Authors:
Elis Homsini Maolida
and
Yessy Purnamasari
Affiliation:
Suryakancana University, Indonesia
Keyword(s):
Instagram, photo caption, writing.
Abstract:
Social media has been part of students’ life nowadays as the tool of communication. However, its use as learning media, especially to improve their English writing skills, has not been optimized yet. This study is aimed to analyze (1) the use of photo caption in Instagram as an effort to encourage student to write in English (2) the benefits of using photo caption in Instagram to encourage students to write in English (3) students’ obstacles of writing Instagram photo caption in English. This study involves an English lecturer and 52 students in English Education Study Program in a university in Cianjur. A case study design was employed and the data were obtained from observation of four weeks learning process by integrating Instagram, questionnaire, and students’ interview. The data then were analyzed qualitatively. The findings reveal that the use of photo caption in Instagram has benefited students in at least three aspects. In terms of writing stimulus, the presence of followers
or audiences has motivated students to write effective, interesting, and memorable English caption. In addition, the presence of photo has aided the students in constructing their ideas in writing. Furthermore, by reading and learning from their friend’s caption, the students admit that it can enrich their vocabularies and diction as well as other language features. However, the students face several obstacles in writing caption in English such as limited space of caption especially for high-achiever students, lack of vocabulary and grammatical constraint.
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