applying instagram as a virtual scaffolding technique: the effects on efl learners' speaking development and attitude

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of using instagram as a virtual scaffolding technique on efl learners' speaking, its components including fluency, coherence, lexical resources, grammatical range, accuracy, and pronunciation, and their attitude. to this end, a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was incorporated and 60 intermediate female efl learners were randomly selected from 90 institute language learners through administrating a sample preliminary english test (pet). the experimental group was subjected to virtual scaffolding for their course-related contents through instagram platform for 16 sessions as the treatment, while the control group received traditional instruction based on task-based approach. the data were collected before and after the treatment by administering pre- and posttests of speaking. in addition, the students' attitude about the effect of using instagram on their speaking and its components was elicited through a semi-structured interview. then the quantitative data were analyzed via spss software running measures of multivariate anova and independent-samples t-test, while the qualitative data were analyzed and categorized through open and axial coding. the results indicated that instagram as a virtual scaffolding technique had a statistically significant effect on of efl learners’ english language speaking development particularly on their speaking subskills of fluency, lexical resource, grammatical range, accuracy, and pronunciation. in addition, the qualitative data revealed that learners concentrated on evaluating their speaking with an emphasis on pronunciation, lexical items, grammatical accuracy, cohesion and coherence. the learners who used virtual scaffolding could also take ownership of their learning, felt independent in their learning, promoted the value of learning, and improved their command of language. this study provides implications for elt. professionals, software developers, and english language instructors in efl settings.