The use of visuals overall can help learners to predict information, infer ideas and analyze the world that is brought into the classroom via the use of video instruction. Video used in a classroom should be interpretive and to the point. The visual should show reasonable judgement and enhance comprehension, heighten sensory acuteness, and illustrate the target language being used. Practitioners should avoid the use of distracters, over-crowded or violent stimuli. A visual cue may be accompanied by a written cue to focus on a lexical item being furnished.
Videos can make the task, situation or language more authentic.
If video is to be used in the classroom to improve listening comprehension, it should be shown in segments and not as a whole. There is scant, if any, empirical evidence to indicate that videos shown in their entirety improve listening comprehension scores of nonnative speakers of English. In fact the constant visual stimuli may detract from the auditory component. Videos allow teachers to ask both display and referential questions. Video tasks should be multi-layered in order to exploit all information and elements contained in the aural and visual texts.