Instag(R)ite: integrating visual social media into academic writing instruction

Abstract

Although a number of studies examined the use of social networking sites (SNSs) in academic writing instruction, these studies mainly revolve around social media centered on microblogging features. Despite living in a visually dominated world, the potential of visual social media such as Instagram whereby the textual, the visual and the social can be integrated to support the development of academic writing skills has remained widely untapped. This case study hence attempts to explore learners’ perceptions of the possible impact of visual social media-supported pedagogy on the learning progress of academic writing through the lens of a multiliteracies pedagogy that integrates rather than isolates the study of linguistic, visual, and sociocultural elements. Forty-nine first-year undergraduates enrolled in an English language teaching (ELT) program participated in the study. Adopting a constant comparative method, students’ journals, responses to open-ended surveys and focus group interviews were qualitatively analyzed. Analysis results revealed that the majority of the participants had positive perceptions of the adopted pedagogy due to the following experiences: (a) active learning at the pre-writing stage–an aspect that received far too little attention in studies focusing on the use of SNSs in academic writing, (b) seeing the familiar unfamiliar (c) interactive learning, and (d) self-regulated learning. The study provides fresh insights for educators seeking for innovative applications in writing classrooms.