Impacts of Using Instagram to Practice Speaking in English: Perspectives of Indonesian Non-English Major Learners

Abstract

The present study was the continuation of a preceding survey study involving 102 Indonesian non-English major learners who were active Instagram users. The preceding survey study revealed that the participants had generally positive attitudes towards using Instagram to practice English speaking. Nonetheless, they were slightly less motivated to use it for learning purposes. Of the 102 survey participants, four were randomly selected to be invited for interviews for the present study. The interview data were analysed using Thematic Analysis and three recurring themes emerged on the perceived impacts of using Instagram to practice speaking. First, Instagram impacted learners’ learning at different magnitudes. Second, Instagram allowed for an interesting and flexible learning of speaking. Third, Instagram motivated learners to develop their speaking fluency. Despite the seemingly positive results, some excerpts indicated that some learners’ learning experiences using Instagram were somewhat superficial, unstructured, incidental, and fairly minimal. Based on the findings, teachers are suggested to capitalise on the popularity of Instagram among learners by incorporating it in explicit second/foreign (L2) language instruction. Possible limitations are stated alongside suggested directions for future studies.