Digital Content for Millennial Generations: Teaching the English Foreign Language Learner on COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article describes a method used in teaching English in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital content media that can be sourced from YouTube, Facebook, and TV broadcasting, or teaching videos made by the teacher are expected to be utilized to enable students to learn effectively. The Mixed Method with Quan-Qual Approach used to analyse the research data not for teaching. They use questionnaires and interviews to examine the responses of students and teachers in Makassar.The purpose of these instruments is to determine how to use digital content and whether digital content can increase student motivation and interest in the material provided. Based on data analysis results, it was concluded that the use of digital content in teaching English is very helpful for students in understanding material during the pandemic, especially for the millennial generation. Upon using digital content, the learning process becomes easier because it can be directly integrated into various applications such as WhatsApp groups, Zoom, Google Meet, and so on. Further, the use of digital content in the learning process during the pandemic is one way to bypass direct contact (physical distancing) with other students; it is more flexible and can be accessed without constraints. The use of digital content also increases student motivation in learning because the material provided has been designed to evoke students’ interest. However, this mode of teaching has its weaknesses. The limitations of internet resources, both in terms of network and data packages, can restrict all students from using it.