


































Children and Teenagers  
ISSN 2576-3709 (Print) ISSN 2576-3717 (Online) 

Vol. 3, No. 1, 2020 
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ct 

33 

 

Original Paper 

Digital Storytelling or Traditional Storytelling to develop EFL 

Students’ Oral Communication? 

Mahmoud Kamal Ibrahim Mostafa
1* 

1 
English Department, Faculty of Arts, Jouf University, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia  

* 
Mahmoud Kamal Ib rahim Mostafa, English Department, Faculty of Arts, Jouf University, A l-Jouf, 

Saudi Arabia  

 

Received: January 19, 2020     Accepted: January 31, 2020     Online Published: February 18, 2020 

doi:10.22158/ct.v3n1p33                             URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ct.v3n1p33 

 

Abstract 

The present study investigated the effect of storytelling versus digital storytelling on developing fifth 

year EFL primary school pupils’ oral communication performance. The study adopted the 

quasi-experimental design. Sixty pupils of Dr. Ahmed Zewail primary School were distributed into two 

experimental groups. One group served as the first  experimental group (n=30) who was taught in 

digital storytelling, whereas the second experimental group (n=30) was taught in traditional 

storytelling. The experiment lasted for six weeks. The instruments o f the study included an oral 

communication skills test, an oral communication checklist, a semi -structured interview and a 

reflective log. They were approved by a panel of jury. Results indicated that there was a statis tically 

significant difference between the mean scores of the first experimental group and that of the second 

one on the post-administration of the oral communication test for the first experimental group. 

Moreover, results revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the responses of 

the first experimental group and that of the second one on the post -administration of the 

semi-structured interview favoring the first experimental group. As such, it was concluded that 

storytelling versus digital storytelling had a positive effect on developing fifth year EFL primary pupils’ 

oral communication performance. 

Keywords 

storytelling, digital storytelling, EFL oral communication performance 

 

 

 

 



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1. Introduction  

Referring to the Egyptian education system and its relat ion to English as a foreign language (EFL) 

teaching and learning, the status of English in Egyptian schools has changed from an optional subject 

to a compulsory one. Most school children speak Arabic as their first language, English as second and 

French or German  are their third or foreign language (Haridy, 2012). Elmeshad (2012) states that the 

ministry of education of Egypt (MOE) started implementing English in schools in the 1860s. Gradually, 

teaching English language in primary schools as a relatively new global phenomenon started in Egypt 

in the 1990s. Generally speaking, the link between knowledge of English and success in changing 

Egyptian environment and in the global economic community has resulted in a growing demand for 

English language proficiency among individuals, sufficient enough to meet  the new societal and g lobal 

market needs (Akkari, 2004). Despite many large scales, Ministry of Education (MOE) in itiatives to 

change language pedagogy in the Egyptian context, most classrooms and schools remain unchanged 

and evidence of improvement is still limited (Ginsburg, 2010). For example, with respect to adopting 

communicat ive language teaching approaches as a way of improving the English language teaching 

and learning practices. Concerning the primary education, Juraid (2016) states that English as a global 

language has spread in primary schools in many non-English speaking countries. In addition, Thapa, 

Cohen, Guffey, and Higgins D’Alessandro (2013) argue that pupils can learn literacy skills through 

instruction and practice of speaking, reading, writing and listening. Oral communication is a way of 

exchanging informat ion through the sense of hearing and making  meaning from what was pract iced. 

Schady (2011) stated that childhood period is the most rapid period of development in human life. 

Some children may develop at their own pace but most children progress through an identifiab le 

sequence of physical, cognitive, social and emot ional growth and change. 

Moving to oral communication, Jalongo (2008) assures that oral communicat ion prepares young 

children for later better learn ing. On the other hand, Raghavendra, Olsson, Sampson, Mcinerney, and 

Connell (2012) submitted that it  is crucial for a ch ild  to develop good communication skills in order to 

cope with the academic demands of school and to learn adequate literacy skills. In the same line, Ahern, 

Bermejo, and Fleta (2008) declared that Oral Communication Skills (OCSs) were usually placed ahead 

of work experience, motivation, and academic permits as criteria for new recru itment for employment. 

Communicat ion skills help children to guide their self-inquiry and discover their individual possibilities. 

(Mostafa, 2017) stated that children who are active communicators can incorporate the things they hear, 

chants and short stories, faster in their framework of knowledge than a passive counterpart. In his own 

view, Tramel (2011) observed that Children can also exh ibit better concentration and memory when 

they develop good communication. Shiel (2012) explain that oral communicat ion is the child’s first, 

most important, and most frequently used structured medium of communication.  

In addition, and most significantly, oral communication is the primary mediator of culture, the way in 



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which children locate themselves in the world. Basically, oral communication is about communicating 

with other people. It involves a process of utilizing knowledge and skills in o rder to listen and speak 

effectively. 

Zhang (2009) asserts that pupils who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL) usually have limited 

opportunities to communicate in English outside the classroom and also have limited exposure to 

English speakers or members of the international community. Th is might be one reason for teachers to 

provide more situations, activities, and strategies for pupils to strengthen their OCP such as storytelling. 

