Watching People Watching Television: what goes on in front of the TV set?

This paper reports an observational study of families watching television in their own homes. Observational data were collected via a video camera housed within a special television cabinet placed in six family households. Results show that family members were absent for substantial proportions of the time the television set was in operation, and even when present did not pay full attention to the screen for more than a minority proportion of that time. Families and family members varied significantly in respect of certain patterns of television watching, but were similar in other respects. The results have implications for understanding the nature of television viewing in the natural viewing environment. Recommendations are offered for further analysis of these data.     

Effects of color in filmed behavior sequences on description and elaboration by liberian schoolboys

Scanlon (1967,1970) found significant color effects when he content analyzed and compared written accounts about achromatic and chromatic versions of the same television programs. The present study which replicated many aspects of Scanlon’s studies but used more rigorous and systematic procedures, confirms Scanlon’s idea as a useful one but does not support Scanlon’s findings. It appears that for some simple cognitive tasks, a chromatic presentation seems to elicit more verbal responses than an achromatic version.     

THE ‘TELE’ BECOMES THE ‘TOOL’

For thirty years, the television set has been commanded by producers; the customers, both at home and elsewhere, have had to sit back and take what is offered. Now times are changing. More and more uses appear for the television set which are not dependent on the producers or broadcasters but only on the set owner himself or herself. The paper explores the present capabilities and future possibilities of television as an information provider: broadcast CEEFAX and ORACLE, British Telecom's PRESTEL service, and links of these systems with computers, allowing the home television set to give the viewer his own computer terminal.     

Language,Mathematics and Educational Television in Infants' Schools

Educational Television language series are used extensively by infants' schools teachers, but there is insufficient evidence to suggest that they are incorporated into the curriculum or that their use abides by a school's language policy. A survey of over 400 teachers indicates that the teachers' criterion for usefulness seems to be the scope which a programme offers for follow‐up, particularly for discussion and phonic training in the teaching of reading. Similarly, there is little evidence of effective use of mathematics series; follow‐up and children's enjoyment of broadcasts seem to be the emphasis. Many teachers feel that it is difficult to present aspects of mathematics on television when children vary widely in their levels of mathematical development. Others teachers follow a mathematics scheme, in which television is irrelevant. The habit of whole classes of infants' school children watching language and mathematics broadcasts is not in keeping with primary school principles. Most infants' schoolteachers appear to use the programmes as a means of direct teaching to the class at the expense of children's real life experiences. Neither do the series in their present forms appear to be flexible enough to cater for the individuality of young children. Although these factors relate to educational television, they reveal a lack of flexibility in much infants' school practice, a charge which is not often levelled at infants' schools in this country.     

A Strategy for Reviewing the Role of Educational Television in Infants' Schools

Minimal consideration has been given to the function of educational television in the education of young children. Teachers have to overcome habits adopted with children's home viewing, and rationalize how television can be part of the curriculum before efficacy materializes. This does not appear to be happening with many infants' school teachers. Educational television broadcasts do not seem to be used as an ongoing teaching element to stimulate experiences beyond children's normal school activities. The entire blame cannot be attributed to the teachers for they have been given little guidance on the use of educational television during initial training or in subsequent in-service provisions, and in curriculum theory. It is necessary therefore to collect and analyse carefully information about the effects of educational television on infants' school children and the conditions which appear to influence whether or not it is educationally effective, but this cannot be done until a satisfactory monitoring procedure is established.     

