Storytelling Supported by Technology: An Alternative for EFL Children with Learning Difficulties

• Published in: TOJET the Turkish online journal of educational technology Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 297 - 307
• Main Author: Lee, Sy-ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Adapazari Sakarya University 01.07.2012
• Subjects: Action Research; At Risk Students; Attitude Measures; Attitudes; Behavior Change; Children; Educational Improvement; Educational technology; English (Second Language); English as a second language instruction; Foreign Countries; Improvement Programs; Influence of Technology; Interactive learning; Intervention; Interviews; Keywords; Language Acquisition; Language attitudes; Learning; Learning disabilities; Learning Motivation; Learning Problems; Motivation; Motivation Techniques; Multimedia Instruction; Native language acquisition; Observation; On-line systems; Oral reading; Pretests Posttests; Questionnaires; Recording; Second language teachers; Sentences; Story Telling; Storytelling; Student Attitudes; Student Motivation; Taiwan; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods; Technology Uses in Education; Visual Aids; New York; United States > US; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1303-6521; 1303-6521

This action research aims to investigate how technology improves the conditions of storytelling to help enhance the learning attitude and motivation of EFL children with learning difficulty using power point designs and an online recording systemVoiceThread (http://voicethread.com/). The use of power point designs is to assure children of clear illustrations and print during storytelling. VoiceThread is used to present the story with audio and visual aids to help children review keywords and read aloud simple summarizing sentences. By online practicing, children were more involved in the storytelling and language acquisition process, chances rarely available in the regular class. Twenty Taiwanese EFL children determined learning-at-risk took part in this one-year project; survey questionnaires, storytellers ethnographic notes, and teacher interviews were collected to examine the progress in terms of their changes in attitude, motivation, and responsiveness to storytelling and English learning. Results showed that the improvement in the task of reading aloud was of small magnitude; their attitude and motivation, however, did improve noticeably in their more active responses to the stories presented using technology and more cooperative behavior in related activities. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]