INTRODUCTION
In recent years, Internet usage among elementary and middle school students in South Korea has been close to 100%. In addition, the percentage of children and adolescents who use the Internet every day is 95.8%. As students progress through the grades, reading and writing books in print media gradually decreases. In contrast, reading and writing text messages, Internet resources, and social media using computers and mobile phones increases rapidly [1].
Smartphones have become increasingly inseparable from people’s daily lives and hands, to the extent that they are what [2] calls a social body. This means that they act as a communal sphere or platform that connects all situations of an individual’s cognition, experience, behavior, and communication [3]. Therefore, conflicts related to smartphone use among adolescents can hardly be resolved through control and management alone.
The quantitative expansion of smart and mobile devices has brought new stimuli and challenges to homes, schools, and almost every aspect of society. For the 4th Industrial Revolution to advance in a way that promotes the collective well-being of all members of society, principles are needed that foster social creativity as well as technological creativity. This is a task that must be realized first in the field of education, where future generations are nurtured [4].
Media literacy used to refer to the ability to decipher and understand the written language, which was primarily taught in school. However, with the advent of new media such as television, its meaning has expanded to include the ability to decipher information on new media. Literacy is not only about written language but is also defined by culturally accepted language. Given that the new concepts of literacy are an extension of the previous understanding of literacy, there are many similar categories that overlap between the new and existing concepts of literacy [7].
Digital literacy is a skill that requires basic proficiency in reading, writing, and counting, as well as familiarity with computers, the Internet, and other media. Digital literacy overlaps with media literacy, which emerged around the same time, and is often used interchangeably across disciplines. Digital literacy is similar to media literacy in that it is concerned with the critical understanding and creative use of expression and communication made possible by digital media. However, the former differs from the latter in that it focuses on digital media such as the Internet, smartphones, and video games. Media literacy is concerned with the critical understanding, use, and social engagement with communication tools and technologies, including media content. It also encompasses analog media.
People form, interact, and maintain social relationships through communication. Good communication involves not only the formal exchange of language, but also the interaction of meaning, interpretation, and expression of information. Therefore, there is an increased emphasis placed on media literacy, which is the ability to analyze, select, and communicate with members of society through the content of information conveyed by various types of media.
Students with disabilities should be provided with access to a variety of news and information in order to be aware of changes and issues in society. They should be provided with new means of communication that emerge with the changing times. They should be able to recognize the advantages of the features of different media so that they can use the media usefully. The author believes that the effective and appropriate use of media literacy for elementary school students with disabilities will result in a positive impact. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the actual level of media literacy among school-age language disorder with disabilities and explore ways to promote it in a therapeutic aspect.
METHODS
Subject
According to the Speech Language Pathologists (SLP) report, the subject had no problems with physical, emotional, hearing, or mobile phone use. As a result of the SLP evaluation, the overall language index of the school-age language test [5] was below 84, which was ‘slightly insufficient’, or the reading index of 2 was 25 in the Korean reading test [6]. 40 elementary school children with %ile or less were selected as subjects. Of the 40 people, 4 who did not respond appropriately were excluded, resulting in 36 people (M=10.86, SD=3.04).
Data collection procedure
In order to find out the status of media literacy use by speech rehabilitation workers currently working in language clinical sites, an online survey using Google Docs and a paper questionnaire were administered to the subjects. For the purpose of the study, ‘A survey on the use of media literacy by school-age children with language disorde’, the purpose of this study, the direction of data use, and how to complete the questionnaire were explained. The subjects’ responses to the questionnaire were treated anonymously. Survey responses were written individually without the researcher’s involvement. As a result, survey data from 40 people were collected, and 36 people, excluding data containing missing data, were selected for final analysis.
Research tools
The questionnaire was designed to analyze the performance patterns and perceptions of media literacy education among elementary, middle, and high school teachers [8], the perception of media literacy competency among prospective elementary school teachers [9], and the current status of education to strengthen early childhood teachers’ media literacy education competency. The researchers revised and supplemented the results by referring to studies such as a demand survey [10] and a study on ways to improve classroom instruction to improve media literacy [11]. The content consists of general questions, media usage time by child, media content in which each child spends a lot of time online, use of digital media devices, and production skills through the use of digital media devices.
