YouTube Videos Support Descriptive Writing Skills in Junior High School

Abstract

General Background: Writing is a fundamental skill in English language learning, yet it poses persistent challenges for students, particularly in constructing descriptive texts. Specific Background: The integration of digital media, such as YouTube, offers a potential solution to enhance writing instruction by providing engaging and accessible content. Knowledge Gap: However, there remains limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of YouTube as a medium for improving descriptive writing skills among junior high school students. Aims: This study aims to investigate the impact of YouTube video content on students’ ability to write descriptive texts. Results: Utilizing a quantitative pre-experimental design involving a pre-test and post-test, the study revealed a significant improvement in students’ writing performance. The post-test average score (88.6) exceeded the pre-test score (78.6), and the t-test result (-10.247 > 2.085) confirmed the statistical significance of this difference. Novelty: This study contributes novel insights into the use of the “Easy English” YouTube channel as a practical instructional tool specifically targeted at enhancing descriptive text writing. Implications: The findings suggest that YouTube can be effectively incorporated into English language pedagogy to improve students' writing abilities, thereby supporting the development of media-enriched learning environments at the junior high school level.

Highlights : 

• YouTube enhances students’ descriptive writing performance.

• Pre-experimental design shows significant score improvement.

• Digital media supports engaging English instruction.

Keywords : YouTube, Descriptive Text, Writing Skills, Junior High School, Language Learning 

Introduction

In the study by Wulandari, et. al. [6], students competency in composing descriptive texts remained deficient. There were other causes for the low performance, including students' lack of engagement in the classroom and significant vocabulary and grammar issues during the writing process. In addition, it was frequently difficult for students to identify concepts that they needed to write. The reason for this is that the instructor would typically offer clarifications and illustrations from the students' books. Students didn't ask insightful and engaging questions about the content they didn't acquire. Therefore, as they were learning writing skills, students needed more media to help them acquire topics and more material to acquire grammar and vocabulary. Students' enthusiasm in learning to write can be increased by using media. The researchers chose YouTube videos as their media source. Using YouTube videos, the researcher and the English teacher worked together to conduct an observational study on the students' constant contact in the teaching and learning of descriptive language. According to the findings, using YouTube videos could increase students' involvement in the process of learning how to create descriptive writings. As noted by Bulqiyah, et. al. [7]issues with essay writing courses stem from the views of both students and lecturers. Based on the data collected, most students defined that their apparent lack of enthusiasm in and assurance regarding their writing prevented them from being intrinsically motivated to participate in writing classes, which prevented them from developing their academic writing skills and producing high-quality writings.

The students required a significant amount of time to generate appropriate essay topics. Frequently, students would open dictionaries in search of a word that would go in with the text they were writing. It demonstrated how limited their vocabulary was. Their composition contained errors in conjunctions, prepositions, and punctuation. In response to the issues, the researcher took the initiative to teach descriptive text writing using YouTube videos. Two instruments were used in this study's data collection process: a writing test and a questionnaire. A questionnaire was given out before to the pre-test. The students learning styles are ascertained by their questionnaire scores. Furthermore, the study's findings showed that students who received writing instruction through YouTube videos outperformed those who did not receive such instruction, according to Felanie [8]. The issues that Nurhotimah and Suryadi [9] identified in their research related to students included: English is not a daily language; lack of enthusiasm in learning to write; and improper techniques used. Students will be required to create descriptive paragraphs based on what they observe by watching videos on YouTube. The Pre-Test group is used as a control group, while the Post-Test group is treated using a field-based technique by the researchers. Prior to starting the study, the researchers carried out reliability and validation tests. As a result, by using YouTube material as a subject for descriptive writing and the field trip method, students have the potential to improve their writing abilities.

Due to their limited vocabulary, the students in the school selected for this study find it difficult for writing descriptive texts. They also find it boring when their teacher teaches descriptive text material exclusively from textbooks. The teacher also complains the fact that the students have difficulty understanding the language, which is causing them to struggle to comprehend the course materials. As mentioned by Purnamasari, et. al. [10] Vocabulary is a crucial aspect of composing descriptive text. In this case, the writer's use of descriptive vocabulary might help the reader comprehend and comprehend the text's key idea. In order to help students overcome this, researchers created a classification table based on animal appearance. This allowed students to learn about words that would be useful when writing descriptive text. According to Syahputra, et. al. [11] students may increase their writing abilities and increase their vocabulary through YouTube. Its accessibility utilizes learning materials available to them both inside and outside of the classroom, providing convenient and adaptable learning opportunities. In line with Kristiana, et. al. [12]the students acknowledge that acquiring vocabulary frequently is necessary to develop it because writing involves more than just creating words and phrases. Students who intend to improve their writing skills might concentrate on improving their vocabulary mastery, as it is closely linked to writing descriptive texts.

