INTRODUCTION 1
Rationale of the study
Oral presentation is one of necessary skills in communication in general and English language learning in particular As Jing L (2009, p.iii) stated, “Oral presentation is an important skill to convey one’s ideas in communication” Its significant role is obviously confirmed in both theory and practice That is why presentation skills have been included in teaching curriculum of a variety of schools, colleges, universities and institutions in the world Students are required to be good at presenting after graduation so that they can communicate successfully in society in general and in their work in particular
As a four-year teaching experience English teacher, the researcher finds that students at Nghe An Teacher Training College have difficulties in presentation skills during and after studying at the college Via classroom observation and discussion with colleagues, the author realizes it is a must to help students improve their presentation skills After having different small talks to three classes of first year English major students, the researcher find out some reasons why they are weak at presentation skills, namely shyness, lack of confidence, lack of vocabulary
After studying different sources, the author decide to choose Digital Storytelling to support students’ presentations and would like to examine its effects on their presentations
Digital Storytelling is an Information Communication Technology (ICT) tool which is widely used in education Obviously, ICT has been widely applied at many schools, colleges and universities in the world Similarly, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET) has given different policies with the purpose of applying
ICT in teaching and learning As requested by MOET, all teaching institutions have to integrate ICT in teaching and learning, especially teachers have to “reasonably use ICT in every subject, avoid ICT abuse” (MOET, 2008, p.3)
In the line with ICT guidelines of the MOET, lecturers and students at Nghe An Teacher Training College are encouraged to use ICT in teaching and learning effectively Several workshops and teaching competition are organized at the college
The above situation urges the researcher to conduct the study “Using Digital Photo Storytelling to improve English presentation skills for first year students of Foreign Language Department at Nghe An Teacher Training College”
I.2 The objectives of the study
The study examines to what extent DS improves the presentation skills of first year EFL students at Nghe An Teacher Training College, Vietnam
The objectives of the study are:
- Examine how DS improve the presentation skills of students
- Investigate students’ opinions about using DS in presenting
To fulfill the above objectives, the research questions are:
1- To what extent does DS help improve presentation skills of 1 st year EFL students at Nghe An Teacher Training College?
2- What are students’ opinions about using DS in presenting?
Due to the limited time and school schedule, the target group of study is fourteen first year EFL students at Nghe An Teacher Training College
The study employs action research Action research is proved to be an effective approach because the study aims at improving students’ presentations within a certain context
Two mock presentations, journals of students and questionnaire are conducted
The research hopes to be valuable to both teachers and students who are interested in applying ICT in active teaching and learning Firstly, this study contributes experiences in active teaching and learning process in the college Secondly, it provides a particular finding to indicate whether the use of ICT, especially DS improves foreign language learning Last but not least, it is a good opportunity for the researcher to gain knowledge in conducting research
The study is divided into three parts, which are presented as follows
Part I is the introduction, which states the rationale, aims and objectives, scope, methods, significance and the overview of the study
Part II is the development of the study which consists of four chapters
Chapter 1 is theoretical background, which presents necessary literature related to the study
Chapter 2 is research methodology, which describes how the study was carried out at Nghe An Teacher Training College
Chapter 3 is data analysis and discussion
Chapter 4 is findings and some suggestions for better application of digital storytelling in education
Part III is the conclusion which summarizes the study and gives some recommendations for further study.
Scope of the study
Due to the limited time and school schedule, the target group of study is fourteen first year EFL students at Nghe An Teacher Training College.
Methods of the study
The study employs action research Action research is proved to be an effective approach because the study aims at improving students’ presentations within a certain context
Two mock presentations, journals of students and questionnaire are conducted.
Significance of the study
The research hopes to be valuable to both teachers and students who are interested in applying ICT in active teaching and learning Firstly, this study contributes experiences in active teaching and learning process in the college Secondly, it provides a particular finding to indicate whether the use of ICT, especially DS improves foreign language learning Last but not least, it is a good opportunity for the researcher to gain knowledge in conducting research.
