ELT Worldwide Vol. 3, No.

1 2016
ISSN 23033037 E-ISSN 25032291
Published by English Language Education
Graduate Program, State University of Makassar, Indonesia

English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO) as a

Supporting Media in Learning Listening

Sukmawati Tono Palangngan

[email protected]

Haryanto Atmowardoyo
[email protected]

Sukardi Weda
[email protected]

State University of Makassar, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This research aims to find out: (1) whether the use of English Listening Lesson
Library Online (ELLLO) affects the students’ Listening comprehension
achievement and (2) students’ perception tow Engish Listening Lesson Library
Online (ELLLLO). This research employed Quan-Qual method with a type of
quasi-experimental design namely regression discontinuity design. The population
was the second year students of SMAN 3 Palopo which consisting of nine classes
in 2014/2015 academic year. The total number of population was 270 students.
This research used the combination of random sampling and nonrandom sampling
technique, random sampling to decide the sample of the quantitative analysis and
nonrandom sampling to decide the qualitative analysis. The data were collected by
two instruments namely a listening test and interview. The description of data
collected through the listening comprehension test showed that ELLLO (English
Listening Lesson Library Online) is significantly affecting the students listening
comprehension. All students agree that English listening Lesson Library Online
(ELLLO) is a good supporting media since they have used it for about six weeks
and their favourite activity is game activities.

Keywords: effect, ELLLO, listening

INTRODUCTION

English as a foreign language in Indonesia is taught as a compulsory

subject in some levels of education. Beside as a means of
communication, the function of English in an educational context is a
tool of building the interpersonal relationship, sharing information,
and appreciating language esthetic in English culture (Depdiknas,
2007). In English language curriculum of National Education for
senior high school, there are four skills required in learning English
namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
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Listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying.
It is the most basic of the four major areas of communication skills and
language development (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). It is
supported by the statement of Nunan (1998) that listening is the basic
skill in communication. Without listening, the learners or the students
will never learn to communicate effectively. Hamilton and Parker (1997)
also stated that listening is the most frequent communication skill used
because listening occupies 80% of our working hours. That is why
listening is such essential skill in communication.

Du (2011) stated that the improvement in listening cannot be achieved by

only once a week lesson or once in two weeks. While based on the
syllabus, the time allocation for listening lesson in the classroom is only
six lesson hours or six times forty-five minutes in a semester. So, the
students should practice their listening by themselves after class for by
using supporting media that they can access at home. Considering the
condition of students nowadays where most of them have their own
gadget or laptop and always bring them to school, the researcher thought
to find out a supporting media that might help the students via internet.
As Zamari, et al (2012) states that internet has a lot of potentials and
plays important role in language learning. Internet provides many sites or
media with variety materials which might be interesting for the students
in learning English especially listening and can give a chance for the
students to have an interactive self- learning. This is in line with the
statement of Teller (2000) that the internet offers an incredible range of
up to date materials which are designed for language learning, especially
for listening that can be accessed wherever the location. It means that the
students can learn to listen to English wherever and whenever they want
as long as it is provided by the Wi-Fi or network that makes them
possible to connect to the internet.

One of the internet media that can be used is ELLLO. ELLLO stands for
English Listening Lesson Library Online (Beucken, 2004). It is a site for
listening learning founded in 2004 by an English teacher from Japan
namely Todd Beucken. It offers free listening activities for students in
learning listening which is consisting of six different activities namely
view, videos, mixer, news centre, games, and scene. Each activity is
completed by vocabulary test and listening comprehension test. Besides,
it is also completed with scripts for each video or recording so that, while
training their listening, the students can also train their pronunciation.
 Palangngan, Atmowardoyo, Weda : English Listening ... |53
In ELLLO, the students also may choose the level, topic, and country
of the speaker of the material they are going through by clicking the
level, topic, and country features on the middle left of the site. By
learning based on the level and topic that interest them will probably
make them easier in learning listening comprehension.

