Resumen de Is foreign-language-based bilingualism linked to digital literacy among older adults?

Rining Wei, Barry Lee Reynolds, Yuansheng Li, Hongzhong Chen, Jing Wang

• Acquiring digital literacy (DL) is critical for different age groupsincluding older adults. Although DL has received scholarlyattention in disciplines such as gerontology and adult education,insight from applied linguistics research has seldom (if at all) beenintegrated into systematic research concerning the role oflanguage-related variables in shaping DL despite their relevance toDL. Informed by major theoretical models in applied linguistics,bilingualism is hypothesised to lead to DL. This hypothesis wasinvestigated through surveying a large sample of older adults (N =1,470). The present survey-based study represents the firstsystematic attempt to link bilingualism with DL among an under-investigated group (viz. seniors). This multidisciplinary studybroadens the research scope along the line of inquiry concerningDL in disciplines other than applied linguistics (e.g. gerontologyand adult education). Descriptive statistics showed that thesample achieved a relatively high level of DL. Hierarchicalregression analyses revealed that the independent variablesaffected DL to varying degrees; for example, foreign-language(FL)-based bilingualism (operationalised as English use frequency)was identified as a very important predictor for DL. Implications(e.g. the need for various stakeholder groups to create moreopportunities for older adults to use the target FL) were alsoprovided.