The Effect of Podcast Use on EFL Students' Listening Skills and Contextual Vocabulary Mastery

Abstract

Listening comprehension and contextual vocabulary mastery remain persistent challenges for EFL learners exposed mainly to simplified classroom materials rather than authentic spoken English, as reflected in a diagnostic test at SMAS Islam Diponegoro (mean = 61.4), below the school's minimum criterion of 75. This study examined the effect of BBC Learning English - Real Easy English podcast-based instruction on Grade XI EFL students' listening skills and contextual vocabulary mastery using a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Seventy-two students were purposively assigned to an experimental group (n = 36, podcast-based instruction) and a control group (n = 36, researcher-made audio-based instruction) across five sessions. Data were collected using validated listening and vocabulary tests (Cronbach's Alpha = .79 and .84) and analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests. The experimental group showed significantly greater improvement in listening skills (Z = -3.499, p < .001) and contextual vocabulary mastery (Z = -4.257, p < .001), with medium-to-large effect sizes (r = .41-.50), and significantly outperformed the control group on both posttests (p = .006; p = .011). These findings indicate that podcast-based instruction is more effective than conventional instruction, supporting its integration into senior high school EFL teaching