A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF STORYTELLING FOR THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Una revisión sistemática de los efectos positivos de la narración de cuentos para la competencia lingüística del inglés como lengua extranjera

MERCEDES PÉREZ AGUSTÍN⁽¹⁾ Y CRISTINA DE-LA-PEÑA ÁLVAREZ^(2)
(1) Universidad Complutense de Madrid (España)
⁽²⁾ Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (España)

DOI: 10.13042/Bordon.2025.106007
Fecha de recepción: 04/04/2024 • Fecha de aceptación: 26/08/2024
Autora de contacto / Corresponding autor: Mercedes Pérez Agustín. E-mail: mapere65@ucm.es

Cómo citar este artículo: Pérez Agustín, M. & de-la-Peña Álvarez, M. (2025). A systematic review of the positive effects of storytelling for the linguistic competence of English as a foreign language. Bordón, Revista de Pedagogía, 77(1), 103-119. https://doi.org/10.13042/Bordon.2025.106007

INTRODUCTION. Digital storytelling is an enriching pedagogical strategy that promotes language proficiency or literacy in monolingual educational contexts. However, there is a lack of studies that show comparative evidence based on quantitative data on the positive effects of digital storytelling/storytelling for foreign language teaching in a bilingual or non-bilingual educational context. The purpose of this research is to determine the positive effects of the use of digital storytelling/storytelling for foreign teaching in a bilingual or non-bilingual English context regarding linguistic competence (oral and written skills). METHOD. To achieve this goal, a search of scientific literature from 2000 to the present was carried out in the databases Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, Scielo and Dialnet. RESULTS. The results obtained indicate improvements in oral and narrative skills with the use of ST and STD in all educational stages and more proficiency on language proficiency in secondary education and university in non-bilingual contexts. DISCUSSION. These empirical results suggest the useful implications of ST and STD in monolingual contexts in various languages to increase the academic, personal and professional development in line with the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda.

Keywords: Storytelling, Digital storytelling, L2, Bilingualism.

Introduction

The art of telling stories also known as storytelling is the innate capacity of human beings to tell stories using their voices accompanied with gestures and movements to be transmitted more effectively. This oral transmission dates back to ancestral times, constituting a widely used cultural and pedagogical technique (Crespo-Cárdenas & Cárdenas-Cordero, 2021Crespo-Cárdenas, V. C. & Cárdenas-Cordero, N. M. (2021). Storytelling como estrategia de enseñanza-aprendizaje para desarrollar el lenguaje en Educación Inicial mediante cuentos. Cienciamatria. Revista Interdisciplinaria de Humanidades, Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología, 7(13), 122-137. https://doi.org /10.35381/cm.v7i13.475) that is currently enriched with access to digital tools, giving rise to digital storytelling (Robin, 2016Robin, B. (2016). The Power of Digital Storytelling to Support Teaching and Learning. Digital Education Review, 30, 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1344/der.2016.30.17-29).

Both traditional storytelling (ST) and digital storytelling (STD) (from here referred to as ST, STD) are framed in a constructivist learning process that promotes the development of knowledge and behavioral reflection in attractive scenarios for learning (Reyero Sáez, 2019Reyero Sáez, M. (2019). La educación constructivista en la era digital. Revista de Tecnología, Ciencia y Educación, 12, 111-127.). The didactic experiences carried out so far with ST and STD in the mother tongue point to improvements in linguistic competence and educational, personal and social knowledge (Del-Moral Pérez et al., 2019Del-Moral, M. E., Bellver, M. C. & Guzmán Duque, A. P. (2019). Evaluación de la potencialidad creativa de aplicaciones móviles creadoras de relatos digitales para Educación Primaria. Ocnos. Revista de Estudios sobre Lectura, 18(1), 7-20. https://doi.org/10.18239/ocnos_2019.18.1.1866). In the area of language teaching, ST and STD, promote opportunities to practice the language favoring language skills, giving meaning to experiences, role-playing and fostering social interaction and collaborative learning (Rahimi & Yadollahi, 2017Rahimi, M. & Yadollahi, S. (2017). Effects of offline vs. online digital storytelling on the development of EFL learners’ literacy skills, Cogent Education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1285531). However, there are differences between ST and STD in the format with the latter adding a multimodal context with images, sounds, text and narratives (Maureen et al., 2017Maureen, I.Y., Van der Meij, H. & De Jong, T. (2017). Evaluating storytelling activities for early literacy development. International Journal of Early Years Education, 30(4), 679-696. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2021.1933917). In recent years, with the inclusion of digitization in classrooms and as a complement to pedagogical instruction, STD is being used more by teachers as a communicative and motivational tool for learning. Specifically, existing studies in language learning show that teachers are initiating its use in class because they observe that it favors student motivation and the improvement of oral and written language skills (Tecnam, 2013Tecnam, Y. (2013). Are you digitized? Ways to provide motivation for ELLs using digital storytelling. International Journal of Research Studies in Educational Technology, 2, 25-34.; Yang et al., 2020Yang, Y. C., Chen, Y. C., Hung. H. (2020). Digital storytelling as an interdisciplinary project to improve students’ English speaking and creative thinking. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(6), 1-23. ).

