EFL Students’ Perceived Impact Of Letterboxd On The Development Of Their English Writing Skills Through Film Reviews

This study investigated EFL students’ perceptions of the use of Letterboxd to develop their English writing skills through reviewed films. It was aimed at exploring students’ perceptions and experiences regarding how the platform supported their writing improvement, particularly in relation to autonomy, competence, and relatedness as framed by Self-Determination Theory, and social interaction and scaffolding as explained in Sociocultural Theory. This research employed a qualitative descriptive design involving ten seventh-semester students of the English Education Department at UIN Ar-Raniry who actively used Letterboxd and had written English film reviews. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that Letterboxd provided an engaging, authentic, and low-pressure environment that encouraged students to write more frequently, enhanced their vocabulary acquisition, improved writing fluency, built confidence, and allowed them to develop a personal writing style. Interactive features such as likes, comments, and peer-generated content further supported students’ sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Despite facing challenges such as limited vocabulary, difficulty expressing ideas precisely, and minor platform limitations, students adopted strategies such as using online dictionaries, drafting their reviews beforehand, and learning from other users’ writing. Letterboxd was perceived as a valuable technology-enhanced learning tool that integrated social interaction, authentic input, and creative expression to support EFL writing development.