Given this background, the purpose of this research was to investigate

whether or not the use of English Listening Lesson Library Online
(ELLLO) significantly affects the students' listening comprehension.
In addition, it also tried to find out the students' perception toward the
use of English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO) in learning
listening.

METHOD
This research used Quan- Qual model. This model was known as the
explanatory mixed method design. Quantitative data were collected
first and more heavily weighted than qualitative data. In the
quantitative, the researcher formulated a hypothesis, collected
quantitative data, and conducted data analysis. Then, the researcher
used the qualitative analysis and interpretation to help explain or
elaborate on the quantitative result (Gay, Mills, Airasian, 2006: 491).
The quantitative analysis was conducted by using one of the quasi-
experimental designs namely regression-discontinuity design.
Regression-discontinuity design is a type of quasi-experimental that is
used to investigate the efficacy of some programs or treatment but
cannot randomly assign the participants to the comparison group
(Johnson and Christensen, 2004: 311). It consists of measuring all
participant or sample on a preassignment (pretest), than the sample
will be divided into experimental group and control group based on
the score of the pretest. The students who get the score above the
cutoff will receive a treatment by using English Listening Lesson
Library Online (ELLLO) (experimental group), while the students
who get score below the cutoff will not receive any treatment. The
treatment effect is demonstrated by a discontinuity in the regression
line that would have been formed if no treatment effect existed.
This research used the combination of random sampling and
nonrandom sampling techniques. Jhonson and Christensen (2004)
stated that in mixed research, the researcher can use the combination
of random sampling and nonrandom sampling. So, in this research, the
researcher used random sampling to decide the sample of the
quantitative approach and nonrandom sampling to decide the
qualitative approach. In quantitative approach, the populations were
the second-grade students of SMAN 3 Palopo consisting of nine
classes. Each class consists of thirty students.
54| ELT Worldwide Vol. 3 No. 1 April 2016
So, two classes were randomly selected and the selected samples were
divided into two group namely experimental and control group based on
the result of the pre-assignment/pre-test that was conducted in this
research. On the other hand, qualitative approach, the researcher
purposively chose the members of the experimental group to be
interviewed in order to find out their perception toward the use of English
Listening Library Online (ELLLO) in learning to listen.
In order to collect the data, the researcher used two kinds of instruments
namely listening test and interview. The listening comprehension test is
used to see whether or not the use of Listening Lesson Library Online
(ELLLO) give a positive effect on students' listening comprehension. It
was administered in pre-test and post-test. The pre-test was intended to
find out the prior level of the students' listening comprehension and as the
reference to decide which students were the member of experimental
group and control group, while the post-test was intended to find out
whether there some improvement on students' listening comprehension
after given treatment. On the other hand, the interview was used to know
the students’ perception toward the use of English Listening Lesson
Library Online (ELLLO) in their listening comprehension learning.

RESULTS
Students’ Listening Comprehension
Based on the pre-test result, it is decided that thirty students who got the
higher score were in the experimental group members and thirty students
who got the lower score were in the control group members.

Pre-test

Table 1. The percentage of students' of experiment and control group

pre-test score
Experiment Control
No Classification Score
F % F %
1 Very Good 91-100 0 0% 0 0%
2 Good 76-90 5 17% 0 0%
3 Fair 61-75 13 43% 0 0%
4 Poor 51-60 12 40% 1 3%
5 Very Poor 0-50 0 0% 29 97%
Total 30 100% 30 100%
 Palangngan, Atmowardoyo, Weda : English Listening ... |55
Table 4.1 shows that the score of the students in the experimental group
was higher than the students in the control group.
Post-test

Table 2. The percentage of students' score in posttest

Experiment Control
No Classification Score
F % F %
1 Very Good 91-100 2 7% 0 0%
2 Good 76-90 13 43% 0 0%
3 Fair 61-75 15 50% 0 0%
4 Poor 51-60 0 0% 2 7%
5 Very Poor 0-50 0 0% 28 93%
Total 30 100% 30 100%

