The 3rd IICLLTLC 2019

The 3rd Indonesian International Conference on Linguistics, Language Teaching, Literature

and Culture

VLOG: A TOOL TO IMPROVE STUDENTS‟ ENGLISH SPEAKING ABILITY AT

UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Berlinda Mandasari

University of Teknokrat Indonesia

[email protected]

Dyah Aminatun

Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia

[email protected]

ABSTRACT
The development of technology has given a wide chance for students to find out the
best media in supporting them to learn English. One of the media that can be used
is Vlog. It is a tool that enable students to create an interesting learning process
through video blog. This study is aimed at describing the process of implementing
vlog in speaking skill. In addition, this study also investigates the significance of
learning English using Vlog. The participants of this study are the second semester
students of English Education Study Program in Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia.
Instrument used in this study includes interview. The result shows that some stages
were done to make learning process successfully achieved. Vlog benefits students
in improving their English speaking ability.
Keywords: Vlog, Speaking skill, learning process

INTRODUCTION
Technology has something to do with the process of English language learning. It becomes a
mean of English learning which can be in the form of hardware and software. Equipped with
internet, technology can easily spead information to all around the world. In other words,
internet plays significant role in all fields, especially in education field.
Intergrating internet in English classroom has become popular. Internet provides
challenge for those teachers and lecturers to conduct an effective English teaching and
learning. It provides some applications that can be used by people to send message, chat,

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browse, voice note, call and video call. People can also share their stories and experiences
through internet. This activity is called as Blog.
To support English teaching and learning, blog has become a tool that quite influence
the successful in mastering English. Aydin (2014) found that blog has important role in
developing interaction between students and teachers in target language. Furthemore, blog
helps to improve students‘ speaking ability. Current videoblogs are essentially text blogs with
externally linked videos for each entry. Videoblogging offers a richer Web experience than
typical text blogging because it combines movies, sound, still images, and text, increasing the
information—and potentially emotions—shared with users. Most people who have vlogs
usually describe various topics, as examples: hobbies, tips, brief speech, and so forth. This is
one reason a vlog usually is considered as online diaries.
According to Kahler, Jacobs, Raftery and Ditnes (2017) that students are accustomed
to watching videos for their classes and coursework in colleges and universities; 68% of
students report that they watch videos in their classes. However, the suitable media used in
this research is the development of video. Harmer (2001) states that video could be supplied
simulations, not only because it could give feedback when students could be watched and
evaluate performances, but also because the presence of the video helped to make students
feel more realistic. It means video in nowadays today is teachers can use a video because it is
short or simple and also easy support in teaching and learning process.
Vlog is one of media latest technologies that opened new ways of communication
through public created media (Baran, 2007). It is clear that short segments of video blog are
more effective in the teaching learning process because the teacher can choose any part which
of certain language that will be learned and practiced by the students. If blog is writing some
information sharing on a web page, but vlog is a creative video that everyone can create then
edit as creative as possible (add images, text, sounds) then upload or share on the social
media platform as like YouTube, Facebook and others (Fiddan & Debbag, 2018). YouTube,
which is one of these platforms is a video sharing website in which the people who form
videos are included as users, that allows them to socialize through interacting other users
(Burgess & Green 2009), allowing voting and comments (Chang & Lewis, 2011), allowing
the followers to be more included in the lives of the users (Stever & Lawson, 2013).
YouTube is the website that hosts the highest number video blogs (35%) in comparison with
the other video sharing sites (Mogallapu, 2011).
In English language learning, there are four skills that need to be learned. One of them
is speaking. Speaking skill becomes an important language learning. Some elements need to
be coped with during learning speaking skill. The elements of speaking skill include
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vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, content, and fluency. Vocabulary is important to help

