Strategies and Challenges in Implementing Multimodal and Digital Literacy by English Education Students during Teaching Practice Program in West Sumatera Province

Abstract

This study aims to identify strategies and challenges in implementing multimodal and digital literacy by English Education students during teaching practice in West Sumatra Province. This study used a descriptive quantitative approach involving 52 student teachers as participants. Data were collected through a closed questionnaire consisting of 40 statements, with 26 statements focused on the strategies used by the student teachers and 14 statements to explore the challenges they faced in implementing multimodal and digital literacy. The results showed that of the five strategies studied, the use of technology emerged as the most widely implemented strategy, with an average score of 3.50, signifying a high frequency of use in teaching practice. In contrast, the implementation of multimodal projects is the lowest strategy implemented by student teachers with a mean score of 2.73. This shows student teachers' preference to use technology such as projectors, educational apps and quiz apps as teaching support. However, student teachers faced significant challenges, especially in the technical aspect, which had a high mean score of 2.67, mainly due to limited technology facilities in schools as well as network issues. In contrast, personal factors provided minimal challenges, indicated with mean score of 2.08 category low, suggesting that student teachers generally experienced few challenges at the personal level in implementing multimodal and digital literacy.