See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/325121894

University Students†Perceptions of YouTube Usage in (ESL) Classrooms

Article in International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · February 2018
DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i1/3826

CITATIONS READS
27 3,821

6 authors, including:

Azurawati Zaidi Farahidatul Akmar Awaludin

Universiti Teknologi MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA
11 PUBLICATIONS 91 CITATIONS 9 PUBLICATIONS 33 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Rafidah Abd Karim

Universiti Teknologi MARA
58 PUBLICATIONS 273 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

MOBILE LEARNING View project

DIGITAL TOOLS FOR 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Rafidah Abd Karim on 18 January 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

University Students’ Perceptions of YouTube Usage in (ESL)
Classrooms
Azurawati Zaidi, Farahidatul Akmar Awaludin, Rafidah Abd Karim, Nurul
Farhani Che Ghani, Muhd Syahir Abdul Rani and Nooraileen Ibrahim
To Link this Article: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i1/3826 DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i1/3826

Received: 20 Dec 2017, Revised: 16 Jan 2018, Accepted: 17 Jan 2018

Published Online: 05 Feb 2018

In-Text Citation: (Zaidi et al., 2018)

To Cite this Article: Zaidi, A., Awaludin, F. A., Karim, R. A., Ghani, N. F. C., Rani, M. S. A., & Ibrahim, N. (2018).
University Students’ Perceptions of YouTube Usage in (ESL) Classrooms. International Journal of Academic
Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(1), 541–553.

Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)

Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute,
translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full
attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen
at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Vol. 8, No.1, January 2018, Pg. 541 - 553

http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/IJARBSS JOURNAL HOMEPAGE

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/publication-ethics
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

University Students’ Perceptions of YouTube Usage in

(ESL) Classrooms
Azurawati Zaidi1, Farahidatul Akmar Awaludin2, Rafidah Abd
Karim3, Nurul Farhani Che Ghani4, Muhd Syahir Abdul Rani 5 and
Nooraileen Ibrahim6
1,2,3,4,5Academy
of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perak Branch, Tapah Campus,
35400 Tapah Road, Perak, Malaysia.
6Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perak Branch, Seri Iskandar Campus,

32610 Bota, Perak, Malaysia.

Abstract
Persistent use of internet specifically social networking has provided vast opportunities to
enhance the quality of teaching and learning of university students. The usage of YouTube videos
in the classroom is imperative to meet the educational needs of the younger generation. While
text-based resources have remained the standard for centuries, currently, with the fast pace of
the development of technology, the usage of YouTube videos in teaching and learning has
become a trend. There are a few studies conducted on students’ perceptions of using YouTube
to learn the English language. Research suggests that this generation of individuals have different
styles of learning due to their familiarity with technology. How students learn and gain
information from watching YouTube videos in learning the English language is very important in
teaching setting. Other studies that were conducted also explored students’ perceptions of
YouTube as an effective tool to learn English among ESL learners. Hence, the purpose of this
study was to investigate (RQ1) the students’ interests and (RQ2) the students’ perceptions on the
use of YouTube in learning English. The results of this study revealed that students are highly
interested to use YouTube in learning English. It was also discovered that the students have used
YouTube to help them completed their course assignments and study tasks. Hence, it can be
concluded that the students preferred to use English YouTube videos to help them enhance their
English language proficiency.
Keywords: YouTube, perceptions, interest, learning style, ESL learners.

Introduction
The arrival of digital technologies such as the internet has resulted in a new generation of
individually literate called the Net Generation (Prensky, 2001). Due to the emergence of this
technical literacy people, their learning styles is differ from the previous generations. Thus, this

