EXPLORING PODCASTS AS AN ENGLISH LEARNING MEDIA: A NARRATIVE THEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstrak

This narrative thematic literature review aims to explore the role of podcasts as an innovative learning media for enhancing English language skills. The method used is a narrative literature review by collecting and synthesizing academic articles from the Google Scholar and ScienceDirect databases within the last six years, with a total of 15 journals. The results show that podcasts provide authentic learning materials that offer natural language input often not found in traditional textbooks. Furthermore, the use of podcasts significantly increases student motivation and engagement through flexible and personalized content, which in turn encourages independent learning. However, this study also found implementation barriers such as the digital divide, technical constraints, and a lack of pedagogical guidance from teachers. The conclusion of this article emphasizes that the effectiveness of podcasts depends on the synergy between quality content, infrastructure readiness, and teacher guidance. The implications of this research suggest the need for deeper integration of podcasts into the curriculum and digital training for teachers to overcome practical hurdles. This article fills a literature gap by unifying material aspects, motivation, and challenges into a single comprehensive synthesis.