CHAPTER 1

The Influence of Digital Storytelling on Paying Attention Among Preschool Children

Puchong area

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher explains the purpose of digital storytelling and why it is
significant. To begin, an introduction of study is provided in order to show the real purpose of
this research. The most significant elements that must be included in the thesis are the research
objectives, the research questions and problem statement. The research could not be carried out
without these three sections. It is essential to conduct study in order to reach a desirable goal. It
is common for a researcher to encounter difficulties when conducting research. Thus, the chapter
concludes with a limitation of study. To bring this chapter to a close, a summary is written at the
end.

1.2 Background of Study

Digital Storytelling refers to the process by which diverse people share their stories and creative
imaginings with others. Digital storytelling blends the ancient art of storytelling with a range of
contemporary tools to weave stories together with the author’s narrative voice, including digital
images, graphics, music and sound. Digital storytelling, as both a teaching method and a learning
resource, has been applied in many innovative ways at all levels of education. Digital storytelling
supports student learning and allows teachers to adopt innovative and improved teaching
methods. Storytelling is a proven and popular pedagogy, while digital storytelling is relatively
recent and still seldom used in the setting of early childhood education.

Storytelling is an important teaching resource with a strong presence in all societies since the
evolution of human language and has a highly effective role in the education of young children .
Young children enjoy reading, writing and listening to stories, and from the stories, they are able
to understand more about Effective of digital storytelling society and life in general. Telling and
dramatizing stories is a fairly widespread addition to the pre-school curriculum, primarily
because of the exposure this practice has gained through Vivian Paley’s writings that addressed
the effects of storytelling on social and cognitive development of children

Both storytelling and story reading have been found to be successful educational strategies that
create signifcant improvements in language acquisition in young children improve their oral or
spoken language develop reading comprehension make sense of basic mathematics explain
science prepare for school communicate effectively help children to learn and appreciate their
world improve cross-cultural communication and promote moral and social Storytelling has
grown and developed over time, adopting a dynamic, contemporary presence through settings
and functions. Emergent digital technologies transform the complexity of storytelling and open
up new avenues for collaborative Digital storytelling is a creative process that mixes
conventional storytelling with digital technology, including a computer, video camera, and sound
recorder It is a modern pedagogical initiative that has arisen from the proliferation of digital
technology .

As confirmed by Armstrong , computers, digital cameras, editing software, and other

technologies are becoming more readily accessible in the classrooms, and provide learners and
teachers with the tools to create digital stories more easily than ever before (Armstrong [2003]).
Furthermore, digital storytelling helps students to develop their creativity to solve important
problems in innovative ways (Ohler [2008]). It is an effective pedagogical tool that enhances
learners’ motivation, and provides learners with a learning environment conducive for story
construction through collaboration, reflection and interpersonal communication. Students can use
multimedia software tools as well as other technology skills to create digital stories based on
given educational issues.

Digital storytelling supports students’ learning by encouraging them to organize and express their
ideas and knowledge in a distinctive and meaningful way (Robin, 2008). Digital stories allow
educators to gain insights into children’s learning. It has also proven to be a powerful resource
for inspiring teachers to engage in conversation with their young audiences and to teach and
promote the comprehension of the story’s facts and messages (Kosara & Mackinlay, 2013). As
teachers and students discuss stories, it may encourage students to turn their experiences,
perceptions, and imagination into narratives. Digital stories are versatile ways to have a voice
(Nilsson, 2010). Educators use digital storytelling as a motivational tool to draw students
attention and increase their interest in seeking new ideas. It is a deeply refective learning
resource and the self-representation of its creators (KullaAbbott & Polman, 2008; Nelson &
Hull, 2008). It allows the creators not only to express themselves but also to convey their view of
the world and to refect and evaluate their thought in a cyclical cycle and inevitably record
progress.