542
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

lead to an integrated approach and a paradigm shift in teaching which have witnessed an
adoption of a new method of teaching using YouTube videos in the classroom. This approach has
brought new insights to pedagogy in higher institution and it is believed that the use of YouTube
as a teaching tool could have an effect on the level of student engagement. The use of YouTube
and other Web 2.0 technologies in education has been proposed as a tool to engage new
generation students (Duffy, 2008, Roodt & De (Duffy, 2008, Roodt & De Villiers, 2011 in Roodt &
Peier, 2013) Villiers, 2011 in Roodt & Peier, 2013). YouTube has become an important tool in
many universities and colleges around the world. According to Web Analytics Association (2006),
MySpace, Facebook and YouTube are the top three favorable websites for university students.
Therefore, the emergence of digital technologies such as internet and the worldwide web has
made the use of YouTube in classroom a possibility. Today, the new technology has provided a
lot of opportunities to enhance the quality of teaching and learning such as the use of internet
and YouTube videos. Many Malaysian university students use these technologies to help them
do their assignments and other language learning tasks. This technology also helped them to
learn the English language as well as enhance their proficiency level. YouTube is featured as
something very authentic and able to help the students because it has been reported that the
lack of English language proficiency has often been mentioned as one of the major factors
contributing to graduate unemployment (Sharif, 2005). How students learn and gain information
from YouTube in learning the English language is very important because it will help the
educators to identify the students’ preference, interest and types of material that they use to
enhance learning. Therefore, by using a variety of instructional methods and learning activities
in the classroom or via online education can help enrich the learning environment of the students
(Fill & Ottewill, 2006).
Since the use of YouTube videos to learn English language is still a new idea, how it can
be used in facilitating language learning in class effectively is still unclear. Snelson (2011) state
that a study on the perception of the usage of YouTube in ESL classroom for undergraduate
students is a relatively new field of study and not much literature has been published regarding
the subject especially in the Malaysian context. Despite the importance of using YouTube in
engaging students in the classroom, little research has been conducted to investigate the
perceptions of Malaysia undergraduate in using YouTube in ESL classroom. This study therefore,
is intended to fill in the gap. The purpose of the study is to explore the use of YouTube in the ESL
classroom by surveying students’ perceptions towards using YouTube to learn English. In
particular, it seeks to look at the students’ perceptions of using YouTube as a supplement to other
learning materials with regard to making classes more interesting and motivating for students to
use materials to learn English outside of the class (Kelsen 2009). The study also aims to investigate
their interest in using YouTube in ESL classroom. In short, the research questions were as follows:

1. What are the interests of the students in the usage of YouTube in learning English?
2. What are the students’ perceptions of using YouTube in the ESL classroom?

Literature Review
YouTube with its official address www.youtube.com, is a well-known video sharing
website where users can upload, view and share video clips (Duffy, 2008 in Roodt & Peier, 2013).
Based on the statistical report on its official website, it has more than one billion visitors every

543
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

month and thousands of videos on thousands of topics in many languages are available on
YouTube. Generally, with these videos, creative teachers can choose from and expose students
to meaningful activities involving the four English language skills namely speaking, listening,
writing and reading. Examples of activities may range from conversational activities, ‘movie
trailer’, ‘voiceover’ to ‘famous movie screen re-enactments’ which can be used for listening and
speaking activities (Watkins and Wilkins, 2011). In addition, Kreisen (2009) viewed that YouTube
has helped all students to learn more about other cultures since the videos is uploaded by people
all around the world. It also allowed students to do video sharing which can give positive output
for learning (Snelson, 2009). Stempleski et. al, (2001) agreed that YouTube videos can attract the
students’ interest to pay attention better due to the audio and visual aids provided.

YouTube and other ICT tools in ESL classrooms

Research into the use of You Tube in the classroom is a relatively new area of study.
However, the use of YouTube and other ICT tools in language learning has become a popular
discussion all over the world. Several scholars from different countries suggested that using ICT
in the classroom is becoming more prevalent in coming years (Brunner, 2013; Chhabra, 2012;
Klimova & Poulova; 2014, Nguyen & Tri, 2014 & Teo, Chai, Hung & Lee, 2008). In Malaysia, the
trend of using ICT, especially YouTube, enables students to learn actively and interactively in
classrooms and is acknowledged and considered as one of the most significant changes in ESL
classroom. The youth today use technology like the internet more than any other methods as a
medium of communication and socialization (Mishna et al, 2009). Therefore, due to this reality,
educators bring in YouTube into the classroom to suit with the students’ preferences and interest
thus will make learning more interesting (Gunadevi, Fathimah Pathma & Raja Nor Safinas, 2013).

