The Important Role of New Media Literacy (NML) in Vietnam: Adaptation and Validation of the NML Scale

Abstract

In a world of constant information and immediate communication, new media literacy (NML) is important. Research on NML is essential for many communities worldwide. This study analyzed the NML levels of 614 Vietnamese individuals aged 18 to 71 (M = 30.8, SD = 9.46) using an adapted and validated version of the 35-item NML scale. Linguistic and metrical parity was achieved via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and validation and reliability testing. Results revealed that this new setting was suitable for the adapted scale. Results also indicated that compared to critical literacy, functional literacy is more effective, and that NML is influenced by age, time spent online, and social media profiles.

Keywords:

• adaptation
• measurement scale
• new media literacy
• validation
• Vietnam

Acknowledgment

We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Hong Yu (School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Dr. Bich Ngoc Nguyen (VNU School of Interdisciplinary Studies), and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2023.2272270.