Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the related literature and studies after a complete

understanding on the research findings done by the researchers. These are significant

studies that will be used as resources which are conducted by several authors who

indicated the effectiveness of YouTube media in cultivating Vocabulary skills.

One study conducted by Madhudbala Bava Harji, Peter Charles Woods, and

Zhinoos Kamal Alavi on 2010 focused on the effectiveness of viewing English subtitles

videos on the EFL learner’s vocabulary learning. The participants were 92 Iranian

degree university students studying Translation at Islamic Azad University of Mashhad,

Iran. Having set two homogenized groups on the basis of their English language

proficiency level, each was randomly assigned to be control group (consist of 47

students) and treatment group (consist of 45 students). They were given two different

instructions, one practicing instructional video episodes with subtitles and the other

without subtitles. Their vocabulary learning was tested by a Content Specific Test

(CST). The mean scores of the two groups were compared through a t-test. The

findings illustrated that participants viewing the videos with subtitles could obtain a

significantly higher mean score of the CST vocabulary tests than that of the ones who

viewed the videos without subtitles. The findings of this research can get educators well

informed of the effectiveness of subtitles on EFL learners’ better vocabulary learning

with the Mean and Standard deviation results of control group (Mean =31.79,

Std.=13.983) and treatment group (Mean =46.20, Std.= 9.385).

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After four years, the thesis was studied further by the same researchers on 2014.

They published the study entitled “Captioned Instructional Video: Effects on Content

Comprehension, Vocabulary Acquisition and Language Proficiency”. This time the

intervention was done to 92 EFL students through exposure to 30 episodes of Connect

with English videos, content specific test & Michigan English Test. Results presented

similar significance that the experimental group outperformed the control group based

on the values obtained recorded as experimental group (M= 19.13 SD= 3.18) and

control group (M= 17.04 SD= 3.53).

Another study conducted by Abidin, Mohamad, Singh,Azman and Souriyangosa

entitled “Effectiveness of Using Songs in YouTube to Improve Vocabulary Competence

among Upper Secondary School Studies” on 2011, used a quantitative and qualitative

method with respondents from a government run Secondary School located in Kedah,

Malaysia. The study investigated whether learners exposed to songs using YouTube

would experience a change in vocabulary competence compared to those exposed to

traditional teacher-fronted approach. The participants are Secondary level learners with

34 students belong to experimental group whom exposed to songs using YouTube

videos and 34 students in the control group who were exposed to traditional teacher-

fronted method. The study utilized the vocabulary set and journal entries all throughout

the six weeks’ time period of the treatment for a total of 12 sessions. The result showed

that there was a significant difference between the scores of the experimental group

(M=7.971 SD=17.96) compared to the control group (M=0.853 SD=6.738).This suggest

that using songs on YouTube offered statistically significant effect to improve

vocabulary competence among upper secondary school studies.

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Meanwhile, a study which involved the participants to elementary learners and

was conducted by Duisembekova on 2014 entitled “The Use of English Songs on

YouTube to Teach Vocabulary to Young Learners”. The researcher used a mix of

qualitative and quantitative method in gathering and analyzing the data. The participants

include 73 students from 4 th grade at Primary State School in Ankara, Turkey. There

were 37 students for experimental group who were exposed to 6 YouTube video-songs

and 36 students for control group who were provided with course and activity books.

The researchers provided vocabulary test. And the results showed a significant

difference between the experimental group who scored a mean value of 53. 77 and the

control group with mean value of 30.73. The researchers concluded that streaming

YouTube video-songs is effective in catching the children’s attention and interest when

learning vocabulary.

Furthermore, Iman I A Shehadeh, Mohammed A A Farrah entitled “The

Effectiveness of Using Children's Songs in Developing Elementary Graders' English

Vocabulary and Pronunciation in Jerusalem, Palestine” on 2016. This study aimed on

investigating the effect of using children's songs in developing the elementary graders'

vocabulary and pronunciation. It also aimed to investigate teachers' attitudes towards

the use of songs in their English classes. The participants were 123 EFL students of the

fourth grade; 72 females and 51 males. Arabic is their native language. Both groups are

from four private schools in Jerusalem; two groups for boys, and two groups for girls.