Overview of the study
The study is divided into three parts, which are presented as follows
Part I is the introduction, which states the rationale, aims and objectives, scope, methods, significance and the overview of the study
Part II is the development of the study which consists of four chapters
Chapter 1 is theoretical background, which presents necessary literature related to the study
Chapter 2 is research methodology, which describes how the study was carried out at Nghe An Teacher Training College
Chapter 3 is data analysis and discussion
Chapter 4 is findings and some suggestions for better application of digital storytelling in education
Part III is the conclusion which summarizes the study and gives some recommendations for further study.
DEVELOPMENT 5
THEORITICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter is concerned with some of the most important issues relating to the application of DS in students’ presentation, namely oral presentation, presentation skills in language learning, the role of ICT in language learning and DS – notion and uses
Presentation is the act of showing something or of giving something to somebody (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2005, p.1190)
According to Scott (cited in Jing L 2009, p.4-5), “oral presentation tends to present ideas and information in an interactive way” He also said that oral presentation can be
“a particularly effective way to communicate your concept and complex ideas because the presenter can use overhead projector and other visual aid and the audience can ask for further clarification.” In other words, Scott addressed the importance of oral presentation in communication
Generally speaking, oral presentation is a way to express the presenter’s ideas to formally communicate with other people
According to Whatley R P., there are five types of oral presentation namely informative, instructional, arousing, persuasive and decision-making
Informative presentation: the purpose of the presenter is to give information to the audience about things or facts
Instructional presentation: it might last longer than informative presentation because it addresses to specific directions or orders New knowledge or a new skill is presented in this type of presentation
Arousing presentation: as its name, this type of presentation is to arouse the audience’s interests or feelings to solve an issue or a problem which the presenter mentions
Persuasive presentation: the presenter presents an issue with evidence and sufficient logic to convince the audience
Decision-making presentation: the audience is persuaded to take an action in the presentation They will know what and how to carry out the presenter’s requests
It can be seen clearly from the above that Whatley categorized oral presentation based on the purpose of the presenter In spite of basing on the same criterion, oral presentation has been categorized into two types on the website of Hampden-Sydney College namely informative and persuasive presentation
Although oral presentation has been categorized differently, each type of oral presentation has its own specific purpose and requires a clear, structured organization to deliver the message to the listeners
1.2 Presentation skills in language learning
Achieving different skills to work effectively and live peacefully is a must in society It is necessary for people to absorb a variety of skills such as communication skills, self- management skills, and critical thinking skills and so on
In this part, the author would like to clarify the notion of presentation skills, the importance of presentation skills in classroom Next, criteria for a good presentation have been adapted to suit the college’s curriculum Although different criteria have been given, visual aids have been focused on to see how important it is in a presentation
At universities, institutions or colleges, it is obvious that EFL students must have excellent communication after graduation In other words, their written, oral and listening skills must be good enough to be able to work in society Thus, it is necessary to be good at presentation skills which help students to deliver positive learning experiences
Regarding the importance of presentation skills in the classroom, Alshare and Hindi’s study (2004) shows that “students are required to present in two classes per semester for an average of ten minutes” and “students and instructors agreed that critical objectives of presentations were to improve communication skills and to train students to talk to a group of people.”
