Exploring the impacts of PowerPoint presentation on English major students’ engagement and learning

PowerPoint presentations have become a commonly used instructional medium in university classrooms, including English language teaching. This study examined English-major students’ perceptions of PowerPoint use in relation to classroom engagement and learning at the Department of English Language and Literature, Kabul University. A quantitative descriptive survey design was employed. From a target population of 221 undergraduate students, 143 students were selected. Data were collected through a structured online questionnaire distributed via Google Forms. The instrument was adapted from an existing measure and comprised 24 items organised around two dimensions: classroom engagement and learning. Responses were measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Content validity was assessed through review by two departmental experts, while a pilot study involving 20 students produced a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.83. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, were used to summarise the data. The results showed an overall mean of 3.89 (SD = 0.94) for engagement and 3.89 (SD = 0.90) for learning. Within engagement, the highest mean was recorded for ease of following and understanding presentations (M = 4.19, SD = 0.69), whereas the lowest related to the need for extensive note-taking (M = 3.64, SD = 1.04). For learning, reviewing key points received the highest mean (M = 4.23, SD = 0.69), followed by clarity and readability of slide text (M = 4.21, SD = 0.68). The lowest learning-related mean concerned presentations preventing boredom (M = 3.72, SD = 1.04). Overall, students held generally positive perceptions of PowerPoint use for engagement and learning.