This study examined associations of perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, YouTube learning self-efficacy, and content quality with behavioral engagement and learning satisfaction in YouTube-based informal English learning (YIEL). A cross-sectional survey of 393 Taiwanese undergraduate students was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). All hypothesized direct associations were supported. The model explained 47.6% of the variance in behavioral engagement and 64.7% of the variance in learning satisfaction. Behavioral engagement also statistically mediated the associations between the four focal constructs and learning satisfaction.
Online, distance, and social-media-supported learning have become prominent in educational research and practice, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond formal instruction, open online resources are increasingly used for informal learning. Among these resources, YouTube is widely used for self-directed language learning because of its multimodal, flexible, and self-paced format.
However, YouTube is an open, largely user-generated environment where materials vary in relevance and quality. Unlike course-based platforms, YouTube content is not typically organized into a formal curriculum, so learners must evaluate videos’ usefulness and credibility themselves. Platform features such as search, subscriptions, social sharing, and algorithmic recommendations further shape exposure to learning materials.
Prior research has largely focused on classroom-based or teacher-guided uses of YouTube, leaving open questions about how learners independently evaluate, select, and sustain engagement with English-learning videos in informal settings. This study therefore examines motivational factors, YouTube learning self-efficacy, and content quality together, with particular attention to behavioral engagement as both an outcome and a mediator.
Previous literature on YIEL clusters into three areas: linguistic exposure and input from videos; learners’ motivational, affective, and self-regulatory processes emphasizing agency; and platform-related evaluations including content quality, engagement, and outcomes. These streams suggest that YIEL involves not only exposure to English but also active judgments about content and self-directed regulatory behaviors.
Because these factors have often been studied separately, the present study integrates them to better reflect the learner-directed and content-diverse nature of informal YouTube learning.
The study treats learner motivation as comprising two complementary dimensions. Perceived usefulness represents an extrinsic, goal-oriented appraisal of whether YouTube supports English learning goals. Perceived enjoyment represents intrinsic motivation derived from the activity itself. Prior work in technology-enhanced learning indicates that both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators relate to engagement and satisfaction outcomes.
Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model, perceived usefulness captures learners’ beliefs that a platform can support task-related goals. Although perceived ease of use is part of the original model, the authors explain that ease of use may be less central in informal YouTube contexts; prior research showed perceived usefulness had stronger associations with intention and engagement than ease of use in some procedural-learning settings. In the open and algorithm-driven environment of YIEL, perceived usefulness may play a critical role in whether learners allocate attention and effort to videos.
YouTube learning self-efficacy reflects learners’ confidence in using YouTube specifically for English learning tasks. Content quality refers to learners’ perceptions of the clarity, credibility, relevance, and instructional value of videos. Both constructs are important in YIEL because learners must judge user-generated materials and decide which resources to rely on in the absence of formal guidance.
The study posed two research questions:
RQ1: How are perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, YouTube learning self-efficacy, and content quality associated with behavioral engagement in YIEL contexts?
RQ2: How are these four constructs directly associated with learning satisfaction in YIEL contexts, and what indirect associations involving behavioral engagement are observed?
The authors hypothesized positive associations from each of the four constructs to behavioral engagement and to learning satisfaction, and they hypothesized that behavioral engagement would mediate the associations between the four constructs and learning satisfaction.
The research used a cross-sectional survey administered to 393 undergraduate students in Taiwan. Questionnaire items are provided in the study’s supporting information, and the anonymized dataset is available via the Open Science Framework. Data were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to estimate direct and indirect associations among the constructs. The authors reported no specific funding and declared no competing interests.
All hypothesized direct associations were supported: perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, YouTube learning self-efficacy, and content quality were each positively associated with behavioral engagement and with learning satisfaction. The model explained 47.6% of the variance in behavioral engagement and 64.7% of the variance in learning satisfaction. Behavioral engagement was also positively associated with learning satisfaction and statistically mediated the relationships between the four focal constructs and learning satisfaction.
The findings show that both motivational dimensions (usefulness and enjoyment), platform-specific confidence (YouTube learning self-efficacy), and perceptions of instructional materials (content quality) are important predictors of engagement and satisfaction in informal YouTube English learning. Treating behavioral engagement as both an outcome and a mediator underscores its central role: learners’ judgments and confidence influence whether they engage behaviorally with videos, and that engagement in turn contributes to satisfaction.
Given YouTube’s open, user-generated ecosystem and algorithmic influences, these results highlight the importance of learners’ evaluative capacities (judging usefulness and quality) and confidence in navigating the platform.
This study extends understanding of YIEL by integrating motivational factors, self-efficacy, and content quality in a single model and by identifying behavioral engagement as both an outcome of these factors and a mediator of their effects on learning satisfaction. The results suggest that interventions or resources that improve perceived usefulness, enhance enjoyment, build platform-specific self-efficacy, or raise perceived content quality may increase engagement and satisfaction among informal YouTube English learners. The dataset and instruments are publicly available on OSF for further analysis.