A Study on the Exploration of Digital Literacy Competency Level of Pre-Service Elementary English Teachers

Objectives In order to understand the level of digital literacy competency of pre-primary English teachers, this study explores the experience and perception of digital technology use in English education and, based on this, identifies the content elements of teacher education necessary for pre-primary English teachers. Methods To explore the level of digital literacy competency of pre-service elementary English teachers, a survey was conducted on 50 male and female undergraduate students enrolled in the third grade of S City University of Education. The questionnaire for the level survey of digital literacy competency was composed by reflecting the five sub-competencies of digital literacy on a Likert 5-point scale, and once the frequency and standard deviation of each area were obtained, the correlation between each factor was also confirmed. Results As a result, the overall average of the respondents' digital literacy competency level was 4.19 (standard deviation 0.49), and the area with the highest average by area was the attitude area for technology. On the other hand, the lowest area among the five elements was the English-related learning strategy area, and the average of the respondents was 3.63. Respondents used it frequently as a tool for social communication in their daily lives, but their use as a tool for communication for English learning was low. As a result of the correlation survey between the sub-factors of competency, the correlation between the elements of technology knowledge and technology and the elements of use of technology execution was the highest. Conclusions A teacher’s digital literacy competency is also highly related to teaching expertise. Since learning strategies using digital technology are used when learning English, and a positive attitude toward English learning using digital technology is a necessary factor to acquire digital competencies as an English instructor, a follow-up study is needed to develop and implement pre-service teacher education programs. Additionally, a teacher education program linked to the field should be developed so that positive experiences using digital technology can lead to the use of English learning strategies using digital technology, taking into account the correlation between competency sub-factors.