In this context, we aim to examine the positive effects of using ST or STD in classrooms to improve English as a foreign language in bilingual or non-bilingual educational contexts. Despite the multiple educational interventions that are being carried out with ST or STD in the teaching of languages such as English, technology and interculturality, little is known about their empirical effectiveness. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to analyze in an objective, quantitative and experimental way the existence of differences in the positive effects between using ST or STD in English as a foreign language for learners in bilingual or non-bilingual educational contexts. In this way, empirical evidence is provided on the positive effects of the application of these techniques (ST and STD) in the language classroom, since teaching should be focused on the contextualization of learning (Riivari et al., 2021Riivari, E., Kivijärvi, M. & Lämsä, A M. (2021). Learning teamwork through a computer game: For the sake of performance or collaborative learning? Educational Technology Research and Development, 69, 1753-1771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10009-4). Consequently, the following questions arise: which ST or STD pedagogical strategy has more positive effects on improving students’ language skills in learning English as a foreign language; which language skills do students with ST and STD improve in English as a foreign language in bilingual or non-bilingual educational settings; and which language skills do students with ST and STD improve in English as a foreign language in bilingual or non-bilingual educational settings?

The empirical results of this study suggest useful educational implications for teachers not only of English as a second and/or foreign language in bilingual and non-bilingual educational contexts but also for teachers in monolingual and bilingual contexts in various languages, where optimizing language competence (or some of its skills) is the basis for optimal academic, personal and professional development, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Digital storytelling and linguistic competence in EFL

Currently, existing research on ST or STD evidence at a general level, its usefulness to develop autonomous learning, linguistic competence, literacy, critical thinking and values education (Ellis & Brewster, 2014Ellis, G. & Brewster, J. (2014). Tell it again! The storytelling handbook for primary English language teachers. British Council. ; Melzi et al., 2023Melzi, G., Schick, A. & Wuest, C. (2023). Stories beyond books: teacher storytelling support children’s literacy skills. Early education and Development, 34(2), 485-505.; Tanrikulu, 2020Tanrikulu, F. (2020). Students’ perceptions about the effects of collaborative storytelling on writing skills. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(5-6), 1090-1105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1774611) and; at a more specific level in language teaching, to help learners especially in oral and written language skills (Hava, 2019Hava, K. (2019). Exploring the role of digital storytelling in student motivation and satisfaction in EFL education. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1650071; Yang et al., 2020Yang, Y. C., Chen, Y. C., Hung. H. (2020). Digital storytelling as an interdisciplinary project to improve students’ English speaking and creative thinking. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(6), 1-23. ). For Werker & Hensch (2015Werker J. F., Hensch T. K. (2015). Critical periods in speech perception: new directions. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 66, 173-196. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015104) it is fundamental to identify the main characteristics of early language learning for the acquisition of another language as L2 and for bilingualism. This language development in EFL or bilingual contexts determines the feasibility of practicing ST from early ages to adulthood to optimize language proficiency as it provides a model of speech in a learning context (Sintonen, Kumpulainen & Vartiainen, 2018Sintonen, S., Kumpulainen, K. & Vartiainen, J. (2018). Young children’s imaginative play and dynamic literacy practices in the digital age: Innovative pedagogy in preschool and primary education. In Mobile Technologies in Children’s Language and Literacy, edited by O. Grace, 15-28. Emerald. ).

ST is the art of storytelling as a chronologically ordered series of events where the earlier ones cause the later ones (Huang & Grant, 2020Huang, T. & Grant, W. J. (2020). A good story well told: storytelling components that impact science video popularity on youtube. Frontiers in Education, 5, 1-15. ). This ancestral art is also cross-disciplinary however, in this article we will focus on the power of storytelling in the pedagogical practice with which participants develop their communicative skills and exercise emotional and socio-collaborative abilities (Robin, 2016Robin, B. (2016). The Power of Digital Storytelling to Support Teaching and Learning. Digital Education Review, 30, 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1344/der.2016.30.17-29). The acquisition of this narrative competence as the ability to understand and produce stories (del Moral et al., 2015Del-Moral, M.E., Villalustre, L. & Neira, M.R. (2015). Relatos digitales: activando las competencias comunicativa, narrativa y digital en la formación inicial del profesorado. Ocnos. Revista de Estudios sobre Lectura, 15(1), 22-41. https://doi.org/10.18239/ocnos_2016.15.1.923 ) ranges from the enumeration of actions and characters to the articulation of a complete story, with an initial conflict and a coherent resolution (Merino, 2017Merino, C. (2017). El proceso de construcción del discurso narrativo de la ficción del preescolar. Revista Signos. Estudios de Lingüística, 50(95), 408-429. http://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-09342017000300408). This involves the production of a coherent text, with the inclusion of a title, where actions linked by causal and temporal relationships lead to a coherent denouement and the use of ritualized opening and closing formulas (Betancourt & Caro, 2020Betancourt, Y. M. & Caro, M. (2020). ¿Cómo reportan los niños las voces propias y ajenas en sus relatos de experiencia personal? Un enfoque del desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa-narrativa infantil. Lingüística y Literatura, 41(78), 84-108. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.lyl.n78a04). Added to this, Sparkes (2000Sparkes, A. (2000). Narratives of Self as an Occasion of Conspiracy. Sociology of Sport Journal 17, 21-43.) notes “In the telling, listening, and reading of stories the opportunity arises to share experiences about our own lives and the lives of others” (1), living through our stories and learning from others through their stories.

