The ability to utilise technology in language learning as a platform in reinforcing English proficiency is

important. However, to what extent these tools influence students. Thus, this study aims to investigate the

employed to assess differences in means across gender and field of study. The results show that there is no

significant difference between male and female students in how digital tools influence their English proficiency.

However, from a field of study perspective, students from the Business and Administration field acknowledge

digital tools as more useful and believe they have a stronger positive influence on their English proficiency

compared to students from the Social Sciences, and Science and Technology fields. This study also discusses its

implications for students, institutions, and policymakers who can develop beneficial outcomes in improving

Nowadays, the world has rapidly evolved with the growth of technologies for global development. The

In the context of language learning, the ability to utilise technology as a platform in reinforcing English

proficiency is important. Digital tools provide students with diverse resources and opportunities to develop their

language skills beyond what is typically covered in schools. By enabling independent learning, these tools

contribute to producing students who are not only academically competent but also equipped with strong English

proficiency as an essential skill for future employability. Moreover, the students can also gain the best

digital tools influence on the students’ English proficiency in school and daily communication usage is not

clearly defined in past studies. Many researchers were uncertain of the effectiveness of digital learning, as the

traditional method has always been the primary way of learning that relies on lectures and memorisation, which

influences the English proficiency of Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam students based on gender and

fields of study. This study is helpful to fill in the gap and explore its positive influence towards the students and

society as a whole by answering these three research questions; 1) What is the influence of digital empowerment

on UiTM Shah Alam students’ English proficiency?, 2) What is the influence of digital empowerment on UiTM

Shah Alam students’ English proficiency based on gender?, and 3) What is the influence of digital empowerment

on UiTM Shah Alam students’ English proficiency based on the fields of study? The findings of this study could

Digital tools have become integral to daily life and are especially practical in education, where they enable

First, the benefits of digital tools are evident in the area of learning. They enhance engagement and motivation

by offering interactive resources such as mobile apps, websites, and online platforms that provide personalised

experiences (Kayumov, 2024). Second, digital tools improve productivity in professional and academic settings.

Applications like Google Drive and Notion help users organise tasks within an integrated workspace,

Finally, digital tools transform both communication and access to knowledge. They enable instant interaction

with family, friends, and colleagues regardless of distance, while also reducing the cost of communication

(Martinez et al., 2020). At the same time, they provide limitless access to information and contribute to narrowing

societal gaps through the rapid development of ICT (Martinez et al., 2020). Therefore, digital literacy is essential

improving their language skills (Sherafati & Mohammadi, 2016). In contrast, male students may be more

inclined to rely on traditional classroom settings, where the teacher's direct instruction aligns more with their

learning preferences (Bakar et al., 2021). Therefore, understanding these gender-based differences is crucial

While in the context of students’ behaviour to study based on fields of study, it shows that different disciplines

require distinct approaches to learning. For example, students in fields such as Science and Technology may

prefer traditional methods that provide clear, structured guidance and hands-on learning experiences (Muftah,

Nowadays, students are very open to student-centred learning methods as they can use different ways of digital

tools than sticking to the traditional method to gain information. Wang (2022) stated that due to the development

of today’s era, students are more interested to learn through platforms with innovative knowledge, besides

learning from textbooks, as they can display an improved version of their values and abilities themselves in

Digital tools usage is also regarded as a form of sustainable learning skills (Liu et al., 2020, as cited in

Nduwimana & Ndoricimpa, 2023). Today’s technologies such as the Internet, Skype, YouTube, blogs, Twitter,

mobile phones and other interactive boards, add stimulus and proper engagement for the learners (Tamandani &

Jahanshahi, 2016). The existence of online instructions definitely makes English learning easier as it stimulates

the process of acquiring knowledge by teaching the learners the correct usage of English skills for proper

meaning because it is well-delivered through the sentences constructed and word choice (Tamandani &

Jahanshahi, 2016). However, digital tools could have a few shortcomings such as limited physical interaction

between language learners and those who have limited knowledge of digital literacy might not benefit much

from the e-learning applications since it is a student-centred approach where they must put extra effort to get the

language knowledge as compared to accessible notes given by instructors in the classrooms (Sherafati &

language skills which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing, across genders as well as different academic

The study employed a quantitative research design to analyse the influence of technology, specifically digital

tools, on English language proficiency among UiTM Shah Alam students. This research design utilised

questionnaires as the primary research tool to gather in-depth information on the influence it has on students in

maximising their English language skills. By using a quantitative approach, the research ensures objectivity and

This research targets the students from three different fields of study at Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam

campus, which are social sciences, science and technology, and business and administration. This study used a

with greater confidence. It was determined to be sufficient for achieving reliable results while ensuring that the

sample represents the broader student population of UiTM. According to Thomas (2022), the simple random

sampling method is straightforward and minimises the risk of sampling bias. Additionally, every individual in

the link was shared randomly to the participants via email and social media platforms. A total of 150 responses

were collected from the survey. The participants were informed about the purpose of the study and assured of

confidentiality and anonymity. Their participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained before data

collection. The data were then tabulated and analysed using SPSS for descriptive and inferential statistics to

The first research question of this study, ‘What is the influence of digital empowerment on student English

Based on Figure 1, the result shows that 47.33% of the respondents agreed to feel more motivated to learn

English when using digital tools, 34.67% strongly agreed, 12.00% neutral, 5.33% disagreed and 0.67% strongly

Figure 2 shows that the majority of the respondents chose ‘Strongly Agree’ and ‘Agree’ (88.67%) on finding

digital tools make English learning more accessible to them. Only 6.00% of the respondents chose neutral, while

another 5.34% disagreed (Strongly Disagree and Disagree) on digital tools make English learning more

Figure 3 shows that the percentage of digital tools decrease the students' efficiency in learning English. 60.66%

of the respondents agreed that digital tools decrease their efficiency in learning English, which they chose

‘Agree’ (39.33%) and ‘Strongly Agree’ (21.33%) respectively. Next, 22.00% of the respondents chose ‘Disagree’

it seems to contradict the findings in Figure 3, as most of the respondents agreed that digital tools decrease the

English when using digital tools, X²(4) = 2.014, p > .05. Hence, gender had no influence on motivation for