Nowadays educational institutes are constantly developing new techniques for sounds, pictures, and 

prints. ST is used as the most basic level of communicat ion- person-to-person. Past research has shown 

that teachers often ignore the OCSs in classrooms assuming these skills are already developed. Patil 

(2008) asserted that building up the learner's performance was a prio rity that the teacher should 

consider in order to make the learner feel comfortable with their language use. Songsiri (2007) assures 

that OCSs could be developed from an appropriate syllabus design, methods of teaching, and sufficient 

tasks and materials which are included in ST. Digital Storytelling (DST) provides pupils of 10-11 years 

old with more opportunities to create and communicate different story texts (e.g., personal stories, 

historical stories, and Quran ic stories) in English through different modes of communication, such as 

visualizing and writing ideas, using technology to document and present their stories as a historical 

diary, and using more meaning-making resources such as photographs, video clips, art, music, script 

text, audio narration, and sound effects. In this way, the pupils will learn integrated language skills, 

such as writing, speaking, listening, and reading through the creation of digital stories. Widodo (2016) 

said that as Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) continues to flourish, research into this area 

has begun to grow. Despite this, there remains a lack of classroom-based studies in English as a Foreign 

Language (EFL) context. Werner (2011) suggests using one of the participatory activities such as DST 

for improving Oral Communication Performance (OCP). In addition, we know little about how young 

learners interact with technology such as digital stories to learn English or how they work multimodal 

texts such as digital stories. In addition, if children are engaged effectively, there will be a great 

potential for creat ivity, and a passionate commitment to things which interest them. Tatum (2009) 

argues that almost nothing more exciting than a class of involved young people at this age pursuing a 

learning goal with enthusiasm as it  happens in DST. Our job, therefore, must be to provoke student’s 

engagement with material which is relevant and involving. At the same t ime, we need to do what we 

can to bolster our pupils’ self-esteem and be conscious, always, of their need for identity. 

In this respect, the researcher suggests that ST and DST can be one of those activities/strategies which 

encourage pupils to learn and practice English. ST is an aspect of oral communication which 

encourages young learners to be active during the learning process. It is not a one-way act as there are 

usually at least two people involved, a teller and a listener. Norrick (2000) declares that ST provides 



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familiar th ings to children and creates an active interaction amongst pupils. If a topic is difficult to 

explain to children, we can integrate the topic into a story. ST presents the solution which might help 

children to visualize the textbooks and understand them better.  

In this study, to engage pupils in meaning making-oriented English learning, ST and DST are 

introduced because this category is rarely taught in Egyptian primary schools, and it is a new strategy 

suggested to be included in Egyptian English curricula. In the context of primary schools, ST helps to 

share knowledge, wisdom, morals and cultural values. With this in mind, teachers may be encouraged 

to include stories in their language classrooms. 

 

2. Method and Procedures 

The current study methodology includes the research design, the participants and sample selection, the 

research instruments (oral communication checklist, semi-structured interview, pre-posttest, and the 

reflection log), the pilot study, and the procedures used for data collection as well as the data analysis. 

The study aimed to improve pupils’ English OCP via ST/ DST.  

2.1 Research Design 

The present study used the quasi-experimental design to detect the effect of using ST versus DST to 

develop the English OCP of primary fifth pupils at Dr. Ahmed Zewail primary school. Two groups 

were selected to represent the experimental groups: the first experimental group (n=30 t aught according 

to DST) and the second experimental group (n=30 taught according to ST). The whole experiment from 

beginning to the end lasted for six weeks. The results of the pre-post tests were analyzed using t-tests 

for independent samples to investigate if there was any significant difference between the mean scores 

of the two groups and between the pre-posttest for each group as well.  

2.2 Participants of the Study  

The participants of the study consisted of 60 pupils from the fifth year at Dr. Ahmed Zewaill primary 

school, New Damietta for the academic school year (2017-2018). They were divided into two 

experimental g roups: the first group (n=30) and the second group (n=30). The first experimental group 

was taught in using the DST to improve their English OCP and the second experimental group was 

taught in using regular ST to improve their English OCP. The following table shows the distribution of 

the participants. 

2.3 Variables of the Study  

To assure the results’ accuracy and avoid any marginal interference, the groups were randomly chosen 

from a purposive sample (150 5th grade pupils) from Dr. Ahmed Zewaill p rimary school where the 

researcher works by using the following procedures: 

• The participants were filtered by drawing out pupils who have a hearing or sight impairment.  



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• The researcher divided the participants into two groups by choosing the individual numbers for 

the first experimental g roup and the even numbers for the second experimental group to avoid bias.  

• The researcher tried to control some variables before apply ing the study: 

1) Age variab le: The researcher recorded the pupils' ages from their school files at the beginning of the 

school year (2017-2018) 

2) Determin ing the equivalence between the two experimental groups:  

To make sure that the participants are equivalent in their previous English language achievement, the 

researcher admin istrated the pre- achievement test. The results of the participants were recorded and 

statistically analyzed by using T-test. Table 1 Shows the mean and the standard deviation of each group 

in English previous learning. The results indicate that there are no statistically  significant differences 

between the first experimental group and the second experimental group at (0.05 ) level. 

2.4 The Instruments and Materials of the Study  

1) The Oral Communication Skills checklist. 

2) A pre-posttest for assessing pupils’ EFL oral communication skills. 

3) The semi-structured interview of the fifth-year primary pupils. 

