Views: 456
Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 17. Number 2, June 2026 Pp. 421-437
Laboratory of Education, Philosophy, and Humanities
Department of Education Sciences and Technologies of Teaching
The Higher School of Teachers (ENS)
Moulay Ismail University, Meknes, Morocco
Laboratory of Education, Philosophy, and Humanities
Department of Education Sciences and Technologies of Teaching
The Higher School of Teachers (ENS)
Moulay Ismail University, Meknes, Morocco
Technology has transformed the landscape of learning and teaching. One aspect of this change was social media platforms, which have offered new vistas and contributed to connecting millions of learners to the external world. YouTube, for instance, is a social media platform that has been utilized numerously as a learning and teaching method for educational purposes for many years. However, studies are still limited concerning the effects of YouTube Vlogs on the learners’ intercultural competence. This study investigates whether exposure to YouTube vlogs improves the intercultural competence of learners or not. It operationalized the construct by combining intercultural knowledge and awareness into one single dimension. A total of 30 students were selected from each group. Two intact groups were purposively selected and assigned as experimental and control groups from Salam High School, Meknes, Morocco. To analyze the data, SPSS v.27 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was used to identify the effects and test the hypotheses. The study’s findings reveal that exposure to YouTube vlogs has significantly enhanced the intercultural knowledge and awareness of the experimental group compared to the control group. In contrast, the control group shows no important change over time. These findings suggest that YouTube vlogs can be considered an innovative method of teaching English culture in classes of English as a foreign language, as they can help them enhance their intercultural competence, particularly intercultural knowledge and awareness. Besides, it underscores the significant role of social media platforms as authentic digital resources in fostering intercultural learning and teaching.
Keywords: Intercultural competence, intercultural knowledge and awareness, quasi-experimental study, learners of English as a foreign language, YouTube vlogs
Elhabchi, F., & Zeriouh, M. (2026). From Screen to Classroom: YouTube Vlogs as a Tool for Intercultural Competence in EFL Education. Arab World English Journal, 17(2):421-437
Abbas, N. F., & Qassim, T. A. (2020). Investigating the effectiveness of YouTube as a learning tool among EFL students at Baghdad University. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 6(CALL Special Issue), 326–338. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/call6.23
Abbas, N. F., Awad, Z. E., & Mohaisen, A. K. (2025). YouTube as a learning tool among EFL learners: A systematic review. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), Special Issue on CALL, 11, 96–110. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/call11.6
Aburub, O. A. R. S., & Singh, M. K. M. (2024). The impact of YouTube on improving EFL undergraduate speaking skills in Jordan. Library Progress International, 44(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.48165/bapas.2024.44.2.1
Almehmadi, W. (2024). The influence of social media on improving the pragmatic skills of EFL Saudi university students. World Journal of English Language, 14(6), 279–289. https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v14n6p279
Aslan, E. (2025). ‘Responding to “thank you” properly’: Mediated metapragmatic repertoires in an English language teaching YouTube video. Discourse, Context & Media, 67, Article 100934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2025.100934
Burke, S., Snyder, S., & Rager, R. (2009). An assessment of faculty usage of YouTube as a teaching resource. Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 7(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.46743/1540-580X/2009.1227
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching. 10.
Dizon, G. (2022). Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics YouTube for second language learning: What does the research tell us? Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v5n1.636
Duisembekova, Z. (2021). Beliefs about intercultural communicative competence: The development and validation of a new instrument. International Journal of Instruction, 14(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2021.1427a
Fadhil Abbas, N., & Ali Qassim, T. (2020). Investigating the effectiveness of YouTube as a learning tool among EFL students at Baghdad University. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), Special Issue on CALL, 6, 344–356. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/call6.23
Fidan, M., & Gencel, N. (2022). Supporting the instructional videos with chatbot and peer feedback mechanisms in online learning: The effects on learning performance and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 60(7), 1716–1741. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331221077901
Galante, A. (2015). Intercultural Communicative Competence in English Language Teaching: Towards Validation of Student Identity. BELT – Brazilian English Language Teaching Journal, 6(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.15448/2178- 3640.2015.1.20188
Gunelius, S. (2010). 30-minute social media marketing: Step-by-step techniques to spread the word about your business: Social media marketing in 30 minutes a day. McGraw-Hill Professional.
