Vlogs and Listening Skills

Abstract

This research identified students' perceptions of using vlogs to develop their listening skills. In this descriptive, non-experimental study with a quantitative approach, a total of 61 students from the Universidad Técnica de Ambato (45 women and 16 men) participated voluntarily. Data collection was conducted using a 19-item survey designed on a Likert scale, specifically structured to answer three research questions aligned with the study's objectives. To ensure the validity of the instrument, it was carefully reviewed by five experts in the field and evaluated using the Aiken's validity index, achieving a coefficient of 0.99. Similarly, the instrument’s reliability was confirmed through Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient (0.817), indicating that the survey was consistent for the target population. The results revealed that the types of vlogs most used by learners are travel and educational/tutorial ones, as both are particularly appealing due to their authentic and varied content. Regarding listening subskills, findings showed that students most effectively developed listening for detail and listening for gist, since they are essential for understanding spoken messages in detail as well as their purpose. Moreover, it was found that the evaluating and responding stages, which are the most active and conscious, contribute much more to the listening process. On the contrary, PC gaming and joke and comedy vlogs are not commonly incorporated into EFL classes, despite being a great source of exposure to spontaneous language use in real contexts and their current popularity on online platforms. In this way, it is recommended that teachers include different types of vlogs in their lessons, taking learners' interests into account to enhance their motivation and engagement.