Scrutinizing video use in primary English classrooms

Abstract

Abstract Despite the popularity of video in ELT, video use in primary English classrooms remains under-scrutinized. Grounded in a social semiotic conceptualization of video as multimodal ensemble, this study explored 115 Chinese primary English teachers’ use of videos and the influencing factors in the post-pandemic era. Data were collected through a narrative frame, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. The findings revealed a predominant use of video for motivational and linguistic purposes, with occasional use of video as multimodal ensemble for critical and creative viewing purposes. Factors that shaped video use were also identified, including limited understanding of viewing multimodal texts as part of language competence, absence of institutional policies and support, and constrained access to quality videos. These findings call for attention to the importance of multimodal awareness for primary English teachers to develop pedagogic competences to use videos for an expanded range of literacy purposes in contemporary ELT landscape.