Using YouTube Videos to Improve Students’ Speaking Skills: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions

Speaking is acknowledged as one of the most difficult skills for English learners to develop. For this reason, many strategies have been used to develop this skill and one of which is the use of YouTube videos. Several recent studies have researched YouTube’s effectiveness to develop communicative competence. However, little research has focused on what teachers think about it. This phenomenological study examines teachers’ perspectives regarding the use of YouTube to improve students’ speaking skills. The study was conducted in a master’s program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at a University School of Languages in the southeast of Mexico. The participants in this study were five in-service Mexican teachers studying at said school. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to analyse the data obtained through the interviews. Findings seem to indicate that teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of authentic videos to develop students’ speaking skills and understand the benefits of using authentic YouTube videos. However, they are not completely aware of the different activities that can be used with videos.