Cultural Representation in Three English Language Teaching Pages on Instagram: A Content Analysis

^[1]Seyede Saeedeh Shahami

^[2]Abdorreza Tahriri

Research Paper                                             IJEAP- 2401-2020   DOR: 20.1001.1.24763187.2024.13.1.3.8

Received: 2024-01-14                              Accepted: 2024-03-25                         Published: 2024-03-27

Abstract: In today's world, language and culture are intertwined, and gaining knowledge about the language of a particular society is considered incomplete without understanding its customs, values, and beliefs. With this in mind, the current study was conducted to examine the representation of culture in three popular English Language Teaching (ELT) pages on Instagram, namely BBC Learning English, Learning English with Oxford, and Learning English with Cambridge, utilizing a well-known framework of cultural representation put forth by Yuen (2011). The framework comprises four categories, i.e., products, practices, perspectives, and persons, covering both objective and subjective cultural elements. Exploiting quantitative content analysis, the primary objectives of the study were to determine the frequency of Yuen’s (2011) categories of cultural representation in the three ELT Instagram pages and compare the pages in terms of their cultural load. The findings of the study indicated that the ELT pages under scrutiny were predominantly characterized by the Product and Person aspects of culture. Additionally, the results of the Chi-square tests demonstrated significant differences among the ELT pages under study since the cultural elements were not evenly distributed across all three pages, with BBC Learning English having the highest frequencies in all four categories. The study, therefore, underscores the significance of recognizing the cultural representation within ELT pages on Instagram and the way they can influence learners' understanding and perception of the English language.

Keywords: Culture, Cultural Representation, English Language Teaching, Instagram, Language

 Introduction

When communicating with one another, people from the same culture frequently speak the same language. To communicate with people from other cultures, they may also learn a different language system, such as English, which is now commonly learned by many people worldwide. This allows them to interact with individuals from different cultural backgrounds without using their native tongue. According to Yuen (2011, p. 459), “Language can be considered an ‘artefact’ or a system of code (products) used, to signify thoughts (perspectives), for communication (practices), by different people (persons)”, and understanding a language generally entails comprehending different aspects of the culture in which it is utilized, including how other cultures are occasionally portrayed in that particular society. This is because language represents both its own culture and that of others. Consequently, learners are exposed to the cultures portrayed in these materials while learning a language (Yuen, 2011). This principle also applies when teaching and learning English.

In many ways, students learn culture implicitly since it is embedded in the linguistic forms they are learning. To help students understand how cultural features are mirrored in the language, teachers might also explicitly describe those cultural aspects concerning the linguistic forms that are being studied. Only after students acquire both the linguistic and cultural norms of a language, will they be considered proficient in it (Peterson & Coltrane, 2003). In this regard, coursebooks can directly or indirectly convey sets of social and cultural values that are ingrained in their makeup, according to Cunningsworth (1995). The hidden curriculum, as he called it, may express attitudes and values that are not consciously held but still affect the content and image of teaching materials, as well as the entire curriculum. Textbooks with a biased orientation can lead to a biased worldview and contribute to students favoring specific cultures over others, rather than appreciating cultural diversity and difference.

However, as is evident in today’s globalized world, in which people are turning to digital tools more than ever, textbooks are not the sole teaching and learning materials nowadays. The use of technology in English classrooms has transformed the teaching and learning process. Teachers are increasingly embracing technological tools and social media networking sites to enhance the language learning of the students. That being said, it is crucial to note that the issue of cultural representation/integration is just as important in multimedia learning materials as it is in textbooks. According to Latchem (2017, p. 28), “such technologies enable individuals and communities to find, analyze, share and present information, knowledge, skills, ideas, and experiences”. Learning can now be offered in virtually any place and at any time, provided that a mobile signal is available just thanks to mobile phones, tablets, and the internet.

Of the various social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, etc., Instagram, in particular, has attracted considerable attention in recent years, especially among the younger population. This platform allows its users to be exposed to language while using it as part of their everyday lives, providing them with opportunities to learn more about the target language forms and uses. Therefore, EFL learners can also use Instagram as a supplementary tool alongside their formal classes to learn the English language in a collaborative, cooperative, and sharing atmosphere (Erarslan, 2019). As one of the most popular resources for language teaching and learning, we can see many domestic and foreign Instagram pages that have emerged to teach English. These educational ELT pages, followed by many teachers and learners worldwide, including Iranian EFL instructors and students, try to teach language points by exploiting different forms of multimedia, including text, audio, images, and video.

The examination of educational materials shared through different social media platforms such as Instagram can be of significance as well, as the use of social media for educational purposes has been found to enhance overall student learning in multiple ways (Tarantino et al., 2013). Similarly, just like other fundamental language teaching and learning materials, such as textbooks, Instagram pages catering to ELT can also offer culture-related information to their audience while they are engaged with the shared materials. Therefore, more meticulous attention to and a deeper understanding of these educational resources can help facilitate more informed decision-making for policymakers, ELT teachers, and learners in selecting and using suitable educational materials.

Considering the critical role of more modern language teaching and learning resources such as Instagram and the rather implicit culture promotion associated with them, the present study aimed at an empirical examination of the representation of culture in three viral ELT pages on Instagram, namely BBC Learning English, Learning English with Oxford, and Learning English with Cambridge, which are widely followed and regularly visited by numerous language teachers and learners. It was intended to identify the extent to which these pages incorporate cultural elements in their educational materials and the potential impact of such elements on student learning.

 Literature Review

The Importance of Culture in ELT

Many studies have focused on the interrelatedness of culture and language teaching and learning (Elmes, 2013; Genc & Bada, 2005; Peterson & Coltrane, 2003; Tang, 1999; Yuen, 2011). The relationship between language and culture is well-established. Analysis by Peterson (2004) compares engaging with people from different cultures without understanding much about them to hitting a piñata mindlessly in his book Cultural Intelligence. Nevertheless, he admits that learning about surface-level subjects like Italian painting, French cuisine, or Russian music can be entertaining. However, it would be helpful to have a somewhat better understanding of what is going on and a slightly better ability to interact appropriately (Peterson, 2004). In the specific ELT context, however, the relevance of culture in teaching and learning English is not sufficiently explained by general studies such as Peterson's.

In light of this, researchers have become increasingly interested in the specific role of culture in ELT. Peterson and Coltrane (2003) theorize that as a crucial element of language learning, culture must then be thoroughly integrated. Teachers of second languages should pinpoint critical cultural elements in every facet of the language they instruct. Students can succeed in speaking a second language only when cultural sensitivity is ingrained in the curriculum. As stated by Byram and Wagner (2018), "the aim of language teaching is to enable people to communicate effectively across linguistic and cultural boundaries" (p. 148). According to Elmes (2013), for learners to become proficient language users, they must comprehend the cultural context of the language as well as the reasons behind people's thoughts and speech patterns. For this reason, an integrated study of language and culture is necessary. Teachers and learners must acknowledge that language is more than just a collection of words. Only then will they be able to reach a proper level of proficiency in the language they are learning (Elmes, 2013).

 Empirical Findings

The study of culture in relation to language learning has been a topic of interest for scholars in the field. One of the criteria explored is the representation of culture in materials used for English language teaching and learning. Several empirical studies have focused on the predominant incorporation/representation of cultural elements, including literature, as one of the most prominent manifestations of culture, from the Western or English-speaking countries, or the so-called inner-circle countries, compared to those of the outer and the expanding circle nations in different educational textbooks (Andarab, 2019; Baleghizadeh & Amiri Shayesteh, 2020; Lazim Al-Taan, 2020; Lestariyana & Nurkamto, 2022).

