The Effectiveness of Storybird in Improving English Narrative Writing

Abstract

In teaching English language, the traditional way of teaching like chalk-and-talk and lecture based lesson are not sufficient to teach English effectively. The integration of technology has substantially changed English teaching methods as it provides a variety of alternatives in order to make teaching and learning more interesting and productive. Therefore, this research emphasizes the use of technology specifically digital storytelling website, Storybird in assisting pupils’ English language learning; narrative writing skill. The research design is an action research which employed pretest and posttest, semi-structured interviews and observations. The data was collected from eight Year 4 pupils from SK Sebauh of Sebauh district in Sarawak. The research findings indicated that there was a positive improvement in the participants’ narrative writing skills. There was also an increase in motivation level and interest in learning English, and existence of English collaborative learning among the participants after using Storybird. Therefore, Storybird is shown to help the participants to improve their English narrative writing skills as well as their proficiency level, motivation and interest in learning English.