4) Reflect ive log  

2.4.1 The OCSs Checklist 

The Oral Communicat ion Skills Checklist:  

 The purpose of the checklist: 

The checklist aimed at determining the most important OCSs to be developed  for the fifth  year EFL 

primary school pupils and constructing the oral communication pre-posttest.  

 Sources of the checklist:  

In order to construct a checklist of the most appropriate OCSs for the fifth year EFL primary pupils to 

be the basis of the pre-post oral communication test, the researcher made use of the following sources; 

a. Rev iewing the relevant literature and related studies of oral communication and ST/DST.  

b. Questioning specialists and experts in the field of TEFL.  

c. Reviewing the specifications of the activities assigned to the fifth year EFL Language primary pupils 

in the Teachers’ Guide to determine if there was anything related to OCP skills.  

 Checklist Description:  

After rev iewing the sources, it could be concluded that the relevant  literature is fu ll of OCSs and every 

researcher and specialist divided them according to his variables and participants. While choosing the 

skills, the clarity and the appropriateness of these skills to the fifth year EFL primary pupils were taken 

into consideration. Therefore, an init ial checklist including seventeen OCSs thought to be appropriate 

to the fifth year EFL primary pupils was designed. The skills were written in a logical order according 

to the pupils’ stage and the nature of the text they were going to tackle (see Appendix, A).  



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 Checklist Scoring:  

To let the jury be confined to a particular standard, the seventeen OCSs were put in three levels of 

importance. Each level of importance was given an estimated value. The first level (very important ) 

was assigned 3 marks. The second level (important) was assigned 2 marks. The third  level (not 

important) was assigned one mark.  

 Checklist Admin istration: 

The checklist init ial form was submitted to a TEFL panel of the jury (7 members) to determine the 

degree of importance and the appropriateness of each skill to the fifth year EFL primary  pupils. 

Moreover, the panel of the jury was kindly requested to modify, omit, or add to the OCSs checklist 

whatever they considered important. The jury recommended some modifications; 

1) Restating the following skill: “listen to identify the words of a story” to “listen to identify the 

keywords of a story”.  

2) Omitting some skills  

3) Confin ing the research to a fewer number of skills to be more manageable and applicable for the 

final form of the OCSs checklist and for all the modifications  

 Checklist Validity: 

In order to obtain the content and the face valid ity of the OCSs checklist, the jury responses were 

statistically calcu lated. The researcher selected the skills that were agreed upon at least by 80% of the 

jury members. The ju ry indicated 7 skills to be valid, very important and required for the fifth year EFL 

primary pupils. Then, two formulas were used to get the percentage and the relative weight of each 

sub-skill. 

After validating the checklist, it was concluded that there were seven English OCSs to be valid, very 

important and required for the fifth year EFL primary  pupils. Consequently, those skills were used as a 

basis for the pre-post OCSs test.  

The selected OCSs were operationally defined as follows: 

- Listening to identify  the keywords of a story: pupils try  to identify the keywords during  listening 

to the story. 

- Listening and repeating sentences in a story: pupils’ ability to repeat full sentences cut out of the 

story. 

- Listening and answering some questions in a story: pupils think out of the box reflect their 

understanding of the story events. 

- Listening and rearranging the parts of a story: pupils’ ability to predict  the init ial and forthcoming 

parts of a story. 

- Describing some p ictures of a story: pupils’ ability to form ideas about things they watch. 

- Playing a character role in a story: pupils’ ability to imitate and impersonate others. 



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- Retelling parts of a story: pupils’ ability to restate and recap the events of a story. 

2.4.2 The Oral Communicat ion Skills Test 

 Purpose of the test: 

The main purpose of the test was to measure the EFL pupils ’ performance level in the identified seven 

OCSs before and after implementing the tradit ional ST and DST in  teaching Time for English syllabus. 

Another purpose of administering the posttest was to identify if there was any difference between the 

two experimental groups (digital and traditional ST).  

 Test Description: 

Based on the identified seven OCSs, the final version of the oral communication test was designed. The 

test consisted of seven questions. All the skills were given the same score for the final fo rm of the oral 

communicat ion test  

 Test Validity: 

Different facets of validity; fo rmative and self-validity  were used by the researcher. The format ive 

validity was obtained by examin ing the content presented to the two experimental groups (tradit ional 

and digital) with the purpose of determining its objectives to be measured by the test. 

a. The self-validity  

This was done through the square root of the validity Coefficient which reached (0.86), and it is a  high 

coefficient valid ity which indicates the accuracy of the phrases of the test and their abilities to measure 

what they are intended to measure. 

b. Construct validity: 

The validity of the sub-skills of the test was calculated as follows: 

The calculation of the coefficient correlat ion between the score of the subtest and the total test. 

 

Table 3. Es tablishing Test Construct Validity 

The contents of the test Coefficient correlat ion Significance at (0.01) 

Listening  0.712** Significant  

Speaking  0.608** Significant  

 

Table 3 proved that the OCSs test was statistically valid.  

 Test Reliability: 

In order to verify the test reliability, the internal consistency method was used. Cronbach's Alpha 

technique was calculated by (SPSS) program using (Coefficient Alpha). Accordingly, the test was 



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administrated to a randomly drawn group of (20) the fifth year primary pupils at Ahmed Zewail School. 