Table 2 shows that the students' achievement in the experimental group

were increased than in control group. In the experimental group, two
students (7%) were categorized as very good, thirteen students were
categorized as good, and fifteen students were categorized as fair. While in
the control group, no student was categorized as very good, good, and fair.
Most of the students were categorized as very poor (93%) and only two
students (7%) who categorized as poor.
The mean score and standard deviation of the students' pre-test and post-
test are showed in the following table:

Table 3
Mean Score and Standard Deviation of the students’ pre-test and post-test
score

Group Mean Score Standard

Deviation
Pre-test Experimental 66,88 7,320
Control 45,11 5,448
Post-test Experimental 77,11 8,152
Control 44,00 5,963

Table 4.3 reveals the difference of mean score and standard deviation in
pre-test and post-test of both groups. The data was based on the
computation by using SPSS 20.
56| ELT Worldwide Vol. 3 No. 1 April 2016
The data from the table 4.3 shows that the mean score of experimental
group and control group were different before giving the treatment. After
conducting the experimenting, the score of the post-test of experimental
and control group showed the higher difference score of mean score. It
means that there was an improvement after conducting a treatment for the
experimental group. The mean score of the students' pre-test of the
experimental group was 66,88 and the standard deviation was 7,320, while
in the control group, the mean score 45,11 and the standard deviation was
5,448. The mean score of both groups was higher difference after the
experimenting was conducted. The mean score of the students' post-test of
the experimental group after the treatment was 77,11 with standard
deviation 8,152, while the mean score of the students’ post-test in control
44,00 with standard deviation 5,963, it means that the mean score of
experimental group higher than the control group (77,11 > 44,00).
The hypotheses were tested by using inferential analysis, t-test (testing of
significance) for paired samples test. The result of the t-test indicates that
there is significant difference result between pre-test and post-test in the
experimental group. However, t-test value in pre-test and post-test of the
control group is 0.096 and t-table is 0.005. In this case, the p-value was
greater than the t-table value (0.096 > 0.005). It indicates that the
difference between those mean score was statistically significant. It also
indicates H0 was rejected and H1 was accepted.

In order to see which group is better, the researcher used the mean score of
both groups in post-test. The mean score of the experimental group was
higher than the mean score of the control group. It means that the
treatment given in experimental group give a positive effect on students’
listening comprehension as illustrated in the figure below.
 Palangngan, Atmowardoyo, Weda : English Listening ... |57
The figure above indicates that the treatment had a positive effect because
the scores of the students in the experimental group did not continue the
pattern of scores of students in the control group.

Students’ Perception toward English Listening Lesson Library Online

(ELLLO)

The interview result that was taken on 23th April 2015 about the students’
perception toward ELLLO was explained as follows:

Superiority and Weaknesses of ELLLO

Based on the interview result, all interviewees agree that ELLLO is a good
supporting media in learning listening. One reason why they said that
ELLLO is a good supporting media in learning listening is because
ELLLO has a lot of listening material with different topics so that the
students were more enjoy their learning. It was proved by the answers of
the interviewee when the researcher asked their opinion about ELLLO.
The second reason is because all activities are completed with quiz or
comprehension test that can help them train their listening comprehension
ability. It is showed from the sample of the students’ statement in the
interview. The third reason is because ELLLO can be used whenever they
want whether it is at school, home, etc. Besides it is easier for them
because they do not need a book to learn listening but they only need
gadget or laptop which they always bring everywhere. The last reason is
because ELLLO is a free site. The do not need to pay for learning through
this site.

