Abstract

HERRERA RIVAS, Hiram  and  ROQUE HERNANDEZ, Ramón Ventura. Digital Divide, English Language and Their Link with Spanish Reading Comprehension. RIDE. Rev. Iberoam. Investig. Desarro. Educ [online]. 2019, vol.10, n.19, e036.  Epub Nov 17, 2020. ISSN 2007-7467.  https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v10i19.555.

It is important that every university timely detect academic success factors that contribute students to finish their studies in a timely manner so a correct tutoring strategy can be applied. The objective of this research was to deepen the knowledge of digital gap, English language and the relationship of both with the reading comprehension of new students entering the Polytechnic University of Victoria (UPV). A quantitative, relational and retrospective research design was used to analyze the results of the Ceneval Exani-II Exam that was applied to new students of said institution, located in Tamaulipas, Mexico, for years 2015, 2016 and 2017.

First, a one-factor analysis was made with four study groups created in the data; this allowed identifying a tendency to increase reading comprehension in the presence of Internet access at home and a favorable grade in English language. In a second phase, we proceeded with a two-factor analysis with which we could observe each variable independently and the interaction of both. By means of the tests it was possible to statistically demonstrate in all the years that English language proficiency has a positive effect on the reading comprehension in Spanish (Scheirer-Ray-Hare tests, p=0.0). A favorable trend in Spanish reading comprehension was observed in students who have Internet at home (year 2017, Scheirer-Ray-Hare tests, p=0.0). Thus, students who have Internet at home and who obtained a satisfactory grade in English language obtained the highest scores, while students without Internet at home and with an unsatisfactory grade in English had the lowest scores (Kruskal-Wallis tests, p=0.0). These results indicate that there are new students at the UPV who begin their university studies in unequal conditions with others. It is worrisome that even today there are students without internet access at home and without a satisfactory proficiency in English language, as these are conditions that reduce their chances of academic success. It is necessary to reflect on the inequality affecting these students and the ways in which this situation can be improved from within the university.

Keywords : digital divide; comprehension; higher education; English language; reading.

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