Developing Listening Comprehension Through Podcasts in Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

This paper aims to present one of the possibilities of developing listening comprehension with the help of modern media – the podcast – in the process of teaching and acquiring a foreign language. Two main scientific methods were used: experiment and questionnaire. The experiment aimed to prove that using podcasts in teaching the German language positively affected students’ listening skills. We used the questionnaire to collect data about the opinions, experiences, and attitudes of students from the experimental group about using podcasts in the educational process. The target group consisted of 196 second-year bachelor students from the University of Economics in Bratislava, who took a three-semester course of vocational German. Compared to traditional teaching, we find that podcasting is an effective tool for learning foreign languages. However, students must be appropriately motivated for self-study because if they do not approach learning via podcasts with a higher level of motivation, this form does not deliver the expected goals. The students who used podcasts to supplement instruction improved their listening comprehension skills. The podcast can improve the identification of the meaning of words whose spelling and pronunciation are different. Podcasts can help to understand the content of spoken text and to gain an overall understanding of spoken words. However, as we will subsequently show in our paper, the students’ motivation to learn foreign languages is important. Podcasts can improve foreign language competencies, but the student must approach learning responsibly and prepare for classes regularly.