Educational systems frequently employ technological equipment in a variety of ways to make lessons in an English Language classroom fun and meaningful. For both students and instructors, digital storytelling (DST) has evolved into a useful instructional tool that can be utilised in the teaching and learning process. To answer the research question on the role of digital storytelling in improving students’ speaking skills, The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to systematically review 45 articles sourced from Google scholar and ERIC, and most of these articles highlight the importance of digital storytelling as a contemporary teaching methodology. These articles showed that digital storytelling can be used as a useful tool by educators in improving students’ speaking skills from various levels of education, ranging from primary to tertiary education. Most of the authors of these research papers provided empirical proof that substantiated the advantages of employing digital storytelling in the classroom to help pupils communicate and speak more effectively.

In second language learning, a learning strategy plays an important role in guiding pupils in improving their language skills. Language learning strategies are essential in guiding pupils to reflect on their autonomous learning style. Educators need to have an inclusive overview of the language learning strategies used by second language learners, especially in a rural Malaysian ESL environment in order for pupils to improve on their language acquisition and to be able to reflect on their different learning strategies. Thus, this study aims to identify the language learning strategies employed by pupils at a rural primary school in Selangor, Malaysia. The methodology used is quantitative method which consists of a survey. 52 Year 6 pupils responded to a survey instrument and the data were analysed quantitatively. The purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. To investigate the learning strategies used by the Year 6 pupils in a primary school in Selangor, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by was utilised. The 30 items from the Strategy Inventory Language Learning (SILL) were adapted for this study. The major findings obtained from the study show that memory strategy is the most used LLS while social strategy is the least used LLS by the Year 6 pupils in a rural primary school in Selangor in learning the English language. Hence, it is hoped that the findings gained from this research will act as a guide for teachers to imply the suitable language learning strategies in rural schools. Further research can focus on how to empower learners to be more self-directed in their learning especially in rural schools.

Speaking in English is one of the most important skills that students must learn in school, and it is a pertinent tool for communicating in the real world. However, pupils in rural schools often faced difficulty in conversing in the English language, as they did not have adequate opportunities or an engaging environment to practice the language, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was observed though School-Based Assessment (SBA) that pupils had limited levels of fluency, accuracy, and pronunciation. Hence, this quasi-experimental study aims to investigate the use of Toontastic 3D, a digital storytelling app, to improve pupils’ speaking skills. In this study, a pre- and post-test and a questionnaire were used as methods for data collection. The findings revealed that the potential benefits of digital storytelling had a beneficial impact on pupils’ speaking skills. The findings also demonstrated that digital storytelling engaged students in the story’s content not just by encouraging motivation and curiosity but also by instilling confidence in their ability to speak in English. The results from the questionnaire indicate that digital storytelling facilitates 21st-century learning by allowing interactive and collaborative learning that encourages pupils to speak English. Moreover, pupils were more engaged, confident, and motivated to converse in English. Hence, digital storytelling, especially in the age of COVID 19, can be utilised as an effective teaching repertoire to create a dynamic learning environment that stimulates students to participate actively during speaking classes.