Digital storytelling is a productive instructional tool that uses multimodal resources to convey meaning, create stories, and express oneself (see Digital Storytelling). As a current writing instructor and an ESL instructor in the past, I use digital stories as a method to help students express their authentic voices via multimodal elements, such as videos, infographics, audios, images, and slides.
What Makes Digital Storytelling So Powerful?
As highlighted in the Digital Storytelling blog post, this pedagogical approach engages emotions, promotes inclusive excellence, and builds critical thinking skills (MU Instructional Designers, 2022). But there’s another crucial element that makes digital storytelling particularly effective for language learners and all students: the development of authentic voice.
In an interview for the Bridge, I note that “Developing a ‘voice’ means expressing thoughts, emotions and identity authentically. It involves making linguistic choices, using a personal style and incorporating cultural influences into storytelling” (Frey & Groff, 2025, p. 12). However, we can encounter barriers to using our voice—or even feel like we’ve lost it entirely—when engaging with a new language or context. This is where digital storytelling becomes particularly valuable.
Discovering Voice Through Research
In a recent study I conducted with my colleague, we investigated whether multilingual English Second Language (ESL) students develop a discernible voice in their digital stories that readers can actually identify (Krasova & Moroz, 2024). We asked 25 experienced writing tutors and TESOL professionals to evaluate pairs of digital stories, determining whether they were created by the same author or different authors. The findings revealed that readers could indeed distinguish between digital stories created by the same multilingual writer versus those created by different writers. This means that multilingual ESL learners do implement recognizable voice in their digital stories.
How Students Express Voice Multimodally
What’s particularly interesting is how students express their voice through various elements. Our research showed that readers relied on both linguistic and multimodal features when identifying student voices, such as Graphic design choices: image selection and style, color preferences, spatial arrangement of text and images; Linguistic Features: word choice patterns, sentence structure, use of pronouns, emotional tone.
One reader noted they looked for “similar visual storytelling methods through the presentations,” while another focused on “similar grammatical and mechanical patterns, a similar level of advanced or not vocabulary.” This demonstrates that voice in digital storytelling is truly multimodal—it exists not just in the words students choose, but in how they arrange visual elements, select images, and design their presentations.
Why This Matters for Teaching
These findings have powerful implications for multilingual classrooms. When students create digital stories, they’re not just demonstrating language proficiency—they’re expressing their identities and developing their unique voices as writers. As noted in the study, “voice becomes a form of personal expression with a social dimension, providing individuals with a means to position their distinctive voice within society” (Krasova & Moroz, 2024, p. 2).
Digital storytelling offers multilingual students expanded opportunities to draw on their “vast semiotic resources beyond mere words” (Krasova & Moroz, 2024, p. 2), allowing them to communicate meaning through multiple modes when specific vocabulary might not be readily available. As I note, “Digital storytelling provides a safe, creative space for students to practice language skills without fear of making mistakes and reduces their reliance on written language alone” (Frey & Groff, 2025, p. 12).
Practical Applications
To support voice development in digital storytelling, consider implementing these activities in your classroom:
- Video biographies where students share their cultural and educational backgrounds using various multimodal components
- Visual poems that promote different modes of communication and provide space for students’ authentic voices
- Multilingual podcasts that allow students to implement different languages and modes of communication
- Feedback sessions focused specifically on helping students recognize and develop their unique voice across modalities
The Bigger Picture
This research reinforces what we know about digital storytelling’s power to promote inclusive excellence, as discussed in Digital Storytelling blog post (MU Instructional Designers, 2022). When we give students opportunities to express their authentic voices through multiple modalities, we’re not just teaching technology skills—we’re helping them construct their identities as writers and thinkers.
As educators, recognizing that our multilingual students bring distinct voices to their digital stories can help us better support their development as writers and communicators in our interconnected world. Finally, I believe that “In a globalized world, multilingualism is an asset, not a limitation. Encouraging students to embrace their linguistic diversity helps them feel valued and empowers them to contribute their unique stories to a broader audience” (Frey & Groff, 2025, p. 13).
References
Frey, K., & Groff, E. (2025). Identity and digital storytelling. The Bridge, 12, 12-13.
Krasova, A., & Moroz, O. (2024). Multilingual English second language students’ voice in digital storytelling. Computers and Composition, 74, 102886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2024.102886
MU Instructional Designers. (2022, July 15). Digital storytelling. Messiah University Instructional Design Blog. https://blogs.messiah.edu/IDblog/foundations/student-engagement/digital-storytelling/