One of the things taught in class 7 every semester is descriptive text. Descriptive text is text that describes or depicts certain objects, such as people, animals, and places, has a generic structure, namely identification and description, and also has the characteristic of using the simple present tense. Descriptive texts describe specific people, places, or objects, according to Anderson and Anderson [13] In order to convey information about the issue, they additionally used descriptive language that described its features without expressing any opinions. Ismayanti and Kholiq [14] explain that the identification generally comes in the opening paragraph to give the reader an overview of the subject matter that will be covered in the following paragraph. The author goes into great detail regarding the subject in the description. It serves as identification help. Situmorang and Manurung [15]define writing skills as the ability for understanding concepts and information and convey them in a presentable written style for the benefit of others. Depending on the kind of writing are doing, should communicate the information in a way that meets the needs of the reader. Writing descriptive texts in accordance with the requirements is the learning objective for class 7 using this material. Daulay et al. [16]state that one of the curriculum for English language teaching in Indonesia is descriptive texts. It gets taught in junior high school beginning in the seventh grade and continuing through the eighth. Descriptive texts are those that we variously discover when attempting to characterize someone or something, according to Jayanti [17]. In its first and second years, Junior High School (SMP) students study it. Naturally, writing descriptive texts requires you to have excellent vocabulary mastery within the context of descriptive writing. Glean [18] states that the goal of descriptive writing is to give readers the perception that they are actually viewing the object. The capacity of students to create descriptive essays based on the assigned themes is referred to as descriptive writing skill.

Students' might be facing difficulties, as stated by Balansa, et. al. [19] While some students find it difficult to come up with ideas for the content contained (sentence introduction, sentence description, and sentence conclusion), others are able to work on the provided topic. When creating descriptive texts, they still have trouble coming up with the appropriate word choice. They were therefore uncertain about how to express and write about their ideas on the matter. Therefore, researchers have taken the initiative to help overcome this problem using YouTube video media in the context of descriptive text. Therefore, researchers have taken the initiative to help overcome this problem using YouTube video media in the context of descriptive text. According to Nurhotimah and Suryadi [9] students will be required to create descriptive paragraphs based on what they observe when using YouTube videos. Using YouTube videos to deliver learning materials can have several advantages, such as making it easier for teachers to present the content in an engaging manner, eliminating the need for lectures, supporting a variety of learning styles, and increasing students' enthusiasm for learning.

Learning media develop along with the advanced form of the times. YouTube videos are among the frequently used media in today's world. YouTube is a platform that allows users to create and watch videos, has a large amount of information and is accessible worldwide via the internet. Miller [20] conveys YouTube as a video sharing community where users are able to create and view a wide variety of online videos with any sort of web browser. These videos can be instructional, entertaining, or something else entirely. As YouTube is simple to use on a phone and has a favorable effect on English learning even in a classroom setting, Mokodompit, et. al. [21] claim that students utilize it daily to expand their vocabulary. As stated by Rahmatika, et. al. [22], YouTube is one of the media that may be utilized in the process of online learning. Learning resources on YouTube seem helpful to parents. It's easy to access Youtube. Additionally, parents can continue to support their children's education even when they are working because YouTube learning resources are accessible anytime, anywhere. Thus, it can be said that YouTube educational videos are useful for online learning. Maziriri, et. al. [23] state that there has been positive feedback regarding the usage of YouTube in a formal classroom setting. Moreover, a valuable coincidence was found between the views of students regarding YouTube use and their behavioural goals.

