Sebuah Kajian Pustaka: Puspita & Amelia : TED-TALK: A Supplement Material.... 91 TED-TALK: A SUPPLEMENT MATERIAL TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ AUTONOMY IN LISTENING Dian Puspita1, Dina Amelia2 dian.puspita@teknokrat.ac.id, amelia.dina@teknokrat.ac.id UNIVERSITAS TEKNOKRAT INDONESIA ABSTRACT This paper explores the use of TED (technology, Entertainment, and Design) Talk in promoting students’ learning autonomy and enhancing English learners’ listening skill, especially in ESL. This research uses mixed method; qualitative descriptive to find out students learning autonomy and students’ perception on the use of TED-Talk, and quantitative descriptive to find out students’ listening score improvement. The respondents of the study are students who were taking the English for Business course even semester of the 2019/2020 academic year at the Indonesian Technocrat University (UTI).The data were gathered through questionnaires and test. The results show that students’ learning autonomy is increasing in terms of learner control, critical reflection, motivation, and information literacy. By using TED-Talk, it is also shown that students’ listening score is increasing even though just slightly. Furthermore, it is found that students’ perception toward the use of TED-Talk is also positive. It gives the good implication in the future that they will continue using it as their additional learning material in listening. The consistence of students’ autonomy in learning will significantly improve students’s comprehension level. Keywords: autonomy, listening, students’ perception, supplement materials, TED-talks A. INTRODUCTION Until now, the development of science and technology has brought new changes to the world called the industrial revolution 4.0. This revolution is marked by the disruption of technology which includes machine communications, global connections, smart robots, digital data, and the Internet for everything (Internet of Things). Cultural changes caused by the 4.0 revolution have had a massive impact on all fields, including education. Therefore, Kemenristekditi emphasizes that the Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi paradigm must be harmonized with the industrial era 4.0. One of the harmonization efforts is to introduce students to a new literacy, namely digital literacy. In digital literacy, internet technology has various benefits that can be applied in the world of education. The Ministry of Education and Culture defines digital literacy as knowledge and skills to use digital media, communication tools, or networks to find, evaluate, use, create information, and utilize it in a healthy, wise, intelligent, careful, precise, and law-abiding manner. In order to foster communication and interaction in everyday life. The use of digital literacy can be utilized as a learning medium by both teachers and teaching participants according to the achievements to be achieved. ELTIN Journal, Volume 8/No 2, October 2020 92 The use of digital literacy in the industrial era 4.0 in education basically supports the embodiment of one of the main character values, namely the value of independent character, which is a priority in the development of the Strengthening Character Education (PPK) movement as stipulated in Presidential Decree Number 87 of 2017 (Republik Indonesia, 2017). Independent character values are attitudes and behaviours that are not dependent on others and use all energy, thoughts, time to realize hopes, dreams and ideals. Teaching participants must play a proactive role in carrying out the learning process. Sources of knowledge are no longer focused only on teaching and learning activities in the classroom, but can be obtained from independent activities carried out by students. In learning English, one of the abilities that can be obtained through independent activities is listening. Previous studies have shown that digital literacy, which is the result of information and communication technology, has a positive effect on language learners (Amir & Kang, 2018; ; Ghavifekr & Rosdy, 2015 ; Roessingh, 2014). Students can carry out independent activities by choosing digital material carefully and wisely in accordance with the learning objectives. To get good listening skills, independent activities through digital literacy can have a positive impact. This digital literacy can be a solution to some of the challenges faced by students in gaining listening skills such as limited time to be exposed to authentic listening material in the classroom (Wagner & Toth, 2014), lack of exposure to authentic material outside the classroom (Brunfaut & Révész, 2015 ; Mandasari, 2019), as well as a lack of vocabulary knowledge (Vandergrift & Baker, 2015; Puspita, 2019b) In listening learning, there are several studies related to the use of information and communication technology. Takaesu (2017) examined the use of TED-Talk to improve students' listening skills in the English for Academic class. The results showed students' perceptions of the impact of TED-Talk on their listening ability. There are two groups of students based on their level of English proficiency: intermediate and upper-intermediate. Both groups confirmed the positive benefits of TED-Talk on their listening ability. Students also agreed that TED-Talk increases