Indeed, the discoveries mentioned here are in agreement with the study conducted by Ka-Ming Yuen in 2011. Yuen's case study aimed to scrutinize whether the representation of foreign cultures in English language textbooks employed by Hong Kong secondary schools reflected the status of English as a global language. The study categorized foreign cultural references into four groups, namely products, practices, perspectives, and persons. The overall results revealed that the information on foreign cultures in the textbooks was stereotypical and fragmented. The type of content most frequently presented was related to products, such as entertainment, travel, and food, while the other three categories, particularly perspectives, were less common. The selection process prioritized the potential interest of the material, making popular products more appealing than abstract perspectives such as equality. The textbooks, therefore, portrayed a "tourist's perspective", which may have been more attractive to the younger population. Overall, there was a noticeable disparity in the scope of foreign cultures depicted in the textbooks, with a greater coverage of the cultures of English-speaking countries than those of other societies. This bias was especially apparent in the under-representation of Africa, which received the least coverage (Yuen, 2011).

In light of this, researchers have also become increasingly interested in the ideological aspect of ELT textbooks, and therefore, several empirical studies have focused on the representation of ideology and power relations in textbooks (Chalak & Ghasemi, 2017; Hashemian & Farhang-Ju, 2022; Majdedin et al., 2014). Indeed, across these three studies on the representation of ideology in some popular and widely used international ELT textbooks including New Interchange, Top Notch, Passages, Summit, and Got It 1, there is consistent evidence to suggest that in most of the cases, such books are not value-free and tend to manifest a particular ideology, i.e., the western culture and ideology and the U.S. centrism (Chalak & Ghasemi, 2017; Hashemian & Farhang-Ju, 2022; Majdedin et al., 2014).

Of equal importance is the study carried out by Babaii et al. (2016), in which the researchers looked at the ways that four popular English-learning software programs - Rosetta Stone, Tell Me More, Fairyland, and Your Baby Can Read - represent social actors of different races both textually and visually. The results showed that, despite attempts to be objective and neutral in the verbal mode, modern multimodal texts nevertheless contain stereotypical, biased, and discriminatory elements in the visual mode. The findings of this study may be helpful to academics, educators, software developers, textbook authors, teachers, and students as they work towards developing visual literacy and being aware of the hidden meanings that images in multimedia and textbooks might convey (Babaii et al., 2016).

According to Andarab (2019), the creation of course materials with a strong emphasis on English as an International Language (EIL) can aid English language learners in adapting to the diverse linguistic and cultural norms that they may encounter while interacting with individuals from various cultural backgrounds. Therefore, English educators should not only be more linguistically and culturally conscious when creating language learning materials but also more effective at preparing curricula with a multicultural and international orientation (Andarab, 2019).

On the other hand, many studies have investigated the utility of Instagram, one of the most popular social networking platforms, for teaching and learning English. The relationship between the exploitation of Instagram and improved language learning is also well-established. Erarslan (2019) concluded that the great majority of the participants of his mixed-methods design study favored using Instagram for educational as well as language learning purposes. Furthermore, the achievement test scores revealed that making use of Instagram had a rather positive effect on students’ language learning. In this regard, “as a corpus of multimodal microblogs”, Instagram offers its users a substantial amount of authentic L2 content and thus can be a useful tool for language learning, especially outside of the classroom (Wagner, 2021, p. 154).

However, to the best of our knowledge, to date, the majority of studies examining cultural representation have focused on textbooks, which are considered a critical resource for both teachers and learners, despite the emergence of new technologies. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on cultural representation in more visually-oriented social media platforms, such as Instagram, which have become increasingly popular, particularly among younger generations. This gap in the literature highlights the need for further investigation into the representation of culture in these channels, which may play a considerable role in shaping attitudes and perceptions among users. To this end, drawing on Yuen’s (2011) model of cultural representation, this study delved into analyzing the representation of culture in three popular English language teaching (ELT) pages on Instagram. To this end, the following research questions were addressed in this study:

Research Question One: How frequent are Yuen’s (2011) categories of cultural representation (products, practices, perspectives, and persons) in the three English language teaching (ELT) Instagram pages under investigation?

Research Question Two:  Is there any significant difference among the three ELT Instagram pages under investigation in terms of Yuen’s (2011) categories of cultural representation?

 Methodology

Design of the Study

To address the research questions, the present study conducted a quantitative content analysis on a subset of selected ELT pages on Instagram. Taking the first and second research questions into account, to examine the frequency of occurrence of cultural references in the content of the posts, and for these data to be comparable in terms of the representation of culture, quantitative content analysis was deemed appropriate for the objectives of the present study. Therefore, this approach was employed to systematically examine the textual content of the sample posts and gain deeper insights into the issue under investigation.