The researchers aims to investigate how YouTube can assist students acquire vocabulary and whether the media is useful as a tool for learning English. The participant is seventh graders of junior high school. The location of this research was chosen because it had useful and readily available learning tools, including laptops, LCD projectors, and speakers. The YouTube video that the researchers used for the experiment is the videos by a channel called "Easy English." Researchers use those video because they contain various vocabularies about descriptive text. The content is easy and appropriate for the 7th grade students, and they also provide fun animations to make it easy for the students to understand the learning material. Since this content is odd semester material in the class 7 curriculum, descriptive text was employed as the research's source material. Previous research shows that YouTube media can help improve students' writing skills in descriptive text. In their journal article, Wulandari, et. al. [6] claim that using YouTube videos could increase students' involvement in the process of learning how to create descriptive writings. As stated by Felanie [8], the use of YouTube videos as instructional medium in the classroom is likely to have an impact on students' writing achievement. Nurhotimah and Suryadi [9] stated that using YouTube material in conjunction with the field trip approach to enhance writing skills for descriptive texts can result in significant improvements. So researcher are interested in conducting this research to find out whether YouTube media can really help improve, not have any impact, or even further reduce students' writing skills in composing descriptive texts for junior high school students. The previous research conducted the use of YouTube media for learning descriptive text in the 10th grader of senior high school while the researchers of this research conducted it in the 7th grader of junior high school. The following is how the research question is formulated with regard to the context mentioned above: Is there a significant effect of students' writing skills on learning descriptive text using YouTube media?

Methodology

The purpose of this study is to determine whether YouTube video content may assist students in writing descriptive texts. The quantitative Pre-Experimental Design method will be implemented in this research. Creswell and Creswell [24] state that an experimental design involves the deliberate diversion of one or more variables to assess the effects of the modification on a result (or outcomes) of interest. Additionally, by keeping all other factors constant, an experiment isolates the effects of this alteration. The researcher can determine whether the treatment alone, without the impact of other variables, affects the outcome when one group receives a treatment while the other group does not (this is a manipulated variable of interest).

Researchers made an effort to look for and validate the information that has been collected. A pretest and a posttest are the research tools implemented. The development of descriptive texts, completed by each student separately, served as the test. The population used in this research was 7^th grader of junior high school. The sample that used is 21 students.

Pretest-Posttest Design for One Group

For a single group, this design consists of a pretest measurement, a treatment, and a posttest.

Test

1. Pretest

The pretest was conducted before giving treatment. Before the pretest was conducted, a YouTube video about describing animals was played in front of the class. Then students were given a worksheet to test their' vocabulary mastery in descriptive text. On this worksheet, students were instructed to identify the appearance of animals. The worksheets were done individually. The pretest worksheet is adapted from Djatmika et. al. [25]

Figure 1. Pretest Worksheet

2. Postest

The posttest was conducted after the pretest and treatment. Before the posttest was conducted, a YouTube video about describing a person was played in front of the class. Then students were given the same worksheet as during the pretest. The difference was that students needed to identify the appearance of a person.

Figure 2. Postest Worksheet

3. Scoring

The test assessment used for this research is the Writing Assessment Rubric adapted from Brown [26].

Table 1. This table contains aspects of descriptive text writing assessment, consisting of: Content, Organization, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Mechanics. Each aspect has a rating scale from 1 (very low) to 4 (very good).

Aspect	Score and Description
Content	4: The details are relevant to the matter, and the topic is clear and comprehensive.3: The subject is well-defined and comprehensive, while the details have little influence on the subject.2: The subject is well-defined and comprehensive, but the details have little effect on this topic.1: The subject is unclear, and the details have little effect on it.
Organization	4: All information is identified, and descriptions are organized with the appropriate conjunctions.3: Almost all information is identified, and descriptions are organized with nearly appropriate conjunctions.2: There is a lack of complete information and some overuse of conjunctions in the arrangement of descriptions.1: The descriptions are structured with misused conjunctions, and the identification is incomplete.
Grammar	4: Very few errors in arrangement or grammar.3: There are a few grammatical and arrangement errors, but they don't affect the meaning.2: Several errors in grammar or arrangement.1: Frequent errors in grammar or arrangement.
Vocabulary	4: Appropriate word and word form selection.3: Few individuals misuse word structures and vocabulary choices without affecting the meaning.2: Word form and limited misunderstanding.1: Extremely limited vocabulary, word forms, and unclear.
Mechanics	4: It capitalizes, punctuates, and spells words correctly.3: a few mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.2: It often makes use of incorrect capitalization, grammar, and spelling.1: Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization problems are dominating.

Score x 5 = Convert score

4.Treatment

Following the pretest, treatment was given out. During the course of the treatment, the teacher met with the class in three meetings to conduct teaching-learning activities. The worksheets are adapted from Djatmika et. al.[25] After identifying the appearance of animals, objects, and people, students created a descriptive text based on the classification in the worksheet table. Regarding the lack of vocabulary issue, the students needed to learn the classification of animals, objects, and people. So that they would be able to know the vocabulary that they needed to know before they created a descriptive text. From the words they found in the classification, the students would easily know what words they should use when creating descriptive texts.