their motivation to listen to English. TED Talk provided authentic material, not only in terms of topic but also of speaking pace. Similar research was also conducted by Wingrove (2017). He built a TED-Talk corpus and comparing it to a lecture text corpus. Based on the lemma available on the Academic Vocabulary List (AVL), TED-Talk has lower coverage in AVL than lecture scripts. Even so, TED-Talk can still be used as lecture material because of its high vocabulary density and also has a wide range of topics. The next research reflected on learning listening in the class (Schmidt, 2016). He proposed using individual journals to improve students' listening skills called web-based listening journal activities. Journal filling is done independently outside of class activities. Schmidt found that students not only felt attracted to the journal itself, but also felt that their listening ability had improved. Similar study was also showinh how task based learning can improve students’ listening skill (Kuswoyo & Wahyudin, 2017). All in all, the studies showed that the use of TED-Talk has benefited to students’ listening skill improvement. Therefore, this study, researchers are interested in using one of the well- known platforms, TED Talk, as a source of material for students to carry out independent learning activities in listening. This study is conducted to answer the following research questions: Puspita & Amelia : TED-TALK: A Supplement Material.... 93 1. How is students’ learning autonomy in listening after using TED-Talk as a supplement material? 2. How is students’ listening skill improved after exposed to and using TED-Talk as supplement material? 3. How is students’ perception toward the use of TED-Talk as supplement material? B. LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Listening Learning in EFL In general, listening skills are a component of language skills that are considered difficult for language learners to master. This is caused by several listening characteristic factors faced by learners, especially in the context of foreign languages. The first factor is the lack of exposure to authentic listening material in the classroom (Wagner & Toth, 2014). The material presented to learners is often inadequate and relevant to the learning objectives so that the listening activity is less meaningful. The second factor is the lack of exposure to authentic listening material outside the classroom (Brunfaut & Révész, 2015). In the context of foreign languages, language learners do not have a great opportunity to gain exposure to authentic listening because the use of English outside the classroom is very limited. The last factor is the lack of knowledge of the learners' vocabulary which becomes an obstacle for learners in understanding spoken language obtained from listening (Vandergrift & Baker, 2015). 2. Learning Autonomy Everhard (2015) and Murphy (2015) defines learning autonomy as a way to achieve individual targets through independent learning decision making that can be accessed from internal and external sources. The ability to train autonomy in learning depends on certain tendencies and fluctuates according to circumstances. In the implementation of learning autonomy, there are levels that are influenced by external and internal factors that form the continuum of learning autonomy. This continuum begins with the initial phase with a state of complete dependence on external factors. The next phase is reducing dependence on external factors and the growth of self-awareness that comes from internal factors. The last phase is the phase of autonomy or independence with full dependence on internal factors. Cooker (2015) states that there are many elements that influence the formation of learning autonomy, especially for language learners. These elements can be classified into seven categories forming learning autonomy, such as: 1. Learner control 2. Metacognitive awareness 3. Critical reflection 4. Motivation 5. Learning range 6. Self-confidence 7. Information literacy In carrying out learning autonomy, language learners must fulfil all elements in order to reach the last phase of learning autonomy itself, namely the independent phase. Intervention ELTIN Journal, Volume 8/No 2, October 2020 94 from external factors is needed in the initial phase and disappears slowly until it disappears in the final phase so that learning autonomy is achieved. The elements of each category are listed in the following table. Table 1 Categories and elements of Learner Autonomy by Cooker (2015) Learner autonomy categories Learner autonomy elemements Learner control Ability to analyse/define needs Ability to set achievable objectives Ability to manage time Ability to choose appropriate materials Ability to negotiate learning Ability to select partners for pair/group work Ability to work on one’s own Ability to make choices about how work will be assessed Ability to assess discrete aspects of one’s own work Ability to assess the work of peers Ability to take responsibility for one’s own learning outside the classroom Ability to monitor one’s own learning progress over time Metacognitive awareness Ability to provide a rationale for materials chosen Ability to select appropriate learning strategies Ability to select and reject strategies according to needs