Ho, W. Y. J. (2022). ‘Coming here you should speak Chinese’: The multimodal construction of interculturality in YouTube videos. Language and Intercultural Communication, 22(6), 662–680. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2022.2056610
Ikhlasa, T. N., & Suryadi, S. (2023). The effect of vlog content YouTube media on learning English. International Journal of Indonesian Education and Teaching (IJIET), 7(1). https://doi.org/10.24071/ijiet.v7i1.5315
Indrastana, N. S., & Rinda, R. K. (2021). The implementation of mobile-assisted language learning through YouTube vlogging to boost students’ speaking performance. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Social Science, Humanity, and Public Health (ICOSHIP 2020) (pp. 50–54). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210101.012
Jin, S. (2023). Unleashing the potential of social media: Enhancing intercultural communication skills in the hospitality and tourism context. Sustainability, 15(14), 10840. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151410840
Kaiser, M. (2011). New approaches to exploiting film in the foreign language classroom. L2 Journal, 3(2), 232-249. https://doi.org/10.5070/L23210005
Listiani, N. K. M., Suwastini, N. K. A., Dantes, G. R., Adnyani, N. L. P. S., & Jayantin, I. G. A. S. R. (2021). YouTube as Digital Learning Resources for Teaching Bilingual Young Learners. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Technology and Educational Science (ICTES 2020), 540(Ictes 2020), 156–162. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210407.230
Mekheimer, M. A. (2025). Beyond the textbook: A year-long exploration of VODcasts in EFL education. Education and Information Technologies, 30(4), 4777–4793. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12900-y
Nofrika, I. (2019). EFL Students’ Voices: The Role of YouTube in Developing English Competences. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, 4(1), 56–73. https://doi.org/10.18196/ftl.4138
Reuters Institute. (2021). Digital news report 2021. https://bit.ly/3wYgory
Saed, H. A., Haider, A. S., Al-Salman, S., & Hussein, R. F. (2021). The use of YouTube in developing the speaking skills of Jordanian EFL university students. Heliyon,7(7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07543
Saidalvi, A., Mohamad, A., & Fakhruddin, W. F. W. (2021). Using English vlog within YouTube as a tool to enhance speaking skills. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(8), 1303–1311. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i8/10665
Seferoğlu, G. (2008). Using feature films in language classes. Educational Studies, 34(1), 1- 9. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690701785202
Sturm, J. L. (2012). Using film in the L2 classroom: A graduate course in film pedagogy. Foreign Language Annals, 45(2), 246–259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2012.01187.x
Tohamba, C. P. P. (2025). The use of YouTube in improving English vocabulary mastery in early childhood: Systematic literature review. Journal of Instructional and Development Research, 5(5), 500–510. https://doi.org/10.53621/jider.v5i5.595
Vezzali, L., Di Bernardo, G. A., Stathi, S., Visintin, E. P., & Hewstone, M. (2019). Using intercultural videos of direct contact to implement vicarious contact: A school-based intervention that improves intergroup attitudes. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(7), 1059–1076. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430218809885
Yassin, B. (2024). Enhancing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning in Saudi Arabia: The academic contribution of YouTube in EFL learning and cultural awareness. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1451504. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1451504
Yunus, M. M., Zakaria, S., & Suliman, A. (2019). The potential use of social media on Malaysian primary students to improve writing. International Journal of Education and Practice, 7(4), 450–458. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.61.2019.74.450.458
Zhang, L. (2020). Developing students’ intercultural competence through authentic video in language education. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 49(4), 330–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2020.1785528
Fouad Elhabchi is a third-year doctoral student at the Higher School of Teachers (ENS), Moulay Ismail University, Morocco. He has over 14 years of experience teaching English and holds a master’s degree in Applied Language Studies. His research interests include applied linguistics, digital learning, intercultural communicative competence, and foreign language teaching.
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5670-488X
Dr. Mohammed Zeriouh is an Associate Professor at the Higher School of Teachers (ENS), Moulay Ismail University, Morocco. He specializes in English Language Teaching, Digital Technology, and cultural studies. His research focuses on integrating technology in language education and teacher development. He has contributed to several national and international conferences and publications related to applied linguistics and language education. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3577-9440