In meeting 1, students reviewed the previous learning related to the pretest describing animals. And then, students got asked questions regarding the material to be studied, such as "Do you have pets in your house?" "Could you mention pet animals or any animals that you know?" and "Do you know what our learning materials are for today?". After that, the researchers explained to students about descriptive text (definition, social functions, generic structures, etc.) using PowerPoint media and played back YouTube videos about describing animals. They also explained to students about types of animals (pet animals, farm animals, tame animals, and wild animals) and then explained to the students about describing animals. And then the students were instructed to write the descriptive text about animals, but before that, they needed to classify the animal based on its appearance, such as its name, skin, legs, tail, and sound. After that, students choose an animal from the classification to write the descriptive texts about it individually. The descriptive text consists of identification and description. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked about the conclusion of what they had already learned that day.

In meeting 2, students reviewed the previous learning related to describing animals. And then, students got asked questions regarding the material to be studied, such as "Do you bring your pencil case today?" "Could you describe what it looks like?" and "Do you know what our learning materials are for today?". And then, students reviewed descriptive text, then explained to the students about describing things. They also played a YouTube video about describing things. And then the students were instructed to write a descriptive text about things, but before that, they needed to classify the things based on their appearance, such as their name, shape, color, materials, and textures. After that, students choose a thing from the classification to write the descriptive texts about it individually. The descriptive text consists of identification and description. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked about the conclusion of what they had already learned that day.

In meeting 3, students reviewed the previous learning related to describing things. And then, students got asked questions regarding the material to be studied, such as "Do you know who our president is?" "Could you describe how he looks?" and "Do you know what our learning materials are for today?". And then, students reviewed descriptive text, then explained to the students about describing people. They also played a YouTube video about describing person. And then the students were instructed to write the descriptive text about the person, but before that, they needed to classify the person based on their appearance, such as their name, skin, hair, eyes, and nose. After that, students choose a person from the classification to write the descriptive texts about them individually. The descriptive text consists of identification and description. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked about the conclusion of what they had already learned that day.

Result and Discussion

A. Result

Table 2. This table presents descriptive statistical data from the pretest and posttest results of 21 students. It can be seen that the average student score increased from 78.57 on the pretest to 88.57 on the posttest, with a decrease in standard deviation indicating more consistent results after the treatment using YouTube media.

		Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean
Pair 1	pretest	78,5714	21	5,27799	1,15175
	postest	88,5714	21	4,22577	,92214

In order to get data for the study, the researchers compared the students' pretest and posttest results. The pretest's objective was to collect initial data on students' descriptive text-writing abilities, with a maximum score of 4 on each assessment indicator. The pretest mean score for the students is 78,6 as shown in Table I. This is a result of the lack of usage of YouTube videos to evaluate students' abilities to write descriptive texts. After that, the researcher used YouTube to help students learn how to create descriptive texts. As a result, when the students took a posttest, the average score rose to 88, 6. The T-test sample test is then used to process and analyze the acquired data.

Table 3. This table shows the results of a paired sample t-test between the pretest and posttest scores. The results show a significance value of 0.000 (< 0.05) and a t-value of -10.247, which means that there is a statistically significant difference between the scores before and after the treatment.

		Paired Differences					t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)
				Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean		95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
						Lower		Upper
Pair 1	pretest - postest	-10,00000	4,47214	,97590	-12,03569	-7,96431	-10,247	20	,000

Table II shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores. The mean variance between the pretest and posttest results is 10,00000 with a t-count value of 10,247 and a degree of freedom of 20, and a significance value of 0.000. The pretest and posttest scores differ significantly, implying that the students at class 7 are affected by their usage of YouTube media in their writing. Based on Table II, which offers the basis for decision-making in paired sample T-test testing, this conclusion is drawn: if the sig value (2-tailed) < 0.05 or 0.000 < 0.05, then Ha is accepted and H0 is rejected.

