Video Reporting as a Pedagogical Strategy in Early Foreign Language Education: Fostering Learners’ Critical Thinking and Communicative Competence

Communication is a fundamental component of learning and plays an important role in foreign language education. Digital technologies create opportunities for authentic language use and innovative learning experiences. This study explores pre-service teachers’ perspectives on the potential of video reporting as a pedagogical strategy for fostering communicative competence and critical thinking in early foreign language education. A qualitative research design based on classroom observations and analysis of students’ video reports was employed. The participants were undergraduate students enrolled in the Education programme at Vytautas Magnus University (n = 19). The findings reveal that participants perceive video reporting as a valuable educational tool that can support communicative competence through meaningful language use, vocabulary development, and oral communication. The participants also highlighted the role of video reporting in promoting creativity, collaboration, learner engagement, and critical thinking through planning, information selection, and presentation processes. The results emphasise the educational value of video reporting as a digital creative activity that can contribute to both language learning and higher-order thinking skills. The study contributes to a better understanding of video reporting as an innovative pedagogical strategy in early foreign language education.