What Students Learn When They Tape Themselves

This study reports on learning outcomes from using student-constructed videos that record participants’ own performances in college-level ESL classrooms. Based on one-year classroom observations across eight courses taught by three teachers, analyses of reflections and portfolios generated by students, and interviews, this study provides data on the effectiveness of students’ own videos in ESL instruction.

Video has been valued as a powerful teaching aid for more than three decades (e.g., Gattegno, 1975; Schwartz & Hartman, 2007). In this study, it has become clear that video techniques enable teachers to direct students’ attention to certain points on the screen by freezing frames, or manipulating sound or images. According to Tudor (1987), ESL teachers find that videos can create a low-anxiety environment, and can integrate language skills in a culturally rich context. In addition, with the ever growing popularity of digital camcorders, easily accessible movie-creation software (e.g., Window Movie Maker), and free websites for sharing videos (e.g., YouTube), students can produce their own videos and share them in a learning community. There are, however, few empirical evaluations on the use of student-created videos in ESL classrooms.

Gattegno (1976b, cited in Eisenstein et al., 1987, p. 211) found in previous studies that there was corroboration that the videotaped student works on English were very effective in making students self-evaluate their own responses. This study supports these findings with evidence that student-produced videos serve as salient instructional tools for enhancing students’ awareness of important linguistic and para-linguistic elements in situ. During the process of making video clips, learners easily identify the weaknesses in their performances. As an artifact, student-produced videos contribute to forming a supportive learning community where students exchange their expertise and feedback with each other. This study concludes with suggestions about how teachers can adopt video technology into their instructional designs.