A PROJECT ON DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN A PRACTICAL ENGLISH COURSE

Abstract

Training of pre-service teachers of foreign languages and world literature to use technology in their workplace is an important part of their professional growth, as the global pandemic and military aggression against Ukraine have exacerbated the need for blended and distance learning. The search, selection, and use of new, effective digital tools for teaching foreign languages and world literature in the educational process remains relevant given the rapid development of digital technologies and the need to develop the communicative and the methodological competences of future teachers. The article describes a project on digital storytelling in the Practical English course, discusses the benefits of using digital storytelling in foreign language and world literature classes. According to the checklist developed by the teacher together with the students, pre-service teachers carried out digital storytelling projects that required them to develop and create their own digital narratives, consider the criteria for selecting digital storytelling tools to use in their teaching practice, and reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of such projects. Data were collected and analyzed from fifteen higher education students who prepared digital stories as a speaking task in the Practical English course. The results showed that the experience of creating their own digital stories deepened pre-service teachers’ understanding of this process, contributed to the development of their communicative and methodological competences, and influenced their identification of the benefits of digital storytelling in foreign language and world literature classes.