Innovations in Language Education and Literature

Reading Dickens Today: How Contemporary Audiences Interpret Child Welfare in Oliver Twist

2026-01-06T21:15:09+08:00

Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist offers a powerful critique of institutional child abuse through its depiction of Victorian workhouses, yet how contemporary readers interpret this representation remains underexplored. This study investigates how six Indonesian readers with diverse backgrounds decode Dickens' social critique, applying Stuart Hall's reception theory to analyze their interpretive positions. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, we found that participants occupied three distinct positions: two demonstrated dominant-hegemonic readings, fully accepting Dickens' humanitarian critique; two adopted negotiated positions, translating Victorian concerns into contemporary child welfare frameworks; and two exhibited oppositional readings, questioning the text's representational authority while advancing alternative interpretations. These findings reveal that interpretive positions correlate with readers' prior knowledge, professional socialization, and cultural contexts rather than emerging randomly. The study demonstrates that classic literature functions not as a vessel for fixed meanings but as contested terrain where historical representations provoke varied contemporary responses. Our analysis contributes to reception studies by empirically demonstrating how readers' social positions shape their engagement with ethically charged literary content, with implications for understanding how canonical texts continue to inform debates about institutional responsibility and child protection.

AI-Powered Chatbots of ChatGPT: Exploring the Potentials and Challenges in English Teaching and Learning Process

2026-01-06T21:16:23+08:00

In the era of rapid digital transformation, innovations such as ChatGPT have significantly influenced various sectors, particularly education. This library-based research examines the potential benefits and challenges of using ChatGPT in the teaching and learning process. The findings indicate that ChatGPT, a natural language–based artificial intelligence developed by OpenAI, can generate human-like responses and function as a virtual assistant by providing feedback, information, and interactive dialogue. Its educational benefits include personalized learning, immediate feedback, interactive communication, support for teaching materials, enhanced learner autonomy, improved language skills, critical thinking development, and increased student motivation and engagement. However, the use of ChatGPT also presents notable challenges, including risks of biased or inaccurate information, ethical concerns, data privacy issues, plagiarism, overreliance on technology, and the potential marginalization of teachers’ roles. To maximize benefits while minimizing risks, educational institutions should integrate ChatGPT as a supportive learning tool rather than a replacement for educators, promote ethical and responsible use, establish clear policies, adapt curricula to digital developments, encourage critical engagement, and continuously monitor technological advancements. Therefore, further empirical research is needed to examine the effective, ethical, and context-sensitive integration of ChatGPT in diverse educational settings.

Mobile Application Integration for Grammar Learning: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Indonesian Context

2026-01-06T21:17:44+08:00

Mastering grammatical structures remains challenging for English as a Foreign Language learners in contexts with limited authentic language exposure. This quasi-experimental study examined whether mobile application integration could enhance Simple Present Tense acquisition among 34 seventh-grade students at a public junior high school in Majene, Indonesia. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group (n=17) receiving instruction through the English Grammar: Learn and Test application or a control group (n=17) following conventional textbook-based methods. Pre-test and post-test assessments measured grammar mastery across parts of speech, inflection, and syntax dimensions. Results revealed substantial improvement in the experimental group, with mean scores increasing from 20.94 to 72.12 (p < .001, Cohen's d = 1.95), while the control group showed modest gains (29.18 to 50.94). Notably, 82.4% of experimental participants achieved mastery level compared to 11.8% in the control group. Student perceptions measured through a 15-item questionnaire indicated strong acceptance (M = 4.31), with particularly high ratings for perceived usefulness. Despite sample size limitations, findings suggest that strategically integrated mobile applications can significantly enhance grammar learning when traditional methods prove insufficient, offering practical solutions for resource-constrained educational settings.

Exploring Instagram Reels’ Influence on English Learners’ Motivation and British Accent Speaking Skills

2026-01-06T21:28:42+08:00

This exploratory qualitative study examines how Instagram Reels content influences English learners' motivation and perceived speaking skill development in British accent acquisition. Conducted between November and December 2023, the research involved semi-structured interviews with two Indonesian followers of Zelina Fahrani, a content creator with over one million followers specializing in British accent pronunciation videos. Data were collected through online interviews via Instagram and WhatsApp, supplemented by systematic observation of Reels content and engagement metrics. Thematic analysis revealed six key themes: digital content as motivational catalyst, spontaneous imitative practice behavior, thematic relevance and personal interest alignment, aesthetic appeal of British accents, enhanced self-efficacy and speaking confidence, and expanded metalinguistic awareness. Both participants reported heightened learning enthusiasm, particularly due to culturally relevant content themes such as Harry Potter references, increased practice frequency, greater confidence in English speaking, and improved awareness of accent variations. However, all findings were self-reported without objective verification, and the small sample size significantly limits generalizability. This preliminary investigation suggests that engaging, theme-based short-form video content on social media platforms may serve as supplementary motivational tools for informal accent learning, warranting further research with larger samples, diverse participant demographics, and objective assessment measures to validate these exploratory findings.

A Pedagogical Contribution of Digital Corpus-Based Instruction in ESP: Classroom Activities for Public Administration Students

2026-01-07T09:30:35+08:00

This article makes a pedagogical contribution to English for Specific Purposes (ESP) by integrating Digital Corpus-based Instruction (DCI) model: Discovery (exploring authentic corpus data), Connection (engaging with QR-based multimedia resources), and Creation (producing meaningful texts through mobile-based tasks). Two classroom activities illustrate how the model can be applied for public administration students. The first activity (Unit 1: Public Administration Concepts) introduces key terms such as policy implementation, governance, and accountability. Students examine concordance lines from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), match them with expressions used in a video on good governance, and then write a short paragraph using the vocabulary learned. The second activity (Unit 2: Public Service and Bureaucracy) targets vocabulary such as public service, citizen satisfaction, and bureaucratic delay. Students analyze collocations from corpus data, compare them with language found in public service videos and audio recordings of citizen complaints, and then write a formal complaint letter applying these expressions. The findings suggest that corpus-based tasks raise students’ awareness of authentic language patterns and support the development of formal writing skills in ESP contexts. In addition, the DCI model offers a practical, adaptable framework that requires minimal resources, making it suitable for classroom implementation.