ARTICLE REVIEW

TITLE: 

Teaching EFL to the iGeneration: A Survey of Using YouTube as Supplementary Material with College EFL Students in Taiwan 

JOURNAL: 

CALL-EJ Online Volume 10, No. 2, February 2009

AUTHOR: 

Brent Kelsen from Yuan Ze University, Taiwan.

This article is about students’ attitudes of using YouTube as supplementary material in EFL class and their level of motivation of using it inside and outside of the classroom to improve their language.

LINK: http://callej.org/journal/10-2/kelsen.html

Summary

The aim of the research:

Basically, this research was intended to identify EFL students’ attitudes towards the integration of YouTube as supplementary materials in class. The researcher tried to estimate their level of motivation in utilizing the materials both inside and outside of class.

The methodology:

This research was a survey research and the instrument used was questionnaires given on the first day of semester survey, aimed to discover their experience of using computer and YouTube outside classroom. Throughout the semester, You Tube was used as supplementary material in teaching and learning English. Topics from textbook will be used for reference. The researcher had used two topics and integrates YouTube into the teaching procedure. Appropriate clips from YouTube were chosen for the students and lessons conducted focus on both communication (describe places) and listening (comprehension) skills. At the final day of semester survey, questionnaires will be distributed again to see any changes in perceptions towards learning English using YouTube.

The subject/sample:

This research used two sophomore conversation classes which consists of 31 and 38 students respectively (n=69) from a private university in northern Taiwan. Both classes used the same textbooks and materials. English is an EFL for them. The samples ranged from 19 to 21 years of age and English and the researcher put all of them together as one grouping sample.

The findings of the research:

Based from the data from the first day of survey, students claimed they had access to computers outside the class moderately familiar with YouTube but they rarely use it as learning assistance. Mostly it acts as a source of entertainment and only few students used YouTube to improve their language. At the final day, the number remained the same but the frequency of usage outside the class had increased. Students’ attitudes towards using YouTube varied for every factor (interest, relevance, benefits, motivation). Most students claimed it was interesting and beneficial but they were unsure on the relevance. Their motivation of using YouTube outside of the class did not have a clear cut result. As a whole, it was a positive result. The number of usage did increased but their level of motivation was still in doubt especially outside the class.

Reflection

            After more than a day looking for an interesting article to be reviewed, I decided to choose this topic and I somehow fallen in love with it! During my practicum, YouTube had been one of my methods in teaching. I found out that the result brings satisfaction for both students and I. My students claimed they had accessed it almost everyday. So, this research might support my findings before.

            It is hard to measure people’s attitudes towards something. Although the data had been collected, we can still doubt the results. Therefore, this research is still lacking in term of the data collection. In my opinion, the research is too general. It is hard for us to ensure the validity. Questionnaires given require students to be honest but problem with self reported might come in between. The questionnaires were distributed again at the final day of the research but the students might overstate their responses. Basically, I really want to know the impacts of using YouTube on students’ performances in language class. Does it able to improve their language skills? For my AE which has almost similar topic like this research, I try to look at both aspects which are the attitudes towards using multimedia in ESL class and their performances by giving pre and post test. Hence, I would really appreciate if the researcher was able to add another research on students’ performance towards using YouTube in language class. Experimental research would be a good idea in comparing students’ performance. We can always measure them based on the comparison of tests results. Therefore, we are able to see clearly the impacts of using YouTube in language class.

            This topic actually should be highlighted more in Malaysia. Based from the research, the students used YouTube mostly for entertainment. Only few of them used it for education. Mostlly, we always look this method in negative ways.Computers and internet can be considered as something new here. Internet has great potential in teaching and learning. It offers some exciting possibilities for the classroom (Chan et al., 2007, p. 101). Basically, teachers did applied new methods like videos and games in language class. It did work but think again. Will it be practical forever? World is changing and teachers need to be aware of that. YouTube would be an option and teachers can always utilize it in their English class. It may have its drawbacks but we should not take it as a reason to avoid it. Teachers need to put extra attention in materials chosen and always supervise students’ work. I managed to use YouTube during my practicum. It was just a simple task. They had to identify simple verbs and use the video chosen to activate their schemata. It worked where students became more engaged with the lesson. Therefore, I strongly believe that despite all the drawbacks of using YouTube in English class, we are still able to find the best essence in it if we wanted to commit more.

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Example of clip from YouTube that i used for my English class. the topic was on 'Special People'
A Tale of a Conjoined Twins