Those pupils were not included in the study groups. The reliability coefficient of the test was 0.74, see 

Table 3. So, this result proved that the OCSs test was statistically reliable.  

 

Table 4. Finding Test Reliability 

The test Alpha 

Coefficient  0.74 

 

After analyzing  the statistical value of the previous table, it  can be said  that the coefficient consistency 

of the test as a whole is high which mean that the test was high in the consistency and steadiness. 

 Test Piloting: 

The test was administered to a pilot sample of 20 EFL fifth year primary pupils in order to make sure 

that the questions were understood by pupils. Based on piloting the test, it was estimated that a period 

of 40 minutes would provide suitable time for pupils to answer the test questions . The group used to 

calculate the test reliab ility was the same group used to estimate the test time. This t ime was estimated 

according to the time which is taken by all the pupils divided by their number. It was 40 minutes. 

 Test Scoring: 

The test was scored by the researcher; as the questions included in the test with its skills were 

controlled in  scoring. When scoring the question; two marks were given for a ‘complete answer’ of the 

skill; one mark was given fo r an ‘uncompleted answer’ of the skill and ze ro for ‘wrong or missed 

answer’ of the skill. Thus, the total score of the test was 14 marks as each skill was given two marks.  

 Test Instructions: 

To avoid pupils’ misunderstanding, the researcher exp lained the test content and instructions clearly 

and orally  before admin istering it. The researcher somet imes had to use the Arabic language to explain 

some instructions for the pupils in order to make sure that they understood what is required for each 

task. 

 Test Administration:  

After modify ing the test items and estimat ing the time according to the result of the test piloting as well 

as the suggestions offered by the jury, it was pre-admin istered to the two experimental groups on the 

first of October 2017. The post-test was admin istered to the two experimental groups two days after the 

experiment, which ended on the 14thof November 2017. Post-test conditions were nearly the same as 

those of the pre-test in terms of time and place. 

2.4.3 The Semi-Structured Interview (SSI) 

 The purpose of the Semi-Structured Interview 



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The Semi St ructured Interview aimed at highlighting the most important categories of pupils’ responses 

to the OCSs through ST/DST to be developed for the fifth year EFL primary  pupils and constructing 

the oral communication responses’ items post-test according to the juries’ opin ions and modifications. 

 Sources of the Semi-structured interview: 

The researcher made use of the stories included in this study, the OCSs, the specifications of the 

activities assigned to the fifth year EFL primary  pupils in the Teachers’ Guide to determine if there was 

anything related to OCP skills. He also consulted the EFL primary school teachers, the EFL researchers, 

and curriculum designers to construct the items of the Semi Structured Interview.  

 The Semi-structured interview Description: 

In order to construct the rubric of the semi-structured interview, the researcher reviewed the general 

English supervision directives of the Egyptian Ministry of Education and the relevant literature and 

related studies of the English OCSs. The semi-structured interview consisted of three main categories 

including fourteen items (Appendix, D). These items are rated for the extent to which  “the statement is 

fulfilled  by the pupil” (1=“cannot”, 2=“can hardly”, 3=“can”). The three main ca tegories are basic 

skills, content understanding skills and learning strategies skills. The basic skills (oral, written and 

digital), content understanding skills (core knowledge and personal reflect ion) and learning strategies 

skills. Those semi-structured interview items were modified according to the jury panel and used to 

measure each of the English OCSs (listening and speaking).  

 The Semi-structured interview Scoring : 

To let  the jury  be confined to a part icular standard, the semi-structured interview was designed in three 

levels of importance appropriateness. Each item of importance and appropriateness was given an 

estimated value. The first item (can) was assigned three marks, the second item (can hardly) was 

assigned 2 marks, and the third item (cannot) was assigned one mark. 

 The Semi-Structured Interview Administration: 

The researcher submitted the initial fo rm of the Semi-Structured interview to a TEFL panel of the jury 

(7 members) to determine the degree of importance and the appropriateness of each  item to  the fifth 

year EFL primary  school pupils. Moreover, the panel of the jury was requested to modify, omit , or add 

to questionnaire whatever they considered important and relevant to the v irtual world  of literature. The 

jury recommended some modifications: 

1) Restating some words in the SSI to be convenient to the current study 

as follows: 

- Replacing the word ‘story’ with the phrase ‘part of a story’ to be more specific.  

- Replacing the second and third categories in the orig inal form of the semi-structured interview 

namely ‘content understanding and learning strategies’ with a new category proved to be related to the 

current study after reviewing literature namely ‘oral skills.  



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2) Omitt ing one or two  items from each category completely (see Appendix,  D) and blending all the 

items under one subtitle as follows: 

Oral skills 

Listen to/understand stories  

Retell a part  of a story  

Identify the sounds the keywords of a story 

identify the characters of a story  

elicit what a story tells  

Play some roles of the story 

Present some informat ion of the story 

 The Semi-Structured Interview Validity 

In order to obtain the content and the face valid ity of the Semi-Structured Interview (SSI), the jury's 

responses were statistically calculated. The researcher selected the response items that were agreed 

upon at least by 80% of the ju ry members. The jury indicated three categories to be valid, very 

important and required at the fifth year EFL primary school pupils. Then, two formulas were used to 

get the percentage and the relative weight of each item. According to the Jury's responses, the 

percentage and the relative weight of each item of responses to the semi-structured interview were 

assigned and deducted the final form of the semi-structured interview. 