Nowadays, in young children’s lives, screen media is becoming more and more popular.
Research indicates that preschoolers are often familiar with digital technology before being
introduced to books (Brody, 2015; Hopkins et al., 2013). Digital storytelling has strengthened the
conceptual understanding of the course material by the preschoolers more than conventional
storytelling. Digital stories even allow children younger than six to understand a new language.
Young children are able to enjoy a story through digital media, without understanding how to
read it (Judge et al., 2004). They could enhance listening and communication skills by learning
how to organize their thoughts, ask a question, express opinions, and construct narratives while
interacting with others and computers in the creation of digital stories.

1.3 Problem statement

According to research, when we listen to the stories, different parts of our brain actively follow
the events of the story, as if we experienced the scenario in real life, therefore children become
active participants and can contribute to the reconstruction of the narrative. Other studies validate
that the story involves areas of the brain responsible for cognitive control emotions ,empathy and
socialization (Berthoz et al., 2002). Thus, stories contribute to the construction of knowledge and
to the transformation of the abstract into the concrete, by attributing meanings to imaginary,
fantastic and magical contents. According to Cozolino (2017), the brain develops best if four
aspects are taken into account in the design of lessons:
1.3.1 - teacher-child relationships are "full of support" because learning is best done in the
context secure relationships

1.3.2 - stress conditions are reduced and activated emotions are positive

1.3.3 - there is a balanced focus on thoughts and emotions

1.3.4 - stories are used creatively

As in traditional storytelling, most digital stories focus on a specific topic, but approached
through digital technologies, as the name suggests. Digital stories usually contain a mixture of
computer images, text, narration, audio recordings, videos, music, etc. This is the new frontier of
storytelling and is based on the combination of the art of inventing a story and the use of
multimedia tools.

With a clear description, digital storytelling provokes strong emotions, so it is one of the
innovative pedagogical approaches that can engage children in deep, meaningful and
transformative learning, as it has become a modern approach to traditional storytelling that
allows almost anyone to use various digital technologies to create stories using static or moving
images, on a musical background, combined in accordance with the author's creativity and
innovation (Smeda, Dakich, & Sharda, 2014).

Digital stories can be used in different study subjects at different age levels, but also in the case
of students with hearing and visual disabilities. They can also be an effective teaching, learning,
or assessment strategy for students' knowledge and skills. In order to be accessible both online
and offline, digital stories can be translated into interactive digital books or digital story libraries.

One of the main problem of digital storytelling is children might face lack of technologies skills
since they are still young and they need more guindance , at times parents wont let them to use
without parents knowledge .Therefore children wont have the exposure on this technology skills.
Nevertheless children might need longer time frame to adapt to this method, because other than
learning at school children do need extra coaching from their parents whereas most of the parents
don’t have enough time on this. In addition to this not all the children can afford to own such
gadgeds such as laptops , smartphone, computer and etc.
1.4 The Purpose Of The Research

The purpose of research on digital storytelling in the classroom is to explore the impact on
children's attention.

1.5 Objective Of Study

1.5.1 To explore the effect of digital storytelling on preschool children attention in the Puchong
area

1.6 Research Questions

1.What are the effect does the children gets in digital storytelling?

2.Does digital storytelling give effects on attention for preschool children?