The ST with or without digital technology constitutes a pedagogical strategy that emphasizes the relevance of the active student and the teacher as a mediator of learning, promoting a constructivist education of the teaching-learning process (Reyero Sáez, 2019Reyero Sáez, M. (2019). La educación constructivista en la era digital. Revista de Tecnología, Ciencia y Educación, 12, 111-127.). ST gives voice to students and allows them to share personal experiences, customs and values that otherwise would be silenced. Both ST and STD share the main elements of the story such as scene, plot, characters, theme, conflict and resolution. However, ST versus STD lacks a written format, prior preparation time and the audience is passive, because it is an exercise of constant listening where they imagine what is happening and respond orally and immediately to the narrator, whereas, STD is characterized by an always active audience, a flexible, changing and multimodal story with the incursion of images and sound (Villalustre Martínez & Del Moral Pérez, 2014Villalustre Martínez, L. & Del Moral Pérez, E. (2014). Digital storytelling. Revista Complutense de Educación, 25(1), 115-132. http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rev_RCED.2014.v25.n1.41237). Currently, existing research on ST or STD evidence at a general level, its usefulness in developing autonomous learning, language competence, literacy, symbolic play, creativity, critical thinking and values education (Melzi et al., 2023Melzi, G., Schick, A. & Wuest, C. (2023). Stories beyond books: teacher storytelling support children’s literacy skills. Early education and Development, 34(2), 485-505.; Tanrikulu, 2020Tanrikulu, F. (2020). Students’ perceptions about the effects of collaborative storytelling on writing skills. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(5-6), 1090-1105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1774611) and; at a more specific level in language teaching, helping learners especially in oral and written language skills (Hava, 2019Hava, K. (2019). Exploring the role of digital storytelling in student motivation and satisfaction in EFL education. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1650071; Yang et al., 2020Yang, Y. C., Chen, Y. C., Hung. H. (2020). Digital storytelling as an interdisciplinary project to improve students’ English speaking and creative thinking. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(6), 1-23. ).

In foreign language learning, studies with ST (August et al., 2005August D., Carlo M., Dressler, C. & Snow C. E. (2005). The critical role of vocabulary development for English language learners. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 20(1), 50-57. ; Miller et al., 2006Miller, J., Iglesias, A., Heilmann, J., Fabiano, L., Nockerts, A. & Francis D. (2006). Oral language and reading in bilingual children. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 21(1), 30-43. ) indicate that, there is a highly predictive relationship between oral narrative skills and listening comprehension. In the same vein, Govindarajan & Paradis (2019Govindarajan, K. & Paradis, J. (2018). Narrative abilities of bilingual children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (SLI): Differentiation and the role of age and input factors. Journal of Communication Disorders, 77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.10.001) evidenced that the amount of English exposure among school-going children helped predict narrative skills, however, the amount of English (from non-English speakers) and its use at home did not help predict English macrostructure and microstructure skills. Recent research found improvement in vocabulary (Wright & Dunsmuir, 2019Wright, C. Z. & Dunsmuir, S. (2019). The effect of storytelling at school on children’s oral and written language abilities and self-perception. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 35(2), 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2018.1521757), intonation and sound patterns (Rezende Lucarevschi, 2018Rezende Lucarevschi, C. (2018). The role of storytelling in the development of pronunciation of Brazilian learners of English as a foreign language [Doctoral thesis, University of Victoria]. https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/9267) and inclusion of grammatical patterns (Yunita et al., 2019Yunita, W., Mayuni, I. & Emzir, E. (2019). Integrated story-based grammar learning model: The effectiveness and students’ perception on its implementation in a grammar classroom. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 178, 296-303.). Uccelli & Páez (2007Uccelli, P. & Páez, M. (2007). Narrative and vocabulary development of bilingual children from kindergarten to first grade: developmental changes and associations among English and Spanish skills. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch., 38(3), 225-236. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2007/024) ), researched the oral narrative skills of bilingual children from infant to first grade of primary school, and found significant changes between Spanish and English students, concerning knowledge of story structure (e.g., story quality, sequence, story elements) in both infant and first grade of primary school. On the contrary, there was no direct relationship between students’ language scores (verbs, conjunctions) in both languages. In the written linguistic dimension, Adam (2015Adam A. A. S. (2015). Developing EFL Learners’ Narrative Writing through Using Short Stories: The Case of Al-Baha University Students. European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 3(4), 1-8.) analyzed the effect of stories in written narratives among learners of English as a foreign language reflecting that employing this genre contributes to improving written proficiency. Aparicio & Pérez (2020Aparicio, Y. & Pérez, M. (2020). Storytelling. La lectura de álbumes ilustrados en la enseñanza de la lengua inglesa. Pirámide. ) in the area of narrative skills refer to how these skills positively affect reading comprehension in English and among bilingual students of Spanish and English. It has also been shown that a shared narrative activity between adults and children establishes the pillars for oral language, literacy and contributes to social and emotional development (Melzi et al., 2023Melzi, G., Schick, A. & Wuest, C. (2023). Stories beyond books: teacher storytelling support children’s literacy skills. Early education and Development, 34(2), 485-505.).

