EXAMINING TIKTOK INFLUENCE ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH-SPEAKING SKILLS IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Abstract

This study aims to examine whether there is a significant correlation between TikTok social media use and students’ English-speaking skills. In the digital era, social media has become widely used by students and is often associated with language learning practices. This research employed a quantitative approach with a correlational design. The participants were 31 third-semester students of the English Education Study Program at KH. A. Wahab Hasbullah University. Data were collected through a questionnaire measuring TikTok usage and a speaking test assessing students’ speaking skills. The data were analyzed using the Pearson Product-Moment correlation. The findings showed that the correlation coefficient was r = –0.1734, indicating a very low negative correlation. With df = 29 and an r-table value of 0.355 at the 5% significance level, the obtained r-value was lower than the critical value. Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted, meaning that there is no significant correlation between TikTok use and students’ English-speaking skills. These findings indicate that students’ use of TikTok does not necessarily contribute to the improvement of speaking skills, as it is mostly used for entertainment rather than for educational purposes.