1.7 Conceptual Framework

Diagram shown are the content of conceptual framework of the research. The theory and
philosopher by Reggio Emilia . The Reggio Emilia approach aims to support children to use their
own way of communication such as cognitive, gestural, expressive, or symbolic in an
environment, which allows children to reflect their own ideas, behaviours, and culture (Edwards
et al., 2012; Moss, 2016; Rinaldi, 2004a). Similarly, Nutbrown and Abbott (2009) state this
approach allows children to be creative by using different modes to communicate and express
themselves. It values their interests and promotes child responsibility, discovery, exploration,
empowerment, participation of the family, community, and autonomy. For example, in a Reggio
classroom the use of text, image, and audio are used during the interactions among the
practitioners and the children. Also, movement and dance are highly considered in the Reggio
Emilia approach as an important part of everyday routines and interactions. These aspects are
strongly linked with multimodality, because they use different modes where children can freely
express themselves to communicate their thoughts and ideas. The Reggio Emilia philosophy
encourages discovery, exploration, and creativity. There are a lot of inherent factors within this
philosophy that describe the quality of interactions among adults and children. This paper
analyses them and demonstrates the link with multimodal learning. The Reggio Emilia approach
demonstrates that children have a hundred languages to communicate and these are through
expressive arts (Strong-Wilson & Ellis, 2007). In a Reggio school, children are encouraged to
participate in a variety of expressive art activities such as sculpture, dramatic play, shadow play,
puppetry, painting, dancing, music, ceramics, construction, and writing (Giardiello et al., 2014).
This is important because such practices support young children to develop all areas of learning
and understanding, not only the logical and linguistic. Children through expressive arts are
encouraged to use all their senses to seek a greater understanding through observation, analysis,
and piecing together what they experience (Valentine, 1999). In a similar vein, the hundred
languages give to the child the capacity to communicate through a variety of means, such as
gestures, glances, emotion, dance, music, sculpture. The Reggio Emilia approach is an
educational philosophy that focuses on experimental learning in educational environments where
children are the centre of their learning journey. Therefore, the philosophy of the Reggio Emilia
approach provides emphasis on the environment of the educational setting, the physical
environment, participation, family, and community involvement. As defined by Edwards et al.
(2012), the hundred languages of children are a key principle in the Reggio Emilia philosophy,
which allows children to share their thoughts and ideas using different ways of communication
such as gestures, drawing, movement, music. This enables the practitioners to use
developmentally appropriate ways to support children to expand their academic and social
potential and being free to share their ideas with the world surrounding them (Valentine,1999).
Additionally, the hundred languages of children also denote endless opportunities each child
naturally takes advantage of during their free time activities. An example of these activities could
be dancing, talking, painting, writing, and acting. This knowledge encourages children’s
initiatives and also creates a secure positive environment, which supports each child individually
in their educational journey.

1.8 Importance of Study

1.8.1 Enhance Social Development

Digital storytelling can also enhance social development by allowing students to share their
stories with a wider audience, which can help to build empathy and understanding between
different groups of people. It can also help to promote social and emotional learning by
encouraging students to reflect on their own experiences and to share their own perspectives with
others. Finally, digital storytelling can help to promote digital citizenship by encouraging
students to use technology in a responsible and ethical way.

1.8.2 Develop Communication and Presentation Skills

Another important aspect of digital storytelling is that it can help students to develop their
communication and presentation skills. By creating and sharing their stories, students can learn
how to effectively communicate their ideas and perspectives to others, which can be a valuable
skill in many different areas of life. Additionally, digital storytelling can help to promote
creativity and innovation by encouraging students to think outside the box and to come up with
new and unique ways of telling their stories.

1.8.3 Promote Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills

Digital storytelling can also help to promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills by
encouraging students to analyze and interpret information, to identify patterns and relationships,
and to make connections between different ideas and concepts. By engaging in the process of
creating and sharing their stories, students can develop a deeper understanding of complex issues
and can learn how to approach problems from multiple perspectives.

1.8.4 Develop Language

Digital storytelling in early childhood can help children to develop their language. By telling
stories, children can learn to express themselves in a more effective and meaningful way, and can
also develop their vocabulary and grammar.

1.9 Limitation of Study

The research of digital storytelling faces several limitations, including a lack of research articles
on the topic and limited access to data. While digital storytelling has become increasingly
popular in recent years, there is still relatively little research on its effectiveness as an
educational tool, particularly in different contexts and with different audiences. Additionally,
accessing data on learners digital storytelling activities can be challenging, particularly for
educators and researchers who may not have the necessary tools or expertise to analyze it
effectively. However, there are tools and resources available to help educators and researchers
collect and analyze data on digital storytelling, which can help to address this limitation

