Video for Assessment in Higher Education Language Learning

This presentation considers the pedagogical potential of video production for assessment in the language learning classroom in higher education (HE). While the pedagogical role of video in both second- and foreign language... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation considers the pedagogical potential of video production for assessment in the language learning classroom in higher education (HE). While the pedagogical role of video in both second- and foreign language acquisition (SLA & FLA) and the foreign language classroom has been well-established in language learning theory, little research has been conducted on the integration of video production in language teaching and learning.

This study focuses on video production by second-year undergraduate Biotechnology students from the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), who also study French as part of their degree programme. The use of video production is underpinned by, and directly responds to an industry-requirement for students to develop transferable skills; technical and professional, to increase future employability. This project requires students to also acquire specific scientific terminology in French, while concurrently requiring them to work within groups fulfilling roles associated with video production; producer, director, camera-person, presenter, sound, editor, PA, etc. We teach skills of pre-production, production, and post-production; requiring students to storyboard their concepts as a first step towards video production for assessment.  

This study investigates student/learner perceptions of the use and effectiveness of video production in the HE language classroom.  It analyses videos created to ascertain if the outcome of this teaching and learning activity substantiates the initial findings. This presentation highlights the pedagogical potential of digital video production in the third-level language classroom and also demonstrates that it embraces many of the core elements underpinning progressive language learning pedagogy, by giving students  the opportunity to keep pace with the multimodality afforded by digital media and by ensuring their language learning is both contextualised and authentic.  It advocates the use of video production in language learning in higher education, by recognising the strong impact that this activity had on the participants in the study.