YouTube, students’ motivation and learning styles

The use of YouTube has given positive impacts to the students’ motivation. As stated by
Berk (2009), videos can have a strong effect on their minds and senses. He also suggested that
the use of video clips need to be inserted in multimedia presentation to improve learning in
higher educational institutions. These included using videos to grab students' attention, improve
students’ concentration, generate interests in the lesson, improve attitudes towards content,
draw on students’ imagination and make learning fun and meaningful. Berk (2009) also claimed
that YouTube videos are not only able to attract the students’ attention, but can cater different
learning styles namely verbal, visual, musical, and emotional intelligences. Watching videos also
allowed the brain to react actively to both side of the brain which helps to increase and enhance
students’ understanding (Berk, 2009). Students’ motivation to learn is much relies on their
learning styles. According to Romanelli, Bird and Ryan (2009) have proposed that the definition
of ‘learning styles’ is characteristic cognitive, effective and psychosocial behaviors that serve as
relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning
environment. Many scholars have introduced different models of learning styles. Walter Burke
Barbe which proposed three learning modalities known as VAK a) visual, b) auditory and
kinesthetic learning and this model is a mixture of preferences, strengths and personality which
is a mixture in each individual. This model was later refined by Flemming and Mills (1992) by
introducing Neil Fleming’s VARK model. Neil Fleming’s VARK model which has been expanded
upon earlier notions of sensory modalities such as the VAK MODEL OF Barbe and colleagues and

544
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

the representational systems (VAKOG) in neurolinguistic programming. The four sensory modals
in Fleming’s model are;1) Visual learning, 2) Auditory learning, 3) Read/write learning and 4)
Kinesthetic learning.
Fleming and Mills (1992) claimed that visual learners have a preference of seeing visual
aids that represented ideas using methods other than words, such as graphs, chart, diagrams,
symbols and others. Auditory learners learn better through lectures, discussions and using tapes
whereas tactile or kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience such as moving, touching
example through science projects and experiments. The selection of YouTube among students is
very much influenced by their learning styles preferences and interest. Duffy (2008) suggested
several specific examples on how YouTube could be integrated and embedded into teaching and
learning in ESL classroom. Some of the activities suggested are asking the students to create a
video as a part of an assessment, record a video of a guest presenter and upload it on YouTube
and use the comments functionality as a platform for discussion. Besides that, he also suggested
that the students can search for videos that are related to questions posted at the end of lectures
and educators can show students the real-world examples of material and theory covered in class
as well as ask students to post video vignettes (Duffy, 2008). Another research was conducted by
Roodt and De Villiers (2011) which was a study on using YouTube as a tool to support
collaborative learning. The study was conducted on a first year of IS course at the University of
Pretoria. The course included a group project in which students used YouTube to create a video
on how businesses can use Web 2.0 technologies amongst other tasks. It was reported that from
a sample of 185 students, it was found that YouTube was perceived as an innovative learning
technology by the majority of the students (Roodt and De Villiers, 2011). Tan and Pearce (2012)
agreed that the use of YouTube videos helped students to explain key ideas in a sociology course.
They used these videos in an introductory sociology course at the Foundation Centre at Durham
University. Tan and Pearce (2012) used these videos to illustrate important topics by giving
explanation and discussion in the class and in smaller group environments. Tan and Pearce (2012)
further explained that the use of YouTube videos helped students and was seen as an effective
way to support their learning. In conclusion, as educators consider the use of YouTube video as
important, thus, they must strongly consider what students’ think and feel about these tools in
their courses. Frey and Birnbaum (2002) discovered that the students considered their teacher
as a proficient and organized person if they use the technology in their teaching. Therefore, using
YouTube videos as one and readily available source of authentic material will encourage the
students to interact actively in class and further develop their language skills as they are eager to
gain deeper understanding of the subject matter.
To the researcher’s knowledge, there is one study on students’ perceptions of YouTube
usage in the English oral communication classroom by Gunadevi, Fathimah Pathma and Raja Nor
Safinas (2013) and to date research were carried out in relation to students’ interest and
perception of using YouTube in ESL classroom in Malaysia. The research can provide information
on the levels of exposure of undergraduate students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the use
of YouTube in the classroom as a teaching tool. Furthermore, this study would be beneficial for
educators to find out their students’ preferences in using YouTube to engage learners in reading,
writing, speaking and listening skills. Besides that, this study can also help educators to adopt
new technology by using YouTube in the classroom to enhance students’ proficiency and
students’ engagement in the class. Moreover, it sheds light on a new method of integrating

545
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

technology on teaching English. The researcher noticed that there is a scarcity in studies, which
studied the effect of YouTube in English language and little empirical research existed that
demonstrated how web-based applications can be integrated into language learning in Malaysia.