1.8 Operational Definition

1.8.1 Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is the use of digital media to tell stories, share information, and communicate
ideas. It combines traditional storytelling techniques with multimedia such as images, audio, and
video to create a compelling narrative. It is a powerful tool for educators to engage students in
the learning process and develop a range of skills. This digital storytelling research refer to
children 6 years old and below
1.8.2 Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning aims to organize class activities. Also, it aims to into a social and
educational learning experience. Also in it, students work together in groups to perform a task.
John Dewey the education reformer introduced this theory. It is the responsibility of the teacher
to carefully select the group. Each member is responsible for learning. And also, to teach what is
taught to their teammates.
Cooperative learning in digital storytelling for children can be a fun and engaging way to
promote active listening, comprehension, and critical thinking skills, as well as creativity and
self-expression. By working together to create digital stories, children can develop their
communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, cooperative learning in
digital storytelling can help children develop their listening skills by providing opportunities to
actively listen to and respond to the ideas and perspectives of their peers. By working in groups,
children can also benefit from the diverse perspectives and experiences of their peers, which can
help broaden their understanding of different cultures and perspectives. Cooperative learning in
digital storytelling can be particularly effective in promoting engagement and motivation, as
children are more likely to be invested in the learning process when they have a sense of
ownership and responsibility for their work.

1.8.2 Social Development

Social development refers to the process by which a child learns to interact with others around
them. As they develop and perceive their own individuality within their community, they also
gain skills to communicate with other people and process their actions. Social development most
often refers to how a child develops friendships and other relationships, as well how a child
handles conflict with peers.
Digital storytelling can promote social development by encouraging collaboration, sharing
perspectives, and building empathy and understanding. It provides a platform for students to
express themselves, connect with others, and develop important social skills
Social development focus to the gradual process by which a child learns to interact with others,
form relationships, and develop a sense of self in relation to others. During this stage, children
learn important skills such as communication, empathy, cooperation, and conflict resolution.

1.8.3 Attention
Stories provide a realistic and authentic opportunity to capture students attention and help them
listen and learn more actively than other forms of instruction by providing a vehicle to bring
facts to life, make the abstract concrete and, through meaning making, make disciplinary
literacies more accessible.
1.8.4 Creative skills
Digital storytelling can be a great tool for developing creative skills in children, as it allows them
to experiment with different forms of expression and develop their imagination. By creating
stories using a range of media, including text, images, audio, and video, children can develop
their writing, visual design, and storytelling abilities. Additionally, digital storytelling can help
children build confidence in their creative skills, and provide a fun and engaging way to learn
and express themselves

1.8.5 Listening skills

Digital storytelling can also be used to promote listening skills in children. By listening to stories
created by others, children can develop their ability to understand and follow narratives, as well
as their ability to identify and analyze different elements of a story, such as plot, character, and
theme. Additionally, digital storytelling can provide a platform for children to share their own
stories and ideas, and encourage them to listen to and learn from the stories of others.

1.8.6 Speaking skill

Speaking skill in digital storytelling can help to improve children language and communication
skills. It can also help to build their confidence and creativity. By learning to tell stories, children
can develop their imagination and empathy, and learn to express themselves in a more effective
and meaningful way. Moreover, speaking skill in digital storytelling can help children to build
their confidence and self-esteem. When children learn to speak in front of others, they gain
valuable experience and practice that can help them in many areas of their lives.

1.8.7 Preschool
In Malaysia the minimum age for preschool enrolment are 4 to 6 years old, that offers
developmentally appropriate learning opportunities to build the child’s social and academic skills
and to prepare them for the transition into first grade, and for school in general. However, the
researcher will only focus on 6 years in this study.
 Chapter 2
Literature Review

2.0 Introduction

This chapter will look into several research and article that discussed about speaking skill among
preschool children and attention among preschool children.

