Students' Voice on Learning Speaking through Podcasts in the EFL University Classroom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15642/ijet2.2026.15.1.37-54Keywords:
English as a Foreign Language (EFL), speaking, podcast, university studentsAbstract
Podcasts have recently been used as a teaching tool, including in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. While some research suggests that podcasts can improve students' oral English skills, studies on how students perceive the use of podcasts to learn, the challenges they face, and how they use them remain limited, particularly in the Indonesian context. A qualitative case study approach was used, selecting four (4) university students learning English as a foreign language as research subjects. Data were collected through interviews. Following thematic analysis (TA), the results indicate that the use of podcast media effectively supports improvements in students' speaking skills. Moreover, students demonstrated increased activeness and confidence in their speaking practice. Although some students also experienced difficulties with podcasts due to limited vocabulary and unstable internet connections, using podcasts to teach and learn speaking is recommended in language classrooms, as students can access podcast content online 24 hours a day. They engage with video and audio materials, which encourages them to practice speaking by sharing ideas, engaging in conversations, and delivering monologues. These speaking practices can be conducted both inside and outside the classroom, including through video and audio recordings. Podcasts represent a medium that integrates internet connectivity and technology, with which both students and teachers in the current era have become familiar and comfortable as part of their new lifestyle. Furthermore, podcasts are among the most authentic sources of real-life language from native speakers. Therefore, it is recommended that teachers incorporate podcasts into language teaching across a broader range of contexts.
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