The Study material (Storytelling/digital storytelling) 

Procedure (sessions):  

This section covers the main procedure for the study and provides a systematic guide to teachers, 

administrators or any educationists who wish to emulate this study. 

Description  

The experiment continued for six weeks for both experimental groups as follows:  

- Concerning the second group (taught in regular storytelling) the teacher told the stories (the Campsite, 

Around the house, the Amusement Park, Food Festival, etc.) and the pupils then retold parts of the 

stories individually in simple sentences. 

- Concerning the first group (taught in digital storytelling) the teacher presented the stories using 

multimedia (computer &data show) to show pupils the stories in PowerPoint slides using audio and 

pictures 

- To  encourage the pupils to communicate orally, the teacher asked them to  retell parts of the stories in 

groups. 

- The pupils had the choice of what part of the story to act and how to present it in front of their 

classmates. (for sessions see page 148) 

Follow-Up Activit ies Steps 



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1) In the second session the teacher asked comprehension questions about the stories carefully. He used 

the usual who, what, where, when, how  

much, and why questions.  

2) He used more creat ive ways of questions like mult iple choice questions and questions that can be 

answered by inference. 

3) The teacher used exercises based on the story such as introduction of new vocabulary in lexical sets, 

rhyming sets, or grammat ical sets; verbal practice and grammat ical analysis of repeated phrases.  

4) The teacher used listening activit ies. After the story, listeners can demonstrate comprehension by: 

comparing, discriminating, p redicting, sequencing, classifying, transferring  

informat ion, etc. Unlike other listening activities, stories are often repeated, but never in exact ly the 

same words.  

a) The teacher did oral act ivities. Choral read ing, story fill– in, add-on stories, building a tale from 

key words, etc.  

b) The teacher used discussion topics which are taken from the story ’s themes.  

c) Students retold their favorite parts of the stories. 

8) The teacher asked pupils to rewrite and summarize the story activities.  

9) The teacher encouraged pupils to use visual activities. They used posters, models, collages, crafts, 

masks, puppets, mobiles, photos, picture stories, blackboard drawing, etc.  

10) He encouraged them to do creative drama activities. He prepared dialogues from the stories which 

can be recited or retold. 

11) The teacher organized story corner where pupils can read stories of their own choice and at their 

own pace. 

The Role of the Teacher  

A critical friend was the English teacher for other fifth grade classes who is very experienced in 

teaching English to that grade level took part in the experimentation procedures t o help the researcher 

accomplish this work. 

Group work 

The researcher created six five-member groups in the fifth grade in each experimental group. He asked 

each group to arrange and retell the story parts to encourage their oral communication. In The Camp site 

and around the house and Around the House stories, the teacher told the beginning of the story and 

each group was encouraged to think and expect the end of the story in their own words. In the other 

story the Campsite, he told the beginning and the end of the story and pupils were encouraged to create 

the middle. Some of the shy pupils told short but vivid endings and middle parts, whereas the more 

outgoing pupils gave longer and more viv id components. The teacher observed pupils throughout the 

story, both when he was telling the stories and when their peers were telling one, to see their reaction. 



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Pupils’ reactions (smiling, laughing, some pupils even writ ing new words down, etc.) suggested that the 

method was effectively communicative.  

Group story outline 

In one set (3 groups) using DST and the other set (3 groups) using traditional ST, pupils decided just to 

have scripts with pictures to act on (picture reading). However, in  six groups, story outlines and scripts 

with some sketches representing the pictures they intended to draw were handed to the teacher at the 

end of the lesson, for assessment and feedback. Pupils handed in the assessment form, which the 

teacher went through and gave written comments to mot ivate them.  

Assigning Roles 

Group members came to  a settlement after long discussions as to what roles each member should take. 

It turned out that the original criteria under which the groups were formed changed in most of the 

groups. According to pupils, some of the members were better at play ing certain  ro les than the original 

roles assigned in the creation of the group. In some cases, group members thought some other pupils 

should take certain roles (e.g., acting, drawing, etc.) other than the ones originally assigned.  

Pupils later d iscussed their decisions with the teacher, exp lain ing that those pupils were taking certain 

groups such as singing or translating and were already good in those areas. The teacher allowed them to 

change roles if they were comfortable and better in playing those roles other than the original roles 

since that would bring out the strongest intelligence in them. Even though pupils sat in groups, they 

performed different ro les, such as drawing, writing songs, or making musical noises here and there. The 

researcher sent pupils to the school’s sound room for their musical rehearsal. A ll groups communicated 

their final roles with him for corrections and suggestions before presenting them. Pupils accepted some 

suggestions and rejected others. 

Putting work together (Gallery Walk)  

Before the final, the teacher checked groups’ roles in  the stories. Pupils then made posters on which 

they pasted their drawn pictures according to the beginning, middle and end of their stories. Some 

groups decided to also paste copies of their stories on posters so that after they were posted on walls, 

other pupils from other classes could see and read the stories they had presented. Pupils did the final 

rehearsal of their stories, ready for presentation in the next step. 

Presentation of group stories 

Pupils came to school more dressed up than usual on the day of their presentation. Pupils’ enthusiasm, 

smiling faces and the way they carried themselves suggested that they were proud of the stories roles 

and were happy to show what they had learned. The presentation started with group members saying 

their names, the tit le o f their story. Stories had both narrators and translators in the Arabic language. 

