Exploring Digital English Exposure: Motivational Dynamics and Mental Health in Junior Secondary EFL Contexts

Abstract

In an era when adolescents’ linguistic practices and emotional lives are increasingly mediated by digital platforms, understanding how social media shapes both language learning and psychological wellbeing has become an urgent educational priority. Although prior research has examined social media in EFL contexts and, separately, adolescent mental health, few studies have integrated these dimensions within a single analytical framework, particularly at the junior high school level in Indonesia. Addressing this gap, the present study investigates how digital English exposure through social media mediates the dynamic relationship between motivation to learn English and students’ mental wellbeing. Adopting a descriptive qualitative design, the research involved 220 Indonesian junior high school students, three English teachers, and two psychologists. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi structured interviews and analyzed inductively using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that platforms such as TikTok and Instagram function as dominant motivational spaces by providing authentic input, multimodal engagement, and low-pressure opportunities for incidental learning. At the same time, social media exerts differentiated psychological effects, ranging from emotional relief and confidence building to fatigue and stress depending on patterns of use. Importantly, the study demonstrates a cyclical interrelationship in which positive emotional states reinforce motivation, while motivated engagement enhances wellbeing. By offering empirical evidence from an integrated qualitative framework, this study contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of applied linguistics and educational psychology and provides pedagogical insights for designing digitally responsive and psychologically informed EFL practices in broader global contexts.