Podcasts as a Teaching Tool. A Qualitative Study on Upper Secondary Teachers’ Podcast-Use in the Swedish EFL Classroom to Teach Listening Comprehension

Abstract: Due to increasing digitalization in educational settings as well as in society, requirements and demands on schools, teachers, and pedagogical tools have changed. One digital tool that has influenced the field of education is podcasting. There is a multitude of international research on podcasting for language teaching and listening comprehension, but there is a gap regarding a Swedish perspective. This study aims to decrease that gap by interviewing Swedish EFL teachers about their attitudes, perceptions, and approaches regarding podcast-use in the EFL classroom. In this qualitative study, five upper secondary Swedish EFL teachers participated, and the empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The results show that Swedish teachers have a positive attitude towards podcast-use for teaching listening comprehension and a desire to learn more about their pedagogical potential. Furthermore, the results indicate that teachers use podcasts to improve listening comprehension, to increase motivation, and to add practical aspects in language learning; moreover, pedagogical approaches and challenges podcasts can pose were presented. Lastly, a discussion analyzing the participants’ answers in comparison with the previous research is concluded and pedagogical implications are made.