Students’ Voices on the Use of YouTube in Enhancing Lexical Competence among EFL Learners at Le Hoang Chieu High School

Abstract

This study investigates how EFL (English as a Foreign Language) high school students in Vietnam perceive the use of YouTube to enhance their lexical competence. Using a mixed-methods approach to address the research questions, the study was conducted with the participation of 60 students at Le Hoang Chieu High School in Vinh Long Province. The results gained from a detailed analysis of a survey and eight semi-structured interviews indicated that high school students found YouTube to be an effective tool for vocabulary learning. Moreover, the students emphasized that teacher guidance for valuable videos and brief videos with subtitles was critical for effective use of YouTube. The study encourages high school teachers to integrate YouTube into their instruction and suggests future research on high school teachers’ perspectives on the use of YouTube in their teaching and the effectiveness of other social media in language learning.