One pupil from each group narrated the story; other pupils pointed to the pictures with a pointer; others 

sang or recited poems, and the more outgoing pupils became the translators for the stories. Group 



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members who had drawn pictures for their group story introduced themselves as the helping group. The 

whole process brought the scenes of both The Campsite and  Around the House stories in  the school 

playground that day. 

At the end of the presentation, pupils were given fifteen minutes to respond to a semi-structured 

interview generally about how they liked  telling and p laying the roles of the stories and the ST method 

in teaching them. 

 

3. Results  

The first hypothesis: 

“There is a statistically significant difference (α ≤ 0.05) between the mean score of the first 

experimental group (taught in digital storytelling) on the pre-post oral communication test, in favor of 

the post administration”. 

The following table shows the results reached: 

 

Table 6. T-test Results of the Pre and Post Measurements of the First Experimental Group 

(Taught in Digital Storytelling) 

Oral Skills 

The experimental group 

(taught in digital 

storytelling) 

N Mean 
Standard 

deviation 
t-test Significance  

 

Effect 

size 

Listening 
The pre-admin istration 30 11.36 3.34 

5.32**  
(0.000<=0.05) 

sign 

0.46 

The post admin istration 30 14.40 3.72 Large 

Speaking  
The pre-admin istration 30 11.13 2.73 

8.44**  
(0.000<=0.05) 

sign 

0.68 

The post admin istration 30 14.53 3.17 Large 

skills as a 

whole 

The pre-admin istration 30 22.50 5.40 
8.32**  

(0.000<=0.05) 

sign 

0.60 

The post admin istration 30 28.93 5.57 Large 

 

Table 6 shows the following: 

a) Listening skills: 

As shown in Table 6, there is a clear statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the 

first experimental group (taught in digital storytelling) in the test in favor of the post administration of 

the post test. In addition, T. calculated shows that there is statistical significance which reached (5.32) 

and it is higher than T. value which  reached (1.69) at the significance level of (0.05). Therefore, the 

first hypothesis is verified as there is statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the 

first experimental group in the pre-measurement and the post measurement of listening skills in favor 

of the post-measurement.  



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Speaking skills: 

There is a clear statistically significant difference between the mean scores o f the first experimental 

group in the test in favor of the post administering. In addition, T. calculated shows that there is 

statistical significance which reached (8.44) and it is higher than T. value which reached (1.69) at the 

significant level of (0.05). Therefore, the first hypothesis is verified as there is statistically significant 

difference between the mean scores of the first experimental group in the pre-measurement and the post 

measurement of speaking skills in favor of the post-measurement. 

b) The oral communication performance as a whole: 

There is a clear statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the first experimental 

group in the test as a whole in favor of the post admin istering. In addition, T. calculated shows that 

There is statistical significance which reached (8.32) and it is higher than T. value which reached (1.69) 

at the significant level o f (0.05). Therefore, the first hypothesis is verified as there is statistically 

significant difference between the mean scores of the first experimental group in the pre-measurement 

and the post measurement of the test in favor of the post-measurement. This means that pupils' 

communicat ion performance, in general, has developed due to the experimentation. A lso, it  can be said 

that the digital storytelling has a great effect on developing pupil’s skills with a doubt degree at the 

level of (0.05). Table (6) and figure (1) shows that the digital storytelling had a positive effect on 

developing the overall o ral communication skills of the EFL fifth year primary pupils. Therefore, this 

provides enough evidence to support hypothesis one. According to the referential framework of the 

effect size, it is apparent that digital storytelling has a large effect size.  

The second hypothesis states that “There is a statistically significant difference (α ≤ 0.05) between the 

mean score of the second experimental group (taught in traditional storytelling) on the pre -post oral 

communicat ion test, in favor of the latter”. 

The following table shows the results reached: 

 

Table 7. the Results of the Pre and Post Measurement of the First Experimental  Group Pupils on 

the Skills Test as a Whole 

 
The experimental group (taught 

in tradit ional storytelling) 
N Mean 

Standard 

deviation 
t-test Significance  

 

Effect 

size 

Listening 
The pre-admin istration 30 11.33 3.55 

4.97**  Sign 
0.42 

The post admin istration 30 13.16 3.44 Large 

Speaking  
The pre-admin istration 34 11.06 2.46 

5.64**  Sign 
0.49 

The post admin istration 34 12.43 2.12 Large 

skills as a The pre-admin istration 34 22.40 4.87 7.73**  Sign 0.64 



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whole The post admin istration 34 25.60 4.70 Large 

 

Discussion 

Table 7 shows the following: 

a) Listening skills: 

There is a clear statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the second experimental 

group in the test in favor of the post administering. In addition, calcu lated T. value shows that there is 

statistical significance which reached (4.97) and it is higher than T. value which reached (1.69) at the 

significant level of (0.05), Therefore, the second hypothesis is verified  as there is a statistically 

significant difference between the mean  scores of the second experimental group in the 

pre-measurement and the post measurement of listening skills in favor of the post -measurement. 

b)  speaking skills: 

