Digital Literacy as of Indonesian Language Proficiency in Primary School Students: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Study

Abstract

This study estimated the strength of the association between digital literacy and the Indonesian language proficiency of primary school students and the proportion of variance in proficiency that digital literacy accounts for. A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational-predictive design was employed: both variables were measured on a single occasion, no treatment was administered, and no causal effect was tested. The sample comprised 107 fourth, fifth, and sixth-grade students from four primary schools of diverse geographic and socio-economic character. Data were collected with a 24-item Likert-scale questionnaire measuring four dimensions of digital literacy (accessing, understanding, evaluating, and using digital information) and a proficiency test combining 20 reading comprehension items and two rubric-scored writing tasks. Analyses comprised assumption testing, Pearson correlation, and simple, hierarchical, and multiple linear regression. Digital literacy was strongly and positively associated with Indonesian language proficiency, r = .612, 95% CI [.478, .718], p < .001, and the model accounted for 37.5% of the variance in proficiency scores (R² = .375, adjusted R² = .369), leaving 62.5% unaccounted for. Because the design is cross-sectional, because background characteristics were only partially controlled, and because the credibility-evaluation and comprehension measures may share construct variance, the direction of the association cannot be established. The quality of digital competence, rather than mere exposure to devices, is associated with students' language attainment.