The Use of Podcast Application in Learning English Listening: A Literature Review

Nurul Ayuni Hidayah

Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar
Email: nurulayunihidayah251@gmail.com

A. Introduction
English is an international language, it is definitely used all over the world.
English is divided into four skills, namely: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
However, in this paper the focus is on discussing listening. Listening is paying attention
not only to the stories just its, but also to how it is conveyed, the language and voice used,
and the other person's body language. Listening is the basic process of english skills, by
practicing skills listening means helping someone improve listening skills. Generally a
student will use language that is often heard or listened to in daily life. With listening, one
can know information submitted by others appropriately. Because a listener or good
listeners are expected to be able convey good information too. The important role of
ability Listening must be realized by every teacher language, understanding that ability
listening can be obtained spontaneously must removed. Because basically, for being a
good listener, that ability must be trained.
Creative use of media will increase the possibility for students to learn more,
embed what learn better, and improve appearance in performing skills according to the
learning objectives. Your ability to listen effectively depends on the degree to which you
perceive and understand these messages. Listening is key to all effective communication.
Without the ability to listen effectuvely, messages are easily misunderstood. Students
who improve their listening skills are more likely to feel confident, at ease, and prepared
to achieve academically. Students can learn how to express their idea by learning how to
listen. This is related to the reasons that learners who listen gain more knowledge to
reflect on and critically consider before responding.
Listening activities are divided into two, namely active listening and passive
listening. The term "active listening" is focusing on the speaker and listening to
understand but without response. Out of respect and a desire to learn, it also includes a
complete focus on the speaker with few distractions. One example of active listening in
the classroom is waiting their turn and considering what their classmates have to say
before speaking out in a class discussion. On the other hand, passive listening is similar to
working while listening. A passive listener could pay attention to the speaker only to
answer or to divert some of their concentration to another activities. That might be
passive listeners of students texting throughout the class, interrupting other classmates to
express their thoughts, or focusing on schoolwork during lecture or story time.
In teaching, the teacher usually asks the children to listen to the audio. Along with
the times, technology has been applied everywhere.In this industrial era 4.0, everything is
related to technology. Not only activities at home related to technology but also learning
activities at school. Some subjects have applied technology, especially during the current
pandemic. So came the podcast. Podcast is one of the platforms created for modern
audio listening. Podcasts make it easier for students to listen anywhere and anytime.
Because the system has episodes, and can be downloaded and can also be listened to over
and over again. Podcasts are included in the media learning in the form of audio (sound
recording) available on the internet. Podcasts are almost the same with radio broadcasts,
the difference is podcasts can be downloaded because it is available on the internet so it's
easy to listen anytime and anywhere. Use of podcasts in learning is expected to be
interesting students' attention to learning, especially learning listen. Thus the ability
listening to students can be used to the fullest possible.
The use of podcasts in learning is expected to attract students' attention to
learning, especially learning to listen. Thus, that students' listening skills can be used as
much as possible. One of the tips for listening to podcasts is to listen relaxed and focused.
So the listening teacher must create a comfortable and quiet class so that good listening
skills open up more opportunities for students to get more input about English. Listening
to podcasts can be used as a hobby to improve listening skills and can make it easier to
answer questions by the teacher.

B. Discussion
1. Function of Podcast Application
Nowadays, the process of learning and teaching has been colored by
technological developments. All facilities and infrastructure have led to modern
technology. Especially in the process of learning to teach a foreign language, namely
English. The learning platform also during this pandemic has moved to online
classes. So, podcasts are one way to initiate this problem. Moreover, learn listening
skills. In the use of podcast applications in general, there are several functions of the
podcast itself to improve some of our competencies and skills, namely:

a) Provides the same brain stimulation as reading a book

 Listening to podcasts awakens the brain to receive information in the
same way as reading a book. In addition, listening to podcasts results in the
brain producing clearer images in the mind, much more quickly and easily
than in book form.
b) Gaining new knowledge
The benefits of podcasts are not only a means of entertainment, but also
a good source of information, and play an important role in the learning
process. Through these audio recordings, we can get various information that
can be used to help improve listening skills.
c) Help to be a good listener
Since this recording focuses on listening, listening to podcasts will help
you to do more than listen to listen. Podcasts allow us to be a part of what you
keep, and trigger listening and attention. Then, we use imagination to form a
picture of the story about what we hear. Podcasts don't show ads even if you
don't subscribe. In contrast to radio, which always inserts advertisements in a
live broadcast. So, we can listen to recordings or discussions with more
comfort and focus.
2. Features of Podcasts
In addition, podcasts also have several features in the Spotify application with
the aim of making it easier for users to access the application. These features are also
always being developed because they are tailored to the needs of users. What's more,
there are so many podcast users that they are updated regularly.
These features, such as:
a. Your episode. A feature called "Your Episode" lets users tag individual
episodes from any podcast, which is then added to a new "Your Episode"
playlist.
b. Discovery. Allows users to add podcasts to their playlists and launch
music playlists and podcast combos for commuters.
c. Playlists. Playlists can contain up to 10,000 episodes, and will remain
there until manually deleted (Tech Crunch).
d. Polling podcasts and QnA. This feature will make podcasts more
interactive than ever. Podcasters can ask their listeners opinions through
the application. Listeners can immediately respond. Then, both podcasters
and listeners can see the results live. With these two features, podcasters
 have the opportunity to get feedback from their listeners or input topics
that can be considered for future podcast content.
e. Automatic podcast transcription. This feature is made to be more friendly
for those who have disabilities, especially the sense of hearing (deaf).
Podcast transcription allows users to continue enjoying the podcast by
reading the text provided.
3. The Use of Podcasts in Learning Listening
Podcasting, which started as a means of spreading information, news, and
entertainment, was discovered by educators who noticed its good potential being used
in the teaching and learning process (Adams, 2006). In teaching English, teachers or
lecturers use podcasts in listening skills lessons. Podcasts are generally used for
lengthy listening exercises that inspire students to listen to English and provide them
with the best quality exposure to native speakers' voice (Rost, 2006). Likewise,
Ashraf, Noroozi, and Salami (2011) reported "positive attitudes" from their
participants when they were told to use podcast files as listening material, and
concluded that they can be used to improve language learners' listening skills. The
sound is used in the podcast because which is the most influential instrument for
instantly connecting with the audience. L. Ducate and L. Lomicka address the effect
of podcasting as a tool for improving intermediate language learners pronunciation
skills.
Podcasts are one of the most effective methods of practicing our listening
skills. As we know that the term "English is habit", the more we get used to listening
to words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs or even text in English, the more trained our
brain abilities will be to digest the meanings in the text and improve pronunciation
skills as previously mentioned. Moreover, according to Sloan (2005), podcasting is an
innovative technique of broadcasting over the internet that may also be applied to
automatically transfer digital audio information to smart phones. Furthermore,
Constantine (2007) discussed the significance of using podcasts in efl classes at all
grades, from beginning to advanced. General listening and exposure to a new
language can be beneficial to beginners. Students at the intermediate level can access
authentic materials and also be exposed to a variety of accents, while students at the
advanced stage can choose podcast content based on their individual needs.
 While listening, podcasts also come with worksheets and transcripts. Several
websites participate with students and invite them to put in questions or feedback.
Furthermore, Cross (2014) discovered that podcasts can improve student performance
on their own. Students can improve their listening skills by providing regular
guidance and feedback on the use of podcasts. According to Ashraf, Naroozi, and
Salami (2011), podcasts have a considerable impact on the listening comprehension of
Iranian EFL sophomore students. Likewise, Hawke's (2010) research found that
listening to podcasts improved science students' scientific English listening skills
significantly.

According to (Artyushina et al, 2011; Kan, 2011), several studies have

already shown that podcasts are incredibly beneficial and easy to download episodes
that give students with relevant materials to help them widen their knowledge and
practice their listening skills. The results demonstrate that podcasts actually helped
learners to develop their knowledge vocabulary and motivated them to learn it.
Podcasts, according to Borgia (2010) and Putman & Kingsley (2012), allow students
to obtain more vocabulary and stimulate their learning at their own speed. From this
literature review, it is clear that there are uses for podcasts as tools in education. In
this paper, we would like to expand on the existing research on the use of podcasting
in teaching and learning a foreign language confirms the belief that podcasting can
help to improve listening skills.
4. The Steps In Learning Listening Through The Podcasts Application
According to (Fox, 2008), when using audio podcasts as a learning platform in
English language instruction, some of the following steps must be followed:
a) Listen in a relaxed and comfy state of mind.
b) Teachers must establish a strategy before beginning listening learning so that
students can readily understand instructions.
c) Listen to a brief audio recording.
d) Listen with the help of transcripts supplied by the teacher. This is a problem
that has to be addressed since many teachers think that using transcripts is an
impediment to learning because it is a time-consuming task. However, if
students are requested to make a transcript of one portion apiece, this can be
handled. In the case of simple transcripts, to provide a good summary of
material.
 e) Audio snippets can be used by teachers to help students practice dictation.
Many teachers found this to be an extremely beneficial training method for
highlighting and practicing grammar precision. Audio podcast samples can
also be used to gain a better understanding of how real voice differs from
formal language structure, as well as modify text trainings for further
activities.
C. Conclusion
From the results of the literature, it can be concluded that listening to English
through the use of podcast media has positive results. By using some of the advanced
features available on podcasts, it can make it easier for listeners to access the platform
because podcasts are very flexible. The effectiveness of podcasts as a listening learning
medium depends on the teacher whether the teacher is smart in choosing the best
podcasts channel, and whether the teacher is technologically agile so that he can make
good use of the platform.
In listening learning, students must focus on listening activities. So the teacher
must create a comfortable and not noisy classroom atmosphere so that students can
concentrate on listening to the episodes contained in the podcast. There are many
benefits to using podcasts in addition to listening skills. Listening to English material
through podcasts can also get you a lot of new vocabulary, different accents, and so on.
In the implementation of this learning media, schools must be supported by adequate
facilities and infrastructure.

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