Students’ Perceptions Towards the Use of Podcasts in Listening Class

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe the students' perceptions towards the use of podcast in listening and their problems toward this media. The research type was case study in qualitative research method. The data from this research are collected from the questionnaire and interview. The subjects of this research were learners from 3 rd and 5 th semester English Education Study Program, which focused on Interpretive Listening and Extensive Listening classes. Questionnaires were distributed to 115 students in listening classes and interview data were obtained from 10 students' representatives who were samples of this study. The result of this research found that: (1) the students have an enjoyment in using podcast in listening class, because podcast is easy to use. Students agreed that podcast could help them in learning listening and they have willingness in using podcast as an alternative way to learn listening, and podcast also motivated them because it engaged their interest. The content of the podcast and clear native pronunciation derived from podcast could hone their skills especially listening and speaking skill. Besides, most of the students also agreed that podcast was easy to get since there are many podcasting websites available on the internet. (2) the problem that the students encountered in using podcast was the length of podcast too long for them. Because of that, students might feel bored and lose their focus when listening to the podcast.