Improving Chinese University EFL Students’ Speaking Skills through Digital Storytelling

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate whether a 12-week digital storytelling (DST) intervention could improve Chinese university EFL students’ speaking skills. The entire population for this study consisted of 100 English major undergraduates from 2 intact classes of EFL students that were taught by the same teacher. Each class contained 50 participants. The experimental group students participated in the DST intervention and were exposed to the DST activities both inside and outside classroom while the control group students only received conventional whole-class instruction. Statistical analysis within groups showed that there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest means in the experimental group with a large effect size (p = 0.000, d = 1.58), but that there was no significant difference between the pretest and the posttest in the control group (p = 0.056). Statistical analysis between groups indicated that the pretest mean of the experimental group was not significantly different from that of the control group (p = 0.084). However, there was a significant difference between the posttest means of the experimental group and the control group, and the effect size was large (p = 0.001, d = 0.658). DST participants obviously outperformed the control group in terms of speaking skills after the treatment. In addition, the quantitative data elicited through the questionnaire on the value of the DST intervention revealed that 82% of the respondents indicated that digital storytelling allowed them to improve their technical skills, 62% claimed that digital storytelling improved their ability to apply knowledge to practice. 95% of students considered in their diaries that the DST intervention was interesting, challenging, helpful, and enjoyable and contributed to the development of students’ autonomous learning. Most of the interviewees claimed that DST intervention could not only improve their language skills but also their learner autonomy. The findings call attention to the value of DST used in this study for language instruction.

Digital Storytelling-Based Tasks on Speaking Classroom; Seen from ESL Learners’ Lenses

“…This finding was consistent with the prior study by (Fitri et al, 2021;Riani et al, 2021;Aziz & Husnawadi, 2020) which showed the majority of the students perceived the implementation of DST-based task positively. Aziz & Husnawadi, 2020;Wei et al, 2018). Aziz & Husnawadi (2020) asserted that digital storytelling-based tasks increase motivation and interpersonal relationships.…”

“…Aziz & Husnawadi (2020) asserted that digital storytelling-based tasks increase motivation and interpersonal relationships. Simultaneously, Wei et al (2018) promoted that during the instructional process the student's interests were increased as well as they were motivated to practice their English. Whilst, the research by Zakaria and Aziz (2019) also stated a positive outcome where digital storytelling inspires students to study as it help them learn the target language.…”

“…Because of its pedagogical proficiency, a plethora of research have demonstrated the application of DST in the instruction of the four basic skills, such as in writing skills (Fitri, Husnawadi, & Harianingsih, 2021;Riani, Husnawadi, & Syarifudin, 2021;Sudarnaji, 2020;Husnawadi & Aziz, 2020), Listening skills (Basyoni & Seng, 2020;Tabieh, Al-Hileh, Afifa, & Abuzagha, 2020), reading skills (Abdel-Khalek, 2018;Garba, (2021), oral and speaking skills (Jaca, 2021;Riani et al, 2021;Yang, Chen, & Hung, 2020;Kallinikou & Nicolaidou, 2019;Elenein, 2019;Syafryadin, Haryani, Salniwati, & Putri, 2019). The merits results of those studies and other relevant research have also revealed the impact of digital storytelling (DST) on students' creative thinking skills (Jaca, 2021;Yang et al, 2020;Haryani et al, 2019;Zakaria & Aziz, 2019) and engage students' interest in the classroom (Kallinikou & Nicolaidou, 2019;Wei et al, 2018). .…”

Digital Storytelling in an Online EFL Course: Influences on Speaking, Vocabulary, and Cognitive Load

“…When students write their own scripts, record their own voices, mix with different types of multimedia, and present their stories to the audience, they interact with the language and use the target language in authentic ways, fostering meaningful learning (Kajder, 2006;Rance-Roney, 2008). Various studies in the literature present the use of DS for the development of such language skills as Writing (Balaman, 2018;Sepp & Bandi-Rao, 2015;Sudarmaji & Mulyana, 2020;Tanrıkulu, 2020) Reading (Anggeraini & Afifah, 2017;Rahimi & Yadollahi, 2017;Yoon, 2013), Listening (Cigerci & Gultekin, 2017;Loniza, Aslina, & Mazlina, 2018;Tahriri, Tous, & MovahedFar, 2015), and Speaking (Baghdasaryan, 2012;Wei, Siriyothin, & Lian, 2018;Yang, Chen, & Hung, 2020). Baghdasaryan (2012) examined the use of DS as homework for developing learners' speaking skills and revealing their attitude towards the program applied in a mixed-method research and concluded that DS provided significant gains in learners' oral production and learners developed positive attitude towards DS use as homework.…”

“…Baghdasaryan (2012) examined the use of DS as homework for developing learners' speaking skills and revealing their attitude towards the program applied in a mixed-method research and concluded that DS provided significant gains in learners' oral production and learners developed positive attitude towards DS use as homework. Wei, Siriyothin, and Lian (2018) investigated Chinese EFL major students' speaking skills in a 12-week DS intervention with 100 students. The experimental group students participated in DS intervention as in-and-out of classroom activities and the control group students received conventional whole-class instruction.…”