Digital knowledge and skills in relation to linguistic communication and Knowledge of the Natural, Social, and Cultural Environment: correlational analysis and student profiles in 6th grade primary school

The importance of digital competence in primary education, together with linguistic communication competence (LCC), lies in its cross-curricular role in accessing knowledge and promoting meaningful learning in all areas of the curriculum, including knowledge of the natural, social and cultural environment (NSCE). For this reason, a study was conducted to analyse the extent to which students’ perceptions of their digital knowledge and skills affect their perceptions of linguistic communication competence in the subject of Natural, Social and Cultural Environment. To this end, a quantitative, non-experimental and correlational methodology was used, applied to 24 sixth-year primary school students at a school in the province of Cádiz, using two validated questionnaires: one on LCC in the subject of Knowledge of the Natural, Social and Cultural Environment, and another on digital knowledge and skills. The results show that students perceive average levels of digital competence (knowledge = 2.92/4; skills = 2.88/4) and a moderate perception of their LSC in NSCE (6.33/10); however, no significant correlations were found between competences or between the gender of the students, although there was a strong correlation between digital knowledge and skills. Furthermore, cluster analysis identified three profiles: students with low digital perception but acceptable perception of CCL in NSCE, students with high digital perception and low-medium perception of CCL in NSCE, and students with medium digital perception but high CCL in NSCE. In conclusion, perceptions of digital competence are not directly related to perceptions of CCL in NSCE, and the profiles reveal diverse patterns that do not respond to any relationship between variables.

Keywords:
Digital competence; Communication; Primary school; Questionnaire; Perception