The Youtube Revolution: Engagement, Perception and Identity

Advances in technology and social media have caused an avalanche of possible texts for use in pronunciation teaching. This article explores how the use of short digital videos can revolutionize the teaching of pronunciation in a second or foreign language. Their use is first examined pedagogically in relation to three areas: student engagement, speech perception and second language identity. Then, examples of use, student recordings and student perceptions are presented, which illustrate their value. It is suggested that appropriate, informed use of short digital videos has the potential to accelerate the acquisition of the target pronunciation(s).