To sum up, presentation skills play a significant role in teaching and learning a foreign language It not only helps students know how to read, to write and to listen but also know how to communicate with English speaking people
There are different views on “What is a good presentation?” As Powell (2002) stated:
Many things contribute to the success of a presentation - new and unusual content, a clear structure, a good sense of timing, imaginative use of visual aids, the ability to make people laugh and think But above and beyond all of these is enthusiasm (p.6)
In other words, according to Powell’s view, enthusiasm is the most important element of a successful presentation It can be seen via languages and some techniques such as voice and delivery, content language, rhetorical technique and question handling
Meanwhile, D’Arcy (1998) do not emphasize on any criteria to evaluate a presentation
Five criteria are given in his set of evaluation that is commonly used: organization and development of content, delivery, visuals, voice and comments
Although Powell (2002) and D’Arcy (1998) use different terms for the evaluation criteria, both of them consider content, delivery and voice to be the important criteria of presentation evaluation Powell, however, does not include visual aids as a criterion to evaluation a presentation Differently, it is one of five criteria in D’Arcy’s set of evaluation Similar to D’Arcy’s point of view, the College of Adult and Professional Programs (2011) rate visual aids 15% out of 100% of a successful presentation
In this study, the presentation evaluation criteria used to evaluate the students’ presentation are mainly adapted from the criteria designed by the College of Adult and Professional Programs and Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority
In terms of definition of visual aids, it can be understood as “a variety of forms from physical objects, photographs and maps to slides, overheads and computer generated presentations” (Stoner, 2009, p.1)
It is obvious that visual aids play an important role in presentation They can make a presentation more interesting and effective Moreover, research showed that people can generally remember deeply when they use more senses at the same time It has been summarized as follows:
(from http://teacherworld.com/potdale.html)
As stated by Powell (2002, p.20), “visuals are important in any professional presentation”, especially they are more important when people present in a foreign language because “visual information is highly memorable and reduces the amount of talking”
In most of presentation evaluation criteria, visual aids are included and assessed as an important criterion of a good presentation
According to Education Testing Service, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to “the set of activities technologies that fall into the union and communication technologies.” In other words, ICT is the connection between IT and communication technologies In fact, ICT and IT can be used interchangeably
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter gives a thorough description of how the research was carried out The first part is about the background of the participants and the description of the research context The next part concerns the research instruments used in the study The research procedure and research framework are in the last part
The study aims at answering the following questions:
1- To what extent does DS help improve presentation skills of 1 st year EFL students at Nghe An Teacher Training College?
2- What are students’ opinions about using DS in presenting?
Fourteen first year EFL students are female, aged from 19-20 According to the entrance exam, the students are at pre-intermediate English level They lack confident at presenting and communicating with each other They are motivated in using ICT but limit exposure to ICT
Ten of the students had laptops and regularly used in class to download documents and keep in touch with their friends via e-mails, facebook, yahoo messenger and blog
It is noticeable that the researcher is responsible for speaking lessons in the class of the participants This class consists of twenty three students and actually all of them have a desire to participate in the research programme However, the researcher would like to focus on a small number of students and examiner the effects of DS before applying widely That is why only fourteen of students are chosen to take part in the research
2.1.3 Conditions of teaching and learning English with ICT at Nghe An Teacher Training College
In the line with ICT guidelines of the MOET, lecturers and students at Nghe An Teacher Training College have been encouraged to use ICT in teaching and learning effectively That is also the reason why the college has been equipped with wi-fi system, computer rooms and audiovisual rooms Teachers can use audiovisual rooms provided that they register to the administrative office in advance
In an audiovisual room, there were some facilities as below:
- A computer with useful software and programs such as Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, ), Window Media Player, Inspiration, etc
- A projector and a screen connected with the computer
Most lecturers at Nghe An Teacher Training College have opportunities to participate in different professional development programs of the Ministry of Education and Training and of different organizations The programs focus on ICT basic skills, ICT for active teaching and learning Most EFL teaching lecturers use ICT quite often
Students at the college also have to learn ICT as a compulsory subject in the curriculum They have opportunities to take part in a variety of workshops and ICT lessons organized by different organizations