students in delivering idea and information. Without vocabulary, students can not meet the
objective of learning English. Grammar is important to help students deliver idea and
information using good structure of English. Moreover, good grammar helps students
understand and perceive information. Pronunciation helps students to produce good sound
and English voice. Besides, good pronunciation leads students to have a better interpretation.
Incorrect pronunciation results misunderstanding. Thus, pronunciation is considered as
important one. Content refers to the idea delivered by students. Content is also important
because it helps students to manage in delivering their ideas. The last one is fluency. Fluency
is important because it helps students in matter of production of spoken language.
Speaking becomes an important skill to learn when we consider the output that
students can communicate well using English. However, the evaluation system of speaking
sometimes being neglected. It must be in the term of how students can express their ideas by
using English. Learning to speak in English is quite challenging. This skill requires students
to master grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. It also requires them to notice the
circumstances in what way they need to produce language, why they need to produce it and
where to produce. Videoblog (Vlog) comes with the idea of providing a tool to ease students
in learning English especially in speaking skill. Teacher and lecturer must have creavity in
utilizing internet and vlog. Teachers and lecturers could also make students access their vlog
for classroom subsitution, assignments, and many more. Students are also beneficial by this
vlog. Vlog could help them to improve their English speaking ability. Students could do
better on storytelling, expressing ideas, and others. Students could also be involved in
videblog, as project assignment.
The focus of the study is to answer what are the stages in implementing vlogs to
improve students‘ speaking ability?
The objective of this study is to describe the implementation of vlog to improve
students‘ speaking ability.
This research uses descriptive qualitative design. Participants of this study is 40
students of English Education study program who enroll interactional conversation subject.
The students carry out blended learning. Within a week, students were required to attend field
trip as annual event done by the study program. This program was done in April. All students
went to a trip to Bali, Yogyakarta and Jakarta. During the trip, students were assigned to
work in a group consit of 4 students and create vlog. Then, the vlog will be dicuss in the
classroom. After that, they need to upload their vlog in Youtube channel.
Topics being discussed in the group are parts of interactional conversation subject.
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The materials covers describing tourism places and traditional cuisine from Bali, Jogjakarta
and Jakarta. Thos students who did not participate field trip, they ahd to create a vlog too.
They had to highlight local tourism and cuisine. After creating a vlog, the students will
discuss their vlog content to the lecturer. Feedback were given during the dicussion. Then,
they have to create youtube channel and upload their vlog to youtube channel.
The instrument used to collect the data was interview. The interview highlights the
students‘ activities before creating a vlog, during vlogging, and after vlogging. Besides,
interview was also be given to identify students‘ opinion toward vlogging activities. The
instruments of interview can be seen as follows:

Stages in using video blog

1. What do you do before doing vlogging?
2. What do you do during vlogging?
3. What do you do after vlogging?

Students‟ perception toward vlogging activities

1. What do you think about vlogging activities?
2. What advantages do you get after doing vlogging?
3. How is your English before and after doing vlogging?

FINDINGS & DISCUSSION

A. Implementing Vlog in improving speaking ability
Based on the result of interview, the implementation of vlogging activities has some stages.
These stages can be summarized in the table.

Vlogging Vlogging Stages Activities

activities
1. Students find out the topics that will be described
2. Students create notes toward important
information
Conceptualizing 3. Students find out references of other vlog
Before activities
vlogging 4. Students arrange the information to create good
paragraphs
1. Students determine main ideas and supporting
Brainstorming ideas of their paragraphs
2. Students read the scripts over and over
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1. Students do rehearsal before vlogging

Articlulating
2. Students record vlogging activities
1. Students listen to the recorded files
Monitoring 2. Students monitor the content, organization,
During
language usage of the recorded file
Vlogging
1. Evaluating the content, organization and language
usage
Evaluating
2. Students rerecord vlogging activities when the
meet some mistakes during vlogging.
1. Students report the result of vlogging activities to
Reporting
the lecturers.
After 1. Students upload their vlogging activities to their
Vlogging youtube channel.
Uploading

a. Before Vlogging
I. Conceptualizing

The first stage done by students before conducting vlogging activities is conceptualizing.
During this stage, students have to create a plan for vlogs. It is found that this stage would be
the hardest stages for students. According to Watkins (2017), it will be an effective way to
offer several topics to the students before vlogging activities. As described above, students
have to higlight tourism places in Bali, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta and their traditional cuisines.
It was found that topics that they might elaborate include:
 Tourism Places
 Name of the places
 Location of the places
 General information about the places
 Transportation to reach the places
 recommendation to visit the places

 Traditional Cuisines
 Name of the cuisines
 Where people can find them
 How the cuisines made
 How the taste
 The prices
 Recommendation to buy the cuisines
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Referring the outline above, the students can give detail information in their vlog.

II. Brainstorming
In brainstorming stage, the students start determining the main ideas and supporting ideas
toward paragraphs that they have already made. Then, they read the paragraph over and over.
During this stage, the students prepare themselves for a good content and organization of
their vlog.

III. Articulation
After completing the first and the scond stages, the students can continue to the third stage. It
is the stage when the students do action of vlogging. The students need to have rehearsal
before vlogging. Then, they do the vlogging. In this stage, the students can find out the best
spot to do vlogging. Besides, they can also insert some songs to make the vlog interesting.
Within this stage, the students develop their creativity and speaking ability. Moreover, the
students can also express their ideas and perform to the fullest.