 Materials

The present study analyzed three Instagram pages dedicated to English Language Teaching (ELT), namely BBC Learning English, Learning English with Cambridge, and Learning English with Oxford. These pages were selected due to their significant number of followers, both within and outside of Iran. BBC Learning English, with approximately 4.4 million followers, regularly shares educational posts aimed at teaching lexical items and grammatical points. The posts typically take the form of pictures, quotations, and short video clips that embody a specific teaching point or tip. Similarly, Learning English with Cambridge and Learning English with Oxford, with approximately 746K and 265K followers, respectively, also teach English vocabulary and grammar mainly using pictures with tips and sometimes short clips. These pages occasionally provide their audience with one or two-item quizzes as well and encourage them to leave comments on the answers.

The rationale for selecting these ELT Instagram pages is that they are among the most popular pages in terms of the number of followers. Additionally, they are affiliated with reputable English language teaching institutions. The findings of this study may be helpful for educators and researchers interested in exploring the potential of social media platforms, such as Instagram, for language teaching and learning purposes.

 Procedure

This research study analyzed data collected from three Instagram pages dedicated to English Language Teaching (ELT), which comprised a total of approximately 7500 posts. Due to the generative nature of the studied material and the continuous addition of posts to these pages, the study was limited to posts published over the last three years, from May 2020 to May 2023, to reach a certain number of posts and the possibility of establishing a defined population. Out of the total number of posts in our population, which amounted to about 4,100 posts, a random sample of 150 posts was selected using simple random sampling to be representative of the population as much as possible.

Incidentally, BBC Learning English constituted a larger portion of the sample due to its greater number of posts (i.e., approximately 96 posts), while Learning English with Oxford and Learning English with Cambridge contributed 28 and 26 posts, respectively. It is pertinent to note that the unit of analysis for the first and last categories of Products and Persons was the word, owing to their inherent concreteness. However, most of the items in the remaining categories of Practices and Perspectives necessitated a unit of analysis beyond the word, given their abstract and descriptive nature. Hence, the sentence was deemed the appropriate unit of analysis for these two categories. Subsequently, the culture-related components from the posts were extracted and classified into one of the four cultural categories proposed by Yuen (2011) using quantitative content analysis. Descriptive statistics were then applied to calculate the frequency of cultural elements based on their occurrences and compare the pages in terms of their cultural content.

To ensure the trustworthiness of the research study, Lincoln and Guba's (1985) evaluative criteria were considered. According to Lincoln and Guba (1985), the trustworthiness of a piece of research is vital to assessing its worth, and their evaluative criteria involve meeting the following items:

• Credibility/truthfulness of the findings
• Transferability/applicability of the findings to other contexts
• Dependability/consistency of the findings
• Confirmability/neutrality of the findings

In an attempt to meet the criteria set forth by Lincoln and Guba (1985), a series of related techniques were exploited to establish trustworthiness. These techniques included prolonged engagement and persistent observation, which were used to develop a comprehensive understanding of the culture, social setting, or phenomenon under examination. Additionally, thick description was employed to guarantee transferability and external validity, while the audit trail technique was utilized to promote confirmability by maintaining detailed records of all data and information pertaining to the investigation. These techniques were implemented to the fullest extent possible to uphold the integrity of the current study and to ensure the reliability of the findings.

 Results

Descriptive statistics including frequency counts and percentages as well as inferential statistics, namely Chi-Square were performed to provide answers to the two research questions. The following section presents the results of the statistical analyses. Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for the cultural representation in each of the three ELT Instagram pages.