STD is a pedagogical strategy on the rise due to its attractive qualities, dynamism and immersive capacity (Trichopoulos, et al., 2023Trichopoulos, G., Alexandridis, G. & Caridakis, G. (2023). A Survey on Computational and Emergent Digital Storytelling. Heritage, 6(2), 1227-1263. ). In foreign language learning, STD evidences improvements in English writing skills being English as a second language (Zakaria & Abdul Aziz, 2019Zakaria, M. A. & Aziz, A. A. (2019). The impact of digital storytelling on ESL narrative writing skill. Arab World English Journal, 5(5), 319-332. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/call5.22), in oral and written skills (Hwang et al., 2016Hwang, W. Y., Shadiev, R., Hsu, J. L., Huang, Y. M., Hsu, G. L. & Lin, Y. C. (2016). Effects of storytelling to facilitate EFL speaking using Web-based multimedia system. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29, 215-241.; Rubino et al., 2018Rubino, I., Barberis, C. & Malnati, G. (2018). Exploring the values of writing collaboratively through a digital storytelling platform: a mixed-methods analysis of users’ participation, perspectives and practices. Interactive Learning Environments 26(7),1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2017.1419499; Sarıca & Usluel, 2016Sarica, H. & Usluel, Y. (2016). The effect of digital storytelling on visual memory and writing skills. Computers & Education, 94, 298-309. ), in listening comprehension (Abdolmanafi-Rokni & Qarajeh, 2014Abdolmanafi, S. & Qarajeh, M. (2014). Digital Storytelling in EFL Classrooms: The Effect on the Oral Performance. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 2(4). ), in vocabulary learning and in reading comprehension (Chang et al., 2013Chang, H. Y., Wu, H. K. & Hsu, Y. S. (2013). Integrating a mobile augmented reality activity to contextualize student learning of a socioscientific issue. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(3), 95-99.). In the same vein, Short (2012Short, K. G. (2012). Story as World Making. Language Arts, 90(1), 9-17. ) states that generally, the use of stories supports literacy development in the context of learning English as a first language and Hava (2019Hava, K. (2019). Exploring the role of digital storytelling in student motivation and satisfaction in EFL education. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1650071) finds improvements in language and digital proficiency skills, as well as in students’ emotional engagement with the target language.

In this described approach to the use of ST and STD in foreign language learning, this research aims to propose a systematic review that provides experimental empirical evidence of the positive effects of using ST or STD in the classroom to improve English as a foreign language, both in bilingual and non-bilingual educational environments, being aware of the curricular and methodological differences between these two types of contexts. These educational strategies can be relevant and motivating for the teaching-learning process of foreign language proficiency. In the review conducted so far, there is a lack of research that provides data using experimental designs on the positive effects of the use of ST vs. STD in foreign language learning. Therefore, a review is made in several international databases that provide quantitative experimental data on the positive effects of ST and STD at different educational stages, being aware of the existing differences between educational systems. The results of this proposal could contribute to the scientific literature by providing knowledge (to teachers and parents) about the pedagogical strategy (ST vs. STD) that provides more positive effects on foreign language learning and development in English as a foreign language classrooms.

Method

The selection of articles for the systematic review is performed following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) methodology. PRISMA contains 27 indicators that constitute a checklist and a flow chart with three phases (identification, screening and included) to facilitate the design and development of a protocol and critical appraisal (Page et al., 2021Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D. et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372(71). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71).

Eligibility criteria: inclusion and exclusion

The articles included in this work were selected based on the following inclusion criteria: (i) period between 2000 and 2023 years; (ii) open access; (iii) empirical studies (article or proceedings); (iv) written in English and Spanish; (v) control and experimental groups studied; (vi) foreign language teaching; (vii) age that includes the entire educational stage from early childhood to the end of university, approximately twenty-three years.

The exclusion criteria used were: (i) no terms related to storytelling or story appeared; (ii) books or book chapters; (iii) theoretical reviews without quantitative data or experimental designs.

Search strategies

In this article, a comprehensive review of empirical research from the last 23 years is conducted, selecting those focused on the use of storytelling in foreign language learning in bilingual and non-bilingual contexts. The search was conducted in December 2023 in English and Spanish.

The databases consulted are Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, Scielo and Dialnet, using descriptor terms such as storytelling (i) (e.g., history, stories, storytelling, digital storytelling, retelling the story, oral tradition, narrative) and secondly terms related to (bilingual education, English as a second language, English as a foreign language) and, finally, elements related to literacy (multimodal texts). The search formula used with the Boolean operator (and/and) is the following: (storytelling OR oral tradition OR narrative OR story OR story OR retelling) AND (bilingual OR efl OR ell) AND literacy. In this work, secondary sources are explored in Google and Teseo.

