* Corresponding author IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023, 106-125 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Available online at IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education) Website: http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee INSTAGRAM TO LEARN ENGLISH VOCABULARY: A STUDY OF INDONESIAN NON-ENGLISH MAJOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Thesalonika Dwi Wardhani Puspita Baruti, Adaninggar Septi Subekti* Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, Indonesia ((adaninggar@staff.ukdw.ac.id) Received: 31st August 2022; Revised: 01st May 2023; Accepted: 28th June 2023 ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of non-English primary university students in Indonesia on using Instagram for vocabulary learning and to find out the students' views of learning English vocabulary using Instagram. Considering the popularity of Instagram among Indonesian university students and the scarcity of such studies involving non-English primary students, investigating their use of Instagram for English vocabulary learning can be worthwhile and relevant. The study involved 213 student participants who were Instagram users in an online survey and six in online interviews. The survey found that the participants generally had positive attitudes toward using Instagram for vocabulary learning. However, the study found the participants' somewhat ambivalent views through the Thematic Analysis of the interview data. Students reported consciously learning new isolated English vocabulary from English captions on Instagram. They unconsciously acquired isolated English vocabulary from photos and videos on Instagram. However, Instagram was not helping in obtaining vocabulary in contexts as it gave a limited content explanation. The findings could help teachers to make an informed decision when using Instagram in the instructional process, optimizing its strength and potential. Key Words: English vocabulary; Instagram; vocabulary learning; isolated vocabulary; vocabulary in context ABSTRAK Tujuan studi ini adalah untuk mengetahui sikap mahasiswa jurusan non-bahasa Inggris di Indonesia terhadap penggunaan Instagram untuk pembelajaran kosakata bahasa Inggris dan untuk mengetahui pandangan mahasiswa mengenai pembelajaran kosakata bahasa Inggris menggunakan Instagram. Mengingat bahwa kepopuleran Instagram di kalangan mahasiswa dan bahwa studi yang melibatkan mahasiswa jurusan non-bahasa Inggris masih cukup langka, studi yang melibatkan kelompok mahasiswa ini sangat diperlukan dan relevan. Studi melibatkan 213 mahasiswa pengguna Instagram melalui survei daring dan enam diantaranya melalui wawancara daring. Studi ini menemukan bahwa para peserta secara umum memiliki sikap positif terhadap penggunaan Instagram untuk pembelajaran kosakata. Namun, melalui analisis tematik hasil wawancara, ditemukan bahwa peserta wawancara memiliki pandangan yang sedikit ambivalen. Mereka melaporkan bahwa melalui Instagram, mereka secara sadar mempelajari kosakata lepas baru melalui captions Instagram. Selanjutnya, para peserta melaporkan bahwa secara tidak sadar mereka memperoleh kosakata lepas dari foto dan video di Instagram. Namun, dilaporkan bahwa Instagram tidak begitu membantu dalam pemerolehan kosakata dalam konteks. Hasil studi ini dapat membantu pengajar untuk membuat keputusan yang tepat saat menggunakan Instagram dalam proses pembelajaran, mengoptimalkan kekuatan dan potensinya. Kata Kunci: Kosakata bahasa Inggris; Instagram; pembelajaran kosakata; kosakata lepas; kosakata dalam konteks How to Cite: Baruti, T.D.W.P., Subekti, A.S. (2023). Instagram to Learn English Vocabulary: A Study of Indonesian Non-English Major University Students. IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 106-125. doi:10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 107-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license INTRODUCTION Vocabulary mastery is crucial in learning a second/foreign (L2) language. Vocabulary is essential in learners' writing and speaking production (Alqahtani, 2015). Thornbury (2002), in an early yet still relevant work, posited that vocabulary learning is paramount for developing all language skills. Successful language learning cannot be achieved without vocabulary (Zhi-liang, 2010). Hence, teachers are encouraged to pay more attention to their students' vocabulary learning, including optimizing the use of technology. In this modern era, technology has become necessary worldwide, including in the education sector. Information and Communication Technology's role is growing, especially in the education field (Sarkar, 2012). The role is becoming essential and continues to grow in the 21st century. In the 21st century, students can learn a language using technology anywhere, and teachers must adapt and be prepared (Gajjar, 2013). One form of ICT in social media. Several reasonably recent studies about social media in language learning have been conducted, perhaps suggesting the growing importance of social media in language learning. A study by Khan et al. (2016) involving 36 university teachers in Pakistan reported that social media was perceived to affect university students' English learning, especially vocabulary. Khan et al. (2016) also mentioned that social media helped engage students' interest in English and minimized hesitation or boredom. In Indonesia, Lailiyah and Setiyaningsih (2020) found that their Indonesian student participants reported positive experiences using Instagram for English communication. Similarly, in a Saudi Arabian context, Fadda (2020) found that students preferred to use Instagram because they were immersed and actively engaged in communication in English through it. Nonetheless, Fadda (2020) admitted that Instagram lacks structure in learning opportunities and may provide limited information at a time. Furthermore, several studies have investigated using social media, such as Instagram, for vocabulary learning (Fadda, 2020; Indari & Putri, 2018; Lasmiasih, 2019; Lina, 2021; Sivagnanam & Yunus, 2020). A study by Sivagnanam and Yunus (2020) in