(Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics) Volume 7, No. 2, August 2021 Page. 130-139 p-ISSN: 2356-2048 e-ISSN: 2356-203x 130 INSTAGRAM: A LEARNING MEDIUM TO PROMOTE THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH PRODUCTIVE SKILLS Aswadi Jaya1, Asti Veto Mortini2, Ferri Hidayad3, Arma Dianti Putri4, Suci Pratiwi5 1,2,3,4,5 English Education Study Program, PGRI University of Palembang Email Correspondence: aswadijaya@yahoo.com Abstract People usually use Instagram to share their personal information, such as uploading their pictures or videos and providing an explanation that is called caption under it. Thus, this study intended to know the students’ perception of using Instagram to improve their productive skills. This study was conducted on the students of PGRI Palembang University. The method of this study was a descriptive qualitative study. The result of this study showed that the students of PGRI University Palembang perceived that Instagram helped them to improve their productive skills. Keywords: Perception, Instagram, Speaking and Writing Abilities INTRODUCTION In this era, many generations are affected by developing technology. Also, it influences them in their daily activities is called the Digital generation, they are affected by developing technology. Also, it influences them in their daily activities is called D- Gen. According to the book, D-Gen goes to Collage (Seemiller & Grace, 2016), Digital Generationrefers to people who were born from 1995 through 2010. The internet has transformed their life. They are often also empty referred to as digital natives, the Net Generation, or iGeneration. Digital Generation(D-Gen) is a modern generation of teenagers in the Western world and it is markedly different from its millennial process. Members of D-Gen who were born after 1995 have never known life without the internet and omnipresent digital devices (Development, B. f, 2015). Based on these statements, the researcher knows that D-Gen are born from 1995 through 2010. Their lives are always referred to the internet and digital devices. According to (Gottipati and Shankararaman,2017), Digital Generation(Gen-Z) students have been grown in a world of instant access to knowledge and information, a world of automation, remote controls, mailto:aswadijaya@yahoo.com Instagram... 131 and stimulation abilities to stimulate the mind. Non-traditional teaching approaches are preferred by them. And more understanding about technological savvy. The students believe in smart work and none hard work. Therefore, the institutions should service for the requirements of the Digital Generationstudents to be understood e- learning education methods. D-Gen always lives around of internet and digital device, they also usually express their opinion through social media. In this study, the researcher discussed D-Gen students’ perceptions. According to (Jarvis, 2015) states that Perception is the process of putting information in and analyzing it. Another definition is stated by (Stone & Neilson, 1985) as cited by (Sarkol, K, 2016:8), Perception is the mental organization of internal and external sensory stimuli associated with a specific person, object, or event. Based on Atkinson (1983) as cited by (Sarkol, K, 2016), Perception is the process by which people arrange and interpret the pattern of stimuli in the environment. According to (Nurohman, 2018), Perception is an excitatory input that is preceded by a sensor of the senses and conveyed consciously or unconsciously to the human brain. Perception is subjective and depends on one's point of view on a given thing. As a result, elements originating from within themselves issued with their thoughts from someone influence relative perception. According to (Mansor, N., & Normaliza, R. A, 2017), Technology has changed the sector of higher education which has a wonderful influence on the field of English as a Second Language Teaching. The function of various applications via computers and smartphones has opened the way for ESL instructors to conduct their courses in a way that is both evolving and parallel to the new ways students learn. It is also supported by Rosmiyati, E & Jaya, A (2017), Technology and literacy guide are quickly converging, and are left behind changes made in other impacts of students’ life. It means that technology is always used in D-Gen students’ daily life. Rosmiyati, E & Jaya, A (2017) states that the integration of technologies utilized outside the classroom such as word processors, e-mail, digital video, and the Internet must be part of the twenty-first century secondary English classroom. One study on Hackl (2020), Digital Generation spends the time of 3 hours 38 minutes online on this equipment – almost 50 minutes longer than the Aswadi... 132 regular internet users. That site also mentions that 45% of the Digital Generationget their first mobile phone between the ages of 10 and 12. Based on (Criteo,2017), Younger D- Gen may love newer applications such as Snapchat and Instagram, but older D-Gen still uses Facebook a lot too. Now in 2018, there is been a reversal with 72% of 13-17-years- olds are using Instagram, 69% are using Snapchat, and just half (51%) are using Facebook”. Duffy, Shrimpton, Clemence, Thomas, Whyte-Smith, & Abboud (2018). Gilakjani & Ahmadi (2011) states that Learning how to learn is easier when you know your learning style. Learners become more autonomous and responsible for their learning as a result. As a result, learners' confidence will rise, and teachers' authority over them would decrease. Learners take charge of their learning and become the center of the learning process, while teachers serve as facilitators. Based on (Gilakjani, A, P, 2012), There are three main learning styles; visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. The