METHODOLOGY
Instrument and Sampling
This study is descriptive and use a quantitative method consisted of a questionnaire-
based survey which is administered to undergraduate students. The questionnaire was adopted
and adapted from Kelsen (2009). The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part of the
questionnaire included demographic information of the respondent including gender, age, levels
of language proficiency and year of study. The second part consisted of ten questions using Likert-
scale which related to the students’ interest on their usage of YouTube. The final ten questions
focus on their perceptions of using YouTube in ESL class. Questionnaire was constructed to
answer the two research questions which are the perceptions of YouTube and the interest of
using YouTube in the classroom. The sample of the study (n = 159) is diploma students from
Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perak. The questionnaires made use of the
Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Undecided, 4 = Agree and 5 =
Strongly Agree. The questionnaire was piloted and the data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and
resulted in a Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.915, which is a satisfactory score for reliability.
These students are registered ELC 150 (Integrated Language Skills: Reading) and ELC 230
(Integrated Language Skills: Writing) course. These courses are the university’s requirement for
all diploma level students in semester two and three respectively.

Procedure and Data Collection

Students were selected randomly as participants in the survey. The questionnaire was
distributed and the students were given a brief instruction and assurance that their data would
be kept confidential. The researcher made the students understand that their answers should
reflect on their beliefs, thoughts and feelings. Students were informed that the participation was
voluntary and anonymous. Since participation was voluntary, the students were given the option
to not participate if they chose to.

Findings and Data Analysis

From the findings, the data was analyzed, the responses from the question were
tabulated and discussed in later chapters. The results show that out of 170 samples, a total of
159 completed the survey (93.5% response rate). Seventy one percent (n = 113) of the
respondents were female and 28.9% (n = 46) male. Females were the majority of the samples.
The students’ age ranged from 18–24 years of age with the majority of respondents being 18-20
(84.9%), 21-23 (11.9%) and 24 above only (3%) years of age. The majority of the population (65%,
n = 103) were semester 3 students and 35.2% (n=56) were semester 2 students. The data also
revealed that most of the Accountancy students from Semester 2 and Semester 3 rated
themselves as possessing an intermediate level of English proficiency level with (n=115) 72.3%,
(refer to Chart 1) whereas the advanced students comprise of 22.6% (n=36) and the beginners
proficiency levels were only 5% (n=8). Thus, it can be concluded that most of the respondents
possessed basic English proficiency levels.

546
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

English Proficiency Level

5%

22.60% Advanced
Intermediate
72.30%
Beginners

Chart 1. English Proficiency Level

Table 1: The use of YouTube videos
Q6. Makes learning Q7. Makes it easier to Q8. Enables me to
English interesting learn English in the class understand English
better
Resp. % Resp. % Resp. %
Strongly 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00%
Disagree
Disagree 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 3 1.88%
Undecided 5 3.14% 4 2.52% 22 13.84%
Agree 117 73.58% 125 78.62% 98 61.64%
Strongly Agree 37 23.28% 30 18.86% 36 22.64%
Total 159 100.00% 159 100.00% 159 100.00%
Almost 74% of respondents said that they agreed that the use of YouTube videos in class made
learning English interesting while 23% of the respondents strongly agreed that using YouTube
videos made it interesting to learn English. Almost 79% respondents agreed that using YouTube
made it easier to learn English in the classroom. Whereas only 2.52% were undecided whether
using YouTube videos did made it easier for them to learn English. Question 8 revealed that about
62% of the respondents agreed that using YouTube videos in class enabled them to understand
English better.
Table 2: Students interest in using YouTube videos
Q10. Motivate me to Q11. Often look for Q12. Learn
study English when I English YouTube to pronunciation of English
am outside of class learn English words from YouTube
videos
Resp. % Resp. % Resp. %
Strongly 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00%
Disagree
Disagree 6 3.78% 15 9.43% 13 8.18%
Undecided 36 22.64% 54 33.96% 40 25.16%
Agree 93 58.49% 70 44.02% 74 46.54%
Strongly Agree 24 15.09% 20 12.59% 32 20.12%
Total 159 100.00% 159 100.00% 159 100.00%

