Reconceptualising Narrative Competence in English Language Education: Narrative Design and Digital Storytelling.

Becker, Daniel; Matz, Frauke

Abstract

Storytelling is a highly context-sensitive procedure, and the way in which narrative meaning is created continuously changes alongside broader cul- tural and societal developments. This dynamic nature of stories can also be observed in the process of digitisation, as digital technologies have initiated the advent of new and often more complex forms of storytelling which adapt, complement or even replace more traditional analogue narratives. One example is Storytime videos, which are (one of) the most popular format(s) on YouTube in which individuals present autobiographical oral stories in front of a camera and are often supported by visual, auditive or other multimodal elements and effects. This theoretical contribution is devoted to not only exploring why digital narrative formats, such as Storytime, should find their way into English language education but also how they can help prepare learners for participation in narrative meaning-making in the digital age.