The study has been conducted to examine the effects of Digital Photo Storytelling in improving presentation skills of the first year students of Foreign Language Department at Nghe An Teacher Training College The author decided to use a variety of research instruments: two mock presentations, students’ journals and questionnaire
With the purpose of examining students’ presentation before and after using DS, the participants were requested to present their own topics individually These topics were different from those in their course books or assignments which were given by their teachers The researcher listed ten suggested topics for students and they could choose one of them or register another one which was not in their course books or assignments In the end, they chose the following topics for their presentations: environment, my mother, my father, climate change, students and love, smoking, a trip to Nha Trang, my family and media
To be objective in assessing students’ presentations, two examiners were invited to the presentation tests They are lecturers of Nghe An Teacher Training College and have twelve years of teaching English In addition, they had never taught the participants before
Especially, students’ presentations were captured by a camera Thus, the researcher could base on not only the examiners’ assessment but also the videos to analyze the process of presentation of students more specifically
The first mock presentation was made after one week preparation and also after one week starting studying at the college The second mock presentation was taken after two-month study at the college and students also had one week to prepare for their presentations
It is a fact that students’ journal is a form of data collection which helps teachers gain insights into the language learning process Journaling is recommended as a way to keep track of not only observations but also feelings associated with the action research process Thus, in order to collect additional qualitative data, journals were adopted to investigate students’ impressions and feelings during or right after the activities were carried out
Journal writing have certain advantages, one of the most important of which is that it
“provides access to the hidden affective variables that greatly influence the way teachers teach and students learn” (Brock, Yu and Wong, 1992, cited in Wallace, 1998, p.63) These authors also presented the following advantages of journals:
1 They provide an effective means of variables that are important to individual teachers and learners
2 They serve as a means of generating questions and hypotheses about teaching and learning processes
3 They enhance awareness about the way a teacher teaches and a student learns
4 They are an excellent tool for reflection
5 They are simple to conduct
6 They provide a first-hand account of teaching and learning experiences
7 They are the most natural form of classroom research in that no formal correlations are tested and no outside observer enters the classroom dynamic
8 They provide an on-going record of classroom events and teacher and learner reflections
9 They enable the researcher to relate classroom events and examine trends emerging from the diaries
(Brock, Yu and Wong, 1992, p 295, cited in Wallace, 1998, p.63)
In this study, journals were chosen to be used in order to probe students’ feelings or opinions on using DS in presenting There are five guided questions for students to express their viewpoints on reasons why they think the activity is good or not and the difficulties or problems encountered in the activity
Although the researcher could analyze and assess students’ presentations via two mock presentations, it is necessary to use one more instrument to assure the previous results
That is why students’ questionnaire is designed to survey students’ opinions about using DS in their presentations
The steps of data collection and analysis could be outlined as follows:
(1) Studying previous research and materials relating to presentation skills and DS
(2) Choosing participants and asking them to prepare their presentations in one week with their favorite topics
(3) Capturing the students’ presentations at the first mock presentation Two examiners were invited to assess students’ presentations
(4) Introducing DS to participants and instructed them how to use it in their presentations Suggesting some ways of using DS and encouraged students to exploit the tool themselves
(5) The participants use DS in and out of classroom for two months They reflect their thoughts and feelings about using DS in their journals
(6) The participants present their topics again with the support of DS The same examiners are invited to assess students’ presentation
(7) Delivering questionnaire to survey students’ opinions about using DS
(8) Collecting and analyzing two mock presentations, students’ journals and questionnaire
(9) Presenting the collected data, analyzing and discussing the findings
(10)Proposing some suggestions in order to apply the tool better
The research has been carried out in detail as below:
Week 1 - Explain the purpose of the study to students
- Give suggested topics to students for presentation preparation
- Ask students to create email
Week 2 - First mock presentation (two guest examiners, two cameras)
- Instruct students to use DS
- Divide students into small groups
- Explain what journal is and how to write it
- Give tasks to students: prepare to present about a topic in their textbook for the next lesson Ask them to work in groups, support each other and contact the researcher when necessary
Week 3, 4, 5, 6 - Group presentation and reflection
