PERCEPTIONS ON THE ROLE OF YOUTUBE IN IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Abstract: This study investigated the attitudes of undergraduate students in Malaysia regarding the use of YouTube as a tool to enhance their speaking skills. A quantitative research instrument in the form of a 5-point Likert Scale survey questionnaire, adapted from Alkhatiri (2019), was used. The survey was administered to a sample of 30 undergraduate students who were currently enrolled in the English for Presentation Skills (ELC590) course at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). The purpose of the survey was to gather information regarding the perceptions of these students regarding the impact of YouTube on enhancing English speaking abilities. The data was examined using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 27, employing descriptive analysis to calculate the mean, standard deviation, and ANNOVA. The results indicated that YouTube is considered to be a highly successful online medium for enhancing speaking skills, as evidenced by an average score of 4.05 in the current study. The ANOVA analysis revealed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the association between attitudes and the usefulness of YouTube. This indicates a strong connection between attitudes and the usefulness of YouTube, and improvements in one area directly benefit the other. Therefore, it can be concluded that YouTube is a good resource for learning English, since it increases student motivation and engagement by utilising YouTube to improve speaking abilities among undergraduate students in Malaysia. Keywords: Perceptions; YouTube; Speaking skills; Attitudes; Usefulness of YouTube