Digital storytelling in a Japanese university academic English course: Investigating the impact of a project-based language learning approach on students’ critical thinking and motivation

Toland, Sean and Sime, Julie-Ann (2023) Digital storytelling in a Japanese university academic English course: Investigating the impact of a project-based language learning approach on students’ critical thinking and motivation. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This single-case descriptive case study discusses the value of integrating a socially conscious project-based language learning (PBLL) digital storytelling (DST) project into a first-year Japanese university English for academic purposes (EAP) course. This thesis bridges an existing gap in the academic literature with improved understanding of digital narratives in an academic English context. The unique hybrid theoretical framework that is used to organize the study and scrutinize the data, namely the merger of Keller’s (1987, 2010) ARCS model of motivational design and Thomas and Lok’s (2015) critical thinking attributes model, can also be deployed by educators and materials makers to measure the motivational effectiveness and level of criticality in both ‘in-house’ instructional materials and ‘remixed’ resources. A qualitative case study methodology is utilized to analyse 63 student participants’ perceptions and experiences creating a socially conscious digital narrative in their EAP class. This thesis highlights how I successfully integrated a PBLL DST initiative into a content-driven EAP course. It also shows how English language learners’ digital competencies, motivation, and critical awareness of local and global sociocultural issues can be fostered through socially conscious multimodal projects. The results from the data analysis suggests that the participants generally held positive views about DST. However, I also discovered that elements such as social loafing, free riding, intragroup conflicts, problematic ICT issues, busy schedules, and time-crunch anxiety can have an adverse impact on students’ confidence and satisfaction conditions (Keller, 2010) in a DST project. The findings from this study will reverberate with both English as an international language (EIL) educators and research practitioners who would like to integrate a PBLL DST approach into their professional practice. My thesis challenges the widely accepted ‘digital native’ narrative and urges administrators to provide Japanese EIL students with more DST training opportunities and space for self-directed English language learning.