definitions of these learning styles are as follows: Visual means that Learners think in pictures and learn best in visual images. They rely on nonverbal signals such as body language from the instructor or facilitator to aid understanding. Auditory indicates that some people learn things by listening to them and understanding them using pitch, intensity, and speed. And kinaesthetic means that kinaesthetic people learn best by doing things with their hands. These students prefer to interact with the tangible environment. Based on Pero Ali (2014), Instagram is a fantastic program and one of the most widely used social networking platforms. What makes it the best application in learning the English language is that its users learn excitingly and spontaneously. Instagram has a positive feature in that it fits under the category of social networking, and communication is the most common form of networking. Instagram can also improve students’ skills in English. English is included of 4 skills. There are listening, reading, writing, and speaking. And D-Gen students can learn these skills through the Instagram application. From previous arguments, the researcher thinks that the impact of Online Social Media is influenced by Digital Generationstudents nowadays. Instagram is used by more than 70% of the Digital Generation students. In their daily life. And this will be talked about by the researcher. Instagram... 133 In this study, speaking skills and writing skills were taken as the main focus. According to (Jaya, & Habibi, 2016), One of the most crucial abilities that students must master is public speaking. They can demonstrate their English proficiency by having this talent. According to (Jaya, 2017), the Speaking ability can describe how far the language learner mastered the language itself. Speaking ability is challenging to master because speaking skill covers all of the English elements. Based on (Uzer, Y, 2017), Speaking comes from the word “speak”, which means saying words or sentences to take and give some information or to communicate with each other. In another word, speaking is the instrument of language, which is used for oral communication. And the researcher also discussed writing skills. Writing is one of the language skills that English learners must acquire in addition to listening, speaking, and reading. They must be able to convey their views in writing to develop their ideas, and their writing must pique students' interest when read. They can also share information and knowledge with others by writing. To put it another way, writing is a form of communication between the researcher and the reader Reszky, Y, H (2013) Based on the background of the study above, the researcher was interested in analyzing of D-Gen students’ perception of using Instagram to improve Speaking and Writing abilities. RESEARCH METHOD This research used a qualitative descriptive method. According to Sifle & Melling (2012), as cited by Shakouri N (2014), Qualitative research was primarily good for generating hypotheses rather than testing hypotheses. This study was Descriptive Qualitative data to analyze the data that indicate to D-Gen Students’ Perception of using Instagram to improve their Speaking and Writing Abilities. According to (Roopa, S & Satya, R, M, 2017), A questionnaire was used in case resources are limited as a questionnaire could be quite inexpensive to design and administer and time was an important resource that a questionnaire consumes to its maximum extent, protection of the privacy of the participants as participants would respond honestly only if their identity was hidden and confidentiality was maintained, and corroborating with other findings as Aswadi... 134 questionnaires can be useful confirmation tools when corroborated with other studies that have resources to pursue other data collection strategies. So, if we used a questionnaire, we can know the basic data of respondents. The questionnaire also has another function, it selected the data of students who are the D-Gen students. It helped the researcher to know who has become the sample of the data and the findings of the study even first and second research questions. Close-ended questions to find out whether D-Gen students can improve their Speaking and Writing abilities through the Instagram platform. The interview was used to answer both research questions which want to know deeply about their perception (perceive) about Instagram for improving their Speaking and Writing abilities. It was also mentioned by Lambert & Loiselle (2007) as cited by Frances, Patricia, & Coughlan (2009), interviews were widely used as a data collection tool in qualitative research. They were typically used as a research strategy to gather information about participants’ experiences, views, and beliefs concerning a specific research question or phenomenon of interest. Based on (McKechnie, 2008:573) quoted by (Editorial, 2018:1) stated that Observation in qualitative research was one of the oldest and most fundamental research methods approaches. This approach involved collecting data using one’s senses, especially looking and listening in a systematic and meaningful way. Based on (Liu, Pietro, Samani, Moghaddam,& Ungar, 2016:211) said that “Social Media allowed users to use data sets of users and their online behaviors, recent studies have managed successfully built models to predict a range of user attributes, such as age, gender, personality, and geography, utilizing data sets of users and their online behaviors from social media”. According to the theories above, the researcher used this technique that systematically selects and watches behavior and characteristic of their usage of Instagram by stalking their Instagram. According to Huberman and Miles (1994) stated that technique in analyzing qualitative data is consisting of three activities: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. Based on the statement above, the researcher conducted Instagram... 