YouTube as a teaching media and the listening skill

Abstract

English language learning through YouTube is a fascinating and entertaining way to teach. On the other hand, listening is one of the most difficult skills for English learners to master. Indeed, students consistently show deficiencies in learning this skill. For this reason, the main purpose of this research was to examine how YouTube promotes the improvement of listening skills in second-year high school students of the Juan León Mera "La Salle" Educational Unit in Ambato - Ecuador. Consequently, this research had a mixed approach because it analyzes quantitative data collected through a pre-test and post-test (Fliers A2 preliminary exam) as instruments, it is also qualitative because other qualitative instruments were used to collect information such as bibliographic search and observation of the experimental group. In addition, a preexperimental design was carried out and it was exposed to a didactic treatment during nine interventions over five weeks in which listening activities were applied using YouTube content as a basis also the experimental group was made up of 33 students (21 males and 12 women). Subsequently, the results were analyzed using a nonparametric test for two related Wilcoxon samples, likewise, the results showed a positive advance in the use of YouTube as a teaching media tool, which confirmed the validity of the hypothesis raised. In the end, it was concluded that the YouTube platform contributes significantly to the development of the students listening skills because its content helps the student to understand specific and detailed information such as names, words, and phrases.