RESULTS
Media usage
Table 1 shows the results of media use and status among school-age children with language disorde. The media used by the target children for more than 3 hours were games, animation, and Youtube. Among media outlets, it can be seen that SNS usage time is less than 2 hours. And it was found that the target children were using all media, including TV, Game, Animation, Youtube, SNS, Movie/Drama, and Internet portal search.
Ability to use digital media devices (PC, mobile phone, etc.)
The results of examining the ability to use digital media devices among school-age children with language disorde are shown in Table 2. Items with high usage include “I can create a variety of keywords related to assignments,” “I can accurately understand the content provided in various forms of data (text) such as text, photos, pictures, and videos”, “I can use various cyberspace to find information related to assignments.” On the other hand, the item with low usage is “I can evaluate whether the information I encounter online is reasonable, fair, and accurate.” It appeared as “I can evaluate whether the information I encounter online is useful for my own purposes.”
Aspects of using digital media devices (PC, mobile phone, etc.)
Questions related to the purpose of using digital media devices for school-age children with language disorde are shown in Table 3. First, the question related to information search: “I think the Internet is an important place to find information.” appeared highest. On the other hand, the question “I like writing on my computer or smartphone,” which requires children to be creative in digital use, was the lowest.
Production ability through the use of digital media devices (PC, mobile phone, etc.)
Table 4 shows the results of questions related to the use of digital media devices for school-age children with language disorde. All of the target children had low scores on questions related to media production ability.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
With the development of digital technology and the expansion of digital media, media literacy [14] as ‘the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and take creative action’ based on all types of communication levels is being emphasized both domestically and internationally. This study was conducted to find out the actual status and current usage ability of school-age children with language disorde using media literacy content.
We investigated the status and status of media use among school-age children with language disorde. The media used by the target children for more than 3 hours were games, animation, and Youtube. Among media outlets, it can be seen that SNS usage time is less than 2 hours. And it was found that the target children were using all media, including TV, Game, Animation, Youtube, SNS, Movie/Drama, and Internet portal search. In a study by Shin [12], it was found that the rate of media literacy use also increased in speech therapy settings. Additionally, the types of media used were Internet portal sites, YouTube, news, SNS, animation, electronic books, and games. It was found that school-age children with language disorde also handle and use the same devices used by media device speech therapists.
School-age children with language disorde had excellent use skills related to media devices, such as searching task-related keywords, grasping various contents, and finding task information. On the other hand, the subjects showed a low ability to use online information to evaluate its rationality and fairness. Students said that they could see that they could satisfy their desire for empathy and social recognition in a new way different from offline because the online space allows for ‘simplicity and influence of information delivery, anonymity, and easy new settings of Internet accounts’ [13]. School-age children with language language disorder were found to have difficulty selecting evaluations due to their delayed language and overall abilities.
In addition, school-age children with language disorder showed that the purpose of using digital media devices was to search for information, share their thoughts, talk freely, talk with friends, and write with media devices. This showed that the target children mainly used searching, and did not prefer creative writing. Therefore, a new communication method called media literacy can develop reading, writing, and expression skills in school-age language-impaired children who lack opportunities for social participation, so the use of media or media literacy education for school-age language-impaired children is expected to be very valuable. appear. Digital devices such as smartphones can compensate for the cognitive and physical deficiencies of school-age children with language disorde and are emerging as a new way of communication. In addition, I think that using media devices has great potential to be used as a medium for improving communication skills as it allows one to express one’s opinions through forming a network with others.
Lastly, all of the target children had low scores on questions related to media production ability. In addition to the ability to utilize media tool technology, it is necessary to develop various life skills that a digital citizen must possess, such as responsible choices, analysis of various messages, content production, reflection on the actions of others, and social activities [15]. Considering the digital environment that surrounds us, the paradigm of digital literacy education must also protect youth from the negative effects of the media. In addition, from the perspective of excessive protectionism, the view that the achievement of digital literacy is seen as the completion of expression and communication skills to live in a new era is also emphasized [16].
In particular, by understanding the current status of school-age media literacy content, it will be possible to identify the advantages of the characteristics of various media and apply them usefully in treatment. Reflecting this, it is believed that if media literacy is used appropriately for school-age children, it will lead to a positive impact. The results of this study will become the basis for the development of a media literacy content intervention program for people with communication disabilities in the future. When mediating communication disorders, a media literacy education plan will be established based on the subject’s communication ability and preferred activities, and media will be used as a tool for communication. We hope that this will serve as a basis for use.
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