Effects of offline vs. online digital storytelling on the development of EFL learners’ literacy skills

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of offline vs. online digital storytelling on the development of EFL learners’ literacy skills (reading and writing). Forty-two lower intermediate language learners participated in the study as the experimental (n = 21) and control groups (n = 21). The Reading-Writing section of the Key English Test was administered to both groups before the treatment so as to assess their reading and writing skills in English as a foreign language. Process-oriented writing instruction was subsequently given to both groups for a period of five months. The experimental group was trained to undertake the process of writing using an online platform, while the control group benefited an offline content producing program in writing instruction. Both groups’ literacy skills were assessed once more at the end of the intervention. The results of Analysis of Covariance primarily revealed that the literacy skills of those who produced their stories with the online platform improved significantly in comparison to the control group, who had worked with the offline software. Further, the results revealed a positive and significant correlation between the hours members of the experimental group spent on working with computers and the development of their literacy skills.

Keywords

• literacy skills
• online
• offline
• digital storytelling