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23Exploration of Audiovisual Method: The Role of Transcribed Podcasting on Enhancing Reading and Listening
Comprehension
Mohammad Ahmed Abdulaziz Alzoubi Zarqa University, Jordan
Abstract: This paper examines whether transcribed podcasting has a positive influence on the reading and listening comprehension of EFL students. Transcribed podcasting is an audiovisual method used to reinforce learners' language comprehension of both skills (reading and listening). This method requires access to specific aids to support the study plan. Audiovisual aids help students to grasp verbal and nonverbal cues. Therefore, this study examines the influence of the audiovisual role as a part of a teaching classroom. The study was conducted with 30 participants, ranging in age from 18 to 25. The participants were divided into two groups at random: experimental and control. The experimental group received transcribed podcasting, while the control group did not. Both groups were given pre-and post-tests to assess their reading and listening comprehension abilities. The assessments were conducted using standardised reading and listening comprehension examinations. The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to answer the research question. In addition, the study included (30) Saudi undergraduate students (females) at King Saud University. The results statistically show that there is a positive influence of audiovisual materials using transcribed podcasting on both skills reading and listening comprehension. The results showed that the audiovisual method has a significant impact on enhancing EFL learners in the input areas such as reading and listening comprehension.
Keywords: listening comprehension, reading comprehension, podcasting, transcribed podcasts, English language as a foreign language
1. Introduction
Recent years have shown a widespread adoption of various multimedia technologies to be used in the classroom to improve the learning experience through the incorporation of technology. Podcasting is one of these new technologies that has received several attention due to its benefits in educational situations by helping students improve their listening and speaking abilities (Gunderson & Cumming, 2022). The audiovisual method, which utilizes both visual and auditory cues to facilitate learning, has been widely acknowledged as a successful strategy for acquiring a new language (Mutlu-Bayraktar et al., 2019). The simultaneous presentation of visual and
auditory information also improves material comprehension and retention because it enables learners to process information through a variety of sensory pathways (Dong, et al., 2021). In addition, the audiovisual method of language learning has proven particularly helpful for enhancing listening comprehension because it gives learners visual signals that can help them decode spoken language (Vandergrift & Goh, 2012).
The benefits of the audiovisual method in language learning present themselves by podcasting as a form of audiovisual media. Podcasts, or digital audio recordings that may be downloaded and listened to at a user's convenience, are becoming increasingly popular (Besser et al., 2021). Podcasts can also be supplemented by transcriptions, which provide a written record of the spoken content, allowing learners to engage with both auditory and visual information at once (Saeedakhtar et al., 2021).
The literature shows that podcasting in language learning improves listening comprehension and vocabulary acquisition (Rockhill et al., 2019). Given the potential benefits of mixing auditory and visual cues in the learning process, this knowledge gap underlines the need for more investigation in this area. Further, language learning using audiovisual means has received a lot of attention in recent years. Due to their portability and ease of use, podcasts, in particular, have gained popularity among language learners (Gunderson & Cumming, 2022). The efficiency of podcasts in improving language proficiency, particularly reading and listening comprehension, is still debatable.
The use of audiovisual techniques for improving learning has also gained popularity. Podcasting that has been transcribed is one such way since it combines the strengths of both audio and text-based learning ((Fachrunnisa et al., 2023). Learners can follow along with the relevant text transcript while listening to an audio recording of a lecture or presentation using transcription podcasts. The availability of different entry points can aid learners in gaining a deeper understanding of the subject. Learners can use it to improve their listening comprehension abilities. It has the potential to help learners improve their reading comprehension abilities. Learners with disabilities may find it easier to engage in learning as a result (Goh & Vandergrift, 2021).
1.1. Problem statement
Language learners need to have strong reading and listening comprehension skills, and these two skills are frequently intertwined. This is especially true for pupils' ability to comprehend spoken language, an area in which many students exhibit significant difficulty. Podcasts have been demonstrated to improve listening comprehension, but some learners may find it difficult to follow along due to the lack of visual clues. Transcribing podcasts can give learners a textual guide to follow along with, enhancing their comprehension ability. However, there has not been sufficient research on this method's efficacy, especially not among Saudi undergraduates. The value of transcribed podcasting in enhancing reading, listening, and comprehension ability is
yet understudied. This study aims to look at the impact of transcribed podcasting on Saudi undergraduate students' reading, listening, and comprehension skills.