547
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

Over 58% respondents agreed that using YouTube videos motivated them to study English
outside of the class. However, only 15% of the samples claimed that they strongly agreed that
YouTube did motivate them to study English outside of the class. Whereas another 23% of the
respondents were still undecided whether watching YouTube in the class motivated them to
study English when being outside of the classroom. There were only 4% of the remaining
respondents who thought that using YouTube in class motivated them to study English when they
were outside of the class setting. Furthermore, Question 11 disclosed that slightly more than 44%
of the students agreed to some extent that they often looked for English YouTube to watch
YouTube in English. However, slightly more than 33% of the students were unable to decide
whether they preferred to look for English YouTube to learn English. Approximately 9% of the
students disagreed that they will look for English YouTube to learn English.
Table 3: Students’ perceptions in using YouTube videos
Q16.YouTube Q18.YouTube is Q19. Helps to accomplish
captures my convenient, study tasks quicker
attention better affordable and
accessible
Resp. % Resp. % Resp. %
Strongly 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00%
Disagree
Disagree 6 3.77% 14 8.80% 46 28.93%
Undecided 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00%
Agree 88 55.35% 106 66.76% 97 61.00%
Strongly Agree 65 40.88% 39 24.52% 16 10.07%
Total 159 100.00% 159 100.00% 159 100.00%
Students found that YouTube did helped them captured their attention better with
approximately 55% of the respondents agreeing and over 40% of the students were strongly
agreed while just fewer than 4% were disagreed that YouTube captured their attention better in
learning. Almost 67% of the sample agreed that using YouTube was convenient, affordable and
accessible and 25% strongly agreed. Whereas only 8.8% of the students think that YouTube is not
very convenient, less affordable and difficult to access. It was also found that about 61% of the
respondents occasionally agreed that YouTube helped them to accomplish their study task faster
whereas 29% of the respondents thought YouTube did not helped them to complete their study
tasks.

548
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

Table 4: Students’ perceptions in using YouTube videos

Q20.Exposed Q22. Improves the Q23. YouTube enables
students to what quality of assignments students to control their
happened in the that students produce own learning
outside world
Resp. % Resp. % Resp. %
Strongly 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00%
Disagree
Disagree 7 4.40% 51 32.07% 42 26.42%
Undecided 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00%
Agree 90 56.60% 91 57.23% 99 62.26%
Strongly Agree 62 39.00% 17 10.70% 18 11.32%
Total 159 100.00% 159 100.00% 159 100.00%
Approximately 50% of respondents said that use of YouTube videos exposed them to global
issues around the world. Slightly less than 40% were strongly agreed and less than 5% disagreed
to some extent. Furthermore, slightly more than 57% of students agreed that YouTube improved
the quality of the assignments they produced and approximately 32% of the students disagreed
with the statement. Students found that the use of YouTube enables them to control their own
learning whereas slightly more than 26% of the students think that YouTube did not help them
to control their own learning.

DISCUSSION
The literature that was reviewed helped highlight the importance of YouTube as a tool to
engage web generation students (Duffy, 2008, Roodt & De Villiers, 2011 in Roodt & Peier, 2013).
Thus, looking at the findings, it showed that all respondents were using YouTube to help them
learn English and other subjects. With regards to being digitally literate, all the respondents are
connected to technological network and have used YouTube for learning and leisure.
To answer the first research question which was to find the level of interest of students
in using YouTube videos in ESL classroom learning English, the research has found that the
students were interested to look for English YouTube videos to learn English. Nearly 57% said
they often look for English YouTube videos to learn English and only 9.4% did not search for
English YouTube. The students were visual learners and this new generation of students
developed their learning style through watching YouTube videos. This proved a claimed made by
Fleming and Mills (1992) that visual learners have a preference of seeing visual aids that
represented ideas using methods other than words, such as graphs, chart, diagrams, symbols and
others Furthermore, from the analysis, 58% agreed and 15% strongly agreed that watching
YouTube videos did motivate them to study English when they were outside of the classroom.
This proved that the use of YouTube videos has a strong effect on the students’ mind and senses
as supported by Berk (2009) who claimed that using YouTube videos can grab students’ attention,
improve concentration, generate interests in the lessons and improve attitudes towards content
(Berk 2009).
Respondents were asked whether they were able to understand English lessons easier
after engaging with YouTube videos and it can have been seen that 61% of the students agreed

