Digital Storytelling to Enhance Adults’ Speaking Skills in Learning Foreign Languages: A Case Study

Emily Kallinikou,Iolie Nicolaidou

doi:10.3390/mti3030059

Emily Kallinikou, Iolie Nicolaidou

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/mti3030059

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Abstract

Digital storytelling, including text, images, audio, music, and video, has been researched as a means of enhancing learners’ motivation, autonomy, and engagement and as a way to improve oral and speaking skills in foreign language learning. This study examined the relation between adults’ engagement in digital storytelling (scaffolded by an interactive learning environment) and their speaking skills and motivation when learning a foreign language. The study used a pre-test, post-test control group design with two groups of 20 Russians who were beginners in learning Greek as a foreign language (n = 40). The 12-h intervention was technology-supported only for the experimental group. Even though the comparison of participants’ recorded speech pre- and post-intervention revealed a statistically significant decrease of mistakes made during speech from pre- to post-intervention for both groups, an independent samples t-test to compare the groups’ post-intervention speaking performance revealed a statistically significant difference in favor of the experimental group (t(38) = 4.05, p < 0.05). The analysis of results from a motivation questionnaire administered pre- and post-intervention showed a statistically significant increase in the motivation of the experimental group only. Findings provide an indication that digital storytelling, scaffolded by an interactive learning environment, supports the development of adults’ speaking skills in a foreign language and increases their motivation.

Highlights

Digital Storytelling as a Powerful Tool in Language LearningStorytelling acts as a tool of human social interaction and is commonly used in education for learning, explaining, and entertaining [1]
Findings provide an indication that digital storytelling, scaffolded by an interactive learning environment, supports the development of adults’ speaking skills in a foreign language and increases their motivation
Speaking skills when learning a foreign language. It showed that the interactive activities and the use of multimedia in the designed learning environment combined with the use of digital storytelling contributed to the improvement of adults’ speaking skills when learning Greek as a foreign language

Summary

Introduction

Digital Storytelling as a Powerful Tool in Language LearningStorytelling acts as a tool of human social interaction and is commonly used in education for learning, explaining, and entertaining [1]. Digital Storytelling as a Powerful Tool in Language Learning. Digital storytelling can be used as a multimedia tool in language learning to help students to improve their foreign language speaking skills using technology to tell the story in their own words and voice [2], and as such, it is a powerful learning tool. Several studies have focused on digital storytelling as a means of enhancing learners’ motivation, autonomy, and engagement and as a way to improve oral and speaking skills in foreign languages learning. Digital storytelling has been studied, for example, at a general level, as a learning tool in the context of a specific course [6,7,8,9,10]. Other studies focused on digital storytelling for teaching the English language to students of secondary school or undergraduate students [11,12,13,14,15]

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