The Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling through Vlogging in Enhancing EFL Students' Speaking Skills: A Quasi-Experimental Research

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of digital storytelling through vlogging in enhancing EFL students’ speaking skills. A quasi-experimental design was employed involving 30 eighth-grade students, consisting of 15 students in the experimental group and 15 students in the control group. The experimental group was taught through digital storytelling via vlogging, while the control group received traditional speaking instruction. The research instruments included a speaking pre-test, a speaking post-test, and an analytical speaking rubric assessing five aspects of speaking performance: pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and content. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Mann–Whitney U Test. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups (U = 32.000, Z = −3.383, p < 0.001), indicating that the null hypothesis was rejected. Furthermore, the effect size analysis showed a large practical effect (r = 0.618). The experimental group demonstrated greater improvement in speaking performance than the control group, with the highest gains observed in content (0.87) and fluency (0.80). These findings indicate that digital storytelling through vlogging is an effective instructional strategy for improving EFL students’ speaking skills. Integrating digital media with storytelling activities provides meaningful opportunities for language practice and supports the development of students’ overall speaking performance.