Internalizing Empathy Through Audiobook-Based Poetry Listening Instruction Among Indonesian Language Education Students

Eka Sartika; Ayu Hidayanti Ali

doi:10.24256/ideas.v14i2.12780

Authors

Eka Sartika Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Indonesia
Ayu Hidayanti Ali Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i2.12780

Keywords:

empathy; poetry listening; audio media; literary learning; higher education

Abstract

This study examines how poetry listening instruction using YouTube-based audio media provides opportunities for empathetic engagement among 40 Indonesian Language Education students. Using a descriptive qualitative design, data were collected through classroom observation, written reflections, and interviews with eight students. The data were qualitatively analyzed by identifying and comparing students’ responses across four analytical dimensions: comprehension, cognitive empathy, affective empathy, and reflective empathy. The findings indicated a response pattern moving from understanding the emotional situations represented in the poem toward perspective-taking, emotional engagement, and, for some students, personal reflection. Affective-empathy-related responses were evident when students oriented their emotional reactions toward the experiences of the figures in the poem, whereas reflective empathy varied in depth across students. Intonation, pauses, tempo, and vocal expression supported students’ recognition of emotional nuances; however, emotional engagement alone was not treated as evidence of empathy. Rather than demonstrating that audio media directly internalized empathy, the findings suggest that expressive poetry listening, when combined with interpretation and reflection, can provide opportunities for perspective-taking and empathy-related reflection. The study highlights a pedagogical pathway linking literary comprehension, auditory experience, emotional engagement, perspective-taking, and reflection.

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