Leveraging YouTube Visual Storytelling for Fostering Richer Reading and Writing Proficiency by Foreign Language Undergraduates

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to explore, through a comprehensive analysis of experimental and survey data, how foreign language students utilize YouTube's storytelling features to enhance their reading and writing skills. Specifically, the study investigates the strategic potential of YouTube's storytelling components in improving the reading and writing proficiency of foreign language undergraduates, who were divided into control and experimental groups. Methods: A total of 48 undergraduates participated in the experiment, while 91 undergraduates took part in the survey. Initial findings from the pre-test indicated comparable performance levels on reading and writing tests between the two groups before the integration of YouTube visual storytelling into the curriculum. Following the trial, identical achievement tests were administered to both groups four days later to assess any differences in their utilization of YouTube technology. Subsequently, the average post-test scores of the groups were compared using a t-test for independent samples. Results: The results of the post-test revealed significant differences in total test scores, with the experimental group exhibiting notably higher performance levels compared to the control group at a significance level of 0.05. Conclusion: This underscores the positive impact of teaching reading and writing through YouTube on foreign language students' academic performance. Furthermore, the survey findings indicated that participants strongly believed that these tools contributed to enhancing their proficiency in reading and writing in a foreign language.