Informative Podcasts and Listening Skills

Abstract

This study was carried out with the objective of analyzing the effectiveness of using informative podcasts to improve listening skills in students from the second semester of the Pedagogy of National and Foreign Languages program at Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Ecuador. The research followed a quantitative approach and a pre-experimental design, involving 38 university students between the ages of 18 and 25. Over ten sessions, students worked with informative podcasts related to real-life topics, designed to provide authentic exposure to the English language. To evaluate progressin listening comprehension, Parts 1 and 2 of the Cambridge PET Listening Test were applied before and after the intervention. Furthermore, a comprehensive survey was administered to elicit students’ perceptions concerning the incorporation of podcasts within their educational experiences. After the intervention, significant advancements were detected in students’ proficiency in comprehending spoken English across diverse contexts, particularly in their capacity to discern the central theme. The analysis indicated considerable enhancements in their listening performance, which implies an augmented familiarity and an increased propensity to engage with listening comprehension activities. Beyond that, students conveyed a favorable disposition towards the utilization of podcasts, regarding them as stimulating, readily accessible, and advantageous instruments for bolstering listening to strategies and enriching their lexicon. In summation, the assimilation of informative podcasts into English as a foreign language pedagogy constitutes a valuable instructional resource, as it exerts a beneficial influence on motivation, learner autonomy, and the cultivation of essential linguistic competencies, while facilitating consistent exposure to authentic language.