THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS
Main Article Content
Ahmad Arif Fadillah*
Gugum Gumilar
Social media has become an integral part of the lives of students, particularly those from multilingual backgrounds. This study examines the influence of social media on the identity construction of multilingual students. Adopting a qualitative approach, the researchers interviewed high school students in Indonesia to gain insights into the key factors driving their engagement with mainstream culture through social media use, as well as the subsequent impact on their investment in learning the language of the dominant culture. The findings reveal that the perceived ideologies of social media, the validation of linguistic and cultural capital, and the representation of desired identities are the primary motivational forces behind the students' multilingual social media engagement. Interestingly, the study also found that the students' multilingual social media engagement reshaped their acculturation expectations, attitudes, and access to resources, which in turn influenced their investment in learning and using foreign language, both on social media and in their daily lives.
Barak, M., Watted, A., & Haick, H. (2016). Motivation to learn in massive open online courses: Examining aspects of language and social engagement. Elsevier BV, 94, 49-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.11.010
Burke, A. (2013). Creating Identity: The Online Worlds of Two English Language Learners. Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada, 15(3), 31-31. https://doi.org/10.20360/g2ds38
Ige, B. (2010). Identity and language choice: ‘We equals I’. Elsevier BV, 42(11), 3047-3054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.04.018
Khalaf, A., Alubied, A A., Khalaf, A., & Rifaey, A A. (2023). The Impact of Social Media on the Mental Health of Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review. Cureus, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42990
Lai, C., Gu, M., Gao, F., & Yung, J W S. (2020). Motivational mechanisms of ethnic minorities’ social media engagement with mainstream culture. Taylor & Francis, 43(5), 387-403. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1738442
Lu, X. (2024). Associating Academic Identity with Language Socialization in Virtual Community: A Case Study of a Chinese Graduate Student’s Learning Experiences in Religion Studies. Nova Southeastern University. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.5649
Peláez‐Fernández, M A., Chamizo-Nieto, M T., Rey, L., & Extremera, N. (2021). How Do Cyber Victimization and Low Core Self-Evaluations Interrelate in Predicting Adolescent Problematic Technology Use?. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 18(6), 3114-3114. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063114
Tran, Q H. (2021). Discourse Analysis of EFL Students’ Attitudes and Social Interactions Towards a Virtual Classroom. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210226.009
Yau, A., Marder, B., & O’Donohoe, S. (2019). The role of social media in negotiating identity during the process of acculturation. Emerald Publishing Limited, 33(2), 554-575. https://doi.org/10.1108/itp-09-2017-0305
Zhou, Y. (2021). Impacts of Social Media on Language Learning: A Review of Literature. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211220.128
