Developing students’ linguistic and digital literacy skills through the use of multimedia presentations

Abstract With the immense presence of English language video content in the online digital environment and students’ everyday exposure to multimedia content, this project aims to explore how to replace traditional in-class presentation with video presentation within an autonomous learning environment, examine the impact of doing so on the development of English language and digital literacy skills, and develop assessment rubrics at both individual and group levels. The project was conducted as part of an English language course for undergraduate students majoring in English in the context of a higher education institution in Hong Kong. Data were collected through multiple methods: survey questionnaires, open-ended questions, and face-to-face interviews. The results showed that the video production mode of presentation could not only replace traditional in-class presentation but also improve students’ learning autonomy, and language, collaborative, and digital literacy skills. The analysis of videos elucidated how the video production (VPR) group of students use multimodal semiotic resources to design their relationships with viewers while simultaneously adapting their discoursal identities. In addition, the comparison between VPR- and non-VPR-group presentations demonstrates that constructing audio-visual resources in a collaborative environment contributes to a variety of aspects to a higher extent. Implications for foreign language curriculum and instructional design, as well as recommendations for future studies of digitalization of students’ oral assessment tasks, are discussed.