The command of the English language is undoubtedly important in Malaysia, even though Malay language is the country’s national language. English as a global language, is used extensively and thus, need to be mastered, especially by students who are in the quest for knowledge and consequently, will be utilizing English in their working environment later. Learning a second language is never easy. Learning English as a second language is even less easy. But do you know that Instagram could actually help us to learn English? Instagram is a mobile, desktop and internet based photo sharing application and service that allows user to share pictures and videos either publicly or privately. In today’s culture, many teenagers rely so heavily on the usage of social media that issues once thought to be revolutionary are now taking place offline and online. It is said that Instagram could be used as an English learning tool and should be used in classroom for learning.
There are several reasons to use social media in the classroom. First, its content supports teaching and learning in a lifelong learning scale; it contributes to fairness and inclusion and increases standards on Higher Education institutions to improve the quality and availability of their course content. Second, Social media gives the possibility to the students to create digital content on their own and publish it online, increasing a vast resource of user-created content from which learners and teachers can jointly benefit, also encouraging more active and proactive approaches to learning. Third, Social media is a network that connects students with one another, and to their teachers, allowing them to share their knowledge and at the same time have access to specific and targeted knowledge in a given field of interest. Finally, Social media makes possible collaboration between learners and teachers on a given task or project or a joint objective, pooling resources and gathering the expertise of a group of people working towards a common objective.
How does Instagram helps student learn English? These 2 activities can improve students’ proficiency in English. The first activity is Role Play. Teachers can assign students to make a mini role play. The topics focus on maintaining interpersonal communication like saying hello/goodbye, asking for directions, starting a conversation, asking for help, and many more. The 15-second video option is a great way to really let students get into character through recorded role-playing and even performance reenactments. The second activity is Share reading recommendation. There are lot of activities which can be done by teachers and students in sharing reading books. Teachers can invite students to snap photos of their favorite books and write a brief 1-5 sentences review in the caption. They will be excited to have ‘their’ photo picked and shared, and it will encourage them to think outside the box for each subject. The other students are asked to comment and give their opinion from their friend’s post.