Foreign Language Learning Effort and Use of Digital Media among Digital Natives: A Case Study from an Urban Secondary School.

This study aims to investigate the impact of new media and some demographic factors such as gender, affinity with English, self-reported academic success, and reading habits on foreign language learning efforts of 21st-century language learners born into a digital world. The participants were 100 students attending a government secondary school in Artvin, which is located in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. A case study methodology was employed in the research to investigate the characteristics of the specific subjects extensively. Two questionnaires and a demographic information form were used to collect data and were analyzed with descriptive and inferential analyses. The frequency distribution was presented in tables, and the binary logistic regression model was conducted to assess and identify the influence of new media on digital natives’ foreign language learning efforts. Research findings indicated that more than half of the digital natives possess a higher level of foreign language learning effort. Secondly, the variables such as affinity towards learning English, self-reported academic success, and using media hardware and social media had a significant effect on digital natives’ foreign language learning effort. Finally, the digital natives’ classification of effort was seen to be significantly predicted by using new media. The study strongly recommends the extensive integration and use of new media type, which the learners prefer, in the foreign language learning process of the digital natives since it directly contributes to the process of foreign language learning effort and indirectly enhances the enthusiasm and willingness of the digital natives.