THE EFFECTS OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO THE VOCABULARY SKILLS OF

STUDENTS: A META-ANALYSIS

Chapter 4
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter manifests the results of meta-analysis on the effects of YouTube

videos to the vocabulary skills of students. Results were discussed precisely to stand

the answer from the following questions stated in Chapter 1.

Problem 1: What conceptual framework perspective guides the review’s

selection, evaluation, and interpretation of the studies?

Two (2) theories were employed as basis for the selection of the research topic.

With the advent of new age, digital media is a promising avenue to incorporate in the

teaching and learning process. This research aimed to summarized the results of prior

studies who had evaluated the effects of YouTube videos to the vocabulary learning

and mastery of students. The concept was tied to the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia

Learning (2014) which aims to supplement teaching using multimedia materials.

Learners can create logical representation from the digital material presented to them

such as from watching YouTube videos to help discover and understand new

knowledge. Another theory developed by Laird, Sensory Stimulation Theory (1985),

stated that if multiple senses are stimulated, the learning process will become positively

enhanced. In watching videos, visuals and sounds are both received by the learners

which enabled the building of multiple pathways of awareness from senses as well as
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building more connections that makes memory retrieval on vocabulary easier and more

efficient (Mentele, 2019). The combination of these theories emphasized that the more

senses are stimulated, the more comprehension occur which supports the effectiveness

of watching online videos on the process of learning new ideas and words.

Articles gathered were selected through inclusion criteria. Only experimental

studies that had explicit findings on the effects of YouTube videos to the vocabulary

learning of students were included. The inclusion criteria consists of the authors, title,

year of publication, participants, intervention, outcomes, and statistical values,

particularly the numbers of participants, mean and standard deviation of the

experimental and the control group.

Problem 2: What are the sources of data employed for the review?

All studies found on online databases that measures the effects of Youtube

videos to vocabulary learning were analyzed in the review. Literature search was not

restricted to only published articles. All of them are currently published to online journals

with the exceptions of the studies of Zerde Duisembekova and the authors Madhubala

Bava Harji, Peter Charles Woods and Zhinoos Kamal Alavi, which were realized as

published theses while the others were formally published not sought papers.

The sources and types of data employed for meta-analysis are the recent

published articles in the World Wide Web. The researcher used the following relevant

key terms as a search engine to internalize the related data, YouTube, YouTube videos,

Vocabulary, and Vocabulary learning. The search engines used during the literature
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search were from various reliable sources such as Google Search/Chrome, Google

Scholar, ERIC, Academia, Research Gate and the Research Tools App.

Problem 3: How are the data evaluated, analyzed and synthesized in the review?

The nature of information extracted are the authors, date of publications,

participants, interventions, outcomes of the study, and the statistical value of their

studies such as mean and standard deviations. After the related literature has been

identified, the researchers read the studies and extract necessary data for analysis and

synthesis (Gough, 2007).       

By the use of RevMan 5.4, the data were evaluated, analyzed, and synthesized

in meta-analysis. It was the software used in preparing and maintaining Cochrane

Reviews. RevMan Web was designed to integrate with other systematic review software

and new features and updates which are added regularly. The necessary data included

in the RevMan are the authors, year of publication, the total number of participants, and

the resulted mean and standard deviation of the experimental and control group.

         The generated data are the weight, standardized mean difference, effect size, p-

value and the heterogeneity level. The weight indicated the weight given to each study

on how much influence it has on the overall results of the meta-analysis which was

determined by the precision of its estimate of effect and is equal to the inverse of the

variance. Standardized mean difference was used as a summary statistics in meta-

analysis when the studies all assessed the same outcome but measure it in a variety of
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ways. This expresses the size of the intervention effect in each study relative to the

variability observed in this study.

Effect size is a simple way of quantifying the difference between two groups that

has many advantages over the use of tests of statistical significance alone. Effect size

emphasized the size of the difference rather than confounding this with sample size. It is

particularly valuable for quantifying the effectiveness of the intervention. The p-value

indicated the probability of obtaining results of a statistical hypothesis test, which was

used as an alternative to rejection points that provide the smallest level of significance

at which the null hypothesis would be rejected. The lower the p-value means the greater

the statistical significance of the observed difference.

The heterogeneity test aimed to determine if there are variations between the

included studies which may not be due to chance. The I statistic is presented as a
2

percentage and represents the total validity in the studies’ effect measure which is due

to heterogeneity. These values are often placed into three categories: no/low (<25%),

moderate (25-50%) and high (50%>) heterogeneity.

Problem 4: What are the major results, limitations and implications of the review?

The table below shows the results of the 5 studies that were included in this

review. Among these, only one study has 16.2% weight, which gives the greatest

influence on the power of the study. The total std. mean difference is 1.12, and its

overall effect Z= 4.48 (P< 0.00001) indicated a very significant result that favors to the

experimental group. The results showed a high level of heterogeneity (I 2= 74%) which

means that the study was still varied in terms of its sample size, grade levels, types of
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intervention used and its implementation. This implies that the result is not conclusive.

Based on the results, using YouTube videos in vocabulary skills learning has a positive

impact to the learners. But it cannot be concluded that the evidence is sufficient enough

to prove the effectiveness of using YouTube videos in vocabulary learning and mastery

due to its high level of heterogeneity (I2=74%) because the study is still varied.

Table 1. Results of the Meta-Analysis

The figure below shows the effect of YouTube videos in vocabulary skills learning

and mastery. It is evident in the graph that using YouTube videos in vocabulary learning

and mastery has a positive impact compared to the traditional way of teaching that does

not integrate YouTube videos. The black diamond denotes the total std. mean

difference. It implies the overall effect size of the study which favors the experimental

group because the horizontal line (95% CI) did not cross the line of null effect.
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Figure 2. Forest Plot on the Comparison of the Two Variables

There were various limitations of the meta-analysis in gathering data. The data

gathered were limited to six (6) published studies only which provided complete

statistical results including standard mean difference that showed the effectiveness of

YouTube videos in vocabulary learning and mastery.

The review showed an explicit need to integrate into a more technological

advanced way of vocabulary learning and mastery through YouTube videos. Based on

the results of this review, the researchers can agree with Shehadeh and Farrah (2016)

who concluded that the inclusion of videos from YouTube made a relevant effect on the

improvement of student’s ability to recognize and understand the target vocabulary

comprehensively rather than the traditional method of teaching. Therefore, it is

suggested for further research since Duisembekova on 2014 concluded that streaming

appropriate YouTube videos such as songs is effective in catching the children’s

attention and interest when learning vocabulary. Likewise, Hakimi and Koosha indicated

that utilizing videos from YouTube had a positive influence on the student’s ability in
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learning vocabulary versus the traditional method done by the teachers. These results

proposed a necessary and contemporary technological adaptation in the field of

education in order to acquire lessons in a more effective. Learning and mastery on

vocabulary can become a more comprehensible and effective way through the inclusion

of YouTube videos. Creative visuals and audio can attract learners’ interest more

nowadays. Added to that, YouTube’s popularity and availability aids greatly in the lives

of the students much more during this time of pandemic where home-schooling was

preferred.