Instagram as a digital tool to enhance students’ writing skills
2019-12,
Latisha Asmaak Shafie,
Rozilawati Mahadi
Students often face difficulties in writing due to grammar, vocabulary, syntax, lack of
practice, over-reliance on their first language and writing anxiety. The traditional method
of teaching writing has no longer seen as adequate to fulfill the demand of the current
generation who are considered as digital native. This demand forces educators to explore
and integrate technology into their teaching approaches. Instagram, with it many fun
features; create, filter, share live videos are relatively easy to use tool and can be accessible
anytime and anywhere. Although many studies highlighted that Instagram can be an
effective pedagogical tool for developing learners’ vocabulary range and writing skills
(Akhiar, Mydin & Adi Kasuma, 2017; Shafie, Yaacob & Singh, 2016), but Instagram is not
commonly used in formal second language learning contexts. This paper promotes the use
of Instagram as a digital writing tool to enhance students’ writing skills. The researchers
provide suggestions of activities which allow students to observe selected Instagram
accounts by focusing on the topics/themes, the styles of writing and the purposes of their
writing. The activities teach students how to write each post by using the formula on
Instagram. Apart from that, students also learn to use captions and hashtags to intrigue
their audience
