A Comparison Study of the Effects of a Story-based Video Instructional Package Versus a Text-based Instructional Package in the Intermediate-level Foreign Language Classroom

This study compared a story-based video instructional package, with a feature-length film as its focus, to a text-based program. It explored the effectiveness of each approach to enhance the listening and grammar performances of intermediate-level college French students. Twenty-seven students at two institutions participated. A pretest-posttest design assessed long-term gains in listening performance and grammar performance. Results indicated that students significantly improved their listening skills and grammar knowledge when exposed to the story-based video package. For the text-based group, students did not significantly improve in listening, but they significantly improved in grammar. For grammar only, the increase in mean scores for the video-based group was significantly higher than the increase in mean scores for the text-based group. The video-based curriculum used a narrative approach to teach grammar and foster listening. Results support using a film with an engaging storyline and with embedded targeted structures as effective input to enhance linguistic performance.