Adolescents' abuse of cell phone and its influence on the learning of English as a first foreign language in Compulsory Secondary Education

Abstract

[eng] In today’s digital era, cellular devices have become an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives, profoundly impacting various aspects of their development. Among these effects, the influence of cell phone abuse on education has gained significant attention. Especially, on the acquisition of language, which is a complex process that involves linguistic skills, communicative abilities, and cultural understanding. Therefore, the adolescents’ excessive use of cellular devices has raised concerns about its impact on language learning. The aim of the present thesis is to examine the effects of cell phone abuse on the acquisition of English as a first foreign language among adolescents. The research employs an approach that includes a survey, an English assessment test and two writings (one written by hand and another one written by computer). The findings have been analyzed through statistics made by the SPSS program. The investigation demonstrates that cell phone abuse among adolescents can have significant impacts on adolescents' level of oral and written comprehension in English, as well as on their written expression in the first foreign language. The findings highlight the need for educational interventions and strategies to address the negative effects of cell phone abuse on language acquisition in adolescents.