DIGITAL COMPETENCE IN SAUDI EFL EDUCATION: A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF TEXTBOOK INTEGRATION THROUGH DIGCOMP 2.2 CONSIDERING SAUDI VISION 2030

This narrative review examines digital competence in Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education, with particular attention to its implications for textbook integration, become a central educational outcome in the context of digital transformation and twenty-first-century learning. Drawing on the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens 2.2 (DigComp 2.2), this paper clear research on Saudi EFL textbooks, technology-enhanced language learning, English language curricula, teacher readiness, educational reform and digital citizenship. The discussion is situated within the educational and digital-transformation priorities of Saudi Vision 2030. The review indicates that digital competence is increasingly recognized as relevant to Saudi EFL education, its systematic integration into textbooks remains insufficiently examined. The available literature provides stronger evidence on the use of digital tools in classroom instruction than on the extent to which EFL textbooks themselves develop digital competence. When interpreted through DigComp 2.2, communication and collaboration appear more visible than information and data literacy, digital content creation, safety, and problem solving. This pattern should be interpreted cautiously because direct research on Saudi EFL textbooks through DigComp 2.2 remains limited. The review suggests that EFL textbooks can support learners' ability to search for and evaluate information, communicate and collaborate digitally, create digital content, use technology safely, and solve problems through digital tools. Achieving these goals requires stronger alignment among curriculum standards, textbook design, teacher preparation, classroom implementation, and assessment. Future research should conduct direct and comparative analyses of Saudi EFL textbooks using DigComp 2.2.