SOCIAL MEDIA AND DEEP VS. SURFACE READING: EVIDENCE FROM UZBEK EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

This study looks at how social media influences deep and superficial reading habits among Uzbek EFL students. Using survey data from 120 university students and interviews with ten individuals, the study investigates how fast-paced digital settings affect attention, reading stamina, and understanding. The findings show that regular exposure to short-form content, notifications, and compulsive scrolling impairs students' capacity to sustain focus on long English texts, leading to greater surface-level processing. At the same time, social media allows users to discover new reading materials and engage with English informally. However, these advantages favour light, fragmentary reading rather than profound comprehension.