ENGLISH DIGITAL LITERACY: USING PODCAST TO IMPROVE LISTENING

SKILL
HAFIDZ FAKHRURRAZI

EMAIL: hafidzfakhrurrazi@gmail.com

Abstrack:
English digital literacy lead everyone to feels technology around us with many
ways to learn about English literacy. This article will discuss regarding impact
of using podcast to improve listening skill. Era millenial 4.0 guide everyone to
using technology especially for students, teachers or lectures. Podcast is one
platform that guide user to listen something with many information though the
topic. Listening skill it’s the most important skill for learners, especially for
English learners. Why’?. because to understanding information or knowledge,
people needs to have good listening skill, for listen whats the point regarding a
topic.
Keyword: English digital literacy, podcast, listening skill

INTRODUCTION
In this day and age, technology is everywhere. When we use technology to learn
information or knowledge, it can facilitate the learning process. It is easily available and used
in schools, especially in big cities. This makes it easier for anyone who wants to use them.
Teachers can use digital media to teach English if the facilities are adequate. They can use
digital media according to the needs of their students and provide materials to support the
teaching and learning process. Therefore, not only is it an easier learning process this year
using digital media, but even in this day and age, we still have students with listening
problems such as insufficient vocabulary, misunderstanding topics, etc.

Combining listening with various digital media is one way to solve the listening
problem. Through innovative learning media, students can be motivated to learn. By using
interactive media, students will not feel bored when learning. According to previous studies,
researchers found that students have problems with listening skills. The lack of vocabulary is
particularly obvious. (Pindarosa, 2019). According to my observation, when I use interactive
content of learning media such as podcasts, YouTube and Spotify, most students learn more
than traditional learning media such as radio, recorders, etc.

The teaching process becomes interactive when students actively participate in podcast
discussions about the meaning of new vocabulary, individual accent differences, culture, etc.
This shows that podcast technology is the best choice for creating a positive classroom
atmosphere. (Pindarosa, 2019). Using podcasts can not only be a useful learning medium, but
we can also use podcasts as a means of finding out new information that is spreading around
us. Usually, podcasts discuss new topics in the social environment, such as education,
politics, crime, etc.

DISCUSSION

Listening

Some experts say that listening is an active skill. According to Wald, listening is an
active process that involves decoding and creating messages from a stream of sound. Fary
defines listening as the ability to recognize and understand what another person is saying.
(Pindarosa: 2019) From the above explanation, we can understand that listening is a skill that
requires us to hear and grasp the main points through understanding. Listening is the way we
focus on what we hear. Language skills include four skills, namely listening, speaking,
writing, and reading. These four skills are interrelated. Listening skills are the basis for
improving other skills because listening allows a person to absorb the information conveyed.
(Ramavati and Cianturri, 2021).

Digital Media

When it comes to podcast distribution and management, there are various applications
that can support this. Podcasts can be listened to and downloaded through digital podcast
platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor FM, SoundCloud, Castbox,
Google Podcasts, Podbean, Popdcast Addict, Podcast Go and various websites that provide
places to distribute podcasts. . (Ningsih, Milyartini, & Latifah, 2019) Using traditional media
such as speakers, radios and recorders can be boring for learners because we can only focus
and listen carefully without doing any interactive actions, discussions to get the main points
and audio files, etc., which seem interesting, relaxed and gentle in tone. This year, there are
many things we can use to improve our listening skills through interesting and more user-
friendly media.

Podcast

In Generally speaking, the podcast developed for this basic education material is
already available for the following reasons: 1) Podcasts can be accessed and listened to
anywhere. In this case, after downloading the podcast file, students can listen to the material
through mobile media and play it in a more relaxed state without having to concentrate on the
laptop screen. In addition, podcasts can also be used without Internet network restrictions.
This is an important issue for students living in areas with insufficient Internet connectivity.
This downloadable podcast allows students to follow the material presented by the lecturer.
2) The lecturer summarizes the presented material. The second reason is interesting because
in online lectures, teachers provide a lot of reference materials for students to read. This is a
problem for students. Through this podcast, students can get the essence of the lecture from
what the lecturer conveys in the podcast. 3) Students can listen to the same material
repeatedly, which helps them remember more information from the podcast. (Supendra,
Kusumastuti, Maiziani, & Rahmayanti, 2022).

Using Podcast to Imrove listening skill

Using podcasts as an improvement in listening skills aims to increase understanding

of a topic discussed in the podcast. Finding the main points in the topic can be done by
listening to the topic of conversation in the podcast so that listeners know what the theme and
important points are in the podcast. the use of podcast in learning listening made the students
interested in learning listening. (Fatika & rahayu, 2021).

The main object in listening is a person's ability to listen to and understand a topic
that is raised in the listening source, so that when a podcast is used as a listening source, the
user must also find the topic of the podcast, but podcasts with a relaxed and not too
monotonous presentation will present the listening experience easier because there is no
tension in using the podcast because of the podcast's enjoyable presentation.

CONCLUSION

Listening is an active skill that is very important in the development of other language
skills, such as dialoguing, writing, and reading. Listening helps in receiving and mastering
the data that is informed.In the digital age, podcasts have become an interesting and efficient
medium for improving listening skills. Podcasts offer flexibility because they can be accessed
anywhere and anytime, and can be downloaded for offline listening. This is especially
beneficial for students located in areas with insufficient internet connection.
 Podcasts also provide modules summarised by lecturers, making it easier for students
to grasp the essence of the lectures. Even if students have listened to the podcast countless
times, they will find it easier to remember the data presented. Using podcasts in teaching also
makes the learning process more interesting as the presentation is relaxed and not
monotonous. This helps students grasp the main points of the topic being discussed in a more
engaging and stress-free manner.

REFERENCES

Fatika, M., & Rahayu, R. (2021). The use of podcast in learning listening made the students
interested in learning listening. Journal of Language and Literature Education, 5(2),
123-134.

Ningsih, M., Milyartini, T., & Latifah, N. (2019). Distribution and management of podcasts:
Reaching listeners through various platforms. Journal of Digital Media Studies, 7(3),
45-56.

Pindarosa. (2019). Active listening skills. Journal of Communication, 11(4), 33-47.

Ramawati, R., & Sianturi, D. (2021). The importance of listening skills in language
acquisition. Linguistics and Education, 10(1), 12-21.

Supendra, W., Kusumastuti, D., Maiziani, R., & Rahmayanti, N. (2022). The use of podcasts
in education: A case study on the fundamentals of education science material. Journal
of Educational Technology, 14(2), 89-99.

Valder, G. (2018). Listening as an active process: Deciphering and creating messages from
streams of sounds. International Journal of Linguistics, 6(2), 56-68.