2.1 Previous Research

2.1.1 Speaking skills

According to the Linguistics Application Center, speaking is a skill to communicate effectively
with others and includes selecting words that suit the topic and the listener, paraphrasing,
providing feedback, changing the direction of dialogue, clarifying, using body language and
facial expressions, and where to speak as to reach the audience with the highest level of
understanding and attract attention. In the current study, speaking is the response of students in
an appropriate manner and participation in conversations in a convincing manner without
stuttering, and using full sentences and expressing knowledge of a wide range of vocabulary.
Aprianto and Zaini (2018) argue that every language has skills that are integrated. As one of the
four language skills, speaking is vital for language teaching and learning however, it is obvious
that oral skills are not taught intensively in language classrooms mainly because they are not
included in tests, so teachers tend not to use precious class time for oral production while giving
priority to teaching grammar, written, or reading skills (Corbett, 2003).
Goh and Burns (2012) confirm that vitality of speaking as an essential language communication
skill and that its importance to language learners goes beyond just day-to-day communication.
Speaking can facilitate language acquisition and contribute towards the academic development
of many second language learners. Teaching speaking skills also faces some problems that are
not related to the fact that some teachers feel uncertain about their spoken language proficiency
and avoid speaking the target language in class and provides few opportunities for the students to
speak in class but spring from the condition that some students may be afraid of making mistakes
and being criticized.
Beside that ,Attention develops considerably over the preschool years. Early on, beginning in
infancy, exogenous attention develops, as an automatic response to highly salient stimuli. Later,
children develop endogenous attention, engaging voluntary control over attention (Fisher,
Thiessen, Godwin, Kloos, & Dickerson, 2013). Moreover, the ability to focus and maintain
attention is fundamental to the development during the preschool period and beyond, as children
become more proficient in directing the attention needed for working memory, inhibitory control,
and cognitive flexibility. According to the results of research, the attention span of children of
ages 5-7 is 15 min., while it is 20 min. for children of ages 7-10 and it changes in the range of
25-30 minutes for children of ages 10-12.
In this period or rapid psychological development, cognitive concepts of “attention” and
“concentration” gain importance. When the literature is visited, it is seen that attention is a multi-
dimensional cognitive aspect, and it is effective in learning, recalling, communication, problem
solving, perception and all other cognitive fields. The importance of concentration is emphasized
especially for success at school. Hence, individuals can be trained towards concentrating on a
subject and their existing capacities can be improved. Concentration on a subject may be taught
via education starting from early ages.
Researchers state that the turning point of the development of attention is the age 5-6. They argue
that developments are seen in selective attention in parallel to aging in children of age 6-14, the
psychological development in this period evolves from the preoperational period to tangible
operations period and finally the abstract operations period, and the modification and
continuation of the attention process is explained by Piaget’s states of psychological
development. Besides, attention of small children is rather towards discovering their
environments. Also, the attention behaviour in later ages is more active, rational, systematic,
planned, continuous and oriented towards goals.
According to the (Meryem, MuhsiN, Zekihan ,2016) it is highly difficult for children to maintain
their attention during education and training. Thus, individuals get bored after some time and
they get distracted. This in turn obstructs perception and learning permanently. One of the
benefits of learning by playing is its quality of intensifying attention. As games facilitate the
transition students from a passive state to an active one, they achieve more attention in
comparison to other learning methods.
Apart from that, pictures seem to attract children’s interest and attention, and due to their
exciting and inspiring narrative framework picture books are often used as pedagogical materials
in preschool education. In picture books, the pictures and narrative usually interact and support
each other, which helps children maintain their attention and anticipate forthcoming occurrences.
Nevertheless, decoding the meaning of a story or the notions involved is a complex undertaking,
and relates to the child’s ability to make use of cultural tools to structure their thoughts (Shiyan
et al., 2018). Thus, at the same time as reading a picture book requires cognitive tools to
understand relations between chronology, story and pictures, the outline directs children’s
attention and promotes different skills (Göbel et al., 2018), which may have educational
implications.
2.1.2 The Concept of Speaking

Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving
and processing information, Brown (1997, p.12). According to Webster (1991, p.224) speaking
means the ability to utter words orally or with the ordinary voice. The activity of speaking occurs
almost every time in our life, for example, while teaching and learning activity, walking with
friends, having dinner with family and etcetera. Many language students assume the speaking
ability as the measure of knowing the language. They define fluency as the ability to converse
with other, much more than the ability to read, write, or comprehend oral language.