There is a clear statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the second experimental 

group in the test in favor of the post administering. In addit ion, T. calculated shows that There is 

statistical significance which reached (5.64) and it is higher than T. value which reached (1.69) at the 

significant level o f (0.05), There for the second hypothesis is verified as there is statistically significant 

difference between the mean scores of the second experimental group in the pre-measurement and the 

post measurement of speaking skills in favor of the post-measurement. 

c) Oral communicat ion Skills as a whole: 

There is a clear statistically s ignificant difference between the mean scores of the second experimental 

group in the test as a whole in favor of the post admin istering. In addition, T. calculated shows that 

There is statistical significance which reached (7.73) and it is higher than T. value which reached (1.69) 

at the significant level of (0.05). Therefore, the second hypothesis is verified as there is statistically 

significant difference between the mean  scores of the second experimental group in the 

pre-measurement and the post measurement of the test in favor of the post-measurement. Th is means 

that pupils' communication skills, in  general, has developed due to the experimentation. Also, it  can be 

said that storytelling has a great effect on developing pupils’ oral communicat ion perfo rmance with a 

doubt degree at the level of (0.05). Table 7 and show that storytelling  had a positive effect on 

developing the overall o ral communication skills of the EFL fifth year primary pupils. Therefore, this 

provides enough evidence to support hypothesis one. According to the referential framework of the 

effect size, it is apparent that traditional storytelling has a large effect size.  

The third hypothesis  states that "There is a statistically significant difference (α ≤ 0.05) between the 

mean score of the first experimental group (taught in dig ital storytelling) and that of the second 

experimental group (taught in traditional storytelling) in the post -test of oral communication.  

The following table shows the results reached: 



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Table 8. The Results of the First Experimental Group and Second Experimental Group in the 

Post Administration of the Communication Test as a whole 

 The post admin istration N Mean 
Standard 

deviation 
t-test Significance  

Effect size  

 

Listening 

The first experimental 

group (taught in digital 

storytelling) 

30 14.40 3.72 

1.33 

(0.189>=0.05) 

Not 

Significance 

at 0.05 

0.030 

The second experimental 

group (taught in 

storytelling) 

30 13.16 3.44 

Low 

Speaking  

The first experimental 

group 
30 14.53 3.17 

3.01**  

(0.004>=0.05) 

Significance 

at 0.05 

0.15 

The second experimental 

group 
30 12.43 2.12 

Large 

skills as a 

whole  

The first experimental 

group 
30 28.93 5.57 

2.50*  

(0.015>=0.05) 

Significance 

at 0.05 

0.11 

The second experimental 

group 
30 25.60 4.70 

average 

 

Discussion 

a) Listening Skills: 

Table 8 clarifies that the pupils ’ mean score in the first group of the listening skills as a whole is (14.40), 

whereas the pupils’ mean scores in the second experimental group of the listening skills as a whole are 

(13.16). So, the pupils’ mean score in the first experimental group was higher than their mean score in 

the second experimental group. The above table also clarifies that the calculated t value, which reached 

(1.33), which  indicates that there is no significant statistical d ifference between the pupils' mean scores 

in the first and second experimental group of the listening skills as a whole. It was compared with the 

value of t table in order to know the significance level. It was found to be (2.00) at the level of (0.05).  

b) Speaking Skills: 

Table 8 clarifies that the pupils ’ mean score in  the first group of the speaking skills as a whole is (14.53) 

whereas the pupils’ mean  scores in the second experimental group of the speaking skills as a whole are 

(12.43). So, the pupils’ mean score in the first experimental group was higher than their mean score in 

the second experimental group. The above table also clarifies that the calculated t value, which reached 

(3.01), which indicates a significant statistical d ifference between the pupils ’ mean scores in the first 

and second experimental group of the speaking skills as a whole. It was compared with the value of t 



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table in order to know the significance level. It was found to be (2.00) at the level of (0.05).  

c) Oral communicat ion skills as a whole: 

Table 8 clarifies that the pupils ’ mean  score in  the first group of the oral communications as a whole is 

(28.93), whereas the pupils’ mean scores in the second experimental group of the oral communication 

as a whole are (25.60). So, the pupils ’ mean score in the first experimental group was h igher than their 

mean  score in  the second experimental group. The above table also clarifies that the calcu lated t value, 

which reached (2.50), which indicates a significant statistical difference between the pup ils' mean 

scores in the first and second experimental group of the oral communications skills as a whole. It was 

compared with the value of t table in order to know the significance level. It was found to be (2.00) at 

the level of (0.05). 

The Semi-Structured Interview statistics  

The following table shows the results reached: 

 

Table 9. the Results of the First Experimental Group and Second Experimental Group in the Post 

Administration of the Semi-Structured Interview Test as a whole 

 
The post 

administration 
N mean  

Standard 

deviation 
t-test Significance  

Effect 

size 

 

listen to and understand 

the story 

The second 

experimental group 
30 3.0 - 

- 

Not 

Significance at  

0.05 

- 

The first 

experimental group 
30 3.00 - 

- 

retell a part of the story 

The second 

experimental group 
30 2.36 0.76 

1.29 

(0.200>=0.05) 

Significance at  

0.05 

0.04 

The first 

experimental group 
30 2.60 0.62 

Large 

say the key words of the 

story 

The second 

experimental group 
30 2.50 0.57 

0.61 

(0.538>=0.05) 

