The Effect of EFL Learning on Algerian University Students’ Identity An Applied Sociocultural Investigation

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and identity re/construction among Algerian university students. Situated within a complex postcolonial and multilingual ecology characterized by the coexistence of Arabic, French, Berber, and English, this research addresses the gap in understanding how learners navigate tensions between global English-speaking identities and local cultural affiliations. The study examines how EFL learning influences identity re/construction, the role of classroom practices and social agents, and how students negotiate local-global tensions. A mixed-methods explanatory design was adopted, integrating questionnaire data from 112 participants, semi-structured interviews with 16 PhD students and teachers treated as lifelong learners, and critical analysis of four official university program documents. Findings reveal that students experience English learning through “additive hybridity” rather than replacement. The study identifies “asynchronous subjectivity,” whereby learners perform future professional identities in present academic contexts, and documents an “identity tax”—the continuous labour of managing competing linguistic hierarchies. Local culture operates as a strategic anchor and protective mechanism, while teachers and peers function predominantly as confidence-enhancers. It is concluded that Algerian students are not passive recipients of globalization but active, strategic agents who construct workable hybrid