Malaysia involving primary school students found that students improved their vocabulary skills by collaborating with other social media users in the comment section on Instagram. In an earlier study, Indari and Putri (2018) found that social media significantly affected Indonesian high school http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 108-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license students' vocabulary achievement. Furthermore, in another Indonesian high school context, Lasmiasih (2019) found that students got difficulties mastering the English language because they did not know the meaning of the words, both written and spoken, and using Instagram photos, videos, and captions helped these students know meanings of words they did not know before. In line with that, a recent study by Lina (2021) involving Indonesian university students also suggested that students making status updates in their accounts related to their English learning in online classes could be a way for them to recycle learning materials. The findings, however, suggested that while many students applied correct grammar, only a few used vocabulary learned from the online class (Lina, 2021). Furthermore, though investigating learning in general, a mixed-methods study involving 166 high school students by Mao (2014) found that when students were using social media, they felt relaxed and connected with other users, making learning more fun, meaningful, and interactive. However, some participants in this study perceived Instagram as distracting and not helpful enough for learning purposes (Mao, 2014), hinting at the limitation of this platform. Several authors posited that Instagram has the potential to facilitate vocabulary learning, with fewer studies suggesting otherwise. In an Iranian context, an experimental study by Beyranvand and Rahmatollahi (2021) found that the group using Instagram outperformed the others using Adobe Connect regarding vocabulary mastery. As Instagram provides contextualized visual information (Ahmadi & Tabatabaei, 2021; Gonulal, 2019; Gunawan et al., 2021), it could be helpful for visual learners to learn English vocabulary (Ahmadi & Tabatabaei, 2021) and contribute to more enjoyable vocabulary learning experiences (Al-Ghamdi, 2018). Studies by Aloraini (2018) and Fadda (2020) in Saudi Arabia and Qisthi (2020) in Indonesia found that students might prefer to use Instagram in systematic ways over others in learning English vocabulary, for example by observing English accounts and hashtags to find new vocabulary (Qisthi, 2020). Instagram also offers interactive vocabulary enrichment (Lailiyah & Setiyaningsih, 2020). Hence, Instagram might be a learning media for students with prior experience in using the social media platform (Fadda, 2020). However, a study by Wahyudin and Sari (2018) found that albeit being a minority, some participants reported their disagreement on the usefulness of http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 109-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Instagram for language learning, suggesting that individual students' use of Instagram may affect the extent to which they could obtain learning experiences through Instagram. Furthermore, previous studies also suggested that as Instagram could facilitate vocabulary learning, it indirectly could facilitate writing, of which vocabulary is essential (Listiani, 2016; Soviyah & Etikaningsih, 2018). In the writing process, students should have sufficient vocabulary mastery; with limited vocabulary, they may not be able to express their thoughts optimally (Soviyah & Etikaningsih, 2018). Soviyah and Etikaningsih (2018) added that to face those difficulties, Instagram has some features that can be used in the learning process of writing. The features of Instagram, such as photo or video-sharing and social networking, are an excellent resource to use in the instructional process, especially in L2 writing (Soviyah & Etikaningsih, 2018). Similarly, several studies suggested that students could upload photos, write photo captions, and comment on others' pictures in unlimited provided space, thus facilitating the learning of vocabulary and writing (Bestari et al., 2020; F. Handayani, 2016; Listiani, 2016; Maolida & Purnamasari, 2018). Furthermore, several vocational college student participants in a study by Rinda et al. (2018) acknowledged that their vocabulary repertoire improved by giving comments in English among friends on Instagram. Furthermore, Instagram is a very popular social media platform in the Indonesian context. As of early 2022, for example, Instagram had 99.15 million users in the country, 35.7% of its total population (Kemp, 2022). Hence, it is common for Indonesian university students to have Instagram accounts and become active users of Instagram. Considering the popularity of Instagram among Indonesian students and that students can optimize the features of Instagram as a learning tool (Mahmudah & Ardi, 2020; Shafie & Mahadi, 2019), investigating Indonesian students' use of Instagram for English vocabulary learning can be worthwhile and very relevant for the students. Studies about Instagram in L2 learning in Indonesia have been conducted using various methods. For example, there have been several qualitative studies (Agustin & Ayu, 2021; Gunawan et al., 2021; Rosyida & Seftika, 2019) and quantitative studies (Qisthi, 2020; Soviyah & Etikaningsih, 2018; Wahyudin & Sari, 2018) about Instagram and English vocabulary. The participants of these previous studies were mainly English department students. Only the qualitative study by Gunawan et al. (2021) involved a http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 110-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license university student from a non-English department. In addition, several studies have also been conducted on Instagram for language learning skills (Asyiah, 2017; Listiani, 2016; Mahmudah & Ardi, 2020). These studies involved Indonesian junior high school students. Despite the possible contributions of these studies mentioned above, a study involving