ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
This study investigates foreign language students’ self-perceived digital competence at a Vietnamese university, based on the six-domain structure of the national Digital Competence Framework. A total of 126 students participated in the survey, which measured competencies in information literacy, communication, digital content creation, digital safety, digital problem solving, and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). The findings indicate high levels of perceived competence, particularly in information and data literacy, and digital communication and collaboration. However, lower confidence was reported in areas such as screen time management, copyright understanding, and AI content evaluation. Comparative analysis showed no significant differences across gender, year of study, or faculty, but urban students reported significantly higher competence than rural students in several domains. These results highlight the need for targeted interventions to promote digital inclusion and suggest integrating ethical, critical, and AI-related digital skills into foreign language education.
Carretero, S., Vuorikari, R., & Punie, Y. (2017). The digital competence framework for citizens. Publications Office of the European Union, 21(5), 222-235.
Claro, M., Salinas, Á., Cabello-Hutt, T., San Martín, E., Preiss, D. D., Valenzuela, S., & Jara, I. (2018). Teaching in a Digital Environment (TIDE): Defining and measuring teachers' capacity to develop students' digital information and communication skills. Computers & Education, 121, 162-174.
European Commission. (2022). Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI. Publications Office of the European Union.
Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage.
Law, N., Woo, D., de la Torre, J., & Wong, G. (2018). A global framework of reference on digital literacy skills for indicator 4.4.2. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Luckin, R., & Holmes, W. (2016). Intelligence unleashed: An argument for AI in education. Pearson Education.
Ng, W. (2012). Can we teach digital natives digital literacy? Computers & Education, 59(3), 1065-1078.
Nguyen, L. A. T., & Habók, A. (2022). Digital literacy of EFL students: An empirical study in Vietnamese universities. Libri, 72(1), 53-66.
OECD. (2019). Measuring the digital transformation: A roadmap for the future. OECD Publishing.
Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu. Publications Office of the European Union.
Van Deursen, A. J., & van Dijk, J. A. (2015). Toward a multifaceted model of internet access for understanding digital divides: An empirical investigation. The Information Society, 31(5), 379-391.
Van Dijk, J. (2020). The digital divide. Polity Press.
Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training. (2025). Circular No. 02/2025/TT-BGDDT: Promulgating the Digital Competence Framework for Learners. Hanoi, Vietnam.
Warschauer, M. (2004). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. MIT Press.
Nguyen, L.-A.-P. (2025). Exploring Self-Perceived Digital Competence among Foreign Language Students at a Vietnamese University. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 14(2), 801–811.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode