The Students' Perspective Towards YouTube as the Replacement of Lecturer in Nahwu Learning

_______________________ *Correspondence Address: mahfuzrizqimubarak@iainpalangkaraya.ac.id Abstract: The existence of YouTube social media as a medium to support the Arabic learning process has been widely discussed by researchers. However, the existence of this media has the potential for misunderstanding of educators in implementing YouTube as a substitute for the role of educators in the learning process. This article aims to explore students' perspectives regarding the phenomenon of misunderstanding in Nahwu science learning and recommendations so that the lecture process can run effectively. Narrative approach was used in this research. The research data were obtained from interviews with 32 students from various districts in Central Kalimantan Province. From the results of the study, it was found that students gave positive and negative perceptions about Nahwu science learning using the YouTube media. However, negative perceptions dominate more with various expressions of disappointment from students. The students definitely felt aggrieved by the implementation of the Nahwu lecture which was limited to using the YouTube media without being accompanied by further explanations from the lecturers who taught the Nahwu course. Students recommend lecturers to be more involved in the Nahwu lecture process rather than simply sharing video material that is already available on YouTube media.


Introduction
The Corona Virus Disease  pandemic has given a change to the world of education 1 . The learning process, which is used to be carried out face-to-face in a room (offline), has turned into a distance learning (online) which emphasizes the use of information technology and networks in the form of the internet 2 . Almost all universities 1 Karwati Putu Latief, -Arti Lockdown, Social Distancing dan Istilah Populer Seputar Virus Corona,‖ Harapan Rakyat Online (blog), March 15, 2020, https://www.harapanrakyat.com/2020/03/artilockdown-social-distancing-dan-istilah-populer-seputar-virus-corona/. 2 Affouneh, Soheil Salha, and Zuheir N. Khlaif, in the world use a virtual system for the learning activities by applying several synchronous media such as Zoom Cloud Meeting 3 , Google Meet 4 , and Whatsapp 5 and asynchronous media such as Google Classroom 6 , Edmodo 7 , and Moodle 8 , in order to avoid physical and social contact between individuals as an effort to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 9 .
In addition, this case was also found in one of the universities in Central Kalimantan Province which used YouTube media in Arabic learning, especially in Nahwu course. As we know, Nahwu is one of the courses which is considered as a diffcult lesson to be understood by the students 10 . In Hakim's research, it stated that Nahwu course material was considered something difficult and tiring to study 11 . However, the problem is the lecturers who teach the subject merely share the link of Nahwu material via WhatsApp which is available on YouTube without any further explanation regarding the results of the video material that has been shared. This is certainly contradictory to the duties and obligations of an educator. An educator is the spearhead in improving the quality of education. The educator in the classroom has an important role in motivating students to achieve educational goals, which is to develop the nation's intelectual life 12 . The support from an educator implies the satisfaction with the students 13 . The physical presence of an educator has an irreplaceable role in developing the students' characters 14 .
Several previous research explained that some educators used YouTube as an alternative in implementing online learning 15 . The existence of YouTube media in the world of education is proven to help improve students' abilities in the aspects of foreign language learning 16 . There is even an adage "You can learn anything on YouTube" 17 . This is because YouTube can produce more flexible, interesting, and more interactive learning 18 . However, some of the studies above show that the existence of successful YouTube media is only used as supporting media in the learning process, not replacing the educators in the learning process, as what has happened in this discussion. This is the novelty of this study compared to the previous studies. Therefore, the researcher took the initiative to solve this problem by analyzing the perceptions of students who had the online learning on Nahwu course by using the YouTube media. The results of this study are expected to minimize the problems that occur in the implementation of online learning, especially in the aspect of misperceptions in responding to the use of YouTube as the media for Arabic learning.

Method
Narrative research design was used in this research which is to directly explore the information from participants in order to explain the experiences and phenomena 19 .
The use of this design is because this study focuses on the narrative of the students' perceptions in the university in Central Kalimantan Province regarding their experiences in conducting online learning, especially in Nahwu course by using the YouTube.