Table 1

 Descriptive Statistics for the Cultural Representation in Each of the Pages

Table 1 presents the frequency of the four cultural dimensions in each of the three ELT Instagram pages. As indicated in Table 1, the product category had the highest frequency with 141 occurrences, accounting for 37.7% of the total sample, suggesting that the pages mainly focused on showing cultural products. The practices category had 41 occurrences, representing 11.0% of the total, indicating that the Instagram pages also incorporated cultural practices, but to a lesser degree. The perspectives category had 56 occurrences, accounting for 15.0% of the total, suggesting that the pages provided a variety of cultural perspectives in their content. The person category had 136 occurrences, representing 36.4% of the total sample. According to the data, total cultural representation in the pages was diverse across different categories. However, the most prominent focus was on cultural products and persons, followed by perspectives and practices.

Figure 1 displays the representation of the four categories in the three pages.

Figure 1

 Representation of the Four Categories in the Three Pages

Table 2 provides samples of the four categories of cultural representation from the three ELT pages on Instagram.

Table 2

Samples of the Four P Cultural Elements

Regarding products, BBC Learning English had the highest frequency of cultural representation, with 115 occurrences, accounting for 30.7% of the total sample. Oxford Learning English and Cambridge Learning English had 16 occurrences (4.3%) and 10 occurrences (2.7%), respectively. Regarding practices, BBC Learning English had 37 occurrences (9.9%), while Oxford Learning English had 4 occurrences (1.1%) of the total sample. In terms of perspectives, BBC Learning English had 43 occurrences (11.5%), Oxford Learning English had 11 occurrences (2.9%), and Cambridge Learning English had 2 occurrences (0.5%). Finally, in terms of persons, BBC Learning English had 114 occurrences (30.5%), Oxford Learning English had 17 occurrences (4.5%), and Cambridge Learning English had 5 occurrences (1.3%). Therefore, BBC Learning English appeared to place a high emphasis on all four categories of cultural representation, followed by Oxford Learning English to a lesser extent, and then Cambridge Learning English with the least representation across the different cultural elements.

Furthermore, the test statistics for the different categories are presented in Table 3.

Table 3

Test Statistics for the Four Categories of Cultural Representation

The results of the Chi-square tests indicated the statistical significance of the differences among the three ELT Instagram pages in terms of Yuen's (2011) categories of cultural representation. To be more specific, the Chi-square test statistic for the "Products" category was 147.957. The associated asymptotic significance (p-value) was found to be .000, which was less than the alpha level of .05. This suggested that there was a statistically significant difference among the three Instagram pages concerning the representation of cultural products. The Chi-square test statistic for the "Perspectives" category was 49.750. The associated asymptotic significance was .000, indicating that there was a statistically significant difference in the representation of cultural perspectives across the three Instagram pages. The Chi-square test statistic for the "Practices" category was 26.561. The asymptotic significance was also found to be .000, indicating a statistically significant difference in the representation of cultural practices. Finally, the Chi-square test statistic for the "Persons" category was 157.603. The associated asymptotic significance was .000, which suggested a statistically significant difference in the representation of persons. All in all, the Chi-square test results demonstrated that there were statistically significant differences among the three ELT Instagram pages in terms of total cultural representation across different categories, including Products, Practices, Perspectives, and Persons.

These results indicated that the representation of cultural elements varied significantly across the three ELT Instagram pages. Upon further analysis, it was found that BBC Learning English had the highest frequencies in all categories. Additionally, the Product category was observed to have been used more frequently than other categories.

Discussion and Implications

This study examined the representation of culture in three English language teaching pages on Instagram. The results revealed that the three ELT pages, despite a statistically significant difference among them in terms of Yuen's (2011) categories of cultural representation, were largely dominated by different cultural elements. The findings indicated that the most dominant cultural dimensions in all three pages belonged to Product and Person dimensions with 30.7, 4.3, and 2.7% of the total sample for the former, and 30.5, 4.5, and 1.3% of the total sample for the latter cultural dimension in the first, second, and third pages, respectively. Perspective aspect was the third frequently occurring dimension with 11.5, 2.9, and 0.5%, respectively. Finally, the least frequent cultural dimension with 9.9, 1.1, and 0% belonged to Practices.