- Prepare for another presentation with another topic Each student can record her presentation and send it to the researcher
Week 7, 8 - Individual presentation and reflection
- Prepare for another presentation with another topic Each student can record her presentation and send it to the researcher
Week 9 - Individual presentation and reflection
- Prepare for another presentation with another topic
- Inform students to prepare to present again their topic at the beginning of the research
Week 10 - Second mock presentation (same invited examiners, two cameras, computer room)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter consists of two sections of data analysis and discussion It shows an attempt to answer the research questions posed at the beginning of the study
3.1 Results and discussions from the two mock presentations
In order to justify the effectiveness of the research, the researcher captured on film two mock presentations provided at the beginning and at the end of the research program
In the first mock presentation, students had one week to prepare for their presentations with their favorite topics With the purpose of letting students have chance to do their best in presenting, the researcher did not limit the topics for presenting provided those topics were not included in their textbook In addition, the evaluation criteria of presentation were delivered and explained to students before the presentation
Moreover, to be objective, two examiners were invited to assess students’ presentations
The second mock presentation was carried out at the tenth week of the second semester at the college Students were also informed to prepare for their presentations in one week in advance The same examiners were invited to evaluate students’ presentations
The final marks of the students were the mean scores of the results from the examiners
In each criterion, the first column is the mean scores of the first mock presentation and the second column is those of the second mock presentation It was summarized as follows:
Table 2 Examiners’ assessment on the students’ presentations
System Content Language Manner and body language
1 st 2 nd 1 st 2 nd 1 st 2 nd 1 st 2 nd 1 st 2 nd
Combining the recorded videos and the examiners’ assessment notes, the researcher found that there is a significant change between the first and the second mock presentations
In terms of system criterion, it is noticeable that students organized the ideas of presentation more logically in the second presentation In the first presentation, examiners stated that the students had ideas to present but it was hard to follow them because the arrangement of those was confusing and unclear Students actually had learned the theory of presentation skills in class before the research They had also practised presenting in front of the class in some subjects However, they still met difficulties in organizing the ideas When they used DS to support their presentation, it could be seen clearly from the second presentation that they expressed their ideas in an easier way so the examiner felt it was easier to catch their speaking Twelve students (85.7%) were evaluated to organize their presentation better compared with the first mock presentation The other two students had the same mark as the first presentation
The result indicates that DS had positive influence in supporting students’ system of presentation In other words, DS helps students organize their presentation better and clearer However, for the two students who were assessed to have no change in the system of presentation, the examiner said that students actually had change in the organization of the presentation but not significant
Regarding the content of presentation, in general, there was no difference between two presentations because the students presented the same topics However, in the second presentation, students had more ideas to present and that was why they presented longer compared with the first test and they presented in the time allowed The information given in their presentation was clearer due to the pictures and notes in DS
Those are the reasons why there were eight students (57.1%) getting higher marks compared with the first presentation For six other students (42.9%), they got the same marks as the first one It can be easy to understand that the content of the presentation depends on students’ input and DS is only a supporting tool to present Thus, at the beginning, it was predicted that the content of presentation of students would be hardly changeable However, the result shows that there was a significant difference between two presentations
Language patterns used by students were fairly simple In the first mock presentation, most of students used very short sentences In addition, there were a lot of grammar mistakes In the second mock presentation, the students had used longer sentences with a variety of vocabulary Even though they still made mistakes of grammar and vocabulary, they showed an attempt to correct the mistakes after getting feedback from their friends and teacher