The search yielded 103 publications in all the databases analyzed, specifically, 10 from WoS, 81 from Scopus, 10 from ERIC, 0 from Scielo and 2 from Dialnet. The process followed is to eliminate 5 repeated publications, then to eliminate 63 articles to which there is no access and to eliminate 23 research that have qualitative data. Therefore, 12 publications were selected for the systematic review. Figure 1 shows the flow chart following the indications of PRISMA (Page et al., 2021Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D. et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372(71). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71) for the selection of the publications included in this systematic review.

Figure 1. PRISMA protocol for the systematic review [View full size] [Descargar tamaño completo]

Coding Procedure

The papers included in the research are reviewed by the two authors independently and discrepancies are resolved with 100% consensus. Afterward, a coding protocol is used to help solve ambiguities, reflecting and resolving discrepancies 100%.

With the selected publications, Table 1 is prepared with the main details of the papers included, indicating authors and year of publication, country of study, size and sample, English as a foreign language in a bilingual or non-bilingual context with English as the second language, study groups and main result. This table is created in Microsoft Excel independently by the two authors for data agreement. The EndNote bibliographic manager was used.

Data analysis

Of the 11 articles, only 3 have comparable data between ST and STD. A continuous variable and standardized mean difference as effect size are used to test the difference between ST and STD with pre-intervention and post-intervention measures. A random-effects model was used as effect size because this type of model has a greater ability to generalize conclusions (Borenstein et al., 2009Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T. & Rothstein, H. R. (2009). Introduction to Meta-Analysis. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470743386). The DerSimonian and Laird method (Egger et al., 2001Egger, M., Smith, D. & Altmand, D.G. (2001). Systematic reviews in health care: Meta-analysis in context. BMJ Publishing Group.) was used, calculating the standardized mean and its standard error, p and 95% confidence interval (CI). To examine the variability of the sample, the Cochran’s Q test (to test the null hypothesis of homogeneity between studies) and the I2 (the proportion of variability) were used. According to Higgins et al. (2003Higgins, J. P., Thompson, S. G., Deeks, J. J. & Altman, D. G. (2003). Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. BMJ, 327-557. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7414.557), if I2 reaches 25%, it is considered low, if it reaches 50% and if it exceeds 75% it is considered high. To analyze possible publication bias, this study uses two methods: the Rosenthal test and the regression test. When the values are large there is no bias. In the regression test when the regression is not significant there is no bias (Borenstein et al., 2009Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T. & Rothstein, H. R. (2009). Introduction to Meta-Analysis. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470743386). The Microsoft Excel program and Jamovi are used for the analysis procedure of the systematic review.

Results

This section presents the data obtained from the systematic review in terms of the research objective: to examine the positive effects of using ST or STD in classrooms to improve English as a foreign language, both in bilingual and non-bilingual educational settings, being aware of the differences between these two types of contexts and between international educational systems.

Description of the studies

The search conducted over the last 23 years generates a small number of scientific publications due to the need for comparable statistical data in the same categories in control and experimental ST and STD groups.

Table 1 shows the publications reviewed in the systematic review with a total of 688 students, with the smallest sample of 30 students (Chubko et al., 2019Chubko, N., Morris, J. E., McKinnon, D. H., Slater, E. V. & Lummis, G. W. (2019). Engaging adolescent Kyrgyzstani EFL students in digital storytelling projects about astronomy. Educational Research, 29(4), 1107-1130. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.225389; Chubko et al., 2020Chubko, N., Morris, J. E., McKinnon, D. H., Slater, E. V. & Lummis, G. W. (2020). Digital storytelling as a disciplinary literacy enhancement tool for EFL students. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68, 3587-3604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09833-x; Khodabandeh, 2018Khodabandeh, F. (2018). The impact of storytelling techniques through virtual instruction on English student’s speaking ability. Teaching English with Technology, 18(1), 24-36.) and the largest sample of 150 participants (Otwinowska et al., 2020Otwinowska, A., Mieszkowska, K., Białecka-Pikul, M., Opacki, M. & Haman, E. (2020). Retelling a model story improves the narratives of Polish-English bilingual children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(9), 1083-1107, https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1434124). In relation to educational stages, 8% were in kindergarten, 59% in secondary education and 33% in university. Regarding gender, 17% of the studies employ only women and 83%, women and men. Only 1 publication (8%) was published in a bilingual educational context while 92% were published in a non-bilingual EFL educational context. The chosen publications come 84% from Asia (44% Iran, 16% Taiwan, 8% Egypt and 16% Kyrgyz Republic), 8% from Europe (UK-Poland) and 8% from South America (Ecuador). The publication years are 25% in 2020, 17% in 2018, 8.3% in 2023, 8.3% in 2022, 8.3% in 2021, 8.3% in 2019, 8.3% in 2017, 8.3% in 2016 and 8.3% in 2014. 100% of the articles have English as the second language to be learned.

