As video cameras become cheaper, more user friendly, and more prolific in education, possibilities abound for their use in second language classrooms. Video can help streamline the classroom, shift students’ attention toward accuracy, and help them prepare for a digital world.

Efficiency can be greatly increased by using video as a monitoring device. Historically, teachers have assessed students’ spoken English individually, often through presentations or interviews, while the majority of students sat idle, sometimes for days. Recording presentations or discussions simultaneously in different areas of the classroom, or even in different rooms, puts the teacher in several places at once and provides a record of student performance. This can be used for assessment or, if the teacher prefers live assessment, the video can serve to monitor learners’ on-task activities and behavior while they are outside the testing venue (Drummond-Sardell, 2012).

In addition to increasing efficiency, video can be used for formative feedback. While it is impossible to give each student sufficient, meaningful feedback on pronunciation and grammatical accuracy during limited class time, video allows the student and the teacher to slow down and focus on accuracy. This can be done with impromptu presentations, practice presentations, and even discussions (Reilly, 2012). Possible applications include teacher feedback after practice presentations, guided, rubric-based student self-reflection, and assignments to transcribe, correct, and rerecord speaking samples (Lynch, 2001; Lynch, 2005).

A final application of video is to prepare students for an increasingly virtual work environment. Because video-based Internet communications software (such as Skype and GoToMeeting) has become mainstream in the workforce, the ability to speak to a camera is gaining in importance. Therefore, learners should practice and receive feedback on skills such as maintaining eye-contact and enthusiasm in virtual presentations. Using video for out-of-class assignments not only strengthens these skills, but also increases motivation if students know that their presentation or video clip will be published beyond the classroom walls.

References

Drummond-Sardell, R. (2012, November 27). Proceedings from the webinar: Pedagogical benefits and challenges of video recorded assessment, as part of the course, “Practical Applications in Listening and Speaking Skills” conducted from Eugene, OR.

Lynch, T. (2001). Seeing what they meant: Transcribing as a route to noticing. ELT Journal, 55(2), 124–132.

Lynch, T. (2005, September). Student-responsible correction of spoken English. TESOL HEIS News.

Reilly, P. (2012). Understanding and teaching generation Y. English Teaching Forum, 50(1), 2–11.

Korey Rice is an instructor at the University of Oregon’s American English Institute. His previous teaching positions have included an American high school and universities in Korea and Japan. His professional focus is on developing and assessing students' academic spoken English, including presentation and discussion skills.

Jennifer Rice is an instructor at the University of Oregon’s American English Institute and an online teacher trainer through the U.S. Department of State’s E-Teacher Program. Her recent scholarship has focused on English for specific purposes and teaching and assessing speaking and listening skills.

Beth Sheppard is an instructor at the University of Oregon's American English Institute, where she teaches and researches listening and speaking skills.