IMPROVING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ENGLISH PROFICIENCY WITH DIGITAL STORYTELLING

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students of English as a foreign language(EFL) at the Lebanese University (LU) can effectively improve their language proficiency bycreating digital stories. To do so, the researcher introduced digital storytelling (DST) as anoptional assignment in an EFL communication course offered at LU in the fall of 2017-2018.Participants were 20 second-year student-teachers majoring in EFL education. After thecompletion of their individual or group digital storytelling projects, all the 16 videos wereuploaded on the researcher's YouTube channel and shared on Facebook and WhatsApp.Participants then answered open-ended survey questions about their experience working onDST. Results show that most participants found the activity enjoyable and educational andwere eager to repeat their experience, in spite of the technical difficulties they faced. Manyparticipants also reported having gained more self-confidence and improved theirPronunciation, organizational, technical and research skills, as well as their ability to deliverpresentations. The majority of participants found the social aspect of DST highly rewardingand enjoyed sharing their work online with their friends and other English-speakers globally.The positive outcomes of this study suggest that DST should be included in the curriculum ofuniversity-EFL communication courses.