In the publications found, 17% compare only ST with experimental and control groups (or in some cases with a single pre-post group). The results indicate (i) the use of ST significantly improves (p<0.005) oral expression, narrative skills and literacy; (ii) different modalities of ST compared with each other show improvements using role-playing and counting aloud. The 17% of the publications analyze only the use of STD with heterogeneity of digital tools (power point, storyjumper, robot, movies, etc.) with experimental group and control group (or in some cases with a single pre-post group). The data point to significant improvements in language proficiency using STD, specifically oral skills and literacy. 66% compare ST vs STD with experimental and control groups. The results of all the studies coincide in significant improvements (p<0.001) of STD vs. ST in language skills. Table 2 shows the diversity of language skills analyzed in the studies.

Discussion and conclusions

This research employs a systematic review of the scientific literature to provide empirical evidence on the positive effects of using ST and STD to improve English as a foreign language in a bilingual or non-bilingual educational context. For this purpose, several international databases in English from 2000 to the present are reviewed. The relevant publications found are limited due to the condition of having control and experimental group and quantitative data. Only 11 studies are included and, of these due to the variability of the data. Nevertheless, this systematic review is the first to be conducted using quantitative data from experimental designs on the positive effects of ST and STD on foreign language learning in non-bilingual educational settings. This helps to supplement the scientific knowledge on which to build future resources with ST and/or STD.

The results of the studies selected in the research indicate that (i) ST significantly improves language proficiency, specifically oral expression and narrative skills (p<0.001; p<0.005) in different educational stages, infant, secondary and university. This finding is in the same direction as other research (Melzi et al., 2023Melzi, G., Schick, A. & Wuest, C. (2023). Stories beyond books: teacher storytelling support children’s literacy skills. Early education and Development, 34(2), 485-505.) that evidence that using ST benefits the oral skills of second language learners. For Khamkhien (2010Khamkhien, T. A. (2010). Teaching English Speaking and English Speaking Tests in the Thai Context: A Reflection from Thai Perspective. English Language Teaching, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n1p184), ST is a technique used to teach oral skills and is important in a second language teaching context because it involves mastering different aspects (vocabulary, grammar, etc.). In this sense, Wright & Dunsmuir (2019Wright, C. Z. & Dunsmuir, S. (2019). The effect of storytelling at school on children’s oral and written language abilities and self-perception. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 35(2), 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2018.1521757) indicate improvement in vocabulary and Yunita et al. (2019Yunita, W., Mayuni, I. & Emzir, E. (2019). Integrated story-based grammar learning model: The effectiveness and students’ perception on its implementation in a grammar classroom. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 178, 296-303.) of grammatical patterns. Regarding narrative skills, the data found are in line with other studies (Aparicio & Pérez, 2020Aparicio, Y. & Pérez, M. (2020). Storytelling. La lectura de álbumes ilustrados en la enseñanza de la lengua inglesa. Pirámide. ; Govindarajan & Paradis, 2019Govindarajan, K. & Paradis, J. (2018). Narrative abilities of bilingual children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (SLI): Differentiation and the role of age and input factors. Journal of Communication Disorders, 77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.10.001) since in ST students have to synthesize ideas, organize them, recognize characters and maintain a common thread with coherent beginning, development and ending (Westby & Culatta, 2016Westby, C., Culatta, B. (2016). Telling Tales: Personal Event Narratives and Life Stories. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 47(4), 260-282 https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_LSHSS-15-0073). This promotes language proficiency and is associated with academic and social development (Spencer & Petersen, 2018).

On the other hand, (ii) the use of STD improves language proficiency, specifically literacy, writing, vocabulary, oral and narrative skills in high school and college students. This finding is in the same direction as other studies (Lantz et al., 2020Lantz, J. L., Myers, J. & Wilson, R. (2020). Digital Storytelling and Young Children: Transforming Learning through Creative Use of Technology. In P. Sullivan et al. (eds.), Handbook of Research on Integrating Digital Technology with Literacy Pedagogies (pp. 212-231). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-0246-4.ch010; Oakley et al., 2020Oakley, G., Wildy, H. & Berman., Y. (2020). Multimodal digital text creation using tablets and open-ended creative apps to improve the literacy learning of children in early childhood classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 20(4), 655-679. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798418779171; Sánchez-Vera, 2019Sánchez, M., Solano-Fernández, I. & Recio, S. (2019). El storytelling digital a través de vídeos en el contexto de la educación infantil. Pixel-Bit Revista de Medios de Comunicación, 54. https://doi.org/10.12795/pixelbit.2019.i54.09) that link the use of STD with improvements in linguistic development at the narrative, oral expression and literacy levels. Creating digital stories benefits, learners of English as a foreign language, not only in linguistic competence but also in digital competence with the management of a digital resource, creativity and social-emotional skills (Rubino et al., 2018Rubino, I., Barberis, C. & Malnati, G. (2018). Exploring the values of writing collaboratively through a digital storytelling platform: a mixed-methods analysis of users’ participation, perspectives and practices. Interactive Learning Environments 26(7),1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2017.1419499; Sarıca & Usluel, 2016Sarica, H. & Usluel, Y. (2016). The effect of digital storytelling on visual memory and writing skills. Computers & Education, 94, 298-309. ). STD constitutes an attractive, multimodal pedagogical strategy that generates motivation in students due to its creative, participatory involvement and immediacy of communication (Maureen et al., 2017Maureen, I.Y., Van der Meij, H. & De Jong, T. (2017). Evaluating storytelling activities for early literacy development. International Journal of Early Years Education, 30(4), 679-696. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2021.1933917). Possibly, the fact of generating an STD favors multiple literacy in the learning and development of a language in its different oral and written linguistic competences.

