Effect of Digital Storytelling on Listening Comprehension Among Pre-Service English Teachers

Listening comprehension is a cognitively demanding component of second language acquisition. Yet, it remains underdeveloped in many English as a foreign language classrooms that rely on text-based, teacher-centered instruction. Despite the increasing integration of multimedia in language teaching, there is limited rigorous empirical evidence on how digital storytelling specifically enhances learners’ auditory processing and comprehension in tertiary contexts. This study examined the effect of digital storytelling on the listening comprehension performance of tertiary-level English majors. The study employed a quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design with 30 second-year English majors. It utilized validated listening assessments administered before and after structured exposure to segmented digital storytelling materials integrating audio narration, visuals, and guided comprehension tasks. Data were analyzed using mean scores and a paired-samples t-test to determine statistical significance. Listening comprehension scores increased substantially from a pretest mean of 35.50 to a posttest mean of 51.00, reflecting a gain of 15.50 points and a statistically significant improvement. This trend indicates a strong positive effect of the intervention on learners’ performance. These findings demonstrate that digital storytelling effectively enhances listening comprehension by integrating auditory and visual input that supports meaning-making processes and reduces cognitive load. The results support its application as an instructional strategy in language teaching. However, the lack of a comparison group and the small sample size limit generalizability and highlight the need for further validation in more diverse and controlled research settings.