This study involved 32 students from several districts in Central Kalimantan
Province. The 32 students were recruited based on their willingness to fill out Google Form about the participant recruitment which was distributed through the WhatsApp study group. Google Form also classified potential participants into several categories, namely: Gender, city / district origin, and latest education. The participants were also given the opportunity by the researchers to resign if they felt less pleased with this research. Thus, it is truly based on the conscience of the participants without any pressure 20 .
The data collection technique was conducted by using written interviews prepared through Google Form which included students' perceptions of online learning especially in Nahwu course by using YouTube, and how lecturers should do in implementing YouTube as a media in online learning in Nahwu course.
The data analysis techniques used in this study were as follows: First, collecting data obtained from the overall interview results. Second, reducing data based on the themes discussed in the study. Third, presenting data according to the themes discussed in the research. Fourth, concluding the results of the study 21 .

Profile of the Students
As what is mentioned previously, the researcher classified 32 student participants into several categories, namely: (1) Gender. Among of the 32 student participants, 87% were female and 12% were male. (2)

YouTube
At this point, the researcher found various perceptions expressed by the students about their experiences about online learning in Nahwu course by using YouTube. The researchers divided the various perceptions into two categories, namely (1) positive perceptions, and (2) negative perceptions.

Positive Perceptions
From the results of the interview, the researcher found several positive perceptions which would be explained as follows: first, YouTube presents interesting and easy way to understand Nahwu material. Students revealed that the video of Nahwu material distributed by the lecturer with the interesting presentations and the presentation was well-arranged so that it was easy to understand. This confirmed the findings of  which reported that learning materials that were presented attractively in Second, it can be accessed anywhere and anytime. Students revealed that the material presented on YouTube had the advantages such as the flexibility to use. Students can access video material by using various gadgets such as smartphones and laptops.
Students also do not worry about missing the material considering that the video presented on YouTube can be played many times. This flexibility is certainly beneficial for students' understanding of Nahwu material. As Hakim in his research emphasized that Nahwu material is difficult and overwhelming to study 23 . The flexibility of YouTube in the learning process was also strengthened by the results of research by Neuman & Herodotou (2020) which revealed that YouTube media is easy to access (even for children) because it can be accessed by any digital device that is connected to the internet access 24 .
From the results of the explanation above, the researcher found two positive perceptions of students about Nahwu by using YouTube, namely (1) the presentation of the Nahwu material becomes interesting, and (2) the flexibility of YouTube in Nahwu learning.

Negative Perceptions
In addition, as the researcher explained in the introduction, lecturers merely shared YouTube video links about Nahwu material to the students. This eventually lead various kinds of negative responses from the students. So it is not surprising when any negative perceptions were dominated. The student' perception towards Nahwu learning by using YouTube are explained as follows: First, students revealed that the material presented through YouTube videos is difficult to understand. This is caused by the absence of the opportunity for students to ask questions directly from the lecturer.
Moreover, the majority of students were from public schools where Arabic subjects are not taught there. This case strengthened the results of the research of Mukmin (2019)  the students' background about Arabic language learning has a significant effect on their results and motivation to continue learning Arabic 25 .
Second, students also revealed that some locations near their house has the serious problem with the internet signals. In fact, it is not uncommon when the learning process takes place, students have to travel about an hour from home to find a location that has a strong internet signal, only to download YouTube videos about Nahwu material distributed by lecturers. This finding is in line with what has been reported by Robinson and Rawlings (2018) that internet connection still becomes a serious problem in certain areas even though the majority of students are already able in applying technology 26 . This raises disappointment for students considering the efforts made by students are not comparable to what they get from lecturers who teach Nahwu course.
This can demotivate students in learning.
Third, students do not hesitate to reveal that the way of learning they get from Nahwu course by only using YouTube is wasting their internet data plans. They revealed that the majority of videos shared by lecturers had a long duration and consumed a lot of internet data plans. They usually look for the WiFi corner provided by the government instead of using their own internet data plans on their cellular card.
Fourth, as previously stated, the learning system implemented by lecturers caused disappointment to students. Some students even gave the statements "why should we pay tuition fees if we only get the videos of Nahwu material from YouTube?". This statement is very natural considering the condition of the Covid-19 pandemic which is still unstoppable, and the poor quality of the learning process has an effect on student psychology 27 .
From this, it can be concluded that online learning on Nahwu course by using the YouTube have four negative perceptions such as: (1) Difficult to understand the Nahwu material from YouTube (2) Bad signal or the internet connection in several locations 3) Wasting to much internet data plans and (4) Affecting students' psychology.

