inexpensive
Individual audio cassettes
are inexpensive. It can be erased after use and new message can
be recorded.
2) Readily available and simply to use
Most students have been
using cassettes since they were very young. It is easy to operate.
3) Reproducible
It is easily duplicated in whatever
quantities.
4) Provide verbal message for non readers
5) Ideal for teaching the language
6) Stimulating : present verbal message more dramatically than text
can.
7) Repeatable
8) Portable : It is portable and it can be used in the field with
the battery power.
9) Ease of lesson preparation
10) Selections easy to locate
11) Resistance to damage
b. Limitations
1) Fixed sequence
2) Doesn’t monitor attention
3) Doesn’t provoke attention
4) Difficulty in pacing
5) Difficulty in locating segment
6) Potential for accidental erasure
5. The applications of
audio media
- It can be used in all phases of instructions
- It has great benefits in the area of self paced instruction and mastery learning
- In pre school or primary grades, the audio media are used for developing rhythm, telling stories, playing games and acting out stories or song.
- In social studies, we can bring the voices of the persons who made the history into the classroom. The sounds of current event also can be presented.
- A common application of this media is in learning centers.
- In elementary classroom, audio media (audio cards) are used for vocabulary building
- Talking books for blind or visually impaired students.
6. Producing Class
Material on cassette tapes
Students and teachers can
easily prepare their own cassette tapes. Student-prepared cassette tapes can be
used for gathering oral histories and preparing oral book report. Tapes
prepared by the teacher can be used in direct instruction as illustrated by the
vocational technical school example later. Skills practice, such as shorthand
can also be provided by audio cassettes.
7. Duplicating and Editing
Audiotapes
a. Duplicating Audiotapes
It is relatively
simple procedure to duplicate an audiotape. There are three methods of doing
that.
1) The acoustic method
It does not require any
special equipment. It just needs two recorders. One recorder plays the original
tape, and the sound is transferred via microphone to a blank tape on the other
recorder.
Limitation: fidelity is reduced as the sounds travel through the air
to the microphone and the open microphone may pick up unwanted noise from the
environment.
2) The Electronic method
It also needs two recorders.
However the sounds or the signals travel from the original tape to the dubbing
recorder via an inexpensive patch cord. The cord is attached to the output of
the first machine and the line or auxiliary input of the seconds.
3) The High Speed
Duplicator Method
It requires special machine.
Master playback machine have a series of up to 10 “slave units”, each of which
can record a copy of the original tape at 16 times its normal speed. Multiple
copies of 30 minutes cassettes tape can be duplicated in about two minutes.
Since the master and slave units are connected by patch cord, fidelity is
likely to be good and there is no danger of picking background noise.
b. Editing audiotapes
We can edit the audiotapes either to remove errors and imperfections
or to adapt a tape to specific learning situation. Set up two recorders as
described for tape duplication and then record just the portion of the original
tape that you want on the second tape.
8. Analyzing Learners,
Stating Objectives, Selecting Audio Materials
As it has been stated on the ASSURE model, before
selecting the audio materials we need to analyze the learners and state our
objectives. We can select it from the available materials and evaluate them.
Check whether the materials are suitable for the media available in our
institution and start to evaluate the materials using appraisal check list.
However if we cannot find the best materials match to our objectives, we can
also develop our own materials.
9. Utilizing Audio
materials
The next step after selecting
or producing audio material is to use them with our students. We can use “5Ps” principle in utilizing this
material.
- Preview the materials : using appraisal checklist
- Prepare the materials : practice the operation of the equipment
- Prepare the environment : Set up the classroom
- Prepare the learners : communicate the materials
- Provide the learning Experience : Provide best situation for the students to learn
10. Require learner
participation
Before we begin the
lesson, determine how to get and keep our students get involved. One technique
is to give them a set of questions during listening. In foreign language class,
we can make pause to improve pronunciation.
11. Evaluate and Revise
Determine how effective the audio materials
were. We can gather the data by making observations, evaluating test results or
discussing the experience with the students. We may decide to revise how the
materials were used or to modify the materials themselves.
C. CONCLUSION
The importance of audio
experiences in the classroom should not be underestimated. The fact shows that
the major time in learning is spent by the students for listening. Listening
has equal position as the other skills and to support it the development of
audio media is required.
There are many
kinds of audio formats available in the world such as magnetic audio tape,
cassette, phonograph record, cd, audio record and etc. They are utilized for
instructional purposes. Each of the audio formats has some advantages and also
limitations. To maximize the potential of the audio device teacher should know
the process of sound transmission and reception. It is also important for
teachers to know the process of hearing and listening.
To provide the best
audio materials which really match to the class, teachers need to know some
methods of selecting and producing the audio materials. Through the appropriate
steps teachers can provide suitable audio materials which really match to the
class in this case the learners and the objectives have been stated.