Language Laboratory Use and the Development of a Self-Instructional Training Tape Program in Counsellor Education

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the use of the language laboratory to teach counselling skills. A 52-minute self-instructional training tape program was developed in which a basic element of empathy, reflection of feeling, was modelled. This self-instructional training tape program containing both video and audio components was developed utilizing Bandura's modeling concepts and the principles of simulation, role-practice, and playback. One hundred and four senior education students were randomly assigned to one of five groups. These groups were: (1) Language Labora- tory Audio Group, (2) Language Laboratory Video and Audio Group, (3) Audiotape Recorder Group, (4) Lecture-Discussion Group, and (5) No-Treatment Control Group. The results showed firstly that the language laboratory is neither inferior or superior to other instructional media and secondly that the self-instructional tape program is an effective procedure for teaching counselling skills.