A digital competence model for college foreign language teachers and its associated factors

The rapid advancement of digital technologies has transformed language education, while existing generic digital competence frameworks offer limited actionable guidance for foreign language teachers. This study developed and validated a digital competence model specifically for college foreign language teachers and examined the factors associated with their self-reported digital competence. An initial model was constructed based on a systematic review of educational policies and qualitative document analysis, followed by validation using the Delphi method. A questionnaire survey was then administered to 552 foreign language teachers across 12 provinces in China, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Internal factors, i.e., intention and confidence to use digital technology, showed the strongest positive associations with teachers’ self-reported digital competence. Confidence demonstrated the strongest associations across all five self-reported competence dimensions ( \(\beta\) ranging from 0.295 to 0.437, all \(p < 0.001\) ), followed by intention ( \(\beta\) ranging from 0.088 to 0.238, \(p < 0.05\) or lower). Among external factors, only digital teaching assessment exhibited significant direct associations with teachers’ self-reported competence across all five dimensions ( \(\beta\) ranging from 0.133 to 0.262, \(p < 0.05\) , \(p < 0.01\) , or \(p < 0.001\) ), whereas digital hardware environment, technology training, teaching regulations, and teaching platform were indirectly related to self-reported digital competence solely through teachers’ intention and confidence via full mediation (with most indirect \(\beta\) s significant at \(p < 0.05\) or lower). Regarding demographic variables, teaching experience showed significant negative associations with all five self-reported competence dimensions ( \(\beta\) ranging from -0.124 to -0.156, all \(p < 0.05\) ), whereas sex and professional title were not significantly associated with any dimension. These findings provide empirical evidence for understanding the factors associated with foreign language teachers’ self-reported digital competence and offer practical strategies for supporting its development in higher education.