In terms of manner and body language in presenting, in the first presentation, all students stood still and tried to present fluently However, they looked nervous and forgot what they prepared so they had to look at their notes frequently Only three students did not use their notes when presenting Especially, students only sometimes looked at examiners and other students Even they used notes or not, they seemed tried to avoid the examiners’ look so they looked outside the room or the ceiling When students used DS to support their presentation, their manner and body language were significantly different from that of when they did not use DS All of them looked more confident Especially, they did not use notes any more except one student Differently, the student who used notes knew the way to keep eye contact to the audience In other words, she only sometimes looked at the notes and almost kept her eyes on the examiners, other students and the screen It was problematic that although the thirteen students did not use notes and were confident in presenting, five of them (35.7%) looked at the screen a lot and sometimes they forgot to keep eyes contact to the audience In spite of getting feedback from the researcher, students still did not succeed in solving this problem However, as evaluated by the examiners, students’ manner and body language were more progressive compared with the first mock presentation
According to the data collected, eleven students (78.6%) got higher marks in manner and body language of presenting
Regarding visual aids, even the teacher explained the role of visual aids in presenting for students, students thought that it was difficult to choose and use visual aids Thus, only one student used a picture of her mother in the first mock presentation In the second mock presentation, all students used DS in presenting In general, the examiners said that it supported for students’ presentation a lot They could see the significant difference between the first and the second presentation However, although students understood that DS is only a supporting tool for their presentation, five of them (35.7%) overused it In other words, they focused on DS so much that they forgot to kept eyes contact on the audience
3.2 Results and discussions from the questionnaire for students
In the questionnaire, the first question was designed to explore students’ opinions about the effects of using DS in their presentations
For the question 1, students were asked to respond to five questionnaire items showing the degree they agree with the statements relating to using DS
Table 3 The degree of the students’ agreement in presentation with DS
State the degree of students’ agreement
Disagree Neither agree or disagree
1.1 I can organize my presentation better with digital storytelling
1.2 Using digital storytelling helps me focus on the ideas of my presentation
1.3 I think my presentation with the support of digital storytelling is better than that without it
1.4 Using digital storytelling in my presentation helps me have more chance to keep eyes contact with audience
1.5 I am no more hesitant in doing my presentation with digital storytelling
The table 2 shows that the majority (at least 71.4%) of the students totally agrees or agrees with the statements which stated the positive influence of DS in students’ presentation
According to the data provided, it can be found out that 92.9% of the students totally agree and agree DS helped them organize their presentation better, focus on their ideas of presentation and present better than without DS In other words, most of students confirmed the effectiveness of DS in supporting their presentations
While other students agreed with the effectiveness of DS in presenting, only one student (7.1%) disagreed that DS did not help her organize her presentation better, present better and have more chance to keep eyes contact with the audience The later interview with this student revealed that she did not have much time to practise using
DS in presenting Even though she confirmed she had focused on ideas and seemed little hesitant in presenting, she was not sure whether it was due to DS or not
Regarding the students’ opinions about the degree of difficulties in using DS, the question 2 was designed with five questionnaire items
Table 4 The degree of difficulties in using DS
State the degree of difficulties in using DS Yes No
2.1 Digital storytelling is easy to use
2.2 I am confident in using digital storytelling
2.3 I am more interested in presenting when I use digital storytelling
2.4 I have to spend a lot of time making digital storytelling in my presentation
2.5 I can match each part of my presentation with the pictures in digital storytelling
As can be seen clearly from the table, thirteen students (92.9%) said that DS is easy to use In other words, students hardly met difficulties in using DS The result was assured when the open question in the survey questionnaire was answered The question requested students to list some difficulties they met when they used DS Ten students (71.4%) said that there is no problem in using DS Meanwhile, four students (28.6%) stated that they did not have computers This problem has been predicted at the beginning of the research That is why the researcher had designed tasks for students to work in groups so that they could share their computers Otherwise, there are a lot of computer shops which are near the college so that students can come there to use computer with a little fee
To the researcher’s surprise, while only one student (7.1%) stated that DS is not easy to use, three students (21.4%) felt unconfident in using DS A later small discussion with students shows that most of them can use DS easily because it is friendly-user
However, the reason why they are not confident in using it is that they thought they did not exploit DS effectively
100% of the students said they were more interested in presenting with DS It indicates that DS increases their interests in presentation
FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS
In this part, the research questions which are proposed at the first chapter of the thesis are going to be dealed with
Research question 1: To what extent does DS help improve presentation skills of 1 st year EFL students at Nghe An Teacher Training College?
