Video recording in ethnographic SLA research: Some issues of validity in data collection

In recent years increasing numbers of researchers have begun to investigate second language acquisition within the socio-cultural context in which it occurs using qualitative methods and approaches such as an ethnographic approach.This frequently entails audio and/or video recording of the participants in naturalistic contexts.Yet theoretical and methodological issues related to video recording have not yet received a great deal of attention in the second language acquisition literature.The purpose of this paper is to initiate such a discussion among SLA researchers.This is accomplished by reviewing the visual anthropology, educational anthropology, and ethnographic filmmaking literature on three questions concerning the collection of valid video recorded data: a) How should the interaction be video recorded?b) Who should be video recorded?c) Who should do the video recording?Examples from my own research are presented to illustrate the kinds of problems that might be encountered in each of these areas.Finally I present my reflections on the decisions I made when videotaping so that other SLA researchers using video recording might gain some insights that will assist them when dealing with the theoretical, methodological and practical considerations of planning and implementing their SLA studies using an ethnographic approach.