An investigation into the use of Podcasts to enhance EFL students' listening skills: A case study at FPT University

Abstract

Recognizing that podcasts were becoming more and more popular among EFL students, and there was a lack of research investigating the benefits of podcasts in English learning, this research aimed to explore how EFL students perceived the effectiveness of using podcasts to improve their English listening skills. The study employed a mixed-method design to gather data from both a student survey and interviews for analysis. There were 206 EFL students from FPT University who were interested in the research topic. However, the research recruited 178 eligible participants with experience in using podcasts to complete the survey. The online interviews were carried out with a random selection of 8 students. The data analysis revealed that most of the survey respondents had prior exposure to utilizing podcasts as a tool to enhance their English listening skills. The research results indicated that a majority of EFL students had positive perceptions regarding the effectiveness of podcasts in enhancing EFL listening skills. It also highlighted both the advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of podcasts as a listening learning method for EFL students. Furthermore, the students offered solutions and recommendations to enhance the future success of implementing this learning approach