Affiliation:
1. School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Malaysia
Abstract
Students often find discontinuation between classroom learning and out-of-school practice. As Generation Z and millennials are avid users of Instagram and Instagram Stories, this research aims to study the perceived effectiveness of social media on language exposure and learner engagement, with a learner’s perceived proficiency as a moderating effect. A total of 202 Malaysian Chinese Independent Secondary School Senior 2 and Senior 3 students took part in the Google Form survey. This quantitative study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling for data analysis. The results showed that Instagram Stories are perceived to be effective and useful as it contributes to language exposure and learner engagement agentically, cognitively, and emotionally. However, a learner’s perceived proficiency was not found to be a significant moderator. Future studies point towards exploring English learning outside of the classroom context using other engaging social media tools such as TikTok and more.