Digital English Learning using British Council’s Learn English Teens in Junior High School

Abstract

This case study examined how the British Council's LearnEnglish Teens platform supported digital English learning and explored junior high school students' perceptions of its use in an Indonesian context. Five students were selected through purposive sampling to represent differences in English achievement, consisting of three higher-achieving students and two standard-average students. Data were collected through structured observations conducted during platform-based learning activities and a perception questionnaire containing Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Observation data were analyzed qualitatively by organizing students' learning behaviours into six themes: engagement, interaction with digital materials, learning support, independent learning behaviour, use of platform features, and affective response. Questionnaire responses were analyzed descriptively by identifying response patterns across usefulness, ease of use, motivation and engagement, and confidence, while open-ended responses were grouped into recurring themes. The findings from the two data sources were compared through triangulation to identify areas of convergence and divergence. The results showed that LearnEnglish Teens supported English learning by promoting engagement through multimedia and interactive activities, providing structured tasks that facilitated task completion, and offering opportunities for repeated language practice. Higher-achieving students demonstrated greater independence and explored a wider range of platform features, whereas standard-average students benefited from the same multimodal materials but required more guidance in navigation and task completion. Students generally perceived the platform as useful, enjoyable, and motivating and expressed willingness to use it again. The main challenges involved menu navigation and unfamiliar vocabulary. The study highlights the importance of teacher guidance, initial platform orientation, and vocabulary support when digital platforms are used as supplementary resources for junior high school English learning.