1.2. Research Question
The study attempts to answer the following question:
1. Does transcribed podcasting boost listening and reading comprehension among Saudi undergraduate students?
1.3. Significance of the study
The current study aims to fill this void by analyzing the effects of transcribed podcasting on the reading and language comprehension skills of podcast learners. In particular, the study will look at how well-transcribed podcasts compare to standard listening activities and reading materials for improving these skills. The study will thus contribute to the expanding body of literature on the use of technology in language learning and offer insightful information about the possible benefits of the audiovisual method in this context.
1.4. Delimitation
The participants in this study were 30 female Saudi undergraduate students at King Saud University. The results of the study are limited to the use of its instrument and the data obtained from the participants. The study also was performed during the academic year 2022-2023.
2. Literature Review
Students' ability to understand what they hear is really important when learning English. It means paying attention and making sense of what people say. This means being able to understand and learn the words, sentences, and sounds of a language, which can make any student better at listening. Listening comprehension is when people understand what they hear in spoken language. There are five big problems in understanding what someone is saying. The listener does not have control over how fast the speaker talks, the words are not repeated, unless the teacher plays the audio again, not knowing some words makes it hard for learners to understand, and it is difficult to picture things without video or pictures, and boring things to listen to make it hard to pay attention (Hasan, 2010).
Reading is also a challenging skill most students face when learning English as a foreign language. Experts who study reading have struggled to accurately and effectively describe reading comprehension. As a result, many different ideas and theories have been suggested in recent years. These models can be broad or specific and show how different comprehension parts work together (Fuchs et al. 2018). Reading involves several mental processes like being able to read words, remembering information, making educated guesses, keeping track of how well you understand, knowing words, and what you already know about the topic (Elleman, 2017). Reading comprehension is a complex skill that involves different parts of understanding.
In this current era, being able to speak English is fundamental for individuals to communicate with the worldwide community. To assist students in learning listening and reading skills, there are numerous sorts of innovations available to teachers and students, such as podcasts (Hanks, 2022). The podcast, an uploading sound or video file to the web, has risen as a sources within the scholastic field, and it gives numerous sorts of help in learning. The podcast may be a recorded audio/video record transferred to the website, so the site visitor can download it openly and tune in to it afterwards time (Karlgren, 2022).
The literature provides evidence that using podcasting and its transcription could help in solving several issues related to listening and reading. The relationship between transcribed podcasting and the improvement of reading and listening comprehension skills, however, has received scant attention. Given the potential benefits of mixing auditory and visual cues in the learning process, this knowledge gap underlines the need for more investigation of this area (O'Bannon et al., 2011; Carraro & Trinder, 2021). Several new kinds of multimedia resources that can be used to improve the learning process have emerged as a direct result of the rapid development of technology in recent years. For its potential to enhance students' listening and speaking abilities, podcasting has received a lot of attention among these technologies (Kaplan et al., 2020).
Moreover, the podcast gives numerous models of talking execution (e.g., meet, discourse, discussion and report). Furthermore, the development of podcast for English Language Teaching has given a different substance as well, which help either instructor or pupils to make different exercises and steps in the learning process (Rizky Widodo, & Gunawan, 2019). The Internet has a variety of podcasts on different topics and most of these podcasts are transcribes. The use of transcribed videos and podcasts became popular among teachers due to its importance in helping students follow up with the listening material. When students listen and see the words at the same time, it provides them with the ability to understand how some words are pronounced.
The adequacy of podcast-based tuning in aptitude advancement lies in its capacity to uncover audience members to real-life dialect input. Podcasts imbue learning with agreeable and positive sound substance, contributing to improved dialect procurement (Indahsari, 2020). They help learners in sharpening their tuning aptitudes, empowering rehashed engagement with engaging content. Podcasts are an inventive expansion to online learning, serving different purposes such as different listening experiences, cultivating networks inside courses, and encouraging talk (Shah Ahmad Shahrizal et al., 2022).
