The Correlation between English Subtitle-Watching Habits on YouTube and Productive Vocabulary Mastery among Tenth-Grade Students

Abstrak

Habit refers to a pattern of behavior that becomes automatic through consistent repetition in a stable environment, and in the current digital era, watching YouTube videos with English subtitles has become one such habitual practice among language learners. This study aimed to determine whether there is a significant correlation between tenth grade students' habit of reading English subtitles on English YouTube videos and their productive vocabulary mastery at SMK PGRI Pekanbaru. A quantitative correlational design was employed, involving 34 students selected through simple random sampling from a total population of 135 tenth grade students. Data were collected using a validated and reliable 24 item questionnaire (Cronbach's Alpha = .893) to measure students' subtitle reading habit, and the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (PVLT) developed by Laufer and Nation (2013) to measure students' productive vocabulary mastery. The data were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment correlation technique with the assistance of SPSS version 26. The results showed that the average habit score was 3.23, classified as "Good", while the average PVLT score was 71.91, classified as "Partial Mastery". The Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.344 with a significance value of 0.047 (p < 0.05), indicating a statistically significant but low positive correlation between the two variables. These findings suggest that although the habit of reading English subtitles on YouTube contributes to productive vocabulary development, its influence is limited, since vocabulary mastery is also shaped by active output practices such as speaking and writing. Teachers are therefore encouraged to combine subtitle based YouTube viewing with productive language activities to more effectively enhance students' vocabulary mastery.