Ability to describe the strategies used Ability to provide a rationale for the strategies used Ability to provide an evaluation of the strategies used Ability to describe alternative strategies that could have been used Ability to describe plans for future learning Critical reflection Critical understanding of the roles of teacher and learner Critical awareness of different teaching and learning approaches Critical awareness of the variations in quality of different teaching and learning inputs Motivation Desire to learn Desire to learn Willingness to speak/use the language Willingness to be actively engaged in learning activities Learning range Flexibility in ways of learning Awareness of breadth of learning content Ability to seek support from other students and teachers Ability to collaborate with other students and teachers Confidence Ability to seek out opportunities to speak/use the language Ability to overcome negative feedback/assessment Information literacy Ability to source and navigate learning resources Puspita & Amelia : TED-TALK: A Supplement Material.... 95 C. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research starts from the initial data collection by passing an initial questionnaire on the research object, namely students taking the English for Business course even semester of the 2019/2020 academic year at the Indonesian Technocrat University (UTI). The questionnaire adapted from Cooker (2015) aims to determine the condition of student learning autonomy before treatment is given. Furthermore, the researcher introduced TED-Talk as additional material for listening and providing treatment by means of listening journal assignments. Each student is given the task to complete the listening journal given by the researcher. They must listen to at least one presentation on the TED-Talk with a duration of no more than 6 minutes each week. Students can choose a presentation topic that they will watch and listen to according to their wishes and interests. The assignment lasts until the middle of the semester. The researcher then provides feedback on student journals, and distributes questionnaires to students to reflect themselves on the activities they have done. In the next half semester, students are exempted from journal assignments and are invited to continue these activities independently. At the end of the semester, the researcher collected student listening journals and analysed data on student learning autonomy. Students are also given another questionnaire to determine the condition of learning autonomy after being given treatment towards the use of TED-Talk as listening material. To know the improvement of students’ listening skill, two test sets of listening are given to the students before and after the use of TED-Talk as supplement material. The test set is adapted from online platfrom providing listening skill placement that assesses at CEF level (A2 to C2). The tests, consisting of 15 questions, should be finished in 20 minutes. After getting the students’ score on the listening tests; pre and after TED-Talk, students are given the questionnaire to find out their perception toward the use of TED-Talk as listening materials. Some open questions are distributed to dig students’ various perception about TED-Talk. D. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 1. Students’ Autonomy The improvement of students’ autonomy is shown on the different responses on seven categories that form learning autonomy. In general, the improvement occurs on the increasing positive attitude toward the categories and the decreasing negative attitude toward the categories. The students’ autonomy improvement is shown in the following table. Table 2 Learning Autonomy Factors Improvement 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Learner control Metacognitive awareness Critical reflection Motivation Learning range Confidence Information literacy Positive Before Positive After Negative Before Negative After ELTIN Journal, Volume 8/No 2, October 2020 96 Based on the data above, it can be cocluded that the improvement of students’ autonomy deal with several aspects such as learner control, metacognitive awareness, critical reflection, motivation, learning range, confidence and information literacy. a. Learner control As shown in the table, students’ experience the positive improvement in their control of studying English, especially in some elements. The first element improved is the students’ ability to choose appropriate materials to learn English. This occurs because they can get the access of finding the suitable computer programmes or internet websites to help students learn. Students use TED-Talk as the source of learning listening that can improve their ability to choose appropriate materials. This is also important as it improves students’ ability to set achievable objectives. If students want to know a lot about the vocabulary and also improve their listening toward certain topic, they can choose the topic, even the accent of the English they prefer. This condition reduces students’ pressure in learning which will result in the better process of learning. At the end, their ability to negotiate learning is improved. This learner control is significantly important as Cooker (2015) mentioned that it becomes the sparks beginning