Agreeing with Harahap (2020), podcasts empower understudies to ponder, especially in an e-learning setting. Compared to conventional tuning in recordings instructors commonly utilize, podcasts provide students with more noteworthy
preferences and energy. As a result, to permit students to choose their podcasts and tune in to them on their possess gadgets, it would be best for instructors to incorporate podcasts in classroom exercises. Another primary advantage of podcasts is that they permit students to personalize their learning exercises by choosing their tuning-in materials depending on their learning methods.
Learners have the option to engage with both auditory and visual information simultaneously through transcription podcasting, which involves delivering written transcripts alongside audio content. The audiovisual method, which utilizes both forms of interaction, is often regarded as an efficient means of acquiring a new language (Mayer, 2009). The simultaneous presentation of visual and auditory information has been found to improve material comprehension and retention because it enables learners to process information through a variety of sensory pathways (Saeedakhtar et al., 2021).
2.1. Previous Studies
Saeedakhtar et al. (2021) discovered that ESL learners' listening comprehension significantly increased after using transcribed podcasts. In a similar vein, Yeh et al. (2021) found that learners' reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition were improved by the inclusion of transcribed podcasts in a language course.
Bozorgian and Shamsi (2022) explored what happens when adults use podcasts on their own to learn a language. The researchers wanted to see if using a special way of metacognition would help improve their understanding when listening to the podcasts. Their findings showed that people who learn languages on their own can gain many benefits from listening to podcasts. Additionally, the students have a good attitude towards learning how to listen using metacognitive strategies. Their findings also showed that using technology for listening practice was very helpful for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners.
In Malaysia, Yaacob et al. (2021) explored how students in Year 4 of primary school can improve their listening skills using YouTube and video podcasts. Their study used several ways to collect information tests before and after, thinking, watching, and interviews with 40 students. The results showed that when Primary ESL students used YouTube and Video-Podcast, it helped them improve their ability to understand what they heard. The listening comprehension scores improved a lot from the beginning to the end. Using these technologies made the students participate more and understand better helped them work together as a team and made them more interested and motivated to learn.
In Iran, Bakhsh and Gilakjani (2021) investigated whether podcasts can improve the listening skills of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at an intermediate level. Seventy students who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL) were chosen because of how well they did on the Oxford Placement Test (OPT).
The information was examined by using different statistical tests called Independent and Paired Samples T-tests. According to the numbers, it was found that the listening skills of Iranian EFL students in the middle level improved significantly through podcasting. The results also showed that there was a noticeable difference in the scores after the tests between the group that didn't change anything and the group that tried something new.
Prastyo et al. (2023) examined how students in the English Department of Universitas Bandar Lampung feel about using podcasts to improve their listening skills. The participants were 34 students from the English Department at the university. The results show that students' listening skills improve when podcasts are used as a way of learning. Therefore, students' opinions about using podcasts to improve listening skills showed improvements in how well they work and how unique they are.
In conclusion, the investigation of the relationship between podcasting and improving reading and listening comprehension abilities provides a viable path for understanding the potential benefits of mixing auditory and visual stimuli in the learning process. This study aims to contribute to the development of effective teaching strategies that capitalize on the benefits of the audiovisual method by building on previous research and filling in gaps in the literature regarding the role of transcribed podcasting in the language learning process in the context of Saudi Arabia.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research Design
This study used a quasi-experimental design. It included a two-part exploratory design to investigate the role of transcribed podcasting in enhancing reading and listening comprehension ability. The data was analyzed quantitatively, with two experimental tests given to the study sample, one before experimenting and one after to measure students' progress.
3.2. Sampling
The study included 30 female Saudi undergraduate students from King Saud University. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups: a control group and an experimental group. The control group listened to a lecture without a transcript, while the experimental group listened to a lecture with a transcript.
3.3. Instrument of the study
Part 1: Pre-Test
Before the experiment, participants were given a pre-test to assess their baseline reading and listening comprehension ability. The pre-test consisted of two parts: a reading comprehension test and a listening comprehension test. The reading comprehension test consisted of a short passage followed by multiple-choice questions. The listening comprehension test consisted of a short podcast episode followed by
multiple-choice questions. The total number of questions in both parts was 20 multiple-choice questions.
Part 2: Experimental Phase
The experimental group listened to a podcast episode while following along with a transcript. The control group listened to the same podcast episode without a transcript. After listening to the podcast, both groups were given a comprehension test consisting of multiple-choice questions.
