The effectiveness of digital storytelling in developing oral fluency and establishing intrinsic motivation when used within a total physical response approach to foreign language teaching

Resumen

The Justification for the Research: The ability to communicate in a second or foreign language brings many benefits both to the individual and to wider society however, according to Asher the problem of how to achieve fluency in a foreign language is perhaps one of the most complex tasks in human learning (“The Learning Strategy of the Total Physical Response: A Review” in The Modern Language Journal; v50 n2 p79-84 February 1966). Appreciating the benefits brought by being able to communicate in another language and in recognition of the complexity associated with achieving fluency this research has examined the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool, specifically it addresses the question of whether digital storytelling engages and motivates learners and supports the development of their oral fluency. In addition, by examining the relationship between traditional games, devised to reflect the total physical response approach and the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool the research has also sought to address the question of whether the total physical response approach (TPR) is developed by the use of digital storytelling. The Need for the Research: As a genre digital storytelling was developed in California during the 1990’s and has been used to give a voice to people wanting to tell stories about identity, family, relationships, community, health, healing, place, the environment and about work, social justice and human rights. It has increasingly been recognised as a powerful pedagogical tool in a variety of educational disciplines and is associated with a number of benefits including: 1. the acquisition and consolidation of knowledge and skills; 2. heightened engagement and motivation towards learning activities; 3. the acquisition of digital literacy skills; 4. improvements in overall academic performance; 5. the development of writing, technical, presentation and research skills; and 6. advancements in higher order thinking, social, language, reflection and artistic skills; Whilst acknowledging the existence of a body of research that has examined the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool in the foreign language classroom this research can be distinguished from that previously undertaken and, in making that distinction it has sought to extend the current corpus of knowledge by focussing on the development of oral fluency. Typically, we understand fluency in terms of an individual’s language proficiency particularly with regard to grammar and vocabulary and it is this understanding that is reflected in the existing body of research where the focus has been on such speaking skills. In contrast, this research focuses on oral fluency, a term used to describe the “flow, continuity, automaticity, or smoothness of speech” and how such oral fluency is reflected in the conversation of confident and creative speakers of foreign languages (Koponen, M. and Riggenbach, H. (2000) ‘Overview: Varying perspectives on fluency’, in Riggenbach, H. (ed.) Perspectives on fluency. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press., pp. 5–24). It is on this basis, a paucity of existing research on this issue that it might be said that there is a need for research into the use of digital storytelling and the development of oral fluency. A further need for this research might also be seen in its focus on the use of digital storytelling and the establishment of intrinsic motivation. Whilst much has been written on the subject of motivation and on the significance of intrinsic motivation in foreign language learning, a review of existing literature examining the use of digital storytelling suggests there is a paucity of research examining motivation and engagement and that of those studies that did so none were concerned with the development of intrinsic motivation. Therefore, in the absence of research examining the use of digital storytelling and the establishment of intrinsic motivation it is possible to argue that there is a need for research of this nature to be undertaken. The Methodology: Best described as following a quasi-experimental design model the research took the form of a longitudinal group study and was undertaken in a private language academy with 22 participants aged between 5 and 13 and conducted over the 2016-17 academic year. Longitudinal studies have been recognised as being an effective means to evaluate the usefulness of specific pedagogical tools and was therefore an appropriate method for this study concerned as it was with the use of digital storytelling in the language classroom. A number of additional benefits were also associated with the nature of a longitudinal group study. Principally, it allowed for large amounts of data relating to each participant to be collected over time thereby providing a greater degree of comprehensiveness and representativeness than might otherwise have been obtained, this was particularly important as the study involved a relatively small number of participants. A further benefit was that it allowed for a mixed methodological approach, drawing on both qualitative and quantative data from primary sources. Qualitative data was collected from the direct observation of the participants and from reflective diaries completed by the participants at the end of each lesson. Quantative data was collected using: 1. an oral fluency evaluation rubric addressing communication skills; 2. motivational surveys; 3. activity preference survey; 4. a lesson content log maintained by the researcher throughout the research period which recorded the distribution of activities within and between lessons; and 5. the reflective diaries completed by the participants. Whilst quasi-experimental design is an established model used to support research across the social sciences, including linguistics, it does have drawbacks, most notably the risk that the internal validity of the study will be undermined by the existence of confounding variables which impact on the causal relationship that the research is seeking to demonstrate. In this study it was recognised that a participant’s exposure to English outside the confines of the research group constituted a confounding variable that was capable of impacting on whether a causal relationship could be established between the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool and the development of oral fluency and the establishment of intrinsic motivation amongst the participants and to address this risk and to maintain the internal validity of the study quantative data was collected by means of a survey to establish the degree to which the participants had been exposed to English outside of their digital storytelling experience. The external validity of the research, that is the degree to which any results might be generalised outside the study is supported by the fact that the study was conducted in a natural setting reflecting the real-life experiences of the teacher (researcher) and the student (participants). Such real-life experiences as these can be appropriately generalised to the wider population and in such a way demonstrate external validity. The Conclusions: As regards the development of oral fluency, data analysis established the following: 1. the greater the percentage of digital storytelling experienced in the classroom, the greater the degree of oral fluency and on this basis, it is possible to state that the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool does impact positively on levels of oral fluency; and 2. whilst the use of digital storytelling has the potential to have significant impact upon the development of oral fluency, when students are placed in groups where there are disparities in age and proficiency levels the potential impact of digital storytelling on oral fluency is diminished. As regards the establishment of intrinsic motivation data analysis demonstrates some evidence to suggest that the use of digital storytelling can contribute to the development of intrinsic motivation insofar as it relates to the aspects of the knowledge and stimulation aspects of motivation. Worthy of note are the results which appear to suggest that gender is a factor in the development of intrinsic motivation and that females exposed to the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool are more likely to develop intrinsic motivation than males. It is also possible to make a case for the argument that using digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool develops the TPR approach to foreign language teaching. With its emphasis on oral fluency this research focuses the development of a productive skill and in so doing moves away from the passive skill of listening exemplified by the TPR approach. However, it has further sought to examine whether a relationship exists between digital storytelling and the TPR approach and has done so through the use of traditional games designed to reflect the TPR approach alongside the use of digital storytelling. Using analogic reasoning to review the qualitative data obtained from the reflective diaries maintained by participants throughout the study this research has been able to identify parallels between the use of traditional games and the use of digital storytelling. Based on these parallels and the reported positive analogous reactions of the participants to both the use of traditional games and digital storytelling it is possible to conclude that the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool in the language classroom does develop the total physical response approach. The final point of note is that the research was conducted as part of the general teaching provision in a private language academy and as such took place within a teaching environment that equates with that experienced by practitioners themselves and that it did so over an entire academic year. In this environment and over such a period of time the teacher / researcher and the students / participants experienced all the vicissitudes of life in the classroom, both the highs and the lows. This lends credence and validity to the message about digital storytelling. It also demonstrates the practical realities of using digital storytelling; which, when taken together with its effectiveness as a pedagogical tool can make it an attractive option to practitioners.