2.2 Speaking Functions

It is noted that communicative competence emphasized the importance of the rules for
appropriate use, or communicative form and function in integral relation to each other being
important for the function of speaking skills (Katherine, 2017). To master speaking skills in
English is a priority for many second and foreign language learners that is why several language
experts have attempted to categorize the functions of speaking in human interaction. The
classification of speaking as a function can be shown in two main aspects. They are interactional
and transactional functions. The pedagogical implications for planning, implementing, and
evaluating speaking activities are the ways to illustrate the specific characteristics of both
functions to identify the differences between them and how to analyze them.
Brown and Yule (1989) urge that the interactional language is mainly listener-oriented because
its main concern is how to reshape social relationships. They declare that the interactional chats
are considered shifting topics with a great deal of agreement on them, where speakers, in such
conversations, do not challenge each other, argue, or require repetition of something that the
other person has said, since they usually end up feeling comfortable and friendly with each other.
The examples of such kind of interactions are people meeting each other on a bus or train for the
first time, at parties, or at the beginning of a new lecture course.
More recently, Richards (2008) uses a new version of Brown and Yule's classification of spoken
language. It comprises three aspects, talk as interaction, talk as transaction, and talk as
performance. Based on this classification, he provides examples of each type of talk and
mentions some of the necessary skills to develop.

2.3 The Relations between Storytelling and Speaking

The system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular
country (Hornby. 2000, p.752). Oral storytelling performances and workshops directly support
the development of literacy by enriching the teaching of speaking and listening skills. We cannot
write a language without we can speak it. We cannot speak a language without we have to listen
to it. Krish (2001, p.2-5) states that there are some activities in teaching speaking such as role
play, stimulation, information gap, brainstorming, storytelling, interviewing, story completion,
reporting, and playing card. There are many activities can be given to the students in speaking
class such as role play, information gap, reporting, etc. This activity can be more interesting for
the students in getting the ideas from the storyteller and the students can share their own stories
with digital tools. Storytelling can make the students try to explore their ideas in their mind, built
up their confidence to stand in front of the people even strange, and it is one of activities can do
in speaking class.

2.4 Talk as transaction

Speaking as transaction is more focused on message that is conveyed and making others
understand what we want to convey clearly and accurately. In this type of spoken language,
students and teacher usually focus on meaning or talking what their way to understanding. In the
case of talk as transaction, this author asserts that its main features are the facts that it has a
primarily information focus, it is centered on the message and not on the participants, speakers
employ communication strategies to make themselves understood, there may be frequent
questions, repetitions, and comprehension checks as well as negotiation and digression. He
finally remarks that linguistic accuracy is not always important (Richards, 2008).

2.5 Digital storytelling in the EFL classroom

Digital storytelling is an effective and time-saving tool that can be manipulated for various
purposes within the classroom environment. It can provide teachers with an unprecedented way
of presenting new information to learners (Robin, 2008). Thus, it becomes a good opportunity to
avoid dull teaching cycles and spices up lessons with joy and curiosity, two crucial factors
leading to learning. Besides, digital storytelling makes it possible to present abstract content in
such a concrete way that students may find it easier to relate to the topic and elaborate from there
(Robin, 2008). Most importantly, students might also be asked to create their own individual or
collective digital stories, through which they can cater to their own learning (Sadik, 2008).
Digital storytelling can be used in the classroom for a variety of purposes, and it can contribute
to students in several different ways. Students can shoot videos of themselves or other people or
objects; or record their voices to narrate a certain story. They can capture photographs of
themselves, other people, or objects and build a story in sequences of images or photo albums.
They even might draw caricatures or create comic stories through digital tools which provide
them with several ready-made features.
According to Robin and Pierson (2005), learners who take part in the making of a digital
narration acquire how to organize thoughts, state their opinions on a given topic, and tell a
complete story, which will improve their communication in return. On the other hand, digital
storytelling gives learners chances to share with others (or an audience) what they have created.
This is nothing but an opportunity to help students realize the motives behind what they are
doing and feel significant in the face of connecting with others (Jakes, 2005).