后现代语境中的中国影像文化

后现代文化作为后现代主义的象征,它的产生是与当代社会的高度商品化和高度媒介化联系在一起的。商品化的形式在文化、艺术等领域无处不在,文化作为一种消费品从文化圈里走出来,艺术品成为供大众消遣的一种手段。这种文化的商品化不仅影响到人们的生活方式,而且也影响到人们的思维方式和价值观念。在这种后现代语境之中,中国的影像文化也迅速地改变着自己的形象,不得不放弃自己的艺术追求、美学个性,去迎合大众的商品消费。电影和电视作为影像文化的主体最容易感受到这种后现代文化的影响,并体现在正负两方面。因此,我们在以更开放的立场去拓宽学术视野的同时,也要探索后现代语境所带来的种种新问题,并呈现在反映我们真实生活图景的影像文化中。     

巧用影视作品进行大学英语文化教学--以美国《绝望主妇》为例

英语原版影视不仅可以提高学生的跨文化交际能力,还可以帮助学生用积极、正确的态度对待不同文化,吸取其精华,剔除其糟粕,提高自身的综合文化素养。文章以英文原版影视《绝望主妇》为例,分析如何利用英文影视资源开展文化教学,强化学生跨文化意识,进而使学生更好地学习和使用英语,帮助学生更好地进行跨文化交际。     

Television Viewing and the Learning of Expectations for Problem Resolutions

As children spend greater amounts of time watching television, there is the increasing likelihood that what they see and hear will factor prominently into their educational experiences. Indeed, in many countries, it has been demonstrated that children spend more time in front of the television than they do in a formal classroom. In terms of exposure time alone, there is a potential for television to serve as an informal educational tool. A variety of studies have demonstrated not only the potential for television to teach its young viewers, but the reality that children are learning a host of lessons through this constant exposure. While most previous studies have looked at the learning of content from television exposure, the present research considers the learning of structure, and specifically learning about the nature of problem resolutions. This paper reports evidence that among heavier viewers, there is the perception that problems in real life are resolved in a manner consistent with the way television depicts them: problem resolutions are certain, and they are achieved quickly. Observational learning theory is proposed as a possible explanation for these findings.     

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN TELEVISION PERCEPTION

The content of television, as perceived by researchers and other adults, is widely regarded as a major determiner of the effects of television on children. Yet the field of communications research has long since documented that it is not content per se but rather the audience perceptions of that content that functions as a major determiner of effects. A shift in research and analytic emphasis from adult‐defined content to audience perceptions of content becomes crucial when the audience consists of children. The literature of child development clearly indicated that children perceive their environment differently than do adults. In this article, Piaget's theory of cognitive stage is shown to be a predictor of children's perceptions of television.     

浅谈电视教材画面语言在教学中的应用

电视教材画面的表现力在教学中主要体现为:电视教材以视觉形象和活动图像为主;利用电视表现手段呈现事物现象的本质特征;视听结合,多维度传递信息内容;贮存再现,克服时空局限性;传递方式多样化,适宜多种教学方式。     

Color television and educational TV

Conclusions Color television is so new that there is little concrete information on the subject. However, it seems logical to doubt that color will provide any general increased effectiveness to educational TV. In some areas, such as art and medicine, the impact may be great; but for the greater proportion of educational subjects, it will not contribute a great deal. In view of this, together with the present high cost of color TV, it would seem foolish for educational TV to delay development because color television is coming. The transition to color can always be made after the piomeering is done, when costs have gone down, when color receiver circulation is large enough to make color worth while, and when the numerous problems of color programming and production have been solved. What effect will color TV have upon educational TV programs? How expensive will color TV be for educational use? How will educational TV stations use color TV? What competition will commercial color TV offer to educational black and white TV stations? These questions are answered and an overview of the implications of color for educational TV is presented. E. G. Sherburne, Jr., was formerly Television Coordinator at the U. S. Navy Special Devices Center, Port Washington, Long Island, New York.     

TELEVISION AND THE EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG

This paper, from the 1979 Conference, ‘Television In Society’ begins by defining the educational process as one of persisting, despite initial failures, to acquire understanding or mastery, and underlining the uniqueness of each individual learner. The author reports on the results of a one‐year study of the viewing habits of pre‐school children. Little ‘rising fives’ are such heavy viewers that they must feel a sense of loss when school attendance deprives them of ‘their’ television, perhaps the most valuable ‘child‐minder’ of all. Television delights these veteran under‐five viewers and provides an aid that parents and teachers can welcome; it also seems to stimulate little or no ‘participation’ and to inhibit language skills. Older children are also voracious viewers, but the author's experience suggests that television does not of itself inhibit reading and that to blame violent behaviour on viewing of violence is humbug. In conclusion it is suggested that educators are as yet failing to recognize the paramount importance of television in children's lives: there is an urgent need for education to acknowledge this in its curricula and for children (and adults) to find out more about how television is created. The Educational Television Association could play an important role here.     