Not 

Significance at  

0.05 

0.01 

The first 

experimental group 
30 2.60 0.67 

Low 

Recognize the characters 

of the story 

The second 

experimental group 
30 2.80 0.48 

- 
Significance at  

0.05 

- 

The first 

experimental group 
30 2.80 0.48 

- 

elicit what the story tells  The second 30 2.26 0.78 0.72 (0.469>=0.05) 0.015 



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experimental group Not 

Significance at  

0.05 

The first 

experimental group 
30 2.40 0.62 

Average 

play the roles in the story 

The second 

experimental group 
30 2.33 0.80 

2.16 

(0.035<=0.05) 

Significance at  

0.05 

0.12 

The first 

experimental group 
30 2.70 0.46 

Low 

present some in formation  

of the story 

The second 

experimental group 
30 2.23 0.72 

2.60 

(0.004<=0.012) 

Significance at  

0.05 

0.17 

The first 

experimental group 
30 2.66 0.54 

Large 

As a whole 

The second 

experimental group 
30 17.50 2.14 

2.62 

(0.011<=0.05) 

Significance at  

0.05 

0.11 

The first 

experimental group 
30 18.76 1.54 

Average 

 

Table 9 clarifies that the pupils ’ mean score in the first group of the Semi-Structured Interview as a 

whole is (18.76), whereas the pupils ’ mean scores in the second experimental group of the speaking 

skills as a whole are (17.50). So, the pupils' mean score in the first experimental group was higher than 

their mean score in the second experimental group. The above table also clarifies that the calculated t 

value, which reached (2.62), which indicates a significant statistical difference between the pupils' 

mean  scores in the first and second experimental group of the Semi-Structured Interview as a whole. It 

was compared with the value of t table in order to know the significance level. It was found to be (2.00) 

at the level of (0.05).  

 

4. Discussion  

The results of the present study, the post-test results and the semi-structured interview results, proved 

that storytelling (tradit ional and digital) had a positive effect on developing the English oral 

communicat ion performance. Therefore , the significant difference which was found on the post 

administration may be due to exposing such sample to the reflective learn ing using storytelling. This 

result agrees with the studies of Richard (2006), Tsou, Wang and Zeng (2006), Belmonte (2007), Lester 

(2008), Rains (2009), Rahman (2010), Kearney (2011), Efrizal (2012), Alam, Bashiruddin, Ampha 

Jenprai (2013), Odoubwu and Oluwakemi (2014), and Seckin Celik (2016). which approved the 

significance of storytelling on developing the English oral communication performance of primary 

school pupils. 



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Main findings can be summarized as follows: 

1) There is a statistically significant difference between the mean  scores of the first experimental group 

(taught in digital storytelling) on the pre-post-admin istration of the oral communication test, in  favor of 

the latter. 

2) There is a statistically  significant difference between the mean  scores of the Second experimental 

group (taught in storytelling) on the pre-post administrations of the oral communication test, in favor of 

the post-test results. 

3) There is a statistically significant difference between the mean  scores of the first experimental group 

(taught in digital storytelling) and that of the second experimental group (taught in storytelling) on the 

post-admin istration of the oral communication test, in favor of the first experimental group. 

4) There were also highly significant differences between the first experimental pupils’ scores and the 

second experimental pupils’ scores on the post measurement of the semi-structured interview in favor 

of the first experimental group (taught in digital storytelling) 

5) Storytelling/digital storytelling has an effect on developing EFL oral communication performance 

among fifth year EFL primary pupils. 

Reflective Log  

What have been achieved: The current study emphasized the effect of digital storytelling on d eveloping 

the oral communication skills especially  listening and speaking. And this supported the previous 

researches results of: Richard (2006), Tsou, Wang and Zeng (2006), Belmonte (2007), Lester (2008), 

Rains (2009), Rahman (2010), Kearney (2011), Efrizal (2012), Alam, Bashiruddin, Ampha Jenprai 

(2013), Odoubwu and Oluwakemi (2014), and Seckin Celik (2016). In addition, the current study 

emphasized  the effect o f trad itional storytelling on developing the oral communication skills especially 

listening and speaking. And this supported the previous researches results of: Bas (2008), Reeder 

(2009), Hsu,Trudel and Voho (2010), Brady and Millard (2012), Leahy (2013), Eman Mohamedand, 

Hasnaa Sabry, Kirby and Perrin (2014), Byrine, Katsara and Zandian (2015), Yim (2016), and January 

and Mostafa (2017).  

What have not been achieved: The sample size was about 60 pupils and they represented one 

elementary school of thousands of schools in Egypt. This was one of the limitations which faced the 

researcher as it was difficu lt to generalize the results on all the Egyptian elementary schools. So, the 

researcher hopes that the results could be generalized  on all the elementary schools to improve the oral 

communicat ion performance. 

 

5. Conclusions 

This chapter presented the findings, discussions of results. Accordingly, the main question which stated 

“What is the effect of storytelling vs digital storytelling on developing the primary school pupils ’ EFL 



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oral communicat ion performance?” was answered as it was approved that there is a highly significant 

difference between the mean scores of the pre and post admin istration of the two experimental groups 

test in favor of the post one. In addition, it was proved that the first experimental g roup’s performance 

was higher than that of the second experimental group. Summary, recommendations derived from these 

findings and suggestions for further research.  

 

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