of highly possible advantage for foreign learners. b. Metacognitive awareness In this category, almost all elements are improved. Students are able to provide a rationale for material chosen and to select appropriate learning strategies. As trained at the beginning of the semester, students are freely choosing the videos provided in TED-Talk based on the topics, accents, or the transcription provided. Therefore, they get benefit by being able to evaluate and decide which materials are suitable for their need and pace in listening. In addition, they have more courage to try different things and strategies to help learning listening. This awareness of some language factors can be a motivating force (Cooker, 2015) which will increase their motivation and responsibility in managing time, which is in learner control. Therefore, being aware of the materials they choose for some rationales also relates to learner control. c. Critical reflection Of three learner autonomy elements in this category, students experience the increasing positive attitude even though there is still the disagreement on some points. They have different understanding and reflection of teacher and learner’s role as well as the approaches and the input of learning. This is reflected on the result of the following statement. “I feel unsupported when learning English without the direct support of a teacher”. At the beginning, most students feel unsupported when learning the direct support of a teacher. However, at the end, their dependence toward teacher in learning is decreasing as they can learn listening through TED-Talk by themselves. Furthermore, students have a better understanding of theirself as learners so they feel responsible for the learning process themselves. The state of students’ critical reflection is closely related to decision making which are crucial elements in collaborative autonomy (Cooker, 2015). In case students face the potential difficulty, students’ concern about it remains because the critical reflection leads them to make conscious decision and allows them to take control. Moreover, students’ Puspita & Amelia : TED-TALK: A Supplement Material.... 97 state of critical reflection plays an important role to create their learning habit which later will lead to the higher motivation in autonomy. d. Motivation The changing state of students’ motivation can be seen from students’ desire to learn, willingness to use the language, and willingness to be actively enganged in learning activities. Based on the questionnaire given, most of students agree that they have more of desire to learn English after using TED-Talk for several times. They are also more active and committed to achieving their goals by continuing watching videos from TED-Talk even after the assignment from the teacher has finished. Moreover, the free and dependent activity on listening to TED-Talk is considered as effective for their learning because they are not pushed by the teacher. It can be said that students’ motivation has shifted from the dominant extrinsic motivation from teacher to the dominant intrinsic from students themselves. This leads to the good implicaton for learner (Cooker, 2015) in which not only drives to students continue to learn the language, but also possible to grow students’ desire to use the language in their daily basis or to study abroad. e. Learning range Students’ learning range is broadening in the flexibility in ways of learning and the breadth of learning content. This is happening due to students enjoy learning English more because they can learn in ways that interest them. The learning content is also broadening as students not only choose the videos in short duration, but also the long ones. Also, most of students do the repeating activities on the videos to train their listening skill, while some of them prefer to not using the subtitle to improve their listening skills. It can be said that students find this activity not only challenging but also interesting. This learning range actually relates to learner control which in fact reduces students’ anxienty in learning. As Cooker, (2015) mentions, learning range in positive impact will rise learner control and motivation respectively. f. Confidence Previously, it is found that students are lack of confidence is seeking out the opportunity to use the language and alse tend to be afraid of the negative feedback on their English skill, especially in listening. However, after using TED-Talk as the supplement material, their confidence is increasing. Students are found more relaxed about learning English and not giving up easily in learning listening. They also have confidence that they will be more likely to use English well in the future, especially in their listening skill. This condition is in accordance to what Cooker (2015) calls as ‘oozing confidence’ (OC). One of characteristics of OC is the ownership of strong sense of confidence and ability to learn and use target language. Also, students are indicated to use target language well in the future which further will impact the prospective job in which English takes part. ELTIN Journal, Volume 8/No 2, October 2020 98 g. Information literacy This category of learning autonomy is fullfiled by students’ ability to source and navigate learning resource (Cooker, 2015). After