EFL Students’ Perception of Social Media as a Gateway to Global Culture

Abstract

In the era of digital communication, social media has become a significant space for language learners to engage with global culture. This descriptive study explores how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students perceive the role of social media platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok in raising their awareness of global culture. Grounded in the frameworks of Intercultural Communicative Competence and social constructivism, the study focuses on students’ experiences outside the classroom, where informal exposure to diverse lifestyles, values, and communication styles contributes to their language learning process. Data were collected through a 15-item Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 60 university students in an English Education program in Indonesia. The results, analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), reveal that students perceive social media as a useful and motivating tool for understanding global cultural practices, enhancing their interest in learning English, and becoming more open-minded toward cultural diversity. The findings suggest that integrating global content from social media into EFL instruction may support both linguistic development and intercultural competence in meaningful and practical ways.