YouTube as a Self-Directed Digital Learning Tool

Abstract

Although video-sharing platforms are becoming increasingly relevant in language learning contexts, there is a considerable gap in knowledge on their use in self-directed language learning during school closures at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic before classes resumed online. The findings presented here are based on a broader qualitative study involving adult multilingual learners enrolled in a non-profit ESL program. Six learners participated in semi-structured interviews through Zoom which employed open-ended questions aimed at identifying trends in students’ digital practices which may have resulted in explicit or implicit language learning. YouTube was found to be the most widely used application among those interviewed, involving implicit and explicit learning activities across all four language skills. The findings of this study support the relevance of video-based  activities in formal and informal language learning, and may be relevant to further research on the importance of students’ engagement with culturally and personally relevant content.