IV. Monitoring
The four stage that need to be done by students is monitoring. During this stage, the students
monitor the result of their vlogging. The do group correction to meet the ideal of content,
organization and language usage. When they found any mistakes, they rerecord the vlog.

V. Evaluating
In evaluating stage, the students do correction toward their vlog. They may ask their friends
suggestion. When they find mistakes, they can redo the vlog.

VI. Reporting
In this stage, the students report the vlogs that they have already done. Then, they discuss the
content of their vlogs with their lecturer. Then, the lecturer gives comment toward the
students‘ vlog and check the content of the vlogs.

VII.Uploading
This is the last stage that the students have to do. They have to upload their vlog to their
Youtube channel. They have to create interesting description for their youtube channel so that
it can attract many subcsribers.
Overall stages can be visualized as follows:
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Figure 1. Stages in Vlogging activities

It is necessary that students can do correction and reflection toward their vlogs. In
doing so, the students are given scoring rubric that help them create good vlogs. According to
Maulidah (2017), The criteria help students meet the English language proficiency especially
for speaking skill. The criteria can be seen as follows:

Proficiency Area Evaluative Criteria

Grammar  Do the students show good progress in grammar usage?
 Do students make the same mistakes in grammar?
 Do grammar mistakes hamper students to learn English?
Content  Do students talk based on the topics given?
Fluency  Do students talk smoothly and confidently, or show awkward
poses?
 Do students talk spontaneously or read from the script?
Pronunciation  Do students make consistent pronunciation error?
 are students pronunciation hard to understand?
Vocabulary  Do students use correct word choice?

B. Students‟ perception toward vlogging activities

According to Sun (2009), it is noted that using vlogs in teaching speaking can increase
students‘ encouragement in speaking. As a public consumption, vlogs enable students to
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express their creativity, ideas, feeling, and any positive vibes. Vlogs created by students can
be used as tools to boost students‘ interest in completing spekaing task. As the students
interested, it also leads them to be motivated. Furthermore, this idea is also supported by the
result of intervew.

―I think vlogging activities are interesting. I can express my ideas and show
good places and cuisines. I hope I can do more vlogging activities‖
(Student A)

Instead of improving students‘ encouragement, it is noted that Vlogs lead students to

talk more time. In the classroom, students have to speak up their ideas with limited time.
Consequently, they can not spend more time to express their ideas. In doing so, vlogs come
with the ideas that allow students to express their ideas interestingly in more allocated time.
As a result, students are accustomed to speak up in more than normal duration. Student
responds this matter through interview session.

―When I am in the classroom, I have to speak 10 minutes telling my topics. I

am so happy because now, I know how to use Vlog. Moreover, I can speak
more to tell my topic discussion‖ (Student B)

Another significance of using vlogs in learning speaking is that vlog leads students to
be an autonomous learners. Students will be free in managing their ideas related to the topics
given. Furthermore, the students can also develop a task based learning. They can find other
vlogs samples and get the ideas to create their vlogs.

―I am thnakful for technology. Now, I can easily learn English from many
ways. Youtube helps me to learn English outonomously. Then, I can improve
my English ability by only learn others‘ people vlog. Then, I can produce
mine‖ (Student C)

Students found that there is improvement on their speaking ability. Based on the result
of interview, it is noted that their English is much better.

―I could not speak English fluently in the first semester. Then, I try to
improve my English by looking at some English materials from Youtube.
Then, I try to create vlog. I practice a lot to make my vlog interesting.
Then, I find it is nice. I practice more. Then, I get accostumed to speaking
English in front of camera. Vlogging makes my English better‖ (Student D)

Based on result and discussion above, it is noted that students carry out some stages
before vlogging, during vlogging, and after vlogging. It helps them to create the best vlog in
term of language production. This result is also supported by another research finding.
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According to Maulidah (2017), it is noted that vlog significantly improve students‘ speaking
ability. It boosts students‘ encouragement, promotes good presentation in spekaing
performance, provides auonomous learning, and enhances progress in speaking skill.

CONCLUSION
Based on the result and discussion above, it can be concluded that video blog (Vlog) is
effective in improving students‘ speaking ability. There are some stages that students use in
implementing Vlog in learning English. Through those stages, students found that Vlog
provide some advantages for students in learning English. Furthermore, students enrich their
knowledge about English vocabulary, grammar, pronununciation, and Indonesian culture.

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