Digital Leadership as an Innovation Catalyst: A Technology-Management Model for Enhancing International Students’ Chinese Language Learning

This study advances current understanding of technology-enabled language education by proposing an integrated innovation-driven framework that links Digital Literacy (DLI), Knowledge Sharing (KS), and Digital Leadership (DL) to Digital Learning Engagement and, ultimately, to Chinese Language Learning Performance among international students in China. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Social Cognitive Theory, the model conceptualizes digital engagement as an innovation adoption mechanism and classroom management (CM) as a contextual enhancer of learning performance. Employing a large-scale survey of 1,148 students across major Chinese universities and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study demonstrates that DL is the strongest antecedent of engagement, followed by DLI and KS. Engagement significantly mediates the relationships between all three predictors and learning performance, while effective CM strengthens the engagement–performance pathway. The model explains 50.2% of the variance in digital engagement and 35.2% in language performance, indicating substantial predictive power. The study contributes to innovation and technology management literature by reframing digital language learning as an organizational innovation ecosystem shaped by individual competencies, collaborative dynamics, and leadership practices. Managerially, the findings emphasize the necessity for universities to invest in DL capacity, build knowledge-sharing cultures, and design digitally managed learning environments to improve international students’ language outcomes.