Digital Storytelling on Social Media for Language Learning: Students' Experiences and Perceptions

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching (JLLT)

This study investigates the efficacy of digital storytelling, inspired by social media celebrity practices, as a pedagogical approach for language acquisition and intercultural engagement. Language learners developed and disseminated digital stories on social media platforms, resulting in a reach of over 60,000 viewers and facilitating substantial intercultural exchange. Through classroom observations and in-depth interviews, the study identified that the strategic incorporation of linguistic features such as wordplay, accents, dialects, idioms, and double meanings across diverse contexts significantly enhanced student motivation. Furthermore, multimodality emerged as a potent instrument for both language practice and fostering intercultural communication. Students characterised this learning experience as highly autonomous and enriching, attributing these benefits to the practical insights gained into everyday language use and the cultivation of heightened cultural awareness. These findings underline the considerable potential of social media-based digital storytelling as an effective and enjoyable methodology for language learning and intercultural communication, yielding meaningful and impactful outcomes.