Regarding to the data, the results of the perception questionnaire were divided into four dimensions, they are clarifying material, increasing learning motivation, overcoming the limitation of senses, space and time, and providing students environment experience. Furthermore, the result of the questionnaire was supported by the qualitative data in the form of interview result.

The first dimension is clarifying material. The result of the questionnaire showed that the respondents perceived this in high category (mean score = 28.03) and it was corresponded to the positive perception. This means that students think Instagram can be used to explain their learning materials more clearly. The result was also supported by the responses of the respondents (signified as R) during the interview section. As what had been implied by R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7 and R8, Instagram as instructional media could clarify the material delivered because its user-friendly features and capabilities. Instagram is able to display video, photo, text, and sound that could make the process of teaching and learning run smoother. The result of the study is parallel to the study by Mansor and Rahim (2017) who found that one benefit of Instagram as language learning is clarifying as well as enhancing students’ reading, writing, questioning, and arguing skill. Destiana, Salman, and Rahim (2013) posted a similar result stating that social media is ease of use and it helps speakers and writers to deliver their messages successfully. In short, Instagram as one kind of social media that could clarify the material delivered because of its rich multimodal features that eases learning and instruction of a foreign language, like English.

The second dimension is overcoming the limitation of senses, space, and time. From the data analysis on this dimension, it was found that respondents showed a high perception (mean score = 15.04) and it corresponded to a positive perception. The respondents felt that Instagram assists them in overcoming the limitation of senses, space and time in learning, making the process of learning easier, more meaningful, and manageable. From the interview responses, the respondents mentioned that Instagram could help them in managing their learning more easily, anytime, and anywhere. Using Instagram platform has helped the students to access and experience the English learning process in a more ubiquitous fashion. Yadegarfar and Simin (2016) asserted that with relevant tool, learning and instruction of a target language, like English can happen both synchronously and asynchronously.

The third dimension is improving learning motivation. In this perception dimension, the respondents’ opinions were analyzed and the result shows that their perception is in the high category (mean score = 14.24), and it corresponded to a positive perception. This result means that the respondents think that the use of Instagram improve their learning motivation. From the interview data, respondents agreed that Instagram could increase their motivation because it challenged the students to create creative content to be uploaded in the platform. With its complete features, like photo, video, comment, direct message, and live video, students felt the process of learning becomes more interactive, interesting, and is able to create a seamless learning environment in the online discussion. A similar conclusion was shared by Good and Brophy (1994 in Alizadeh (2016) who stated that motivation cannot be developed in a challenging classroom and teachers should create an effective learning environment for their learners. Since, motivation plays an important role in the foreign language learning, teachers should therefore take any possible measures to arouse student’s curiosity and develop their interest in English learning (Long et al., 2013). One of the ways to increase students’ learning motivation is by trying to use Instagram as an instructional media as it could provide opportunities and challenges to the students to create creative contents and make the process of learning more interactive, interesting, effective in the online discussion context.

The last dimension is about providing students environment experience. The result of the questionnaire analysis was in high category (mean score = 14.28) and it corresponded to a positive perception. The result means that student respondents feel that Instagram helps them to interact better with their environment and people in their surroundings, both online and offline. From the interview, respondents admitted that Instagram as English instructional media could improve their interaction not only to their classmates and their teacher but also with people in their society. Al-ali (2014) on his research stated that using Instagram in classrooms could assist in creating a socially connected community of learners, as the tool itself gives room for students to communicate and socialize with each other beyond classroom constraints. Similarly, Waycott, Sheard, Thompson, and Clerehan (2013 in Al-ali, 2014) also noted that in regards to use of social media in class, using Instagram for a project that is not limited to a single class also helped to create a stronger community of learners among students in the same level, but in different sections.

In summary, based on what have been discussed previously, it can be said that students have positive perception of Instagram as English instructional media. They think that Instagram can help clarifying the learning materials, in ubiquitous context happening anytime and anywhere, and in the end, they feel that the use of the tool as instructional media improve their motivation and interactions during the learning process.