Besides the strength, the interview result also showed some weaknesses of
English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO). The first weakness of
ELLLO is sometimes the video cannot be played. So the students cannot
do the comprehension test in this activity as well because there is no video
to be listened to as the material for the comprehension test. That is because
operation timed out. The second weakness is there are some questions in
the comprehension test that have more than one answer. So, in order to get
the correct answer, the students should click more than one option in the
answer options. The last weakness according to the students is the idioms
given in the script of views activities. The students said that that does not
help enough because the explanations of the meaning of the idioms given
are in English recording without text, so the students always feel difficult
to get the real meaning of the idioms.
58| ELT Worldwide Vol. 3 No. 1 April 2016

Students’ Favourite Activities

English listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO) has six kinds of

listening activity namely views, video, mixer, games, scene, and news
centre. But based on the interview result, the most favourable activities is
Games.

Twenty-two students said that this activity is their favourite.It is chosen by

the interviewee number 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21,
22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, and 30. (22students). The reason is because in
games activities the students feel enjoy and more relax because besides the
comprehension test there are also guessing picture session where they
should click the appropriate picture based on the audio they listened. By
doing that kind of activities, they feel like playing a game. Six students
said that news centre activity is their favourite.It is chosen by the
interviewee number 3, 8, 12, 17, 23, 28 and 30 (7 students). The students
chose this activity because the animation video in this activity can be
completed with the subtitle so they can train their listening while
practicing their pronunciation by following what the speaker are saying.
On the other hand, only one student who said that mixer activity is his
favourite. It is chosen by the interviewee number 28. She like this activity
because according to her, it is more challenging than others because there
are six speakers who talk in the recording and she should know the main
point of each person's talk.

ELLLO’s Role on the Students’ Listening Comprehension

Since the students have used ELLLO for about six weeks, most of the
students stated that they got improvement on their listening
comprehension.

