Students making videos on social media: exploring the potential of online videos for language learning

Shafirova, Liudmila; Sá, Maria Helena Araújo e

doi:10.1590/1983-3652.2024.51663

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Articles • Texto livre 17 • 2024 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-3652.2024.51663 linkcopy

Students making videos on social media: exploring the potential of online videos for language learning

Produção de vídeos em redes sociais por estudantes: explorando o potencial de vídeos online para a aprendizagem de línguas

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In recent years, communication on social media has undergone major changes, shifting towards being more multimodal and video-centred. This study investigates the engagement of Portuguese university students in video production within social media platforms and examines their perceptions of language learning opportunities inherent to this practice. We conducted a questionnaire among 212 students at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), delving into the role of video-making as an interactive learning tool. Our results show that roughly 22% of the respondents make videos, indicating that video production is not very common among them, especially when compared to video watching. Despite this, our analysis highlights several possible educational benefits of making online videos. Our data illustrate the interactive and multilingual nature of online video-making, encompassing practices such as searching for information, collaborating with others, or watching other similar videos in different languages. Finally, while this study highlights the infrequency of video production, it underscores its potential as a holistic approach to language learning and the development of multiliteracies.

Keywords:
Online videos; Social media; Multiliteracies; Informal language learning

The whole questionnaire
Gender			How old are you?
	N	%		N	%
Female	149	70.3%	From 18 to 23	93	43.9%
Male	61	28.8%	From 24 to 35	75	35.4%
Prefer not to answer	2	0.9%	More than 36	44	20.8%
The video production part of the questionnaire
	N	%		N	%
Female	26	56.5%	From 18 to 23	13	28.3%
Male	20	43.5%	From 24 to 35	15	32.6%
Prefer not to answer	0	0%	More than 36	18	39.1%

Mother tongue(s) of the whole questionnaire			Mother tongue(s) of the video production section of the questionnaire
	Responses (N)	%		Responses (N)	%
Portuguese	191	92.7%	Portuguese	39	82.6%
Spanish	8	3.9%	Spanish	2	4.3%
English	5	2.4%	Russian	1	2.2%
Persian	4	1.9%	Persian	1	2.2%
Chinese	2	1%	Chinese	1	2.2%
French	1	0.5%	Other	3	6.6%
Russian	1	0.5%	Total	46	100.1%
Other	8	3.9%
Total	212	106.8%1

Are you learning any language at the moment?
The whole questionnaire			The video production part
	N	%		N	%
Yes	89	42%	Yes	15	32.6%
No	123	58%	No	31	67.4%

Platforms	YouTube		Facebook		Instagram		TikTok		Twitch
Portuguese	22	88%	13	86.7%	19	95%	5	71.4%	0	0%
English	13	52%	6	40%	9	45%	5	71.4%	1	50%
Spanish	3	12%	3	20%	1	5%	0	0%	0	0%
Italian	2	8%	2	13.3%	1	5%	0	0%	0	0%
French	1	4%	2	13.3%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Crioulo	0	0%	0	0%	1	5%	0	0%	0	0%
Persian	0	0%	1	6.7%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Other	2	8%	1	6.7%	1	5%	2	28.6%	1	50%
Total	44	176%	28	186.7%	32	160%	12	171.4%	2	100%

Actions	Search for information		Search for visual aid		Analyse similar videos		Write short descriptions		Collaborate with others		Make translations
Languages	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Portuguese	16	69.6%	11	47.8%	10	43.5%	11	47.8%	9	39.1%	7	30.4%
English	18	78.3%	15	65.2%	11	47.8%	7	30.4%	7	30.4%	9	39.1%
Spanish	3	13%	2	8.7%	3	13%	1	4.3%	2	8.7%	1	4.3%
Italian	2	8.7%	2	8.7%	2	8.7%	1	4.3%	2	8.7%	1	4.3%
French	2	8.7%	2	8.7%	2	8.7%	1	4.3%	2	8.7%	1	4.3%
Chinese	1	4.3%	1	4.3%	1	4.3%	1	4.3%	1	4.3%	1	4.3%
Persian	1	4.3%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Other	1	4.3%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total	44	191.2%	33	143.4%	28	121.7%	21	91.1%	22	95.6%	19	82.4%

Actions	Read comments, chat, reactions		Respond to the comments		Make video responses to comments
Portuguese	19	79.2%	8	33.3%	3	12.5%
English	17	70.8%	9	37.5%	3	12.5%
Spanish	7	29.2%	3	12.5%	1	4.2%
Italian	5	20.8%	3	12.5%	1	4.2%
French	5	20.8%	2	8.3%	2	8.3%
Chinese	2	8.3%	1	4.2%	1	4.2%
Persian	2	8.3%	1	4.2%	2	8.3%
Russian	2	8.3%	1	4.2%	1	4.2%
Korean	1	4.2%	1	4.2%	1	4.2%
Crioulo	1	4.2%	1	4.2%	1	4.2%
Japanese	1	4.2%	1	4.2%	1	4.2%
Other	1	4.2%	1	4.2%	2	8.3%
Total	63	262.5%	32	133.3%	19	79.3%

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Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627 - Pampulha, Cep: 31270-901, Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais / Brasil, Tel: +55 (31) 3409-6009 - Belo Horizonte - MG - Brazil
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[1] Source: Ownelaboration. Information from the publication of Shafirova and Sá(2023) is partlyused.

[tfn1] More than 100% due to the overlap of mother tongues