The result of the interview showed that there were two skills of four basics English skills that could be improved by Instagram as English instructional media, namely writing skill and listening skill. Respondent 1, for example, stated that:

“… skill that can be improved is writing skill. Because one of simple and easy activity that can be done if Instagram used as instructional media is writing.” (R1, F)

Note:

R n          : Respondent number

M/F        : Male/Female

The statement from R1 was also supported by the statement of R4 as presented in this transcription:

“… if Instagram used as instructional media, teacher will ask the students to write caption, give comment to friends’ caption. Because of the comment that is given by our friends, we know our mistakes.” (R4, M)

The data transcripts were in line with the study conducted by Mansor & Rahim (2017). They found that students were able to enhance their writing skill by using Instagram as a media for engagement in the process of learning. In this research, student respondents found that Instagram could assist and improve their writing skill as the tool provides the medium for writing activities. Students can upload photos or videos and write the description in form of sentences, paragraph, even essay on the caption feature. Ferlazzo (2014, in Blair & Serafini, 2014) have emphasized earlier that the way to use Instagram as a media is to have the students create photo essays based upon a list of themes or concepts from the curriculum, while at the same time using ‘photo prompts’ to engage students in writing responses based upon the photos, or for taking pictures of a step-by-step process while adding a caption to each photo.

Besides writing, student respondents also think that listening skill can be improved by the use of Instagram as English instructional media. Some students revealed that they use it for some activities utilizing their listening capacities. R3, for instance, stated that:

“… because we can hear so many English video, for examples, music video, conversation video. Because there are many videos to be heard, our ability can be improved.” (R3, F)

The statement from R3 was also supported by the statement of R6 as shown below.

“In my opinion, hearing English spoken is difficult. In the classroom, listening activity is done rarely because the limitation of the tool (speaker). So, if Instagram use as Instructional media, we can learn English every time we are opening our Instagram account. Besides, there is no pause option on Instagram, so when we miss some words of the video, we have to re-play from the beginning…” (R6, M)

These data were relevant to the study conducted by Khalitova & Gimaletdinova (2016). In their study, it was found that Instagram mobile application improved students’ listening comprehension skills, in particular, the ability to understand opinions and specific information in authentic speech. Respondents of this research pointed out that listening skill could be improved by listening to as many as possible English videos in the sharing video features available on Instagram. Besides, unavailability of  pause option in Instagram in a way, bring a positive impact to students as they have re-play the videos as many as they wanted until they got the message or the point of the video. This practice supports the provision of rich opportunities for learning while maintaining academic integrity, for example plagiarizing contents (Santosa et al., 2019).

It can be concluded that student respondents in this study found that Instagram helps them in learning English skills, particularly in the writing and listening capacities due to the features provided by the tool.

 

Conclusion

Based on the discussion and result of the study above, it can be summarized that high school students had a positive perception of Instagram as English instructional media. They think that Instagram can help them in learning English. Specifically, the respondents think that there were two skills that can be improved by the use Instagram as English instructional media. The skills involved writing and listening skills as the tool’s features accommodate the respondents’ learning needs most. Teachers, students, principals, and policy makers are encouraged to try to implement Instagram as instructional media for English teaching and learning process. Other similar social media-based learning tools, like TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, or a more advanced learning management platforms as in Schoology and Moodle are suggested for further studies.

Theoretically, this study implies the development of the learning theories from the previously conducted studies, involving constructivism, connectivism, and technological pedagogical framework and at the same time broadens the resources of related studies ahead for those who want to conduct the same topic. Practically, Instagram gives more options not only to the students but also to the teachers to design meaningful and effective teaching and learning process. Students are provided with flexibilities of place and time as they can learn English everywhere and anytime. They can revisit the learning materials and tasks in their convenient time with ease of access.

 

References

Al-ali, S. (2014). Possible Use of Instagram as a Language mLearning Tool. Issues and Trends in Educational Technology, 2(2), 1–16.

Alizadeh, M. (2016). The Impact of Motivation on English Language Learning. International Journal of Research in English Education, 1(1), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v2n4p123

Arsyad, A. (2011). Media Pembelajaran (A. Rahman (ed.); Ed. Revisi). PT RajaGrafindo Persada.

Arta, G. ., Ratminingsih, N. ., & Santosa, M. . (2019). The Effectiveness Of Blended Learning Strategy On Students ’ Writing Competency Of The Tenth Grade Students. Jurnal Pendidikan Indonesia, 8(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.23887/jpi-undiksha.v8i1.13501

Blair, R., & Serafini, T. M. (2014). Integration of Education : Using Social Media Networks to Engage Students Social Media Statistics - 2014. IMSCI 2014 - 8th International Multi-Conference on Society, Cybernetics and Informatics, Proceedings, 12(6), 28–31.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). The selection of a research approach. In Research design qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed., pp. 41–42). SAGE Publications, Inc,.

