Lights! Camera! Action! Videotaping in the Conversation Class

Abstract

Modern language teachers have given considerable thought to the ways in which video technology can be utilized in the classroom. During the last ten years, numerous articles evaluating pre-recorded video materials or discussing the pedagogical justification for and integration of such videos into a course have appeared. However, attention has focused almost exclusively on the viewing, rather than on the producing potential of video.1 This is particularly unfortunate for the conversation course. Although several teachers have recognized the especially important function (Altman, 89) of video production for stimulating conversation, the video camera remains an ignored or, at best, infrequently used methodological tool.2 This paper describes an intermediate level (fifth or sixth semester) German conversation course taught at Allegheny College which is organized around video production projects. Video was not used merely as supporting material, where a single isolated performance is integrated into a larger context. Rather, in our course it became the primary text, providing focus and direction for all other class activities. Each project emphasized different goals, skills, or vocabulary and demanded increasing levels of proficiency, the progression of video projects eventually culminating in the filming of a German play.