The interplay of technology and context in Syrian university students' electronic literacy practices

•This study focuses on Syrian university students' electronic literacy practices.•This study tries to answer two research questions.•The study employs questionnaires and follow-up semi-structured interviews.•The study reports findings from 432 questionnaires and 9 group interviews.•Electronic literacy practices are influenced by the context they are performed in.

This article reports on a research study that aims to understand Syrian university students' electronic literacy practices and the factors that influence these practices. So doing, it seeks to find answers to the research questions of “what factors influence Syrian university students' electronic literacy practices?” and “what (types of) language do Syrian university students use online?”. It uses the survey approach as a main research method which employs both questionnaires and follow-up semi-structured group interviews.The findings reveal that Syrian university students use a variety of languages in their electronic literacy practices and that many factors influence these practices. Some of these factors are related to technical issues such as availability and easiness of internet access while others go beyond the computer screen and relate to the context where these practices are performed.