Pecha Kucha & English Language Teaching

by Thomas Jerome Baker

Description I saw my first Pecha Kucha over three years ago. It was when I was working at Universidad Andrés Bello at Campus Casona in Santiago with the students in the English Pedagogy program. I admit I've been fascinated by "Pecha Kucha" ever since that first time. I remember being very impressed by the performance I watched. There were a number of reasons for this. For now, let me share with you why I find Pecha Kucha to be so impressive and fascinating as a presentation technique. Firstly, when we speak of our first time doing something enjoyable, it's always a good feeling. We like what we like, we know what we like, and because of that, we return often, to what we like. As you can tell by now, I like Pecha Kucha. Secondly, its principles are easy to understand and apply. It's fast, it's efficient, it's effective, it's collaborative, it's visual, it's easy to prepare, it's fun. However, it does require practice, lots of it, to do this really well. Practice, oh what a sweet word in the ears of any EFL teacher. Students practicing what they are going to say, again and again, going over their own words, to speak about images they themselves have selected. Volumes of practice, huge quantities of practice, helping the students to achieve the eventual automaticity that is the hallmark of mastery. Of all the principles of the Pecha Kucha, the most important principle is this: images are powerful. Images convey meaning and emotions. In fact, the whole range of the human experience can be conveyed by images. For example, think of the images left on the walls of caves by cave men. No one needs a cave man to verbalize what you are seeing. You feel it - through your eyes - to your brain - to your emotions. It's visual storytelling. That's what the Pecha Kucha is, visual literacy in its purest form...