549
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

and 22% strongly agreed that watching YouTube videos did help them to understand English
better. Thus, watching YouTube that use English as a medium of instruction, could enhance or
support the students understanding of the lesson (Green & Tanner 2005).
The second research question of this research paper was to examine the students’
perceptions in using YouTube and whether the use of YouTube had an effect on their English
learning process especially in the classroom. Based on the results, 56% of the respondents’
agreed and 39% strongly agreed that YouTube exposed them to what happened in the outside
world. This was proven by Kreisen (2009) who claimed that YouTube helped all students to learn
more about other cultures since the videos are uploaded by people all around the world. Besides
that, almost 57% of the respondents agreed that watching YouTube videos helped them to
improve the quality of their assignments produced. This proved a claimed by Tan and Pearce
(2012) that the use of YouTube videos helped students and was an effective way to support their
learning.
According to the results, the findings also showed that 66% of the students agreed and
24% strongly agreed that surfing the YouTube was very convenient, affordable and easy to
access. It was relatively easy to gain access to YouTube because it is a well-known video sharing
website where users can upload, view and share video clips (Duffy, 2008 in Roodt & Peier, 2013).
According to Duffy (2008) in Roodt & Peier (2013) this was also due to the statistical reports on
official website that more than one billion visitors every month and thousands of videos and
topics in many languages are shared and are available on YouTube.
The students were asked if YouTube improved the quality of the assignments they
produced and the finding showed that 57% of the respondents agreed and 10% strongly agreed
whereas 32% disagreed with the statement. Even though YouTube is seen as a purposeful media
in the classroom and could enhance and support students’ understanding as well as assist
students’ tasks, how far YouTube content can help students produce quality assignments still
require further research.

Conclusion
This study looked at the students’ interests and preferences of using YouTube in learning
English in the ESL classroom. This initial study showed that YouTube may be a viable, innovative
and authentic teaching resource. The results of this study revealed that students were using
YouTube at a high rate. They found that YouTube was easy and convenient to use and they used
it to assist them in their studies and learning English. The research found that the students often
used YouTube to help them learn English. As a result, it is suggested that both teachers and
students can incorporate YouTube in a variety of classroom activities to enhance the learning
outcome and provide an interesting and authentic learning. However, using YouTube in class to
enhance their pronunciation and motivate them to study English outside of class as well as
develop some degree of learner autonomy remains unclear. Lastly, the researcher found that as
a result of the use of YouTube has helped the students to enhance their English lesson and tasks
assigned to them.

Limitations and Future Study

Some of the limitations of this study were that the sample size was relatively small and it
did not represent the whole faculty of Accountancy especially male students. Thus, it is difficult

550
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

to make gender comparisons. Finally, the fact that all the participants came from the same faculty
means the results cannot be extrapolated to the general student population. Furthermore, the
self-reported nature of the survey may have led to students overstating their answers as the
course teacher administered the questionnaires. To counter this, the questionnaires were
anonymous and the students’ result did not affect their final grades. Regarding future research,
it is recommended that studies using larger sample size and students from various faculties will
be invited to participate in this study. For future studies, the study intends to make comparisons
between lesson in classroom with and without YouTube used as supplementary material and
student’s engagement in the classroom. Thus, this will help the teacher to examine the impact of
such technology on students’ proficiency and assist educators in developing ESL teaching
strategies.

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my appreciation to my mentor Mrs. Nora Harun for her guidance and
encouragement. A special note of thanks to my colleagues of the Academy of Language Studies,
especially Mr. Muhd Syahir Abdul Rani for his valuable assistance during the process of
conducting the research. I am also indebted to the students of University Technology MARA for
their support and cooperation.

References
Axelson, R. & Flick, A. (2011). Defining student engagement. Change: The Magazine of Higher
Learning, 43(1), 38-43.

Berk, R. A. (2009). Multimedia teaching with video clips: TV, movies, YouTube, and mtvU in the
college classroom. International Journal of Teaching and Learning, 5(1), 1-21.

