A Social Semiotic Analysis of Instagram as a Multimodal Platform for Supporting EFL Learners

Social media has become an essential educational tool nowadays. Most existing research on digital learning in EFL contexts has primarily focused on traditional classroom-based instruction and less attention has been paid to social media platforms. The present study aims to fill the gap by using social semiotics to analyze four Instagram posts: two from BBC Learning English (@bbclearningenglish) and the other two from Learn English with Emma (@englishwithemma). Instagram posts are classified as multimodal texts with participatory and representational elements. The study adopts Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2005) Social Semiotic Multimodal Framework to analyze four purposely selected posters by answering the following research questions: What representational meanings are created by Instagram posts meant to assist EFL learners? What is the relationship between interactive meanings and Instagram posts and their EFL audiences? How might compositional meanings enhance Instagram’s overall efficacy as a multimodal teaching tool for English as a foreign language? The findings reveal that meaning can be produced using a range of semiotic resources such as linguistic content, visual aspects, and interactive components. They also show that the order of text, visuals, and user engagement all affect how meaning is created. Finally, Instagram posts use metafunctions to increase the student’s engagement, and also to improve language comprehension by using Instagram outside the traditional classroom