DISCUSSION

This section presents the discussion of the result of the data collection. The
description of collected data through the listening comprehension test as
explained in the previous section showed that ELLLO (English Listening
Lesson Library Online) is effective as a supporting media in learning
listening. This finding supports the finding of Yunus, et al (2010) that ICT
is an effective tool to support language learning.
 Palangngan, Atmowardoyo, Weda : English Listening ... |59
The effectiveness of ELLLO as an internet supporting media in learning
listening can be seen from the mean score of the experimental group was
higher than the mean score of the control group. The mean score of the
students' pretest in the experimental group was 66,88 and the standard
deviation was 7,320, while in the control group, the mean score 45,11 and
the standard deviation was 5,448. The mean score of both groups was
higher difference after the experimenting was conducted. The mean score
of the students' posttest of the experimental group after the treatment was
77,11 with the standard deviation 8,152, while the mean score of the
students’ posttest in control 44,00 with standard deviation 5,963, it means
that the mean score of experimental group higher than the control group
(77,11 ˃ 44,00). Besides, in figure 9, the scores of the students in the
experimental group did not continue the pattern of scores of students in the
control group which means that the treatments given in the experimental
group give a positive effect on students' listening comprehension. So, it
can be said that ELLLO is an internet media for learning listening that
effective to be used by the students as a supporting media in learning
listening. This finding is in line with the finding from Kocuglu (2010) who
found that the use of ICT media is effective in learning English as a
foreign language.
The interview result showed that all students agree that English listening
Lesson Library Online (ELLLO) is a good supporting media since they
have used it for about six weeks. There are some reasons presented about
this issue. The first reason is because the English Listening Lesson Library
Online has variety material with different topics which interesting for the
students. So that the students were more enjoy their learning. It is related
with the explanation of ELLLO in the pertinent ideas in chapter 2 that
Elllo offers free listening activities for students learning English as another
language. Currently, there are over 2000 listening activities on the site. So,
the students are free to choose the material which they interested in.The
second reason, ELLLO is completed with quiz or comprehension test that
can help them to train their listening comprehension. It is similar to the
opinion of Rost (1991) that one of the principles in developing listening
ability is through work on comprehension activities. The students can
evaluate their efforts and listening ability through the comprehension test
on this site. By having well-defined comprehension activities, there should
be an improvement that the students got on their listening. Another reason,
ELLLO is flexible and free to access. It means that the students can access
the site whenever they want without paying, not just at school because it
can be accessed via gadget and as we know that nowadays most of the
teenagers (in this case the students) have gadget or laptop that they always
bring everywhere wherever they go.
60| ELT Worldwide Vol. 3 No. 1 April 2016
Those are in line with the statement of Teller (2000) who stated that the
internet offers an incredible range of up to date materials which are
designed for language learning, especially for listening that can be
accessed wherever the location. It means that the students can learn to
listen to English wherever and whenever they want as long as it is
provided by the Wi-Fi or network that makes them possible to connect to
the internet. As ELLLO is an internet media, The finding also support the
statement of Zamari, et al (2012) who state that internet has a lot of
potentials and plays important role in language learning which is provide
many sites or media with variety materials which might be interesting for
the students in learning English especially listening and can give a chance
for the students to have an interactive self- learning.
In contrast, the limitations or weaknesses of ELLLO are also presented.
Based on the previously findings, it was found that sometimes the video in
the video activities cannot be played. Furthermore, there are some
questions in the comprehension test that have more than one answer. So, in
order to get the correct answer, the students should click more than one
option in the answer options. The last weakness is the idioms given in the
script of views activities. The students said that the idiom did not help
enough because the explanations of the meaning of the idioms given are in
English recording without text, so the students always feel difficult to get
the real meaning of the idioms.
In chapter 2, it has been explained that ELLLO has six main activities
namely views, video, mixer, news centre, games, and scene. But based on
the findings, it was found that there are three favourable activities for the
students namely games, news centre, and mixer. The most favourable
activity is Games. Most of the students said that they really like to learn
listening by this activity because in this activity they learn like playing a
game just by choosing the picture based on the recording listened. It is
coherence with the explanation of Games activity in chapter 2 that in this
activity the students should start by doing the flash game at the top, and
when the audio stops, the students should choose the appropriate picture.
The next favourable activity is News centre. Seven students choose this
activity as a favourite activity because the animation video in this activity
can be completed with the subtitle so they can train their listening while
practicing their pronunciation by following what the speaker are saying.
Differently, only one student chose Mixer as her favourite. According to
her, mixer activity is more challenging than others because there are six
speakers who talk in the recording and she should know the main point of
each person's talk.
 Palangngan, Atmowardoyo, Weda : English Listening ... |61
After using ELLLO for about six weeks, the students said that they got
improvement on their listening comprehension skill. It is compatible with
the result of their test result which showed a higher score for experimental
group in post-test than in pre-test. Furthermore, the post-test score of
experimental group did not continue the pattern of the post-test of the
control group.

CONCLUSION

The use of ELLLO (English Listening Lesson Library Online) is

significantly affecting the students’ listening comprehension at SMAN 3
Palopo. It can be seen from both groups' score of posttest. The mean score
of the experimental group was higher than the mean score of the control
group (77.11 > 44.00). It means that the treatment given in experimental
group give a positive effect on students’ listening comprehension as
illustrated in the figure below. Besides, the figure of discontinuity
regression of this research indicates that the treatment had an effect
because the scores of the students in the experimental group did not
continue the pattern of scores of students in the control group. In addition,
the students have positive perception toward English Listening
Lesson Library Online. They said that English listening Lesson Library
Online (ELLLO) is a good supporting media since they have used it. The
reasons are because the English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO)
has variety material which interesting for the students. It also completed
with quiz or comprehension test that can help them to train their listening
comprehension. Besides, ELLLO is flexible and free to access. The
students also argue that their most favourable activity in ELLLO is Games.

So, due to the fact that the students lack listening practice at school, it is
suggested that the students use ELLLO (English Listening Lesson Library
Online) as often as they can as a supporting media that can help them in
developing their listening comprehension. The readers of this article are
also expected to socialize ELLLO (www.ello.org) to others especially
students as a supporting media in learning listening in order to increase
their skill in listening comprehension.
62| ELT Worldwide Vol. 3 No. 1 April 2016
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