more participants could be needed to produce findings with the possibility of generalization. Furthermore, considering the scarcity of such studies involving Indonesian non-English department students, it could be worthwhile to involve them. Considering the earlier rationales, the present study seeks to answer these two research questions. First, what is Indonesian non-English primary university students' attitude towards using Instagram to learn English vocabulary? Second, what are the students' views on using Instagram for English vocabulary development? The findings of this study can generally benefit teachers in the way that they can make an informed pedagogical decision concerning the use of Instagram for L2 learning. For researchers, furthermore, the finding of the first research questions obtained through a survey may be generalized to a broader population sharing the same characteristics as the participants. METHOD Research Design The present study employed a mixed-methods design. It combined an online survey to answer the first research question and online interviews to answer the second question. The pragmatism paradigm informed it, focusing on "what works" to answer the research questions best. The possibility of generalization was the rationale for selecting the survey method (Gray, 2014). In comparison, interviews were conducted to obtain in-depth data about the phenomenon and explanations of the "how" and "why" of the quantitative data (Gray, 2014) and to obtain understanding, meaning, and points of view from the standpoint of the participants (Hammarberg et al., 2016). Furthermore, the use of mixed methods was also attributed to the equally popular quantitative methods (Al-Kandari et al., 2016; Aloraini, 2018; Duggan & Brenner, 2013; Gonulal, 2019; R. D. Handayani et al., 2020; Li, 2017) and qualitative methods (Gunawan et al., 2021; Mansor & Rahim, 2017; Rosyida & Seftika, 2019) in the field of studies on social media in education. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 111-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Research Instruments The online survey, made in Google Form to answer the first research question, employed a set of a questionnaire consisting of eight close- ended items on students' attitudes toward the use of Instagram for vocabulary learning. Items 1 and 2 were adapted from a study by Gonulal (2019), items 3 up to 6 were adapted from that of Khan et al. (2016), and items 7 and 8 were adapted from that of Mustain et al. (2019). The participants were to choose among the following possible responses: "Strongly Agree," equal to 5, "Agree," equal to 4, "Disagree," equal to 2. Moreover, "Strongly Disagree" is equal to 1. The eight questionnaire items were categorised into two categories for more straightforward data presentation in Findings and Discussion. The first category is "1nstagram as a platform to improve English vocabulary mastery," and the second is "Instagram and vocabulary learning." Furthermore, online semi- structured interviews through the Google Meet platform were employed to answer the second research question. The interviews used several interview checklists on the participants' views regarding using Instagram for vocabulary development. Examples of questions included "Did you learn English vocabulary through Instagram or not?" and "How did you learn English vocabulary through Instagram? – If you did not, what did you learn through it?" Participants and Ethical Consideration A total of 213 Indonesian non- English department students participated in the present study. They were 51 males (23.9%) and 162 females (76.1%). The minimum age of the participants was 18, and the maximum was 23. They were from various islands or regions in Indonesia, and their domiciles can be seen in Table 1. Table 1. The Participants’ Domiciles No. Domiciles Number of Participants Percentage 1. Java 149 70.0% 2. Nusa Tenggara and Bali 4 1.9% 3. Sumatera 23 10.8% 4. Kalimantan 13 6.1% 5. Sulawesi 12 5.66% 6. Papua 7 3.3% 7. Others 5 2.3% From these 213 survey participants who indicated their willingness to be invited for possible follow-up interviews, six participants were randomly selected using a random picker application to be invited for interviews. Of these six participants, three were males, and the other three were females. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 112-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license This study used three ethical principles, autonomy, beneficence, and confidentiality. Autonomy, the freedom to decide whether to participate in a study (Hammersley, 2015), was maintained through an informed consent form indicating that the participants participated voluntarily (Gray, 2014). The questionnaire consent form was available in the first part of the Google Form questionnaire, while the interview consent form, also prepared in Google Form, was given to the interviewees to be read and completed before the interviews. Second, beneficence, focusing on benefiting others (Beauchamp, 2008), was maintained by prioritizing the needs of the participants during data collection and giving monetary rewards for participation. Last, the confidentiality principle was maintained using pseudonyms in the interview excerpts throughout this report (Oliver, 2003). Data Collection and Data Analysis The data collection sequence was divided into two phases, the quantitative online survey and the qualitative online interviews. The online survey was done in Google Forms, and the link was shared through WhatsApp and Instagram. The information on intended participants was provided in the WhatsApp caption and the Google Form questionnaire. That was to make sure that the prospective participants were indeed Instagram users. The period of the survey was from November 2021 up to December 2021. After the questionnaire distribution, the data were downloaded as an Excel file and processed in SPSS 25. Descriptive statistics on SPSS 25 were employed to answer the first research question in the form of mean scores and percentages. The qualitative data collection phase of online interviews was conducted during the period of 7 up to 12 February 2022. Through Google Meet, online interviews were conducted in the Indonesian language, with which language the participants were familiar. Each interview lasted around 30 minutes. The data were fully transcribed, translated into English, and further analyzed using Thematic Analysis per the second research question (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The steps included getting familiar with the dataset by reading and rereading the transcripts, searching for themes, and selecting excerpts that could best reflect the themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). These selected excerpts were presented in the report, along with the pseudonyms of the interviewees stating the excerpts. The sequence of data collection and analysis can be observed in Figure 1. