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Mohammed Hassan Alshaikhi, University of Tabuk, Saudi ArabiaAbstract
While casual digital engagement, such as browsing social media, streaming videos, and gaming, has become an integral part of Saudi university students’ daily lives, its role in English vocabulary development remains underexplored. This study investigates how learners’ motivations for engaging in these digital activities and the strategies they employ during or after such experiences contribute to different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. The research was conducted at one public Saudi university with 93 male EFL undergraduates who completed all study phases. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group, which received micro-prompts to save and use new words in sentences, or a control group. Data sources included vocabulary breadth and depth tests administered at three time points, a digital habits survey, experience-sampling prompts, and passive usage logs. Analyses using structural equation modeling and mixed ANOVA revealed that learners’ depth of processing, particularly attention to form–meaning relationships and example generation, significantly predicted both short-term gains and retention. Effects differed between receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge, with deep processing emerging as the strongest predictor of sustained development.
Paper Information
Conference: IICE2026Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
This paper is part of the IICE2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Alshaikhi M. (2026) How Informal Digital Engagement Shapes Vocabulary Growth Among Saudi EFL Learners ISSN: 2189-1036 – The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 301-318) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2026.29
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2026.29
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