Navigating Digital ESL Teaching: A Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of Filipino Language Teachers in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Filipino ESL teachers in using social media for ESL instruction across Southeast Asia and examine how these experiences contributed to the development of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and critical language skills through the ESL Skills Funnel Catalyst Model. A qualitative narrative inquiry was conducted with 17 Filipino ESL teachers working in 10 Southeast Asian countries outside the Philippines. Participants had substantial teaching experience in their host countries. Data were gathered through researcher-developed, semi-structured online interviews and examined through iterative thematic narrative analysis. Member checking and secure data management were used to strengthen credibility.Five themes characterized the narratives: (1) pedagogical innovation from distraction to catalyst; (2) psychological dimensions involving the affective filter and learner confidence; (3) socio-cultural mediation through culturally sensitive content, privacy, and traditional values; (4) optimization of the ESL skills funnel through integrated and authentic language tasks; and (5) navigation of systemic challenges, particularly infrastructure gaps and the tension between informal digital communication and academic rigor. These findings informed the JAMAICA-ESL Model: Justified, Adaptive, Motivational, Authentic, Intercultural, Contextualized, and Accessible ESL Instruction. The findings suggested that social media was most pedagogically productive when teachers deliberately aligned platform affordances with language objectives, learner needs, cultural expectations, and available infrastructure. The study advanced educational practice by framing teachers as digital mediators and cultural brokers rather than mere technology users and by offering a context-responsive framework for digitally enhanced ESL instruction.