Podcast-Based Learning as a Strategy for Improving English Listening Skills

Abstract

Aims: Listening has been widely regarded as a fundamental skill; however, it has often been a neglected macro skill in language acquisition in the context of one of the public schools in Ozamiz City. In an initial interview with the principal, it was revealed that no listening comprehension tests had been conducted for the students, thus this study aimed to develop podcast materials as an intervention to enhance the students’ listening skills. Study Design: This study utilized one-group quasi-experimental research design. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at a public integrated school in Ozamiz City, Philippines, which spanned for a month—in November 2024. Methodology: To address this gap, the study utilized researcher-made podcast materials as an intervention to enhance the listening comprehension of 24 Grade 8 students. The podcasts were anchored on the competencies of the second quarter of English 8 and was validated by at least 3 experts. A pretest and posttest method were administered to determine the students’ level of listening comprehension. The integration of podcast was done in six sessions covering one month. After the posttest, students were asked to assess the integration of podcast in their English lessons. Means and t-test were used to identify students’ listening comprehension levels and their significant improvement in their performance. Results: The results indicated that using podcasts as an intervention tool to address the problem was highly effective. During the pretest, out of 24 students, 18 (78%) were noted not proficient (x̄=12.95). However, the posttest scores of the students revealed a notable increase of their mean score (x̄=21) improving to be partially proficient. The t-test also revealed a significant improvement of their listening comprehension skills (P<.001) attesting the effectiveness of the integration of podcast. As assessed, students showed positive perceptions on the use of podcast in their English lesson. In terms of clarity of content (x̄=3.56), lesson engagement (x̄=3.44), and technicalities (x̄=3.08), the podcasts were very effective.  Conclusion: The study highlighted that podcasts significantly improve students' listening comprehension. It also emphasized that podcasts be seamlessly integrated to provide students with more relevant learning experience. Thus, this study recommended that private and public schools implement listening activities using podcasts to improve students’ comprehension. It was also recommended to increase the number of sessions to arrive at more empirical results.