An Analysis of the Digital Divide among EFL University Students and its Impact on their Academic Achievement

Abstract

Nowadays, there is no need to go any further than one’s house to see and use different forms of ICT (Cell phones, computers, internet…). ICTs invaded all sectors of life including education. Through ICT use in education, learning can occur anytime and anywhere, especially in hard times when Covid-19 led to school closures worldwide. Yet, integrating ICTs in education is not without problems; students encounter many barriers and challenges as far as access and use of those technologies are concerned creating what is called “Digital Divide”. Hence, this study aims at analysing the digital divide among EFL students at Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia University, Jijel and departed from this hypothesis: “If there is a digital divide among EFL students at the University of Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia, Jijel, their academic achievement will be affected to some extent”. To reach the underlined aim, the researchers used two instruments: a students’ questionnaire and an interview with teachers. First, the questionnaire was administered to 150 students of different study levels. Second, the interview was conducted with eight EFL teachers of different subjects. The final results revealed that there is a digital gap “divide” among university students mainly at the level of “access” and “use” of ICTs what consequently affected their academic achievement to some extent. On the light of the findings, some solutions were suggested to heal the existing disparities