English Education Students' Perceptions Of Using YouTube Videos To Improve Listening Skills

Technology has an important role in English learning, especially in listening skills. One of the digital platforms that is often used by students is YouTube which provides many English videos with audio and visual elements. This study aims to determine students’ perceptions of using English videos on YouTube to improve listening skills, how students use YouTube in learning listening, and what aspects of listening skills are improved through YouTube. This study used a descriptive qualitative method. The participants of this study were eight English Education students of UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh from the academic year of 2019. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using descriptive qualitative analysis. The results show that most students have positive perceptions of using various YouTube content, such as vlogs, interviews, and tutorials to improve their listening skills. Students feel that YouTube is easy to access, interesting, and helpful. They use YouTube by watching videos repeatedly, using subtitles, and adjusting video speed. The students also stated that YouTube helped them improve vocabulary, pronunciation, understanding, and familiarity with different accents. Therefore, YouTube can be used as a useful learning media to help students improve their listening skills.