B. Discussion

The results of the pretest and posttest imply to the researchers that there were improvements in the students' descriptive text writing ability scores. The researcher's pretest data, which stated comparatively low student mean scores of 78,6 before using YouTube as the media to improve descriptive text writing skills, make this clear. Since the main objective of the study is assessing students' descriptive text writing abilities, the researchers started by concentrating on a number of assessment criteria, including student content, vocabulary, grammar, originality of writing, and word choice or syntax. In accordance with the study by Felanie [8], using YouTube videos as a teaching tool in the classroom significantly affects students' average writing achievement scores. The score of significance was 863. It exceeded five thousand. Preferred writing styles cannot be regarded as a factor that affected students' ability to write.

After using YouTube videos to improve their descriptive text writing abilities, students observed significant enhancements. The students received treatment to steadily raise their descriptive text writing skills. Their final score, as determined by the researchers, was an average of 88,6 on the post-test. This is in a line with Nurhotimah and Suryadi [9], stated that there is a significant chance for values to change in terms of improving English writing abilities when using YouTube material as a subject for descriptive writing written using the field trip approach. The pre-test average of 33.13 and the post-test average of 73.95 show this progress.

Related to this study, using YouTube videos could help tenth-grade students write more detailed texts. The findings of the students' writing achievement exam revealed that, following the use of YouTube videos, the students' descriptive text writing achievement test had an enhanced mean score of 78.7 from 55.9 previously. Additionally, 75% of the students achieved a writing score of at least 75, stated by Wulandari et al. [6]

Based on Maru et al. [27]implementing video for educational purposes emphasizes the development of a supportive learning environment where students might go with excitement in the video while also critically identifying the text's descriptive hints and writing about it in a casual manner. Erpina [28]claims that using YouTube might help students write better, especially when it comes to creating descriptive texts in grade X at SMAN 1 Angkola Barat. The students' mean score improvement from the pre-test to the post-test served as evidence. The students' pre-test mean score was 63.52, which was categorized as fairly classified; however, their post-test mean score of 76.26 was greater than their pre-test mean score, placing them in the good group.

In accordance Hardianti and Saosang [29],watching YouTube videos might help students in the first grade of SMAN 3 Bunta write better, especially when it comes to writing descriptive texts. This is supported by the results, which show that the mean score for the pre-test was 53.17, and the mean score for the post-test was 68.31, showing that the post-test score was significantly higher than the pre-test score. This also in line with Sutanto, et. al. [30]YouTube is an extremely useful application that improves students' English literacy when they learn online. Teachers are also more excited to teach since they believe that YouTube is helpful for them when doing online instruction, in addition to students.

Based on the standard size that is commonly used in research, this score was determined using IBM SPSS Statistic 2022 at a significance level of α = 5%, or 0.05. The average difference between the pretest and posttest scores was -10,00000, according to the T-test that was used, which also had a t-count value of 10,247 and a df, or degree of freedom, of 20. The difference in the pretest and posttest scores is statistically significant, as indicated by the significance value, or sig. (2-tailed), of 0.000. If the sig value (2-tailed) <0.05 or 0.000 <0.05, then Ha is accepted and H0 is rejected based on Table II, which forms the basis for the decision-making process in the paired sample T-test.

Conclusion

The results of this research might be seen as highlighting the implementation of YouTube videos to teach junior high school students how to create descriptive texts. The implementation of YouTube videos has an important effect on how well students can write descriptive text. Shown by the students' post-test scores, which considerably increased following the notion of YouTube media. Watching YouTube videos can provide students with fresh perspectives on the composition of descriptive texts. Teachers can also use YouTube videos to deliver learning materials. This has various of benefits, including trimming the need for lectures, supporting a variety of learning styles, and boosting students' enthusiasm for learning. It also makes it easier for teachers to present the content in an engaging way. With the use of YouTube media, students may improve their writing abilities, ideas, and comprehension of the structure and writing style. As a result, this approach can be utilized in the curriculum to help students increase their abilities in descriptive writing. The researchers acknowledged that their study had limitations because it only included 21 students as participants and only looked at two videos from one channel. It also only encompassed the writing of descriptive text. Thus, suggestions for future research include adding more than 21 students as participants and adding multiple YouTube channels and videos. The YouTube channels "English With Mr. Iwan," "Deti Prasetyaningrum," and "Jitender Kumar" are also suggested for teaching descriptive text in the seventh grade of junior high school. Videos with a variety of vocabulary related to descriptive text, appropriate and easily understood content, and engaging and colorful animations to showcase the illustrations and facilitate students' understanding of the learning materials are among the best options for teaching descriptive text to seventh-grade junior high school students. However, YouTube videos may also be utilized to go alongside other types of texts in the learning environment and other educational resources.