Examining the Effects of Embodied Digital Storytelling on EFL Students’ Intercultural Learning

Abstract

While digital storytelling (DST) has been widely adopted to support language learning, its potential for fostering intercultural learning remains insufficiently explored. This qualitative study investigates how Chinese university-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners engage with embodied DST to explore intercultural learning and the types of cultural insights they develop through this process. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 undergraduate students and analysed using an inductive thematic approach. The findings indicate that learners’ engagement with embodied DST progressed from reliance on initial instructional scaffolding to more socially mediated and collaborative forms of interaction. In this process, DST functioned as a facilitator of intercultural meaning-making, a catalyst for reflective self-discovery, and a platform for collaborative learning. Furthermore, learners moved beyond the acquisition of factual cultural knowledge toward more critical and reflective understandings. They became increasingly aware of the linguistic, narrative, and technical challenges involved in representing cultural meanings. The study concludes that embodied DST can play multiple roles in promoting intercultural learning when supported by pedagogical designs that encourage engagement and critical reflection with cultural content. Accordingly, it highlights the need for educators to design structured activities that foster students’ critical awareness and Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) throughout the DST creation process.