According to the results of the two mock presentations, the questionnaire distributes to the students and their journal writing, the researcher can clarify the effects of DS in the students’ presentation as follows
First of all, DS affects students’ manner and body language, especially students’ confidence 78.6% of the students are evaluated to be more progressive in manner and body language They know how to keep an eye contact on the audience, show their interest and express their confidence in presenting That is confirmed when twelve students (78.6%) respond to the questionnaire that they are more confident in presenting with DS
One problem happened with using DS is that some of the students overuse DS so they focus on the screen a lot and forget to make eyes contact to the audience
Second, according to the result of two mock presentations, the students have more ideas for their presentation during the process of designing DS That makes the organization and the content of their presentation more interesting The result is assured when 92.9% of the students said that they feel they are more creative in presenting Moreover, 85.7% of them confirm they are more well-organized with DS
Especially, via the researcher’ observation, the students design a variety of activities in class with DS
Last but not least, to some extent, the students’ grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation are improved When designing DS, the students type main ideas on the screen so the audience can see their writing and it is interesting that other students give comments afterwards Exploiting the function of recording voice in DS, the students use DS to record their presentation and send it to the researcher via email so the researcher can help them correct their pronunciation
Research question 2: What are the students’ opinions about using DS in presenting?
Most of the students stated that DS is an effective tool in presenting, in learning English and even in real life They also said that they are interested in presenting with the support of DS
In terms of technical problems, they stated that DS is easy to use and they are confident in using it 71.4% of the students said that they do not spend a lot of time making DS in their presentation
Meanwhile, the rest said it is time-consuming because they do not have computers so they have to go to computer shops or borrow their friends’ computers
Students themselves realize that they are more creative, confident, interested in learning English and well-organized In other words, DS positively affects the students’ interest in learning and also their characters
The use of DS in presenting has proved to be effective in improving the students’ presentations The findings of the study implicate that:
(1) DS is an effective tool to use in presenting and it can be exploited in different ways Therefore, teachers and students will be motivated and more creative when applying DS in teaching and learning
(2) Using DS in presenting still faces some obstacles, one of which is technical problem If students do not have computers, they cannot design a DS Therefore, teachers need to pay attention to students’ conditions of technology before asking them to do tasks relating to DS
(3) It is a fact that DS is a supporting tool for students’ learning Therefore, teachers need to remind students not to overuse it.
CONCLUSION 38
Conclusion
The study provides an insight into the application of DS in improving the first year EFL students’ presentation skills at Nghe An Teacher Training College It examines the effects of DS on the students’ presentation and the students’ opinions about using
The results of the study indicate that the students’ presentations are more progressive with DS It has a significant influence on the students’ manner, body language and organization of ideas in presenting, especially their confidence They also organize their ideas better with the support of DS Nevertheless, some of students overuse DS so it negatively affects to their presentation
In terms of students’ opinions, most of them see that DS is an effective tool in presenting, in learning English and even in real life They are also more interested in presenting with DS They are confident and have few difficulties in using it Time- consuming process in designing DS is a problem with some students who do not have computers
The research actively helps the students be aware of the role of using visual aids in presenting Especially, they are more confident and optimistic about their learning
Even though DS has a positive influence on the students’ presentation, it does not mean that it is always effective in teaching and learning To implement the tool effectively in language teaching and learning, teachers’ attitude is extremely important In the process of carrying out the research, the researcher recognizes that giving students’ thoughts and actions Moreover, the researcher – also the teacher herself experiences about her students and her own teaching Especially, the relationship between the students and the teacher are closer The students are more open and willing to share what they thought to the teacher
Limitation of the study is unavoidable However, that is also a valuable experience to the researcher to improve her teaching and hopefully it will be much beneficial to teachers of English and even teachers of other subjects who are interested in implementing DS in teaching and learning.