In addition, (iii) the findings comparing studies with STD and ST indicate that there are more studies in which both have more positive effects on language proficiency (oral, written, and literacy skills) in secondary education and university in EFL learners in a non-bilingual context. In addition to this, the characteristics of digital resources such as interactivity and immediacy generate a playful, active and discovery learning, preparing the story in advance, selecting images and sounds, as well as vocabulary, grammatical structures and pronunciation for better understanding (Trichopoulos, et al., 2023Trichopoulos, G., Alexandridis, G. & Caridakis, G. (2023). A Survey on Computational and Emergent Digital Storytelling. Heritage, 6(2), 1227-1263. ). For Sambell & Brown (2020Sambell, K. & Brown, S. (2020). Assessment, learning and teaching in higher education: covid-19 assessment collection. https://sally-brown.net/kay-sambell-and-sally-brown-covid-19-assessment-collection ) the way technology is implemented in teaching is relevant to student learning and performance. For this reason, English teachers in EFL classrooms in non-bilingual educational contexts should use digital tools because they constitute a complement that enriches pedagogical practice (Almusharraf, 2021Almusharraf, N. (2021). Incorporation of a game-based approach into the EFL online classrooms: students’ perceptions. Interactive Learning Environments. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2021.1969953 ). To this end, teacher education and training in technology are essential to create more creative and interactive classrooms (Kleimola & Leppisaari, 2022Kleimola, R. & Leppisaari, I. (2022). Learning analytics to develop future competences in higher education: a case study. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19, 17. https://doi/org/10.1186/s41239-022-00318-w).

These results have important practical implications for the education of EFL learners in a non-bilingual educational context in and out of the classroom. Students’ ability to interactively engage in stories enhances language proficiency (Hava, 2019Hava, K. (2019). Exploring the role of digital storytelling in student motivation and satisfaction in EFL education. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1650071) which can be stimulated in the classroom or at home with everyday digital resources. In the classroom, teachers can conduct various activities (stories, lectures, etc.) using STD to enhance speaking and guide students toward meaningful learning. This technique puts the teacher as a mediator and the student as the center of learning promoting their autonomy (Crespo-Cárdenas & Cárdenas-Cordero, 2021Crespo-Cárdenas, V. C. & Cárdenas-Cordero, N. M. (2021). Storytelling como estrategia de enseñanza-aprendizaje para desarrollar el lenguaje en Educación Inicial mediante cuentos. Cienciamatria. Revista Interdisciplinaria de Humanidades, Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología, 7(13), 122-137. https://doi.org /10.35381/cm.v7i13.475). At the same time, the teacher needs the formative skills to employ technology as a complement in teaching, transforming the classroom into a more creative and interactive environment (Asratie et al., 2023Asratie, M. G., Wale, B. D. & Aylet, Y. T. (2023). Effects of using educational technology tools to enhance EFL students’ speaking performance. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11562-y). At home, family members can use this pedagogical strategy as a stimulation to favor second language learning in non-bilingual children whose language is limited and requires scaffolding, relying on visual elements to produce the oral story such as illustrated sheets or albums (Betancourt & Caro, 2020Betancourt, Y. M. & Caro, M. (2020). ¿Cómo reportan los niños las voces propias y ajenas en sus relatos de experiencia personal? Un enfoque del desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa-narrativa infantil. Lingüística y Literatura, 41(78), 84-108. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.lyl.n78a04; Rizqiyani & Azizah, 2018Rizqiyani, R. & Azizah, N. (2019). The Influence of Wordless Picture Book to Improve the Ability of Storytelling among Preschool Students. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 326, 427-430. https://doi.org/10.2991/iccie-18.2019.74). However, one must keep in mind in ST and STD the complexity and familiarity of the events narrated in the story always have to be adapted to the age, because they may influence the final linguistic performance (Heilmann et al., 2009Heilmann, J., Miller, J., Iglesias, A. & Francis, D. (2009, June). Differences in oral narratives as a function of story in bilingual children. Paper presented at the Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI.).

This systematic review shows the need for more empirical studies with quantitative and experimental data to analyze the positive effects of the use of ST and STD. This seems to indicate a lack of systematization in the studies on this subject. In addition, the existence of samples (two studies) only of women may modulate the results in a certain sense. In addition, the temporal window of age used as a way of including more studies, from early stages to the end of university studies, is a source of bias, because different evolutionary stages and international educational systems with differences in the organization of second language teaching are compared. Therefore, the limited number of publications found does not allow further analysis to clarify the positive effects of the use of ST and STD. It was indeed decided to examine only studies from certain open databases to facilitate the reader’s access to these works, but, on the other hand, this may have conditioned the results in some way.