Destiana, I., Salman, A., & Rahim, M. H. A. (2013). Penerimaan Media Sosial: Kajian Dalam Kalangan Pelajar Universiti Di Palembang Social Media Acceptance: a Research Amongst University Students in Palembang. Jurnal Komunikasi Malaysian Journal of Communication Jilid, 29(292), 125–140.

Dewing, M. (2012). Social Media : An Introduction Social Media : An Introduction. In Library of Parliament. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139088510

Ellis, T. J., & Levy, Y. (2010). A Guide for Novice Researchers: Design and Development Research Methods. Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (InSITE), 10, 107–118. http://proceedings.informingscience.org/InSITE2010/InSITE10p107-118Ellis725.pdf

English First (2019). EF English Proficiency Index: A Ranking of 100 Countries and Regions by English Skills. English First. https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/#

Gregory, R. (2014). Psychological Testing: History, Principles, and Applications, Global Edition (7th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Kemp, S. (2018). Digital in 2018: World’s Internet Users Pass The 4 Billion Mark.

Khalitova, L., & Gimaletdinova, G. (2016). Mobile Technologies in Teaching English As a Foreign Language in Higher Education: a Case Study of Using Mobile Application Instagram. May 2016, 6155–6161. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2016.0395

Kitchakarn, O. (2016). How students perceived social media as a learning tool in enhancing their language learning performance. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 15(4), 53–60.

Kou, R. (2012). The Role of Social Media in Business . Asia’s Digital Age. In Wipro Technologies (pp. 1–7).

Koyan, I. W. (2012). Statistik pendidikan teknik analisis data kuantitatif. Singaraja: Undiksha Press.

Leaver, T., & Kent, M. (2014). Introduction Facebook in Education: Lessons Learnt. Digital Culture & Education, 6(1), 60–65.

Lederer. (2012). Pros and cons of social media in the classroom. Campus Technology. Campus Technology, 25(5), 1–2.

Long, C., Ming, Z., & Chen, L. (2013). The study of student motivation on English learning in Junior middle school -- A case study of No.5 middle school in Gejiu. English Language Teaching, 6(9), 136–145. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v6n9p136

Mansor, N., & Rahim, N. A. (2017). Instagram in esl classroom. Man In India, 97(20), 107–114.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.

Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., & Wang, X. (2015). How The World Changed Social Media. In PhD Proposal (Vol. 1). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

Priyanti, N. W. I., Santosa, M. H., & Dewi, K. S. (2019). Effect of Quizizz Towards the Eleventh-Grade English Students’ Reading Comprehension in Mobile Learning Context. Language and Education Journal Undiksha, 2(2), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.23887/leju.v2i2.20323

Putra, M. A. M., Susanti, N. K. R., & Santosa, M. H. (2018). Investigation of the Effect of Orai Smartphone-Based Application on Speaking Competency for Adult Learners. In The 4th International Conference On English Across Cultures (Vol. 4, pp. 341–348).

Santosa, M. H. (2017). Learning approaches of Indonesian EFL Gen Z students in a Flipped Learning context. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 7(2), 183–208.

Santosa, M. H. (2019). Introduction to Core Skills and Its Best Practices in the Indonesian Classrooms. In M. H. Santosa (Ed.), Penerapan Core Skills di kelas-kelas di Indonesia (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 331). Azizah Publishing.

Santosa, M. H., Paramartha, A. A. G. Y., & Absari, R. M. (2019). Indonesian English University Students’ Perceptions on Plagiarism in the Online World Era. Journal of ELT Research, 4(1), 100–114. https://doi.org/10.22236/JER_Vol4Issue2

Sumiarsa, R. (2013). The Benefits of Mastering English for Indonesians.

Tur, G., & Marín, V. I. (2014). Enhancing learning with the social media: student teachers’ perceptions on Twitter in a debate activity. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 4(1), 46–43. https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2015.1.102

Yadegarfar, H., & Simin, S. (2016). Effects of using Instagram on learning grammatical accuracy of word classes among Iranian undergraduate TEFL students. International Journal of Research Studies in Educational Technology, 5(2), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrset.2016.1572

 

Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary course at Pilgrims website.

Please check the Teaching Advanced Students course at Pilgrims website.

Please check the Practical uses of Technology in the English Classroom course at Pilgrims website.