One boys’ school and one girls’ school were chosen to be the experimental group

consisting of 58 participants, while the other boys’ and girls’ schools were chosen to be

the control group consisting of 65 participants. Study data were collected via students'
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pre and post tests and teachers' questionnaire. Exams results showed that students

have improved their vocabulary and pronunciation due to the use of songs in learning.

Questionnaire results showed that teachers have positive attitudes towards the use of

songs in their classes as songs have positive effects in increasing students'

achievement, interest and motivation. Finally, results revealed that students'

achievements were not affected by gender but of the intervention applied.

Another study conducted by Ahmad Reza Hakimi and Mansoor Koosha entitled

“The Effect of Watching English Language Videos on Iranian EFL Learners' Cultural

Awareness and Incidental Vocabulary Learning” on 2016 explored the effect of watching

foreign language (FL) videos to improve the EFL learner’s incidental vocabulary

learning. two intact classes, taught by same instructor were considered as the two

groups of the study. The participants were 70 Iranian EFL learners with 35 on the

experimental group who have been exposed to the watch the videos during five

sessions, and 35 on the control group who did not have the opportunity to watch the

videos. The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale and Oxford Placement Test were

administered as instruments. It is a qualitative study that uses TED videos a YouTube

channel as part of the intervention process. Five (5) TED videos were chosen in the

study because they are freely available online and speakers have a clear structure of

their approaches and use of appropriate vocabularies. Base on the result, the paired t-

test showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group.

With the grand mean of 16.771 on the experimental and 2.514 on the control and

standard deviation of 4.863 on the experimental and 12.299 on the control group. This
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shows that watching FL videos significantly promoted the EFL learners incidental

vocabulary learning.

Recent studies have also shown significant influence to our topic including the

study entitled “Vocabulary Acquisition through Multimedia in an Iraqi EFL Context” on

2021 which was authored by Suaad Abdul Ameer Meteab and Saadiya Wudaa

Alquraishy. The study adapted a non-randomized pre-post-test control designed. It

was stated that sample is composed of 50 EFL learners at intermediate level. They

were divided into two groups, 25 were controlled who received traditional instruction

method of teaching vocabulary, while 25 students were stand as experimental group

who taught vocabulary by watching YouTube. The researchers used the pre-test and

post-test instrument to assess students vocabulary acquisition and collected were

compared. The paired differences of two groups showed that there was a significant

differences between the control (m=2.440) and the experimental (m=11.960). This

indicates that YouTube videos had a positive influence on the student’s ability in

acquiring vocabulary versus the traditional method done by the teachers.

And the latest study conducted by Mik Mohd Rahimi, Nurfarahin Nasri and Siti

Samihah entitled “Promoting Digital Learning Environment in Arabic Langauge

Education: The Use of Animated Video (AV) for Vocabulary Acquisition among

Primary School Student” was published on 2021. The study participants are 4 th

grade students who studies Arabic as foreign language. Forty six (46) students

were grouped into experimental (23) and control (23). The researchers used
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Animated Video for the treatment group while the control group underwent a

learning session with a conventional classroom teaching. Each group received 2

and 30 minutes lesson per week. The study results showed that experimental

group with mean 86.06 and SD 10.86 outperformed the control group with mean

80.53 and SD 15.48. Results implies that using animated videos (AV) for learning

the Arabic language can create a thriving digital learning environment for

students to increase their knowledge and comprehension with the Arabic

vocabulary and improving their language overall proficiency skills.

These studies are the basis to obtain an in-depth understanding on the

effectiveness of integrating YouTube videos which got the interest of the students in

improving their vocabulary learning through multiple senses attractions since the all of

the studies’ results shown significant achievement after the treatment was implemented

on the learners.