The importance of providing these frequencies and percentages is that as per Yuen (2011), it allows us to establish the breadth of cultural dimensions in teaching materials. Moreover, this information also helps us to understand which aspects of culture the material developers are prioritizing and trying to convey to the learners. The findings of the study indicate that the Product category had the highest frequency with 141 occurrences, accounting for 37.7% of the total sample, while the Perspective and Practice categories had lower frequencies, i.e., 56 occurrences, accounting for 15.0% of the total, and 41 occurrences, representing 11.0% of the total, respectively. These findings are consistent with those of Yuen (2011), who discovered that the most commonly presented content in the textbooks he analyzed was related to products, such as entertainment, travel, and food. In contrast, the other three categories, particularly the Perspective category, were less common. Yuen further explained that the selection process prioritized the potential interest of the material, making popular products more appealing than abstract perspectives such as equality. As a result, the textbooks portrayed a "tourist's perspective", which may have been more attractive to the younger population (Yuen, 2011, p. 459).

Therefore, as demonstrated in Yuen’s study, as well as the current study, it can be deduced that the selection of cultural content in textbooks and other educational materials usually tends to favor materials that would likely interest the readers. As a result, there is a preference for more tangible cultural references such as popular products over more abstract elements. This trend is indicative of a prioritization of cultural content that is relatable and engaging to students. However, it is important to note that this preference may limit the diversity of cultural perspectives presented in educational materials. In order to ensure a well-rounded and inclusive educational experience, it is necessary to strike a balance between relatable and diverse cultural content.

In addition, with respect to the portrayal of cultures from around the world, the analysis of cultural elements extracted from the three ELT pages revealed a significant predominance of cultural elements from English-speaking countries such as Britain, the United States, and Australia. This finding also corroborates Yuen's (2011) assertion that foreign cultures depicted in textbooks generally exhibit a noticeable bias in favor of English-speaking countries, with much greater coverage of their cultures than others. The study further revealed a particularly marked under-representation of Africa, which received the least coverage (Yuen, 2011).

Indeed, a number of later research endeavors also further support the unequal representation of culture from around the world in ELT materials (Baleghizadeh & Amiri Shayesteh, 2020; Lazim Al-Taan, 2020; Lestariyana & Nurkamto, 2022). Furthermore, across some other studies, there is consistent evidence to suggest that in most cases, ELT textbooks, as one of the most critical teaching and learning materials, are not value-free and tend to manifest a particular ideology, i.e., the Western culture and ideology and the U.S. centrism (Chalak & Ghasemi, 2017; Hashemian & Farhang-Ju, 2022; Majdedin et al., 2014). These findings also mostly align with those of the current study.

However, since English is widely recognized as the global language of communication, it is imperative for students to acquire intercultural awareness and intercultural communicative competence, which refers to the ability "to interact with people from another country and culture in a foreign language" (Byram, 1997, p. 71). Therefore, to cater to the needs of students in today's interconnected world, publishers must prioritize the inclusion of unbiased and relevant cultural content and activities in their English language materials (Hilliard, 2014).

The current study may, therefore, yield significant pedagogical implications for educators, curriculum designers, policymakers, and language researchers. The study underscores the significance of recognizing the cultural representation within ELT pages on Instagram and how they may impact learners' understanding and perception of the English language, a prevalent issue for many educators. It is widely acknowledged that language teaching materials, including textbooks and multimedia tools, are not usually neutral. This applies to popular ELT pages on Instagram as well. As such, it is expected that educators are cognizant of the cultural aspect of these educational materials and consider exposing students to different cultural practices and perspectives. By doing so, language teachers can create an authentic and meaningful language learning experience for their students.

To be more precise, when selecting suitable educational materials for their students, educators who seek to employ multimedia platforms, such as Instagram, for their students' benefit should devote due attention to the distinct approaches adopted by different ELT pages. They should also consider which pages tend to place a higher emphasis on promoting culture alongside teaching the language, and why certain aspects of culture, i.e., the Product and the Person categories are more prevalent on such pages. For instance, as the study's findings revealed, it can be concluded that BBC Learning English exhibited the highest frequency in all four categories of Products, Practices, Perspectives, and Persons, compared to the other two ELT pages. This page appeared to place a strong emphasis on all four categories of cultural representation, followed by Learning English with Oxford to a lesser extent, and then Learning English with Cambridge with the least representation across different cultural categories.

