English as a Lingua Franca‐Mediated Meaning‐Making and Intercultural Competence in TikTok Live–Based Language Learning

As digitally mediated communication increasingly shapes language learning beyond formal classrooms, social media platforms offer new possibilities for authentic, intercultural interaction. This qualitative study investigates how TikTok Live‐mediated interaction supports English as a lingua franca (ELF) use, meaning‐making, and intercultural learning through collaborative and scaffolded practices. Grounded in Vygotskian sociocultural theory and research on scaffolding, the study conceptualizes TikTok Live as a socially mediated learning environment in which interaction, participation, and collaborative support shape language learning experiences. Data were generated from live‐streamed sessions and semi‐structured interviews with five English language teachers and fifteen adult learners across Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Content analysis focused on ELF use, collaborative task engagement, inquiry‐driven interaction, and teacher and peer scaffolding. Findings show that TikTok Live facilitates ELF‐mediated meaning‐making through flexible strategies such as paraphrasing, clarification, repetition, and elaboration, supported by shared linguistic and cultural resources. Teacher and peer scaffolding fostered learners’ intercultural competence and communicative confidence by creating a supportive, low‐stakes environment for experimentation and dialogue. The findings suggest that intercultural competence and communicative confidence can be fostered through participation in scaffolded, real‐time interaction rather than solely through the transmission of linguistic norms. Conceptually, the study extends research on ELF communication and sociocultural learning by illustrating how collaborative meaning‐making and intercultural learning are mediated through teacher and peer support within synchronous social media environments. Pedagogically, the findings highlight TikTok Live's potential as an inclusive, socially mediated space for ELF‐oriented intercultural language learning when its affordances are intentionally orchestrated.