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Enhancing Students’ Digital Literacy Skills through Sociolinguistic Studies: Comparison
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Please note this is a comparison between Version 2 by Catherine Yang and Version 1 by HAKMI WAHYUDI.

EThis study examinhancing Ses the sociolinguistic approach based on Kitābun Marqūm developed in order to im‑ prove Arabic digital literacy among university students’ Digital Literacy Skills . Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, quantitative data related to learning gains were collected through a quasi‑experimental pre‑test–post‑test control group design, which was then followed up with a qualitative inquiry in order to explain and contextualize the sta‑ tistical findings. Quantitative results showed that the students who are taught using Kitābun Marqūm's sociolin‑ guistic approach make significantly better gains in digital literacy than those learning through S a non‑sociolinguistic Studies of Kitābun Marqūm in approach, as shown by t‑test and N‑Gain scores. Qualitative results demonstrate that the CAF (complexity, accu‑ racy, fluency) gains were due to sociolinguistic awareness, use of digital Arabic texts, and contextualized meaning‑ making, and indicate limitations related to technology infrastructure and access. Instead of advocating a one‑size‑ fits‑all model, the study promotes a context‑specific pedagogical approach referred to as Sociotechnical Arabic Learnit‑ eracy (SAL), which encourages sociotechnolinguistic and digital technology literacies and uses AI‑supported solu‑ tions that aim not only at fostering an informed understanding and critical use of digital media in Arabic but also at promoting a broader sociopolitical awareness of the world. The findings add to the emerging discussion on so‑ ciotechnical aspects of language learning in digitally enhanced ecologies.

  • Sociolinguistic Studies
  • Students’ Digital Literacy

This study examines the sociolinguistic approach based on Kitābun Marqūm developed in order to im‑ prove Arabic digital literacy among university students. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, quantitative data related to learning gains were collected through a quasi‑experimental pre‑test–post‑test control group design, which was then followed up with a qualitative inquiry in order to explain and contextualize the sta‑ tistical findings. Quantitative results showed that the students who are taught using Kitābun Marqūm's sociolin‑ guistic approach make significantly better gains in digital literacy than those learning through a non‑sociolinguistic approach, as shown by t‑test and N‑Gain scores. Qualitative results demonstrate that the CAF (complexity, accu‑ racy, fluency) gains were due to sociolinguistic awareness, use of digital Arabic texts, and contextualized meaning‑ making, and indicate limitations related to technology infrastructure and access. Instead of advocating a one‑size‑ fits‑all model, the study promotes a context‑specific pedagogical approach referred to as Sociotechnical Arabic Lit‑ eracy (SAL), which encourages sociotechnolinguistic and digital technology literacies and uses AI‑supported solu‑ tions that aim not only at fostering an informed understanding and critical use of digital media in Arabic but also at promoting a broader sociopolitical awareness of the world. The findings add to the emerging discussion on so‑ ciotechnical aspects of language learning in digitally enhanced ecologies.

 

1. Introduction

The digital literacy skill becomes an essential competency for students in such a digital and globalization world [1–3][1][2][3]. Digital literacy competencies are not only essential for successful academic performance, but also a requirement in response to the pressures of an employment market that is more and more technology and data‑related [4–7][4][5][6][7]. In teaching Arabic as a foreign language, the digital literacy skills are fundamental in order to enhance pedagogical quality and effectiveness [8–10][8][9][10]. Nonetheless, some studies indicate a mismatch between these requirements for digital competences and the learning of the Arabic language, which is currently practiced as still dominated by traditional methods [11, 12][11][12]. Lecturers also tend to teach using the same method of lectures and textbooks, limiting opportunities for students to explore digital Arabic text critically and contextually [13–15][13][14][15].

2. Sociolinguistic Studies of Kitābun Marqūm in Arabic Learning

Arabic language learning, in addition to skills, is still teacher‑oriented, and no study addressed the exploration of digital data [16,17][16][17]. Such learning will make students less involved in analyzing Arabic digital texts [18–21][18][19][20][21]. The absence of analytical work and less student engagement stands in the way of our future teachers from acquiring the best out of their critical thinking skills, especially to see the Arabic varieties used on digital media [21]. This scenario presents the demand for a learning approach that can simultaneously integrate linguistic analysis, digital data‑driven tasks, and digital literacy development. There is also interest in sociolinguistic analysis, as much can be learned about two views of the Kitābun Mar‑ qūm (a document detailing digital literacy and socio‑cultural instruction) and expectations from it: text, sense and social context; expectation in a digital media [22]. In this way, they get to know Arabic in its various social contexts including the rapidly changing digital environment [23]. Through the analysis of Kitābun Marqūm, students have an opportunity to investigate linguistic features of digital Arabic text, variations in meanings and interpretation of utterances vary depending on situational context and enable them to become critically aware users of digital tech‑ nology [26? ][24][25][26]. A brilliant linguistic analysis has not only to become a tool for broad and deep interpretation of the text, but also to contribute to students' involvement in the process of understanding this text critically by involving them independently through digital media [27,28][27][28]. However, as for the intervention of sociolinguistic competence in digital literacy activities in the context of Arabic language learning, it is limited and has not yet been developed systematically. The idea of Kitābun Marqūm is tremendously useful as it synthesizes a model for pedagogy between linguistic analysis and the contemporary digital world. This way of working allows students not only to learn about the struc‑ turing logic of language but also about what texts do in a digitally rich environment that is criss‑crossed with social, cultural and ideological relations. The integration enables student development of skills to analyze and create digi‑ tal Arabic texts in a critical and creative manner. Second, the Kitābun Marqūm‑based linguistic‑digital approach can facilitate students’ comprehension of communication in modern Arabic, also in its interaction on digital platforms, social media, and other virtual domains [29,30][29][30]. Despite the need to integrate digital technology into language teaching, previous work has found that research on new literacies integration in relation to learning Arabic still largely comprises studies of the use by a teacher or student of a particular technological tool without reference to linguistic practices [31–33][31][32][33]. On the other hand, despite its partial successes in terms of student engagement at all levels of digital literacy, digital corpora and online texts for Arabic language studies seem to have so far only been considered within a technical analytical framework without any analysis as to how it influenced students’ level of digital literacy itself [34,35][34][35]. This lack is indicative of the necessity to engage in digital technology, language skills and pedagogical approaches together as part of ongoing research concerning the enhancement of digital literacy. The objectives of this study are to examine the impact of Kitābun Marqūm's sociolinguistics approach on stu‑ dents' digital literacy skills in the Arabic language and to look into students’ attitudes toward Kitābun Marqūmso‑ ciolinguistic approach: an analysis.

The explanatory sequential mixed‑methods approach is employed in this research, where the quantitative strand serves as the primary strand and qualitative data are used to explain, question and contextualize the quan‑ titative result [36]. In the quantitative phase, a quasi‑experimental pre‑test–post‑test control group design will be used to assess the effectiveness of Kitābun Marqūm’s sociolinguistic approach towards students’ digital literacy outcomes. The qualitative part is then used to explore the pedagogic means, learning activities, and contextual influences that underlie patterns of passing and failing found in the quantitative data [37[37]]. Consistent with the fundamental tenets of explanatory mixed‑methods design, qualitative results are not sim‑ ply illustrative but analytically related to further interpret and extend interpretation by providing insight into the mechanisms underlying statistical significance [38,39][38][39]. This integrative approach allows for the discovery of soci‑ olinguistic, technological, and instructional vectors that impact differential learning outcomes between aspects of digital literacy to go beyond parallel data presentation to a true integrative mixed‑methods model.

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