using TED-Talk, students surely are able to select the source to learn listening and navigate it based on their need and interest. It is reflected from the result of the question on this following statement. “It’s easier for me to find suitable computer programmes or internet websites to help me learn English”. Furthermore, students’ literacy is not limited to the use of TED-Talk only. Students are also found to be inspired to use the similar platform or website with similar functions as TED- Talk to improve their listening skills. Some participants are found to use talkshow in certain topics they are interested at in youtube, and some mention they will likely watch movies or movies to improve their listening skills. This indicates that information literacy from TED- Talk successfully broaden students’ horizon on information literacy itself. 2. Students’ Listening Skill The listening test set done by students before and after treatment show the different result. Table 3 Comparison of Pre-Test and Post-Test Descriptive Statistic As the pre-test result show, students’ average score is 52, 84 which is placed in the range of beginner level (A1). Students’ lowest score is 25, and the highest is 75. With this range of score, it can be said that students’ proficiency in listening is widely varied. However, the median of students’ score is 50. After given the treatment by introducing the use of TED- Talk, students’ listening score improves. In general, the average score obtained by student slightly increasing from 52,84 to 60,9. Even though it is just a slight increase, it can be seen as the positive progress toward the learning process. Most students’ scores increase, while some others remain the same. However, based on the data, there is no decreasing score found. The lowest and highest score also improve; 42 and 83 respectively. The comparison of descriptive statistic between pre-test and post-tes is seen the following table. Puspita & Amelia : TED-TALK: A Supplement Material.... 99 3. Student’s Perception toward the Use of TED-Talk As students’ score in listening is increasing as described in the previous session, it can be seen that TED-Talk gives the positive impact to students. In general, students’s opinion about TED-Talk is positive even though the answers are varied. Their opinions about TED- Talk is shown in the following chart. Chart 1 Students’ opinion about TED-Talk With a lot of topics provided in TED-Talk, students are able to choose the topics they are interested in. Based on the questionnaire given, students are mostly interested in science and technology (52% respondents). This can be due to students are majoring in Informatics. However, there are other topics they are interested to, such as health, business, current topics, and others respectively. From these topics, when students are asked about their favorite speakers, it results that they have their preference. There are five identified favorite speakers (42 % respondents) that students choose. Meanwhile, the others are varied and unidentified speakers. Among all speakers, on one hand, 47% students mention that they have tendency to choose certain accent of speakers. The accents they prefer are American and British accents. On the other hand, 53% students have no preference. Their preference is more into the topic. For the benefit of using TED-Talk as supplement material, the majority of students feel that their vocabulary is enhanced (72%). Few of them feel that their vocabulary is enhanced a little (8%), and the rest feel their vocabulary is not enhanced at all. In relation to students’ autonomy, 17% students claim that they frequently watch TED-Talk after the assignment; 50% mention they do it sometimes, and 33% rarely do it. Furthermore, for doing this activity in the future, 45% students say the will be continuing it, 47% students say there is a possibility, and 8% say the will not be doing it. As the conclusion, students are asked whether they will recommend TED-Talk to be used as learning media. 20% 32% 10% 30% 8% Interesting Good Informative Useful for learning English Others ELTIN Journal, Volume 8/No 2, October 2020 100 Chart 2 Recommendation for TED-Talk as listening learning material Almost all of them agree that it is recommended. While 18% students say that they will recommend it with some suggestions. Some of the students suggest to provide the translation text in the video, and the others suggest to have Indonesian speakers in TED-Talk so they can be more familiar with the accent and are able to understand the talk better. This is relevant with the strategy of students in EFL context when learning English. They tend to find the supportive athmosphere to decrease anxiety in learning English (Lestari & Wahyudin, 2020). Students also require to receive more active feedback from the teacher. This is in line with the notion of L2 learners which require feedback as they need it to boost their confidence in learning (Puspita, 2019a). E. CONCLUSION In conlusion, the use of TED-Talk promotes students’ autonomy in learning English, especially for listening. Some elements from the categories of autonomy factors show the positive improvement and therefore, it can be said that students’ learning autonomy is increasing. Of all categories, learner control, critical