135 data analysis in three phases. The three phases of analysis data were as follows: Data Reduction: Data reduction referred to the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting, and transforming the data that appear in written-up field notes or transcription. In this study, the researcher would focus on the D-Gen students’ perception of using Instagram to improve Speaking and Writing Abilities. Data Display: Data display was an organized, compressed assembly of information that permits conclusion drawing and action. Conclusion Drawing and Verification: Conclusion in the view is only half of Gemini configuration. Conclusions were also verified as the analyst proceeds. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION In this descriptive qualitative study. The researcher provided questionnaires and did the interview and observation. The questionnaire was given by the researcher to the 36 students. The interview was given by the researcher to the 2 lecturers, They were told by the researcher to answer the questions to find out their Perception of using Instagram to improve their Speaking and Writing Abilities. Instagram is the most popular social media platform among the D-Gen students that have told by (Lim and Yazdanifard, 2014:5), Instagram was also the most loved and the most usage by them. Based on the results of a questionnaire that has been conducted with the students of PGRI Palembang, it can be concluded that they usually used some social media, especially Instagram. They used it for spending their free time and also learning English on Instagram because they usually see and watch the pictures and videos contents that have been shared on Instagram. So, they can improve their English skills especially speaking and writing abilities. It can be proven by their answers on a google form. Based on an interview that has been conducted with two English lecturers. It can be concluded that they agreed, students can learn by using the Instagram application. Because it helped them study from outside of the schools. They can learn English everywhere and anytime. And the students also usually spent their time on social media. So, it can be one of the learning styles for students nowadays. Aswadi... 136 The results from the questionnaire that shared with PGRI University Students. It has been shown by the students that they usually use social media, especially Instagram applications. And most of them use Instagram to improve their English ability by watching and looking at the photo or videos that are shared in the Instagram application itself. The students feel interesting to learn by using Instagram because they usually spend their time using technology and the internet. So, It would make them easier to study from the Instagram application. From this study, the researcher did interviews and observations about their perception of students using the Instagram application to learn English. From the interview, the researcher found that the teachers and the curriculum vise principal understood and knew about Instagram, they said that Instagram can be the one of media as learning English for a student outside of school. They can use Instagram to learn English by looking at and watching the photos or videos of English content that is shared in the Instagram application. It was also correlated with Bambang (Hermanto, 2013:4) and (Development, B. f.,2015:8), which said that D-Gen students have excited and prefer to receive the info by visual term including video. It was the reason that made the D-Gen Students prefer to watch videos on Instagram than a meme. The creator also knew and understood this case. According to the data from observation, the most followed account always uploads the video as the media to share English knowledge. Based on the observation data, the researcher can find that the Instagram application could make improving English ability to the students because students have known about the Instagram application, they usually spent their time in technology and social media, and they also felt interesting to learn by using the Instagram application because the material is easy to understand. It was also supported that D-Gen students were also influenced by Instagram as was explained by Barcelona in (Harmanto, 2013:3) which said that D-Gen students were influenced by the Internet. As we know that according to (Bouhami, 2016:31), Instagram allowed users to follow other people’s accounts. The impact which will be happened. They will get some posts of the user of the followed account (English content creator). Instagram... 137 CONCLUSION Based on the results of the research and discussions that had been described in the previous chapter, it can be concluded that: Instagram was one of the applications that were used by the D-Gen students to learn English especially in improving their speaking and writing abilities. Most of them had their own Instagram and used it continuously every day. The teachers and also the vice principal agreed that Instagram could be the one of learning English style for students in the outside school because it was easy to access every time and everywhere. The use of social media especially the Instagram application can be used for positive things including in learning English and improving the speaking and writing of D-Gen students. On the other side, the features of Instagram can be one of the learning language styles in this era because it made D-Gen students easier to learn everywhere and anytime. 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