“InstaGrammar!” Incorporating Instagram Reel to Enhance English as a Second Language Learners’ Grammatical Accuracy

Abstract

In the context of the Malaysian education system, teaching English as a second language is crucial to the factor that the government is accentuating to produce pupils who are well versed in all English language skills. In line with that, schools and teachers together endeavour to approach the difficulties faced by pupils in learning English as a second language. While the world educational system is gradually accepting digital technology, on the other hand social media has gotten the young learners hooked to it around the clock and it has snapped us into an awareness that social media is not only transforming their behaviours but it’s also affecting their language learning skills mainly grammar. Presently, besides TikTok, Instagram Reel has been gaining more popularity largely among teenagers. That being the case, it is requisite to make use of the popularity of the exhilarating pertinent feature. Based on the past studies, many Malaysian pupils struggle in writing or speaking English with fewer grammatical errors. Therefore, in this study, researchers aim to analyze lower secondary school pupils’ insights in learning grammatical accuracy through Instagram with an intervention, InstaGrammar. An online survey questionnaire was adapted and adopted from the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model). The questionnaire was distributed to 30 Form 2 pupils from a secondary private school based in Selangor, Malaysia. Pupils used one of the current trending Instagram features, Reels to record creative videos about grammar that they’ve learned in the classroom. This activity was conducted to elevate their motivation and this intervention is intended to balance the acquisition of grammar both in and outside the classroom as well as elevate and inspire the pupils. The outcome of the findings confirmed that ESL pupils’ responses towards the intervention were positive. Respondents determined on the incorporation of Instagram’s latest feature, reel in learning grammar. Teaching grammar to enhance pupils’ language proficiency is not a lone ranger effort anymore but it has to be a common practice among all teachers to cater to current generation pupils’ needs by incorporating social media such as Instagram to teach grammar rules.