The use of videotapes has been a comnon feature in language teaching for many years. It is rare, these days, for a publisher to produce a major coursebook without a video component added in, and teachers frequently enliven their classes with off-air material or tapes produced for language learning. To some people videotape is merely a glorified version of audiotape, and the use of video in class is just listening 'with picfures'. But there are many reasons why video can add a speciale, extra dimension to the learning experience: