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apparent. Richards and Rodgers (1991) assert that three principals appear to be implicit in the suggested
learning activities of CLT :
One such element might be described as the communication principle. Activities that involve real
communication promote learning. A second element is the task principle: Activities in which language is used
for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning. A third element is the meaningfulness principle:
Language that is meaningful to the learner support the learning process. Learning activities are consequently
selected according to how well they engage the leaner in meaningful and authentic language use, rather than
mechanical practice of language patterns. (p72)
Whereas earlier approaches, based on behaviorism, focused primarily on grammatical and lexical capacity,
CLT endeavors to attend to all of the competencies through focusing on the communicative function of
language. Ausubel's notions of meaningful and non-meaningful learning and subsumption are supportive of
such an approach.
Learning with media
Kozma (1991) raises the question as to whether media influence learning. He presents a framework in which
media are conceived as potentially complimentary to the processes involved in meaningful learning, i.e. the
creation of knowledge through an integration of new content with existing cognitive structures. He contends
that the symbol sytem characteristic of a media may facilitate learning if the instructional method exploits the
media's capabilities to provide representations which are effective and relevant to the task and situation (p. 5).
This framework stands in opposition to a view of media as "vehicles of delivery" which have no direct effect on
the learning process (Clark, 1983 p. 445).
What do studies of media and language learning suggest regarding the role of media in meaningful language
learning i.e. the acquisition of commucicative competence? Are media merely a vehicle for delivering
instruction or are there attributes to certain media which more effectively facilitate the subsumptive cognitive
processes involved in acquiring communicative competence? Finally can media be used to meet the goals of
creating learning activities which engage the leaner in meaningful and authentic language use, rather than
mechanical practice of language patterns?
Non-meaningful language learning and media
A vehicle for delivering instruction: the audiolingual method The Audiolingual approach, probably more than
any language teaching method, has utilized media as a key component. The language laboratory is an
invention of the proponents of this method. Tens of thousands of students have spent tens of thousands of
hours listening to the audio tapes that have been a staple of foreign language instructional materials. This
method of instruction has however, met with remarkably limited success (Rivers, 1964). An easy conclusion to
draw is that media may not have a very powerful impact on the process of language learning. It even seems
possible that certain features of media may interact in negative ways with the characteristics of second
language learners and actually impede the cognitive processes involved in language learning.
Meaningful language learning and media
While studies of second language learners uses of media are rare, a number of studies have addressed questions
regarding how the characteristics of audio and audiovisual media might affect learning in the student's native
language. These studies often compare the effects of different media on the learning of children and adults. It
might be argued that the more limited cognitive resources which children must cope with are in some ways
analogous to the strained cognitive processes which are typical of the second language learning experience.
Specifically, the limits of attention and smaller knowledge bases of children may be considered comparable to
the heavier cognitive load and limited knowledge bases which confront adult second language learners.
Because results of first language studies are potentially analogous and due to the scarcity of data involving
second language learners, studies which investigated the effects of media on native speakers language learning
processes were selected for inclusion in this review.