YouTube
To overcome the problems, students suggest some input that can be used as a reference for lecturers in online learning in Nahwu course using the YouTube media.
First, students want further explanations from lecturers both through WhatsApp and Zoom. This will help students to understand the material presented. Students hope that the explanation of the advanced material does not have to start with the student's question first, but the lecturer must provide the explanation a few minutes after the YouTube video material is presented. Students also add that some of them were shy to ask questions so they preferred to be silent. Therefore, it is necessary to have a personal approach between lecturers and students by increasing interaction in the form of asking students one by one, not asking in general. Nitta and Studa (2020) in their research reported that the intensity of the interaction between educators and learners has a positive impact on the learning motivation of learners 28 .
Second, students hope that the material video presented has a short duration and has a brief explanation. On the other hand, students prefer material video which made by the course lecturer, not from videos which is taken from various sources. They argued that the video developed directly by the lecturer would be easier for them to understand because the lecturer who taught the course certainly the characteristics of the students in the class.
From the explanation above, the researcher concluded that no matter how sophisticated YouTube is, it will still not replace the position of educators in the process of teaching and learning activities both offline and online. Moreover, Nahwu course, which is still considered as a difficult and overwhelming subject to study 29 , is more identical to being taught with conventional methods popular among Islamic boarding schools 30 . Researchers agree with the statement of Moghavvemi et al. (2018)  YouTube can be used as a complementary or supporting tool for the learning process, not to replace the educators in the learning process 31 .
The existence of YouTube as a learning media among learners, even more preferable than other learning sources, has indeed become an indisputable fact 32 . Even El Miedany (2019) in his book stated that YouTube is the second most popular website in the internet world 33 . As previously mentioned, YouTube site is easily accessible by anyone (even children) and has low barriers because it can be accessed through any digital device such as tablets, cellphones and laptops that are connected to the internet 34 .
However, learning media which is produced by technological developments cannot completely replace conventional learning processes which emphasize the communication between educators and learners 35 . Although YouTube can produce learning that is more flexible, more interesting 36 , and more interactive than formal learning, YouTube is less effective in the matters of language learning. 37 An educator or a teacher is still crucial and needed. Therefore, the use of YouTube media is recommended only for learning media, not to replace the role of educators in the learning process 38 .
The recommendation to overcome this problem as stated by the participants is to use media such as Zoom Cloud Meeting, Google Meet, and Skype. These synchronous media provide face-to-face activities and interaction between educators and students and supporting virtual videos 39 .

Conclusion
From the results of the research above, the researcher concluded that the case of lecturing the Nahwu course by only using YouTube video as happened above was in fact dominated by negative responses from students. Some negative perceptions such as the difficulty in understanding the material presented on YouTube videos, bad signals or internet connection, wasting the internet data plans, affecting students' psychology, and the students are not satisified with the lecture process, especially in Nahwu courses. To make Nahwu learning more effective, students recommend media that can facilitate both lecturers and students for face-to-face interactions in Nahwu learning. By learning in a conventional way with face-to-face interaction would give more positive results on the learning outcomes of Nahwu as Islamic boarding schools. Based on the results of the research above, the researcher recommends further research on students' perceptions about improving four Arabic language skills by using YouTube.