The Relationship Between TikTok Usage Intensity and Students’ English Vocabulary Mastery

Abstract

TikTok is a widely used platform among university students, offering extensive English-language content that may provide informal vocabulary exposure. Grounded in Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, this study examined the relationship between TikTok usage intensity and English vocabulary mastery among students of the English Language Education Program at Hamzanwadi University, using a quantitative correlational design. Data were collected through a Likert-scale questionnaire measuring TikTok usage intensity and a multiple-choice vocabulary test, administered to 52 students selected through purposive sampling. TikTok Usage Intensity scores (M = 29.58, SD = 3.80) and English Vocabulary Mastery scores (M = 2.96, SD = 1.64, out of 6) were analyzed using Spearman rank correlation, with Pearson correlation reported for comparison. No statistically significant relationship was found between TikTok usage intensity and English vocabulary mastery (rs = -.049, p = .732). A supplementary Kruskal-Wallis test likewise found no significant difference in vocabulary mastery across low, moderate, and high usage groups (H = .796, p = .672), corroborated by one-way ANOVA (F =

.286, p = .753). These null results are discussed in light of low internal consistency reliability in both instruments and a vocabulary measure reduced to a narrow 6-point scale, limitations that constrain rather than refute the underlying theoretical prediction. The study concludes that TikTok usage intensity alone does not predict vocabulary mastery, and recommends that future research isolate attentive engagement from frequency of access using improved instruments and a larger, more evenly distributed sample.