Bruce Wade is the Editor of International Express. Following on from his first article, Video in the Classroom, he considers how reportage can be used as a visual and factual aid to learning.
The essential feature of reportage is authenticity – real places, people, events, companies, and so on. There is a greater impact and relevance seeing real people in the real world of work and business, rather than a fictional world or a world that is only described in general terms. Students learn about the world around them as well the language.
Reportage can take students to places they would not otherwise be able to visit. It does this in a way that provides the visual and factual context they need to understand a topic in depth, and in a way that they will remember. How many people will have the chance to go round a geothermal power plant in Iceland, a farming cooperative in Chile, or see a classic sports car being produced? How many people have bungee jumped in New Zealand or visited a village in north Uganda?
International Express Video: Intermediate level, Unit 2: Morgan