Students’ Perceptions of Clash A Rama Videos for Listening and Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

Listening and vocabulary are mutually dependent in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning, yet students often struggle with rapid speech and unfamiliar words when their exposure to English is limited. Animated YouTube videos can combine spoken language, images, actions, captions, and narrative context, but entertainment-oriented content may also overload learners. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceptions of Clash-A-Rama animated videos in listening and vocabulary learning and to identify the benefits, barriers, and instructional support they considered necessary. A qualitative descriptive design supported by descriptive questionnaire data was used with 26 Grade X students at an Indonesian senior high school. Data were collected through a 15-item Likert questionnaire and ten open-ended interview questions. Questionnaire data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, and an internal-consistency check, while interview data were analysed through Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. The findings showed conditionally positive listening perceptions: 61.54% reported easier conversational comprehension, whereas 73.08% struggled with speech rate and 76.92% needed subtitles. Vocabulary perceptions were stronger: 88.46% reported learning new words and 92.31% found pictures and situations helpful, although 53.85% still encountered difficult vocabulary. Interview themes showed that multimodal cues, narrative context, and enjoyment supported learning, while fast dialogue, uneven proficiency, fragile recall, and pronunciation difficulties limited outcomes. Clash-A-Rama is therefore most useful as supplementary material when teachers segment clips, sequence captions strategically, pre-teach essential vocabulary, and provide repetition, pronunciation, and retrieval practice.