An Exploratory Study on University Students’ Perceptions Toward English Learning Through Using Authentic Audio-Visual Materials

Abstract

The advantages of the use of authentic materials are well established in the foreign language classroom. The present study aims to examine Korean university students' perceptions of authentic audio-video materials in language learning. It explores how students view these materials' impact on their language acquisition and related skill development. 49 participants for this study were students from a local university in Korea, indicating an intermediate language proficiency level. They utilized authentic audio-visual materials that were freely selected for self-study as an assignment, and their learning journals were employed for the data analyses. The results showed that a total of 115 tokens of responses were observed across all categories. The most prevalent category was "Difficulty of Understanding Authentic Materials" (25.2%), followed by "Enhanced Listening Comprehension After Reading" (15.7%), and "Improvement in Listening Skills" and "Learning Content" (12.2%, respectively). It was revealed that students highlighted significant obstacles in auditory comprehension, resulted from advanced vocabulary, specialized content, rapid speech delivery, and unfamiliar accents. In addition, students displayed a process of engaging with written scripts and vocabulary study, which enhanced listening comprehension. Improvements in listening skills, vocabulary knowledge, as well as L2 pragmatic competence were also found. Pedagogical implications drawn from these results are also discussed.