Limitations of the study
Despite the effectiveness of the use of DS in the students’ presentations, it should be admitted that a thorough understanding of it has not been achieved due to a number of reasons
The first limitation of the research is that the scale of the study is rather small, consisting only fourteen participants Therefore, to some extent, this limits the generalization of the research to other contexts
Second, it seems that a ten-week research program is not long enough for the students to make significant progress In addition, students had to be at school all day during research period so they did not have much time to practise using DS in class
Moreover, the participants of the research were all female Therefore, the data collected is largely gender-based, which may be troublesome when coming up with the question: whether male students have the same positive significant change in presenting with DS as female students
Another limitation of the research is that two examiners invited to assess the students’ presentations are the colleagues of the researchers They have not taught these students before so their assessment would be more reliable It would be more objective if one or both examiners were foreigners who came from English speaking countries
Last but not least, this action research is an incomplete one because of the fact that it has not been published on a paper or discussed in a workshop It would be better if the researcher received feedback from other colleagues and educators.
Suggestions for further study
It is highly recommended that further study should be conducted to gain better understanding of the effects of DS in students’ presentation
Teachers can use DS in different subjects which require students to present The teacher works as an instructor, listens and gives feedback to their presentation.
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The following questionnaire aims to examine the effects of using Digital Storytelling in improving presentation skills for first year students of Foreign Language Department at Nghe An Teacher Training College Your answers are important to the research Data collected are only used for the study, not for any other purposes
1 What extent do you agree with the following statement: (Please circle on one most appropriate number)
1.1 I can organize my presentation better with digital storytelling
1.2 Using digital storytelling helps me focus on the ideas of my presentation
1.3 I think my presentation with the support of digital storytelling is better than that without it
1.4 Using digital storytelling in my presentation helps me have more chance to keep eyes contact with audience
1.5 I am no more hesitant in doing my presentation with digital storytelling
2 Please circle the answer A or B
2.1 Digital storytelling is easy to use a Yes B No 2.2 I am confident in using digital storytelling a Yes B No 2.3 I am more interested in presenting when I use digital storytelling a Yes B No
2.4 I have to spend a lot of time making digital storytelling in my presentation a Yes B No 2.5 I can match each part of my presentation with the pictures in digital storytelling a Yes B No
3 Digital storytelling helps me to become
Note: you can choose more than one
b More interested in studying English
4 Some difficulties that I have met when I use digital storytelling are:
Student’ s name: Class: K8B Date: Topic:
A System B Content C Language E Manner and Body language F Visual Aids
- Clear and concise introduction and ending
- Smooth and coordinated connections between sections
- Convey relevant information and ideas clearly and fluently without the use of notes
- use a wide range of accurate vocabulary
- use varied and highly accurate language patterns
- Be confident in presenting - Keep frequent eyes contact on the audience
- Facial expressions are natural and friendly
- Be conscious of what you do with your hands
- Body movement indicated a change of focus
- Simple, clear, easy to interpret, easy to read
- Appropriate number of visual aids
- Design relevant to the content of your presentation
15 - Often clear and well-organized
- Convey relevant information and ideas clearly and well
- use varied and almost always appropriate vocabulary
- use almost entirely accurate and appropriate language patterns
- Be confident but sometimes hesitant
- Often keep eyes contact on the audience
- Sometimes unconsious of what you do with your hands
- Usually clear, easy to interpret, easy to read
- Generally well coordinated with content
- Design was okay, generally used effectively
10 - Not always clear and organized
- Make an attempt to express simple relevant
- use simple vocabulary and language patterns
- Shows your attempt to keep eyes
- Design relevant to the content of your presentation.