Brünner, I. (2013). Using Language Learning Resources on YouTube. International Conference

“ICT for language learning’. 6th edition. Libreriauniversitaria.it. Retrieved on September
10 2015 from:
http://conference.pixelonline.net/ICT4LL2013/common/download/Paper_pdf/215-
ELE13FP-Bruenner-ICT2013.pdf

Chhabra, P. (2012). Use of E-learning tools in teaching English. International Journal of

Computing & Business Research. Retrieved on Disember 12 2015 from:
http://www.researchmanuscripts.com/isociety2012/9.pdf

Duffy, P. (2008). Engaging the YouTube google-eyed generation: Strategies for using Web 2.0 in
teaching and learning. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 6(2), 119-130.

Fill, K. & Ottewill, R. (2006), Sink or swim: taking advantage of developments in video streaming,
Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 43, 4, pp 397 – 408

Fleming, N.D. & Mills, C. (1992). Not another inventory, rather a catalyst for reflection. To

551
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

Improve the Academy, (11), 137-159.

Frey, B. A. & Burnbaum, D. J. (2002). Learners’ perceptions on the value of PowerPoint in

lectures. ERIC Document Reproduction Service; ED 467192.
Gunadevi K. J. S., Fathimah Pathma Abdullah & Raja Nor Safinas Raja Harun, (2013). Politechnic
students’ perceptions of YouTube usage in the English oral communication classroom.
International Journal of Asian. Retrieved on October 2015 from
http://www.pakacademicsearch.com

Kelsen, B. (2009). Teaching EFL to the iGeneration: A survey of using YouTube as supplementary
material with college EFL students in Taiwan. CALL-EJ Online, 10(2). Retrieved on July
2015 from http://callej.org/journal/10-2/kelsen.html

Klimova, B. F. & Poulova, P. (2014). ICT as a motivational tool in the learning of foreign
languages. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Educational
Technologies and Education. 53-56.

Nguyen, N. H. T. & Tri, D. H. (2014). An exploratory study of ICT use in English language learning
among EFL university students. Teaching English with Technology, (4), 32-46.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, Digital immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.

Romanelli, F., Bird, E. & Ryan, M. (2009). Learning Styles: A review of theory, application and
best practices. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Retrieved on Jun 2016
from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690881/.

Roodt, S. & Peier, D. (2013). Using YouTube in the classroom for the net generation of
students. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 10, 473-487.

Roodt, S. & De Villiers, C. (2011). Using YouTube as an innovative tool for collaborative learning
at undergraduate level in tertiary education. Proceedings of the AIS SIG-ED IAIM 2011
Conference.

Sharif, R. (2005). PC skills, English crucial, Kong tells grads. The Star Online. Retrieved on July
2015 from http://www.icdl.com.my/news.asp?news=4 (03/02/2009).

Snelson, C. (2009). Web-based video for e-learning: Tapping into the YouTube phenomenon. In
H. Yang & S. Yuen (Eds.), Collective intelligence and e-learning 2.0: Implications of web-
based communities and networking (pp.147-166). PA: IGI

Snelson, C. (2011). YouTube across the disciplines: A review of the literature. MERLOT Journal
of Online Learning and Teaching, 7(1), 159-169.

552
 International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No.1, January 2018, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

Social Science, (2013). 3(9):1962-1966 Retrieved on September 2015 from

http://www.aessweb.com/journal-detail.php?id=5007

Tan, E. & Pearce, N. (2012) Open education videos in the classroom: Exploring the opportunities
and barriers to the use of YouTube in teaching introductory sociology. Research in
Learning Technology, 19, 128-137.

Teo, T. Chai, C.S., Hung, D. & Lee, C.B. (2008b). Beliefs about teaching and uses of technology
among pre-service teachers, Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 36, no. 2, pp.
165-176.

Watkins & Wilkins, (2011). Using YouTube in the EFL classroom. Language Education in Asia,
Volume 2, Issue 1.

Web Analytics Association. (2006) Google.com tops list of college students’ favorite websites –
But only through purchase of YouTube.com. Retrieved on October 2015, from
http://www.webanalyticsassociation.org/en/releases/printview.asp?releaseid=60

553

View publication stats