Part 3: Post-Test
After the experimental phase, participants were given a post-test to assess their reading and listening comprehension ability. The post-test was identical to the pre-test.
3.3.1. Validity and reliability of the instrument
The validity of the test was checked by presenting it to a group of judges from university professors specialized in English language. the experts provided their input on the questions. The researcher then modified the questions based on their review.
To ensure the reliability of the instrument, a test was performed on a pilot sample from outside the main sample of the study. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated for the internal consistency, and the total score was (0.70), which is an acceptable value.
3.4. Data Analysis
The data was quantitatively analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data was summarized using descriptive statistics, while the study hypothesis was tested using inferential statistics. Mean scores were compared between the experiment and control groups using the independent samples t-test.
4. Results
The study's key research question was: Does transcribed podcasting improve listening and reading comprehension among Saudi undergraduate students? The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to answer this question. To summarize the data, descriptive statistics were used, while inferential statistics were used to test the study hypothesis. The independent sample t-test was used to compare mean scores between the experimental and control groups as shown in the following table.
Table 1.
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
Listening Comprehension Reading Comprehension
Group Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
Experimental 78.5 (9.2) 76.3 (8.4)
Control 65.2 (7.6) 63.1 (6.9)
According to descriptive statistics, the experimental group which was exposed to transcribed podcasting had higher mean scores in both listening and reading
comprehension (M=78.5; SD=9.2) (M=76.3; SD=8.3) respectively, whereas the control group, which did not receive the intervention, had lower mean scores in both listening and reading comprehension (M=65.2; SD=7.6) (M=63.1; SD=6.9) respectively. This shows that using transcribed podcasting improved the students' comprehension abilities.
Table 2.
Independent Samples t-test Results
Comparison t-value df p-value Effect Size (Cohen's d)
Listening Comprehension 6.87 30 < 0.001 1.38
Reading Comprehension 6.52 30 < 0.001 1.31
According to the results in Table 2, the experimental group outperformed the control group in both reading and listening comprehension abilities. The effect size (Cohen's d) for listening comprehension was 1.38, and the t-value was 6.87 with a p-value of 0.001. The reading comprehension t-value was 6.52, with a p-value of 0.001 and an effect size (Cohen's d) of 1.31. These results suggest that transcribed podcasting is an excellent strategy for improving both reading ability and listening comprehension.
5. Discussion
According to the results of this study, transcribed podcasting results can be a useful approach for boosting reading and listening comprehension abilities. The use of transcribed podcasting can provide learners with the opportunity to engage with actual language input, which can aid in the development of comprehension abilities. The results of this study also imply that transcribed podcasting can be an effective technique for language teachers to incorporate into their classrooms. These results agree with previous research conducted on the use of podcasting in teaching language skills (Saeedakhtar et al., 2021; Bozorgian & Shamsi, 2022; Yaacob et al., 2021; Prastyo et al., 2023). These studies indicated the importance of using podcasting and its role in improving the listening and reading skills of English language students.
According to the findings of this study, transcribed podcasting can successfully enhance students' listening and reading comprehension skills (Besser, Blackwell, & Saenz, 2021; Gunderson & Cumming, 2022). The experimental group's significant improvement in performance supports the use of audiovisual approaches in educational settings. The use of transcribed podcasting can provide learners with the opportunity to engage with actual language input, which can aid in the development of comprehension abilities. The study's findings have significant implications for language teaching and learning, implying that transcribed podcasting can be a helpful tool for language teachers to incorporate into their teaching practices.
6. Conclusion
This study investigated the use of podcasting in boosting listening and reading skills among EFL Saudi students. The findings showed that transcribed podcasting was
an effective strategy for improving comprehension skills among Saudi undergraduate students. The results statistically show that there is a positive influence of audiovisual materials using transcribed podcasting on both skills reading and listening comprehension. The results showed that the audiovisual method has a significant impact on enhancing EFL learners in input areas such as reading and listening comprehension. It is suggested that teachers use this strategy in their teaching strategies to enhance students' listening and reading abilities. More research should examine the long-term impacts of transcribed podcasting and its relevance to different student populations and educational settings.
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