International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12
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 Volume 12, Issue 4 (April 2025), Pages: 62-70

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 Original Research Paper

Exploring digital distractions in the use of YouTube for enhancing foreign language writing proficiency

 Author(s): 

 Turky Alshaikhi 1, *, Mohamad Ahmad Saleem Khasawneh 2

 Affiliation(s):

 1Languages and Translation Department, College of Education and Arts, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
 2Special Education Department, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia

 Full text

  Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

  Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3415-5743

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.04.008

 Abstract

YouTube is a digital platform that can support the development of language skills, including writing. As an important tool for improving writing abilities, YouTube offers videos that help language learners practice creative writing and other types of writing in an easy and accessible way. However, the use of this platform may also create distractions for learners. This study focuses on examining the digital distractions that occur when using YouTube to improve writing skills in a foreign language. It also aims to suggest ways to make the platform more effective for language learning. The study involved seventy-nine participants, who were purposefully selected from different universities. To achieve the research objectives, a mixed-method approach was used to collect data from these participants. The findings revealed several digital distractions on YouTube that may affect the learning process, such as advertisements, video recommendations, the auto-play function, and pop-up notifications. Among these, advertisements and pop-up notifications were identified as the most common sources of distraction. Although these features may be useful for other purposes like marketing, they interrupt the learning process and reduce learners’ focus during language study.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 YouTube platform, Language learning, Writing proficiency, Digital distractions, Pop-up notifications

 Article history

 Received 27 September 2024, Received in revised form 22 March 2025, Accepted 14 April 2025

 Acknowledgment

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through Large Research Groups under grant number (RGP.2 / 110 /45).

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

All necessary ethical approvals were obtained from the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University. Participants were informed about the procedures and were assured that all information would remain confidential and be used solely for scientific purposes.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Alshaikhi T and Khasawneh MAS (2025). Exploring digital distractions in the use of YouTube for enhancing foreign language writing proficiency. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(4): 62-70

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 Figures

 Fig. 1 

 Tables

 Table 1 Table 2 Table 3

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