The obvious prominence of cultural elements in BBC Learning English can be partly attributed to its status as a state-owned entity. As it is known, the BBC Corporation operates mainly in the media sector but also provides language instruction via its website and social media. In contrast, Learning English with Oxford and Learning English with Cambridge are academic institutions affiliated with their respective universities. As a result, it is reasonable to presume that BBC Learning English places a greater emphasis on promoting the cultural values and norms of English-speaking communities through advertising and other marketing activities. In comparison, the other two ELT pages are less active in terms of media and advertising and are more academic in nature. This serves as a reminder of the power of mass media, and according to Arias (2018), exposure to information disseminated by media outlets can significantly influence attitudes and behaviors.

Therefore, given the diversity of educational materials available in the market, it is imperative for policymakers, materials developers, curriculum designers, and teachers to make informed decisions about the selection of materials that cater to the needs of their students. In this regard, if educators intend to incorporate digital platforms such as Instagram to provide their students with some complementary ELT materials online, they should take into account the potential positive and negative impacts of the selected page since it can be a culturally rich source, such as BBC Learning English to their learners, compared to more culturally-neutral pages such as Learning English with Oxford and Learning English with Cambridge. The proper use of digital platforms can enhance the learning experience, but it requires careful consideration to ensure that the chosen materials align with the institution's objectives and values.

Conclusion

The connection between language and culture is intricate and not fully comprehended; however, as noted by Elmes (2013), language use reveals their inextricable connection. To achieve proficiency in a language, learners must comprehend not only the linguistic structures of the language but also the cultural context in which it is used, including the cultural reasons behind people's thoughts and speech patterns. Thus, an integrated approach to studying language and culture is necessary. It is essential to acknowledge that language is not simply a collection of words, and educators and learners must acknowledge the unbreakable bond between the two.

The present study further highlighted that the traditional idea of neutrality in language-learning materials does not usually hold up in practice. Instead, these resources, intended for the teaching and learning of the English language, tend to be dominated by diverse cultural elements that often represent the target society's cultural aspects. These cultural elements encompass a wide range of facets, from cultural products to people from other nations. The current study also underscored the significance of recognizing the cultural representation within ELT pages on Instagram and how they can impact learners' understanding and perception of the English language. As mentioned earlier, language teaching resources, including textbooks and multimedia tools, are widely recognized as not being neutral. This also applies to popular ELT pages on Instagram. Thus, educators are expected to be cognizant of the cultural aspect of these educational resources and consider exposing students to different cultural practices and perspectives. By doing so, language teachers can probably arrive at more informed decisions regarding the use of educational materials.

Social media platforms, such as Instagram, have the potential to serve as an effective tool for language instruction when utilized appropriately. Teachers can use these platforms to create a virtual learning community that promotes interaction between students, resource sharing, and language skill development. Moreover, social media can be used to provide students with a firsthand experience of the target culture by exposing them to authentic language input from native speakers in the form of videos, podcasts, and blogs. However, it is important to acknowledge the potential challenges and limitations of using social media as a medium for language instruction as well, since the content on these platforms can be susceptible to bias and inaccuracies, which could have a harmful impact on the learning outcomes of students.

All in all, Instagram, as a multimedia tool, can be a promising source of language learning but can also offer culture-related information to different degrees while learners are engaged in its educational activities. This study can, therefore, contribute to our comprehension of how ELT content can be presented on Instagram pages, and its findings could potentially make educators aware of different cultural dimensions in these resources and guide them in developing more effective strategies for teaching cultural elements in language learning. Such strategies can help enrich the language-learning experience for students.

Acknowledgement

We wish to express our utmost appreciation to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions that helped enrich the quality of this manuscript.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors herein assert that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Funding Details

The study did not receive any financial support or funding from any organization or institution.

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¹ MA in TEFL, shahami.s@yahoo.com; Department of English Language and Literature, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.

² Associate Professor of ELT, atahriri@gmail.com; Department of English Language and Literature, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.