# Usefulness of Digital Language Resources in Improving Native Language among Adults
## 5 Discussion  
The main objective of our study was to examine the use of digital language resources in adult populations who could be interested in native language development, which was considered as an important factor to prevent the danger of native language extinction in a multicultural global society. In a situation where the global population is getting older and where native languages play an important role in the development of individuals and society, the use and acceptance of ICT for language purposes are getting more and more important. Thus, our workshops, aimed at sharing knowledge about available digital language resources, were organised, and attendees participated voluntarily in a survey and semi-structured interviews. We examined the perceived usefulness and ease of using digital language resources in relation to age, education, self-assessed proficiency in language use and pre-experience with language training. In addition, intentions for using digital language resources were examined in relation to pre-experience with language training. The analysis revealed three main findings. Firstly, self-assessed proficiency in native language use was found to have an effect on the perceived ease of using digital language resources. This indicates that those who perceive themselves less proficient in language use, perceive digital language resources as easier for use compared to proficient language users. It can be explained by the findings of the previous studies [1; 28], where it was found that Slovenian young people are more engaged in receptive activities than interactive/productive activities online. Their receptive activities include reading social media comments in a second language, while the interactive/productive activities in their native language include writing short text messages, communicating with classmates, and writing e-mails [28]. In line with this, our findings may indicate that native language speakers, who do not perceive themselves as proficient native language users, may perceive digital language resources as being easy to use and, thus, may, consequently, also be interested in performing more interactive/productive activities in their native language online. It may be that speakers' awareness of available digital language resources, despite not perceiving themselves as proficient native language users, may be a trigger for more active native language use online, not only in business, but also in private communication. Namely, it was noted that conversations in the target language are expedited with digital dictionaries. However, our findings contrast with the findings of the previous study [31], where it was predicted that online dictionaries in the future would not be regarded as stand-alone products. These findings can, further, lead us to understanding another finding of the current study, where it was found that using digital language resources for seeking information, improving general and professional language use, as well as learning, studying, or working, is related positively to the self-motivated use of analogue language resources. This may indicate that those who are already accustomed to utilising analogue language resources started using digital language resources, which is in line with the previous study [32], where it was found that the more information that an analogue language resource contains, the more time-consuming and harder it will become for learners to find exactly what they need to know. Thirdly, we found no significant effects of age, level of education, the self-assessment of proficiency in language use, the number of years that had passed since institutional language training, and the mode of post-institutional language training on the perceived usefulness of digital language resources. This may indicate that perceiving digital language resources as useful may depend on other factors, which may be also very personal, and may vary to a greater extent across the population.