Both ST and STD (incorporating digitization) constitute a pedagogical strategy that allows the integration of knowledge from different subjects and is used at different educational stages (Davis & Waggett, 2006Davis, M. & Waggett, D. (2006). Enhancing Pre-service Teachers’ Reflective Practice via Technology Competencies and ePortfolio Development. In C. Crawford, R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin, J. Price, R. Weber & D. Willis (eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2006-Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 3106-3107). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/22567). Moreover, with the continuous updating and diversity of digital tools, the magnitude of the effectiveness of each of them in English can be tested. In this current line, reference is made to the incipient artificial intelligence and its imminent use in educational teaching, although in classrooms the approach is still presented as uncertain and intriguing, one could question whether it is right for machines to create our stories and remain exclusively human. On the other hand, stories told by artificial intelligence could pose a threat by introducing stereotypes, prejudices, nationalities and religions, among other aspects (Trichopoulos, et al., 2023Trichopoulos, G., Alexandridis, G. & Caridakis, G. (2023). A Survey on Computational and Emergent Digital Storytelling. Heritage, 6(2), 1227-1263. ).

References

Resumen

Una revisión sistemática de los efectos positivos de la narración de cuentos para la competencia lingüística del inglés como lengua extranjera

INTRODUCCIÓN. La narración digital es una estrategia pedagógica enriquecedora que promueve la competencia lingüística/ o la alfabetización en contextos educativos monolingües. Sin embargo, faltan estudios que muestren evidencias comparativas basadas en datos cuantitativos sobre los efectos positivos de la narración digital para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en un contexto educativo bilingüe o no bilingüe. El propósito de esta investigación es determinar los efectos positivos del uso del storytelling/storytelling digital para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en un contexto bilingüe o no bilingüe de inglés en relación con la competencia lingüística (destrezas orales y escritas). MÉTODO. Para alcanzar este objetivo, se realizó una búsqueda de literatura científica desde el año 2000 hasta la actualidad en las bases de datos Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, Scielo y Dialnet. RESULTADOS. Los resultados obtenidos indican mejoras en las destrezas orales y narrativas con el uso de ST y STD en todas las etapas educativas y un mayor dominio de la lengua en educación secundaria y universidad en contextos no bilingües. DISCUSIÓN. Estos resultados empíricos sugieren las implicaciones útiles de ST y STD en contextos monolingües en varios idiomas para aumentar el desarrollo académico, personal y profesional en línea con los ODS de la Agenda 2030.

Palabras clave: Narración, Narracción digital, Bilingüismo.

Résumé

Une revue systématique des effets positifs de la narration pour la compétence linguistique de l’anglais comme langue étrangère

INTRODUCTION. La narration numérique est une stratégie pédagogique enrichissante qui favorise la maîtrise de la langue ou l’alphabétisation dans des contextes éducatifs monolingues. Cependant, il y a un manque d’études qui montrent des preuves comparatives basées sur des données quantitatives sur les effets positifs de la narration numérique pour l’enseignement des langues étrangères dans un contexte éducatif bilingue ou non bilingue. MÈTHODE. L’objectif de cette recherche est de déterminer les effets positifs de l’utilisation de la narration numérique pour l’enseignement des langues étrangères dans un contexte anglais bilingue ou non bilingue en ce qui concerne les compétences linguistiques (orales et écrites). Pour atteindre cet objectif, une recherche de littérature scientifique de 2000 à aujourd’hui a été effectuée dans les bases de données Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, Scielo et Dialnet. RÉSULTATS. Les résultats obtenus indiquent une amélioration des compétences orales et narratives grâce à l’utilisation des ST et STD à tous les stades de l’éducation et une plus grande maîtrise des compétences linguistiques dans l’enseignement secondaire et à l’université dans des contextes non bilingues. DISCUSSION. Ces résultats empiriques suggèrent les implications utiles des ST et STD dans des contextes monolingues dans différentes langues pour augmenter le développement académique, personnel et professionnel en ligne avec les ODD de l’Agenda 2030.

Mots-clés : Narration, Narration numérique, L2, Bilinguisme.

Perfil profesional de las autoras

Mercedes Pérez Agustín (autora de contacto)

Trabaja como profesora ayudante doctor en la Facultad de Educación de la UCM y sus líneas de investigación se centran en el uso del storytelling y los cuentos para la enseñanza y aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera.

ORCID: htpps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9178-7405.

Correo electrónico de contacto: mapere65@ucm.es

Dirección para la correspondencia: c/ María Panés, 9, 4.ºE. 28003 Madrid (España).

Cristina de-la-Peña Álvarez

Trabaja como profesora titular de MIDE en UNIR. Sus líneas de investigación se centran en la comprensión lectora a edades tempranas y la mejora de la adquisición del lenguaje a partir de distintas variables afectivas y emocionales.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1176-4981.

Correo electrónico de contacto: cristina.delapena@unir.net