The influence of digital storytelling in EFL/ESL students’ writing skills

Abstract

Digital Storytelling (DS) is a technological tool which has been implemented in English as a Foreign Language and as a Second Language (EFL, ESL) educational field in recent years. Indeed, researchers have deeply begun to explore how this instrument improves and enhances students' writing skills. By collecting, analyzing, and interpreting twenty primary studies, this research synthesis aims to determine the influence of DS on the production of students' written texts in EFL/ESL contexts. Additionally, this work examines the instructors' and pupils' perceptions and the benefits DS has caused in writing micro-skills. Therefore, only studies written in English, published from 2014 onwards, and with a pedagogical approach in an EFL/ESL context were considered for proper research. The results have revealed positive outcomes by applying DS in students' written production. In fact, findings show that it is an instrument that aids in correcting mistakes in punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, and others. Moreover, this research synthesis adopts the analysis of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies with greater relevance to the qualitative ones to interpret learners' and teachers' perceptions regarding DS. Consequently, DS is considered a tool that improves students' writing macro and micro-skills by means of motivation and facilitates the teaching-learning process in an EFL, ESL context