Multiliteracy in practice: culture integrated digital storytelling in EFL classes

The rapid growth of technology offers EFL teachers new opportunities to enhance learning through digital tools. Digital storytelling supports multiliteracy by combining visual, auditory, and textual elements, while its project-based nature encourages active student participation and the use of all language skills. This action research explores EFL students’ perceptions of learning English through culturally grounded digital storytelling tasks. In an eight-hour program, high school students in Türkiye selected and presented a local cultural asset using multimodal tools. After completing their projects, 21 students answered a questionnaire evaluating the impact of the program on their English learning. Results show that most students found digital storytelling engaging and effective in improving language skills and cultural awareness. The study concludes that integrating cultural elements into digital storytelling fosters motivation, multiliteracy development, and positive attitudes toward learning English, suggesting its value as a pedagogical tool in EFL contexts.