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 113-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Figure 1. The Sequence of Data Collection and Analysis Table 2. Instagram as a Platform to Improve English Vocabulary Mastery No. Statement Mean Scores Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 1. Instagram is an excellent platform to increase English vocabulary. 4.09 22.6% 71% 6.5% 0% 2. Instagram is a good platform for learning new words in English. 4.38 22.1% 65.4% 12.4% 0% 3. Instagram provides vocabulary which contains words and images. 3.97 40.6% 58.5% 0.9% 0% 4. Instagram is an easy way to develop English vocabulary. 3.77 14.7% 66.8% 18% 0.5% 5. Instagram facilitates English learners' vocabulary development process. 3.63 12.4% 63.1% 24.4% 0% FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Findings Indonesian non-English primary university students' attitudes toward the use of Instagram to learn English vocabulary The eight questionnaire items used in the survey had .85 Cronbach's alpha coefficient, indicating relatively high internal reliability. The mean score of these eight questionnaire items was 3.73 from the range of 1-5 (SD 7.31), indicating a reasonably positive attitude toward using Instagram for vocabulary learning. Furthermore, as previously explained in Methods, the Designing Google Form questionnaire on students’ attitudes towards the use of Instagram for vocabulary learning Sharing the link through WhatsApp and Instagram Randomly selected six participants for online interviews Performing descriptive statistics on the data in SPSS 25 Answering Research Question 1 in means and percentages Conducting interviews in Indonesian Transcribing and translating interview transcripts into English Conducting Thematic Analysis Answering Research Question 2 in interview excerpts http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 114-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license questionnaire was categorized into two categories, 'Instagram as a platform to improve English vocabulary mastery' and 'Instagram and vocabulary learning,' to make the presentation of findings easier. The detailed results of questionnaire items in the first category can be seen in Table 2. Furthermore, the detailed results on questionnaire items in the second category could be seen in Table 3. Table 3. Instagram and Vocabulary Learning No . Statem ent Me an Sco res Stro ngly Agre e Agr ee Di sag ree Stro ngly Disa gree 6. Instagr am helps me to develo p my Englis h vocabu lary. 3.71 13.8 % 65.9 % 18. 4% 1.8% 7. I learn more Englis h vocabu lary by using Instagr am. 3.33 12.9 % 49.3 % 34. 1% 3.7% 8. I prefer using Instagr am to learn Englis h over other media. 2.96 6.9% 40.6 % 47 % 5.5% Students Views on the Use of Instagram for English vocabulary development Regarding the second research question, six participants were interviewed. The pseudonyms of these participants were Endri (Male/M), Sasa (female), Dido (Male), Zara (F), Eca (F), and Bibi (M). The study found three themes from the interviews, which can be observed in Table 4. Table 4. Student's Views on the Use of Instagram for Vocabulary Development Theme 1 Students unconsciously acquired isolated English vocabulary from photos and videos on Instagram. Theme 2 Students consciously learned new isolated English vocabulary from English captions on Instagram. Theme 3 Instagram was not helping students to use the obtained vocabulary in sentences. Theme 1. Students unconsciously acquired isolated English vocabulary from photos and videos on Instagram. The study found that learning vocabulary through photos and videos on Instagram made students unconsciously obtain new English vocabulary. Three students, Endri, Sasa, and Eca, experienced that they unconsciously learned English vocabulary from English content or English accounts on Instagram. They reported: http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 115-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license "[…] Because each content on Instagram provides English content using the English language, I learn English unconsciously." [Endri/M] "Instagram provides many pictures and videos. It is easy to remember the information through photos or videos. […]” [Sasa/F] "[…] Instagram is one social media that could provide funny content compared to other applications. It helps me learn new words in fun ways since Instagram shows the visualization." [Eca/F] Theme 2. Students consciously learned English vocabulary from writing English captions on Instagram. Two out of six participants, Zara and Eca, reported learning English vocabulary through writing a caption on Instagram. Furthermore, they practised their writing skills when posting a photo or video on Instagram in English. They stated: “[...] I prefer to write captions in English when I want to post photos or videos. From writing a caption, I become more confident in using vocabulary in sentences rather than when I just see an English account to learn vocabulary." [Zara/F] "[...] Nowadays, teenagers mostly use English when writing captions, so I also learn English vocabulary from [writing] captions." [Eca/F] Moreover, these students also added how they learned English vocabulary through writing captions on Instagram. They shared: "I