Language learning & technology · 2018 · 101 citations · 0 references
EducationEducational TechnologyLiteracy EducationMedia StudiesMultiliteraciesTechnology-based Language TeachingMultimedia Language InstructionMultimedia LearningMultimodal CommunicationMultimodal InstructionMultimodal LiteracyVideo-based InstructionAffordancesCommunicative LearningDigital MultimodalityForeign Language InstructionLearner EnglishMultimodal Instructional VideoMultimodal PedagogyReflective Essay
The digital technology era has transformed how people consume and produce information, and language is increasingly viewed as a multimodal resource that can nurture students’ multiliteracies in educational contexts. The study investigates students’ perceived benefits of the multimodal video‑making process. Sixty‑nine advanced EFL undergraduates in a one‑semester Multimedia English course were trained to use multimedia affordances to produce multimodal videos, and their reflective essays and final presentations were analyzed. Students reported that the video‑making process nurtured their multiliteracies to varying degrees and heightened awareness of how different semiotic modes interact, offering pedagogical implications for language teachers.
The digital technology era has profoundly evolved and changed the ways that people consume and produce information. As language itself is recognized as a multimodal resource for communicative purposes, different forms of multimodality have been advocated to nurture students’ multiliteracies in educational contexts. This study aims to investigate students’ perceived benefits with respect to the process of their multimodal video making. The participants were 69 advanced English as a foreign language undergraduate students who took a course titled Multimedia English for one-semester (18 weeks) at a university in Taiwan. The students were trained to utilize a wide range of multimedia affordances to facilitate their English learning. They were asked to produce a digital video employing multiple modalities for their final project. The collected data for the scope of the paper included students’ uploaded reflective essays and videos of their final oral presentations with their PowerPoint slides based upon their overall perceptions regarding their video creation processes and the perceived benefits they experienced. The findings showed that a multitude of students perceived that the video making process nurtured their multiliteracies to different degrees and expanded their awareness of the interplay between different modes of semiotic resources for meaning construction. This study also highlights pedagogical implications for language teachers regarding the provision of opportunities for students to become involved in the creation of multimodal artifacts in developing their multiliteracies.