Students' dependence on YouTube in the development of English language skills:

The study explores the degree of reliance on YouTube in learning the English language amongst King Abdul Aziz University female students. The study is applied to a sample of Media and Communication Faculty students (freshmen & seniors). The theoretical framework of this study relies on the Uses and Gratifications theory and Information Richness theory using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Questionnaire developed by the researcher (47 students) complemented with tens of structured interviews (equally distributed between freshmen & seniors) were used for the collection of data. The study results reveal the following:

89% of the sample watch YouTube for less than an hour a day, while 43.25% watch it for 1-2 hours daily. Results indicate no statistically significant differences between the first-year students and seniors in terms of watching duration.
The study indicates that mobile apps ranked first as the most used tools in learning the English language with a percentage of 85.96, Also YouTube ranked first (77%), as the most widely used mean of studying English, whereas training centers were in the last-place (64.32%). The highest percentage of the students (77.54%) were keen on watching English songs, succeeded by (77.19%) of English series viewers.
The instrumental motives of the sample outweighed the ritualized motives of watching English YouTube clips. ‘ A daily routine’ phrase represented the highest ritualized motive (79.82%), while ‘An interesting way of learning’ represented the highest instrumental motive (94.74%), noting that the level of the obtained gratification was higher among seniors.
In the process of evaluating English YouTube clips by students, 92.38% of the sample stated ‘ It helps in speaking English fluently’, followed by 91.22% of the students stating that it promotes understanding English texts, with no difference in evaluation level between seniors and freshmen.
The study hypothesis is proven true throughout the results that show a statistically significant correlation between YouTube browsing hours and the language skill development acquired via YouTube. A significant correlation was found Between the amount of being exposed to YouTube English clips and the students preference of watching a Language enriching content
Analysis reveals no statistically significant correlation between the students reliance on YouTube to improve language skills and their evaluation of the learning experience on the website. There were no statistically significant differences between the average of seniors scores and freshmen scores in their interaction with YouTube content