learn vocabulary through reading someone's caption especially I learn from young learners like us. For example, usually, people from South Jakarta often use 'which is… literally'. For me, those words could be a new way to learn vocabulary. So, most of the words that often come up, they could be learned." [Zara/F] "[...] Some of my posts used English captions. It is not for style, but sometimes I want to test my vocabulary skills." [Eca/F] Theme 3. Instagram was not helping students to use the obtained vocabulary in sentences. Albeit the generally positive views on using Instagram for vocabulary learning, it turned out that two students had different points of view. Those students, Sasa and Zara, reported that Instagram was not helping when learning vocabulary in context. They stated: "[...] So, when I get a new word, I do not directly apply it in a perfect sentence… such as there are adverb, object, subject… I do not construct the http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 116-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license sentence. So, for learning English vocabulary in more detail, Instagram could not help me much." [Sasa/F] "[...] Instagram increases my English vocabulary. However, if we learn the basics of English, such as applying the vocabulary and grammar in a sentence, I think Instagram was not helping." [Zara/F] Discussion Indonesian non-English primary university students' attitudes toward the use of Instagram to learn English vocabulary First questionnaire category: Instagram as a platform to improve English vocabulary mastery As seen in Table 2, items 1 and 2 had the highest mean scores of more than 4.00 (on a 1-5 scale), indicating their favorable attitude towards Instagram as a good platform for vocabulary learning. This finding was similar to a study by Lailiyah and Setiyaningsih (2020), who found that their Indonesian student participants expressed positive attitudes about their experiences of using Instagram for communication in English. The similarity might indicate that Indonesian students had a positive attitude towards Instagram for education. Item number 1, "Instagram is a good platform to increase English vocabulary," produced the second- highest mean score (4.09). There were, 154 participants (71%) answered 'Agree,' and 45 (22.6%) answering 'Strongly Agree', indicating the participants' endorsement that Instagram could facilitate students to improve their English mastery. This endorsement may be attributed to the participants' familiarity with Instagram features, allowing a wide range of activities to facilitate learning. This finding was in line with studies in Saudi Arabia by Fadda (2020) and Aloraini (2018) who found that students perceived Instagram as an advantageous tool to learn English vocabulary and provided students with a fun online learning environment. Item number 2, "Instagram is a good platform to learn new words in English," had the highest mean score (4.38). One hundred eighty-nine participants (87.5%) endorsed this statement. The participants' agreement resonated with a finding of a study in Saudi Arabia by Al-Ghamdi (2018), where the participants reported that Instagram could use their students' vocabulary control and contribute to positive and enjoyable online learning http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 117-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license experiences. The similarity suggested that Indonesian and Saudi Arabian participants generally shared positive attitudes towards Instagram as a language learning tool. Furthermore, item number 3, "Instagram provides vocabulary which contains words and images," produced a mean score of 3.97. 99.1% of participants endorsed this statement. This may be because many Instagram accounts were providing English vocabulary content. This platform also might become an online vocabulary library since students could follow different English accounts or search for new words using hashtags. Similar to this present study, a study by Qisti (2020) in an Indonesian university context found that students observed English accounts and hashtags to find new vocabulary. In addition, a qualitative study by Agustin and Ayu (2021) and a quantitative study by Soviyah and Etikaningsih (2018) in Indonesian contexts also reported that Instagram had some interesting features, one of which was that students could share or watch exciting photos or videos and students favored this. The consistent findings among these studies could indicate that Indonesian students generally favored Instagram features allowing multimodal learning. Next, item number 4, "Instagram is an easy way to develop English vocabulary," had a mean score of 3.77. 81.5% of participants endorsed the statement. This may be attributed to the fact that students were likely to use Instagram since this platform allowed students to learn anywhere and anytime. Students could develop their English vocabulary based on their situation and be flexible per their needs. This finding aligned with a finding of an experimental study in Iran by Beyranvand and Rahmatollahi (2021). The study suggested that the group using Instagram outperformed the other group not using it in terms of vocabulary mastery (Beyranvand & Rahmatollahi, 2021). Related to the present study, the finding may suggest that Instagram had engaged students to be more enthusiastic about learning. Moreover, item 5, "Instagram facilitates English learners' vocabulary development process," produced a mean score of 3.63. 75.5% of the participants either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. This finding aligned with a study by Khan et al. (2016) in Pakistan involving 36 English teachers on the perceived dominant role of social media in students' English vocabulary development. Nevertheless, it is essential to note that this item had the highest disagreement compared to other items. 