2.6 Digital storytelling for teaching speaking

Many studies done to show the effectiveness of storytelling, especially with young learners,
reveal that it is a successful technique yielding productive results. A study carried by Abasi and
Soori (2014) investigated if storytelling had any effects in improving English vocabulary
learning skills of kindergarten students .The participants were 20 children (11 girls and 9 boys in
total) with average age of five. All the children were taught by the same teacher using the same
textbook, which was the story of The Three Bears in this particular research. The children were
given picture vocabulary tests in a pretest/post-test scheme to compare their vocabulary
performances before and after the treatment. The statistical results of one-sample Kolmogorov-
Smirnov test suggested that the children performed better in the post-test than they did in the pre-
test, with a statistically significant increase in their mean scores. This finding suggests that
storytelling is an effective way to boost the vocabulary learning skills of young learners of EFL
Another similar study on teaching English vocabulary by Cubukcu (2014) aimed at finding out if
the technique of Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS), which was formed by Blaine Ray
in 1988, could contribute to the lexical skills of school students. The participants were 44 sixth
grade school students in the city, 22 of whom were in the control group studying the 20 target
vocabulary in a text while the other half were the experiment group learning the same group of
words through storytelling and personalization. When the results were analyzed, it was observed
that the experiment group had significantly higher scores than the learners in the control group.
Therefore, storytelling, and its component of personification, influenced the vocabulary learning
skills of school learners of English. The researcher also stated that TPRS was a fun way of
learning vocabulary as creativity for both the teacher and the learners is in the core of this
technique.

2.7 Storytelling Technique

Storytelling is reading or listening activity that learners remember from reading or listening and
retell what they recognize both through speaking or writing (Morrow, 1989). This technique is
one of the appropriate ways to improve student’s speaking skill especially to encourage students
to speak in front of public. It is a tool for developing student’s anxiety in speaking (cited in
Morrow, 1996). According to Miller and Penny Cuff (2008), storytelling in the classroom is one
way to improve oral language. In line with this, Pellowski (cited from Eliwarti, 2013) states that
storytelling is one of the arts or crafts of narration of stories in verse/and prose. He also states
that storytelling is an effective instructional strategy for enhancing the comprehension of
proficient and less proficient students (Pellowski, in Eliwarti, 2013). It means that, storytelling
story is a component of authentic assessment that can be introduced when the students
demonstrate proficiency in identifying key story element. Hence, storytelling can play an
important based assessment of speaking role performance. From the definitions above it can be
concluded that storytelling technique is an appropriate ways and beneficial teaching technique to
improve students’ speaking skill or oral language comprehension from the information that they
have read and listen students’ can be understanding about parts of information.
However, in kindergarten, storytelling is mostly carried out independently from other
instructional activities. Instead, it is predominantly used as a moment of relaxation in between
main tasks, or as an attention-getter at the beginning of the day. It is mostly employed as a
complementary activity in early education classrooms (Roslan 2008; Wells 1986). Hence, while
storytelling can indeed be relaxing and entertaining, it also has the advantage of communicating
narrative structures. These involve the elements of setting, theme, characters, plot and conflict
that allow storytelling to provide a model of speech, a context for learning and a way to expand
imagination, which all contribute to literacy development (Sintonen, Kumpulainen, and
Vartiainen 2018).
Apart from that, there is a considerable body of research on the effects of storytelling
interventions on children’s story-related abilities, including story comprehension and the
acquisition of story structures such as diction, grammatical structure and content (Wessel-Powell,
Kargin, and Wohlwend 2016).

2.8 Conclusion

From the previous results, it can be concluded that digital storytelling is an effective strategy that
incorporates the authentic ways of knowing a text into instruction. In addition to improving the
performance in the areas of listening and speaking (oral language), digital storytelling has a great
impact on second language learning. The effectiveness of digital storytelling may be due to
merging a variety of activities and tasks that encouraged the pupils to develop their EFL oral
proficiency. At the begging of the intervention, some pupils were not able to speak because of
being afraid of negative assessment and making mistakes in pronunciation during speaking
English. By using many activities such as role play, taking turns and oral discussion, the pupils'
fear of participation decreased. It can be concluded that using digital storytelling was effective in
developing the speaking skill of the experimental group.