Underscoring the value of video analysis in multilingual and multicultural classroom contexts

This article presents multiple episodes drawing from three distinct research projects
conducted in multilingual classrooms in Luxembourg, to underscore the value of video
analysis in culturally and linguistically diverse classroom contexts. We show how video
analysis that valorizes the non-verbal in interaction has the ability to reveal
communicative resources often masked by analysis rooted in the verbal. From the
examples presented, that span teacher and student interactions in both elementary
and secondary classrooms, we make a methodological argument based on analytical
approaches utilized in all three research projects to demonstrate how we have come to
an expanded notion of voice in our research that is revealed through multimodal video
analysis. Specific analytical approaches that illuminate the embodied and multimodal
aspects of voice are discussed. We conclude by underscoring the benefits of embodied
and multimodal approaches to video analysis for research with all students, but most
importantly for students often marginalized through analytical approaches that
prioritize the verbal. Finally, we discuss the implications of video research that works to
highlight resource-rich views of teaching and learning across learning contexts.