Pedagogical strategies used in the creation of audiovisual capsules by future teachers of French as a foreign language

Abstract

This study explores the pedagogical potential of the audiovisual format as a means of expression for prospective teachers of French as a foreign language. The advantages of using video in the classroom are numerous (Salinas, 1992; Cabero, 1994), but in this project the participants use it as a means of expression to explain a particular grammatical form. In this way, they become the real protagonists of the class and co-responsible for their teaching-learning process. In addition, they actively participate in the construction of their own messages, reflect on their possibilities of expression and devise alternative ways of introducing the explanation of grammar in the FLE classroom. In the framework of this project, trainee French teachers were asked to create explanatory videos on linguistic forms in French, using all the creative resources that this format allows (use of audiovisual codes, music, role-playing, real communication situations, etc.). In addition, given the multilingual educational context in Spain, links had to be established with the other languages of the curriculum that potential secondary school pupils learn throughout their schooling (Spanish, Catalan, English and French).

This article analyses videos produced by prospective teachers of French as a foreign language and, in particular, the approaches they have adopted to provide grammatical explanations. The results show that most of the videos follow a structuralist approach in which examples without communicative context and theoretical explanations are central. However, some of the more original capsules used role-play or error analysis as pedagogical strategies to ensure a more communicative approach.