Bringing Modern Foreign Language learning to life through green screen technology!

Bringing Modern Foreign Language learning to life through green screen technology! Students are standing for the first time next to the Louvre Pyramid in Paris. They are socialising in French, inviting their friends to the cinema on the grass under the Eiffel Tower, deciding which film to watch at the cinema, and buying their tickets and snacks.

Students are standing for the first time next to the Louvre Pyramid in Paris. They are socialising in French, inviting their friends to the cinema on the grass under the Eiffel Tower, deciding which film to watch at the cinema, and buying their tickets and snacks. All this is happening thanks to the fascinating use of green screen technology set up by teacher Ms Mabell in her French Year 6 classroom.

Green screen technology (also known as chroma keying) offers engaging opportunities for students to learn languages in a participatory manner, build new knowledge and inspire creativity.

All this is captured in Year 6 students’ final project – watch the video below.

During this process, students engage in embodied learning, in other words, their bodies and emotions are fully immersed in the learning process and the context in which the latter is taking place.

Learners’ independent thinking and self-expression are also encouraged by the teacher, especially during the enactment of dialogues from real-life scenarios. When provided with the basics of assigned dialogues, students unleashed their creativity and participated in collaborative teamwork to adapt the dialogues to their own needs.

They used the Apps WordReference to find the vocabulary needed, and the Apps Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text to work on their pronunciation and proficiency. These Apps are essential for students working independently. Allowing students to enter a language arena that is usually considered native-speaker territory is not only challenging but also motivating for learners. After this project, they will be able to confidently act and use the language skills learned in the classroom and also out in the real world.

Bringing green screen technology into the French MFL classroom has been an enriching and engaging experience for both students and the teacher. It has also reinforced research findings that have shown that language play facilitates language learning and improves learners’ proficiency. 

Written by Ms Mabell - French First Language and MFL Teacher