reflection, motivation, and information literacy are the ones improving a lot. Learner control in learning process which includes the control of learning materials, the control of setting the need and the goal, is improved and overcoming the challenge faced by student in learning listening. Students can get enough exposure toward authentic materials, so they can get a lot of input to improve their listening skills. It is proven by the result of their post-test in listening test. Even though the score is improving slightly, it provides the good implication toward learning. By using TED-Talk as additional materials, in short time, their autonomy and listening score are inscreasing. Therefore, students need to continue doing the self learning as the autonomy to result in significant improvement in the future. Moreover, students’ perception toward the use of TED-Talk is also positive. It gives the good implication in the future that they will continue using it as their additional learning material in listening. F. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The writers would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education for granting this research (No: 839 / SP2H / LT / MONO / LL2 / 2020, 25 June 2020). 82% 18% Reccommended for learning English Others Puspita & Amelia : TED-TALK: A Supplement Material.... 101 G. REFERENCES Amir, S., & Kang, M. A. (2018). Research in Use of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for Developing Listening Comprehension Competency in Foreign/Second Languages: A Review of Selected Tools. International Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 3(1), 44–53. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1403040 Brunfaut, T., & Révész, A. (2015). The Role of Task and Listener Characteristics in Second Language Listening. TESOL Quarterly, 49(1), 141–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.168 Cooker, L. (2015). Assessment as Learner Autonomy. Assessment and Autonomy in Language Learning, 89–113. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137414380_5 Everhard, C. J. (2015). Investigating Peer- and Self-Assessment of Oral Skills as Stepping- Stones to Autonomy in EFL Higher Education. Assessment and Autonomy in Language Learning, 114–142. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137414380_6 Ghavifekr, S., & Rosdy, W. A. W. (2015). Teaching and learning with technology: Effectiveness of ICT integration in schools. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 1(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.21890/ijres.23596 Kuswoyo, H., & Wahyudin, A. Y. (2017). Improving Student’s Listening Skill Using Task- Based Approach in EFL Classroom Setting. 109(Aecon), 118–123. https://doi.org/10.2991/aecon-17.2017.24 Lestari, M., & Wahyudin, A. Y. (2020). Language Learning Strategies of Undergraduate EFL Students. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning (JELTL), 1(1), 25– 30. http://jim.teknokrat.ac.id/index.php/english-language-teaching/index Mandasari, B. (2019). An Analysis of Teachers’ Beliefs toward Authentic Materials in Teaching Listening. Teknosastik, 14(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.33365/ts.v14i1.82 Murphy, L. (2015). Murphy, Linda, ‘The Gap between Rhetoric and Reality in a Distance Languae Learning Context.’ In L. Carol J. Everhard Murphy (Ed.), Assessment and Autonomy in Language Learning (pp. 143–166). https://doi.org/10.1108/eum0000000006874 Puspita, D. (2019a). Error Analysis on Learners’ Interlanguage and Intralanguage: A Case Study of Two Adolescent Students. Teknosastik, 17(2), 12. https://doi.org/10.33365/ts.v17i2.321 Puspita, D. (2019b). International Conference on English Language Teaching and Learning 2018. November, 25–38. Republik Indonesia. (2017). Perpres no. 87 Tahun 2017. 6 September 2017. https://setkab.go.id/inilah-materi-perpres-no-87-tahun-2017-tentang-penguatan- pendidikan-karakter/ Roessingh, H. (2014). Teachers ’) roles ) in ) designing ) meaningful ) tasks ) for ) mediating ) language ) learning ) through ’ the ’ use ’ of ’ ICT :’ A ’ reflection ’ on ’ authentic ’ learning ’ for ’ young ’ ELLs ! Le # rôle # des # enseignants # dans # la # conception (. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La Revue Canadienne de l’apprentissage et de La Technologie, 40(1). Schmidt, A. (2016). Listening Journals for Extensive and Intensive Listening Practice. English Teaching Forum, 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781845696313.1.222 ELTIN Journal, Volume 8/No 2, October 2020 102 Takaesu, A. (2017). TED Talks as an Extensive Listening Resource for EAP Students. Language Education in Asia, 4(2), 150–162. https://doi.org/10.5746/leia/13/v4/i2/a05/takaesu Vandergrift, L., & Baker, S. (2015). Learner variables in second language listening comprehension: An exploratory path analysis. Language Learning, 65(2), 390–416. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12105 Wagner, E., & Toth, P. D. (2014). Teaching and Testing L2 Spanish Listening Using Scripted vs. Unscripted Texts. Foreign Language Annals, 47(3), 404–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12091 Wingrove, P. (2017). How suitable are TED talks for academic listening? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 30, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2017.10.010