Abstract:

In the real world, it is becoming increasingly popular for individuals to record their behaviors or actions, to upload them to a social network. In educational settings, students can also benefit from having their classroom performance video-recorded to improve their presentation skills or techniques. Specifically, it can be advantageous for language learners to use an opportunity to have their performance in the target language video-recorded for further improvement. Thus, this mixed-methods study examines the effect of using video recordings of students’ performance in English as a Foreign Language. Six students who were enrolled in an English communication course were interviewed for the study. These students were asked about their experiences of having their own and their peers’ presentations video-recorded, watching the videos, and using exceptional and average presentation videos as models. Students’ interview data were analyzed from an empowerment evaluation approach, in which communities plan, intervene in, and evaluate their own performance. The findings show that the students were able to watch video recordings of themselves and their peers, as well as nonnative models; develop strategies for how they were going to deliver an oral presentation successfully; and gain self-confidence in speaking English in front of their peers.

Keywords:

Empowerment, English as a Foreign Language, video recordings, oral performance.