24.4% of participants http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 118-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license answered "disagree" This disagreement may suggest that the positive effects of Instagram usage on language learning were not uniform among students. Several students may have limited vocabulary learning experiences when using Instagram because they made or were exposed to limited English content on Instagram. Second questionnaire category: Instagram and vocabulary learning In Table 3, there were three questionnaire items. Item number 6 produced a relatively high mean score of 3.71, followed by item number 7, with an average mean score of 3.33, and item number 8, with a relatively low mean score of 2.96. First, item number 6, "Instagram helps me to develop English vocabulary," with a mean score of 3.71, was endorsed by 79.7% of the participants. The reasonably positive attitude following a finding of a study by Rinda et al. (2018) involving Indonesian vocational high school students who found more than 71% of their participants also perceived Instagram to be facilitating English vocabulary development. Instagram allows students to interact with people around the world. Hence, students could develop their English vocabulary by communicating with Instagram users worldwide. Furthermore, item numbers 7 and 8 produced the lowest mean scores among all questionnaire items in both categories. Item number 7, "I learn more English vocabulary by using Instagram," with a mean score of 3.33, was endorsed by 62.2% of the participants while 37.8% disagreed. Similarly, item number 8, "I prefer using Instagram to learn English than other media," with a low mean score of 2.96, was endorsed by only 47.5% of the participants, while the other 52.5% or 112 out of 213 participants expressed their disagreement. These findings may be attributed to the possibility that Instagram could not fully help students to do meaningful vocabulary learning experiences. For example, Instagram offers a limited content explanation. This finding was in line with a study by Wahyudin and Sari (2018) in an Indonesian context, who found that Instagram could not help students access suitable English learning materials. Moreover, a mixed-methods study on high school students was conducted by Mao (2014), who also found that some students assumed that Instagram was distracting, time- consuming, and suitable for socializing but not so much for learning. Thus, some participants in the present study and previous studies (e.g: Mao, 2014; http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 119-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Wahyudin & Sari, 2018) may have believed that Instagram might be good for entertainment purposes and not good enough for very elaborate language learning purposes. Students Views on the Use of Instagram for English vocabulary development Theme 1. Students unconsciously acquired isolated English vocabulary from photos and videos on Instagram. As seen from the interview excerpts, the findings suggested that learning English vocabulary through Instagram had engaged students' interest in various English content or English learning accounts. Students independently chose the contents and learned the contexts since this platform provides an authentic source. Moreover, students could access many photos and videos and follow many English accounts to learn English vocabulary. Several studies have documented students' experiences of learning vocabulary using Instagram (Ahmadi & Tabatabaei, 2021; Gonulal, 2019; Gunawan et al., 2021). These studies found that Instagram provided visual data with contextual texts. The visualized contents made students unconsciously acquire vocabulary (Ahmadi & Tabatabaei, 2021; Gonulal, 2019; Gunawan et al., 2021). In addition, the use of Instagram could make students get rid of boredom through the photos and videos uploaded on this platform. As Eca, one of the interviewees, mentioned in the interview, Instagram offered various creative content to eliminate boredom. This finding was in line with the findings of studies by Lina (2021) and Lasmiasih (2019), who found that this platform effectively increased students' vocabulary mastery by showing various visual content to reduce their boredom in the learning process. Thus, students might enjoy gaining more English vocabulary without getting bored. Theme 2. Students consciously learned English vocabulary from writing English captions on Instagram. As suggested through the mentioned excerpts in this theme, Instagram had given students space to improve their writing ability, and from writing, they also expanded their vocabulary as used in sentences. Students freely selected photos or videos to upload and wrote the relevant captions. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 120-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Through this, students obtained the opportunity to practice their writing skills and improve their analytical and error-correction skills. Similar findings were also reported by several previous studies in Asia (Shafie & Mahadi, 2019; Wahyudin & Sari, 2018) in the way students would prepare their sentences for captions when they posted on Instagram. Eventually, students consciously increased their vocabulary by writing a caption or description on their photos or videos. Several studies investigating the use of Instagram for writing in Indonesian contexts also suggested that writing captions on Instagram helped students practice their writing (Bestari et al., 2020; F. Handayani, 2016; Maolida & Purnamasari, 2018), with vocabulary learning being an inevitable part of it. Theme 3. Instagram was not helping students to use the obtained vocabulary in sentences. The interview excerpts on this theme suggested that there was an obstacle to learning English vocabulary using Instagram. Students reported that they could not produce English vocabulary in sentences, and Instagram could not support students' needs. The first possible reason was an Instagram content specifically for English learning typically only offers one English vocabulary word and the Indonesian translation. An example we found on Instagram to better illustrate this was information in a picture, "Hati-hati yang suka masih tertukar antara kata ini: 'Borrow: Meminjam' 'Lend': Meminjamkan" (Translated: Pay attention for those of you who are still confused between these words: 'Borrow': [Indonesian translation] 'Lend': [Indonesian translation]). The second reason was that much Instagram content written in English did not provide specific explanations for students to learn. This was expected, considering the students' encounters with English content on Instagram were typically accidental, and most contents were not explicitly meant for language learning. This finding was in line with a study in Saudi Arabia conducted by Fadda (2020), suggesting that the amount of information available on Instagram may be limited at a given time. Fadda (2020) also reported that Instagram lacks structure in learning opportunities. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 121-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS The present study has several implications. Informed by the finding that Instagram did not facilitate students to learn English vocabulary in a sentence, teachers may optimize several Instagram features in instructions, such as providing content about English vocabulary in the feed, story, Reels, IGTV, or IGLive with detailed explanations. Hence, students can learn vocabulary in contexts through Instagram. Similarly, teachers can provide English materials in contextualized visual products on Instagram to allow students to understand the meaning of words as used in sentences. Furthermore, since Instagram allows posts containing photos and videos with captions, students can develop their ideas to write a caption in English related to the photo or video that they will upload. Moreover, students can freely follow English accounts that will help them increase their vocabulary mastery, making social media experiences beneficial for their language learning. Furthermore, this study also has several contributions. First, the survey data from 213 Indonesian non-English major university student participants may be generalized to the wider Indonesian context sharing the same characteristics as participants. The in- depth data about students' perspectives on the use of Instagram for vocabulary development also suggested that the use of Instagram, albeit popular among students, also had limitations. This finding could be on the other side of the pendulum thus far, heavily favoring social media for language learning. The limitation of the present study mainly stemmed from the limited empirical studies with which the findings on the limitation of Instagram could be compared. That was because the plethora of literature on social media has heavily reported the positive effects and attitudes towards social media for language learning. Last but not least, there are several suggestions for future studies. Based on the findings on students' inability to construct sentences from the vocabulary they knew from Instagram, future studies could explore ways to enhance student's ability to use the isolated vocabulary they know in spoken or written contexts. Furthermore, considering the development of Instagram enabling students to learn through technology and its popularity among young people, future researchers may conduct studies on using Instagram to learn other language skills, such as speaking and listening. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 122-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license REFERENCES Agustin, R. W., & Ayu, M. (2021). The impact of using Instagram for increasing vocabulary and listening skill. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning (JELTL), 2(1), 1–7. Ahmadi, Z., & Tabatabaei, O. (2021). Effects of using Instagram on Iranian intermediate autonomous/dependent EFL learners' learning of pictorial metaphors. Journal of Practical Studies in Education, 2(5), 11–25. https://doi.org/10.46809/jpse.v2 i5.29 Al-Ghamdi, M. A. (2018). Arabic learners' preferences for Instagram English lessons. English Language Teaching, 11(8), 103. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v11n 8p103 Al-Kandari, A. J., Al-Hunaiyyan, A. H., & Al-Hajri, R. (2016). The influence of culture on Instagram use. Journal of Advances in Information Technology, 7(1), 54–57. https://doi.org/10.12720/jait.7.1. 54-57 Aloraini, N. (2018). Investigating Instagram as an EFL learning tool. Arab World English Journal, 4(4), 174–184. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/c all4.13 Alqahtani, M. (2015). The importance of vocabulary in language learning and how to be taught. International Journal of Teaching and Education, 3(3), 21–34. Asyiah, D. N. (2017). The vocabulary teaching and vocabulary learning: Perception, strategies, and influences on students' vocabulary mastery. Jurnal Bahasa Lingua Scientia, 9(2), 293–318. https://doi.org/10.21274/ls.2017. 9.2.293-318 Beauchamp, T. (2008). The principle of beneficence in applied ethics. Stanford University. Bestari, A. C. Y., Faiza, D., & Mayekti, M. H. (2020). Instagram caption as online learning media on the subject of extended writing during pandemic of covid-19. Surakarta English and Literature Journal, 3(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.52429/selju.v 3i1.359 Beyranvand, S., & Rahmatollahi, M. (2021). The effects of MALL on language learners' mastery of technical collocation: Use of Instagram and Adobe connect. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, 12(11), 6697–6709. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 123-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Duggan, M., & Brenner, J. (2013). The demographics of social media users-2012. PewResearchCenter, 1– 14. Fadda, H. A. A. (2020). Determining how social media affects learning English: An investigation of mobile applications Instagram and Snap Chat in TESOL classroom. Arab World English Journal, 11(March), 3–11. Gajjar, N. (2013). The role of technology in 21st century education. International Journal for Research in Education, 2(2), 23–25. Gonulal, T. (2019). The use of Instagram as a mobile-assisted language learning tool. Contemporary Educational Technology, 10(3), 309– 323. https://doi.org/10.30935/cet.590 108 Gray, D. E. (2014). Doing research in the real world (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Ltd. Gunawan, I., Ahmad, Y. B., & Utami, P. P. (2021). Indonesian university student's emotional experiences of learning vocabulary through English learning accounts on Instagram. ELTIN Journal, 9(2), 109–120. Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & de Lacey, S. (2016). Qualitative research methods: when to use them and how to judge them. Human Reproduction, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep /dev334 Hammersley, M. (2015). On ethical principles for social research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 18(4), 433– 449. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557 9.2014.924169 Handayani, F. (2016). Instagram as a teaching tool? Really? Proceedings of the Fourth International Seminar on English Language and Teaching (ISELT-4), 4(1), 320–327. Handayani, R. D., Syafei, M., & Utari, A. R. P. (2020). The use of social media for learning English. Prominent Journal, 3(2), 313–321. Indari, A., & Putri, M. M. C. (2018). The effect of using social media on the students' vocabulary achievement at tenth grade students of SMA Swasta Persiapan Stabat academic year 2017/2018. Jurnal Tarbiyah, 25(1), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.30829/tar.v25 i1.246 Kemp, S. (2022). Digital 2022: Indonesia. Data Reportal. https://datareportal.com/reports /digital-2022-indonesia Khan, I. U., Ayaz, M., & Faheem, M. (2016). The role of social media in development of English Language vocabulary at university level. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 6(11), 590–604. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/ v6-i11/2444 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 124-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Lailiyah, M., & Setiyaningsih, L. A. (2020). Students' perception of online communication language learning through Instagram. EnJourMe (English Journal of Merdeka) : Culture, Language, and Teaching of English, 5(2), 188–195. https://doi.org/10.26905/enjour me.v5i2.5202 Lasmiasih. (2019). The effectiveness of Instagram media for teaching vocabulary at the seventh grade of SMP PGRI 1 BUAYAN. ELTiC Conference, 4, 86–96. Li, V. (2017). Social media in English language teaching and learning. International Journal of Learning and Teaching, 3(2), 148–153. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijlt.3.2. 148-153 Lina, M. F. (2021). Using social media for online English assignments: Problems and solutions. Teaching & Learning English in Multicultural Contexts, 5(2), 144–155. Listiani, G. (2016). The Effectiveness of Instagram writing compared to teacher centered writing to teach recount text to students with high and low motivation. Journal of English Language Teaching, 5(1), 1– 8. https://doi.org/10.15294/elt.v5i1 .9875 Mahmudah, R., & Ardi, H. (2020). The use of Instagram platform toward junior high school students' speaking ability. Education and Humanities Research, 411(Icoelt 2019), 364–369. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k .200306.061 Mansor, N., & Rahim, N. . (2017). Instagram in ESL classroom. Man In India, 97(20), 107–114. Mao, J. (2014). Social media for learning: A mixed methods study on high school students' technology affordances and perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 213–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.201 4.01.002 Maolida, E. H., & Purnamasari, Y. (2018). Using Instagram photo caption to encourage students to write in English: Benefits and obstacles. Tenth International Conference on Applied Linguistics and First International Conference on Language, Literature and Culture, 116–121. https://doi.org/10.5220/0007163 001160121 Mustain, K., Husniyah, A., & Zubaidi. (2019). Instaclass: Incorporating Instagram as a mobile learning tool in language classroom. ELT- Echo, 4(2), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.24235/eltecho .v4i2.5365 Oliver, P. (2003). The Student's Guide to Research Ethics. Open University Press. Qisthi, N. (2020). The effect of word map strategy using Instagram to develop students' vocabulary. Journal of English Teaching, http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 10(1), 2023 125-125 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v10i1.26969 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Literature, and Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.30587/jetlal.v 4i2.2273 Rinda, R. K., Novawan, A., & Miqawati, A. H. (2018). Students' perspectives on social media- based learning of writing through Instagram. Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication, 5(1), 23–33. Rosyida, E., & Seftika, S. (2019). Instagram as social media for teaching writing. Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 60–70. https://doi.org/10.26638/js.831.2 03X Sarkar, S. (2012). The role of information and communication technology (ICT) in higher education for the 21st century. The Science Probe, 1(1), 30–40. Shafie, L. A., & Mahadi, R. (2019). Instagram as a digital tool to enhance students' writing skills. Journal of Communication in Scientific Inquiry, 1(1), 35–42. Sivagnanam, S., & Yunus, M. M. (2020). Utilizing social media in vocabulary enhancement among primary ESL learners. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(2), 490–498. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.20 20.080220 Soviyah, & Etikaningsih, D. R. (2018). Instagram use to enhance ability in writing descriptive texts. Indonesian EFL Journal, 4(2), 32. https://doi.org/10.25134/ieflj.v4i 2.1373 Thornbury, S. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Pearson Education Limited. Wahyudin, A. Y., & Sari, F. M. (2018). The effect of Instagram on the students' writing ability at undergraduate level. The 1st International Conference on English Language Teaching and Learning (1st ICON-ELTL), August 2019, 1– 10. Zhi-liang, L. (2010). A study on English vocabulary learning strategies for non-English majors in independent college. Cross- Cultural Communication, 6(4), 152– 164 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee