TikTok-Mediated English Language Learning: Exploring Students’ Experiences and Perceived Benefits

Abstract

TikTok has become a widely accessible short-video platform that may extend English learning beyond formal classrooms, yet students’ everyday experiences and perceived benefits require closer qualitative attention. Previous studies often emphasize learning outcomes or patterns of use, while fewer studies examine how learners themselves describe the ways TikTok supports and shapes their English learning practices. This study explores students’ experiences of using TikTok for English language learning and identifies the benefits they perceive from this practice. The manuscript is structured as a qualitative descriptive study using semi-structured interviews and reflective accounts from university-level EFL students who regularly engage with English-language or English-learning content on TikTok. Data are analyzed thematically. The analysis is organized around accessible English input, vocabulary and pronunciation development, engagement and learning autonomy, and interaction and creative participation, while also recognizing distraction, uneven content quality, and fragmented learning. TikTok can function as a complementary informal learning environment when learners critically select content and connect platform-based exposure with purposeful language practice.