The Efficacy of Digital Stories in Enhancing Listening Skills within the Context of an Arabic Language Course for Sixth-Grade Students in Dumat Al-Jandal in Saudi Arabia

In language learning, listening is considered an essential skill. However, traditional teaching approaches are still in use, which do not always positively impact students or develop their listening skills. Novel strategies are being developed to improve language skills, as traditional methods are often inadequate to cater to the needs of different age groups. Recently, digital stories that combine visual, audio, and narrative elements are commonly used to help create a more interactive and stimulating learning experience. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of digital storytelling (DST) on enhancing listening skills among sixth-grade students in an Arabic language course in Dumat Al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia. A quantitative quasi-experimental design was followed, consisting of 60 male students who took part in the study and were divided randomly into experimental (30) and control (30) groups. Digital stories were used to teach the treatment group, whereas the traditional approach was employed for the control group. A multiple-choice listening skills test was created to evaluate the students’ attainment. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Wilcoxon test, which indicated a significant difference (p< 0.05) between post-test scores between the control and experimental groups. Results reveal that students exposed to the DST approach outperformed the students in the control group in the post-test. Thus, it can be concluded that the DST approach is highly effective in enhancing students’ listening abilities in the context of an Arabic language course. This offers important implications for educators and those involved in curriculum development.