The Strategies of Learning English Through Social Media in Informal Digital Learning of English in University Level

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to describe students experiences in utilizing social media for learning outside of school in university level and investigate the strategies of learning English using social media. This study applied a single case study method. The instrument used to collect the data are interviews and documents analysis in the form of screenshot photos. The participants are eighth semester student of English Department of Islamic University of Malang. A total of two students are selected to participate in this study, the researcher used purposive sampling technique as the way to choose the participants. The students selected are social media users with good ability in English language. The data from interviews and documents were analyzed using six phases of thematic analysis. The findings indicated that applications such as Google Meet, YouTube, Instagram Live, Zoom, Duolingo, and TikTok play a key role in students learning process. Students know to learn language using social media supports more flexible, interactive, and various methods for learning, which greatly helps students in their educational process. It offers rich video learning content, quotes, and English song that can be accessed at any time, which helps improve their understanding of English. Furthermore, the students’ strategies of learning English using social media have found in several ways. The main strategies found are setting goals, finding relevant content for learning, and managing users' language settings. Dealing with the findings, the study offer suggestion for students to continuing to be innovate in their learning process using social media applications and features that are dynamic and appropriate to their individual learning needs and also make sure the content they follow is relevant for learning. While for the teacher, they should encourage students to actively participate in online discussions and use social media platforms for contextual language practice by create academic activities using social media. Finally, further researchers should overcome the limitations that arise in this research by involving a wider and more diverse sample and using different research methods. This aims to make the variety of data obtained richer and provide a more comprehensive picture of strategies for using social media in informal learning in various university contexts.

Key Words: English Language Learning, Social Media, University Students.