Incorporating instructor presence in a multimedia language learning context

The present study investigated the effects of instructor presence in a multimedia learning situation where seeing the instructor was deemed relevant to the learning content and requirements, in this case a language learning setting. Fifty Japanese university students were asked to learn from two videos on the four Mandarin tones, one with the instructor video present and one without. While viewing the videos, participants’ eye movements and skin conductance level were recorded, and measurements of learning performance and perceptions about learning were taken afterwards. Results showed no significant difference in overall learning performance when comparing the conditions with and without instructor presence, but learners indicated that they were more satisfied and perceived more learning when the instructor video was included. This suggests that instructor presence can influence learners’ attention and perceived learning. However, in the present study, videos of instructors modeling tone production without providing other cues to tone production did not lead to measurable improvements in learning outcomes, even though learners attended to the instructor videos and perceived them as helpful. These findings indicate that instructor presence is unlikely to improve learning outcomes unless the instructor’s visible behavior provides information learners can directly use for the task at hand. More broadly, the benefits of instructor presence may depend not only on the alignment between the information conveyed and the requirements of the learning task, but also on learners’ ability to recognize and use that information effectively.