电视技术服务类产业的探索

在市场经济高速发展的今天,广播电视不仅仅扮演着党和国家宣传事业喉舌的角色,它的产业功能已经逐步被肯定,并且正以较快的速度不断发展。其中的技术服务类产业在现在的电视产业中虽然不处于主体地位,但是随着技术的发展和市场化程度的提高,这一类产业经营会在今后的广播电视业发展中凸显其重要意义。     

论影视媒体在《思想道德修养与法律基础》课中的效用

当前,我们正处于信息社会中,影视媒体已经作为一种教学手段引进到课堂教学中。影视媒体的应用非常有利于《思想道德修养与法律基础》课的开展,它具有具象性、超时空性、意义的开放性、受众的广泛性、似真性、典型性等特征。本文探讨了《思想道德修养与法律基础》课教学中影视媒体的效用。     

Amount,content and context of infant media exposure: a parental questionnaire and diary analysis

Recent research has indicated that there are long‐term consequences of early media exposure. This study examined the amount, content and context of television exposure across the infancy period in the USA. Parents of 308 infants aged 6–18 months completed questionnaires detailing parental attitudes regarding their children’s television use and 24‐hour television diaries to provide an accurate measurement of household television usage. Television exposure during infancy varied as a function of infant age, sibling status, socio‐economic status and parental attitudes toward television. Regression analyses indicated that parental attitudes were not associated with the amount of television exposure, but were associated with the content of television exposure. These findings indicate that television exposure changes rapidly across infancy and is associated with parental attitudes.     

We're playing Jeremy Kyle'! Television talk shows in the playground

This paper focuses on an episode of play in a primary school playground in England, which featured a group of children re-enacting elements of the television talk show The Jeremy Kyle Show. The episode is analysed in the light of work that has identified the key elements of the talk show genre and the children's play is examined in relation to conceptualisations of talk shows as cruelty-verité, carnivalesque spectacle and vehicles of social class anxiety. The paper explores the children's playful re-enactment not only as a parody of adult worlds, but also as a confirmation of the ‘ordinariness’ of everyday life. It is argued that in episodes such as these, the functions of play are multiple and complex, but include a desire to construct collective moral sensibilities and reinforce normative discourses relating to sexuality and what it means to be a ‘good citizen’. The paper identifies spaces of continuity and discontinuity in such traditions and suggests that in play which draws from contemporary media we see the reconstruction of traditional play themes, but can also trace newer elements that are closely related to the generic conventions of reality television.     

对邵阳县级电大教育机构建设的调查与思考

县级电大是电大教育系统最基层的组织,也是电大系统中最薄弱的环节。加强县级电大教育机构的建设,既是电大教育自身发展的需要,也是建设社会新农村的迫切要求。从调查的情况来看,县级电大建立的现状印证了加强县级电大建设的可行性、必要性、实效性和紧迫性。     

浅议《真情》与《人间》的叙事异同

在电视荧屏激烈竞争的今天,情感真人秀栏目作为独特的一种电视节目类型充斥着观众的视野。该文试从电视叙事学的角度,将中国最初的情感类栏目《真情》和当今情感秀首屈一指的《人间》栏目进行对比,通过两者的异同来探析该类节目的叙事策略和发展。     

Research into School Television

In the field of research into school television there exists at present no adequate overall grasp of the aims that should be set. I am referring here mainly to public television broadcasts for schools. Admittedly a great number of starts have been made in Europe; there have been many experiments concerning school television broadcasts and there have been a good many theoretical discussions—but as a whole the situation is far from satisfactory.