Undergraduate students’ exploration of Instagram and TikTok in learning language skills contents: A leverage to digital literacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.38140/ijer-2023.vol5.08Keywords:
Instagram, TikTok, digital literacy, language skills, language contentsAbstract
The literacy needed to live efficiently and functionally in a knowledge-driven society goes beyond the ability to read, write and calculate to a more encompassing literacy such as digital literacy. Two social media platforms, Instagram and TikTok, lend themselves to digital literacies and practices needed to learn language skills and content with ease and fun. The study investigated undergraduate students’ knowledge of and competence in using Instagram and TikTok as learning spaces for learning language skills and content. The study also examined the influence of age and gender on undergraduate students’ competence to use Instagram and TikTok to learn language skills and content. Two major language departments in a university in Nigeria were involved in the study. Three hundred and fifty-two students constituted the sample for the study; 110 from Linguistics/Languages Department and 242 from English and Literary studies. Data were collected using a close-ended-self-constructed questionnaire and a checklist. The data were analysed using inferential statistics. The study revealed that undergraduate students possess adequate knowledge of Instagram and TikTok as learning spaces and are competent to harness the features of Instagram and TikTok to learn language skills and language content. The study also shows that age and gender influence undergraduate students’ competence in using Instagram and TikTok. The study recommended that undergraduate students should harness the potential of Instagram and TikTok on activities that will enhance their linguistic repertoire.
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