Comic-Based Digital Storytelling for Content and Language Integrated Learning

This work explores how comic-based digital storytelling can support children and teachers in combining foreign language and content teaching in the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) framework. In particular, we focus on investigating three specific aspects: (1) the use of digital storytelling in terms of collaboration, engagement and ease of use, (2) the adoption of comic-based digital storytelling in the CLIL framework, and (3) the benefits and limitations in using digital storytelling in comparison to a paper-based version. In order to investigate these aspects, we develop a case study in a primary school in Italy. A class of 18 children and 2 teachers used a digital tool, named ComicsCLIL, with the aim of creating digital narratives in the CLIL framework. The results provide some evidences that comic-based digital storytelling can be a beneficial educational tool for approaching CLIL lessons. It emerged, in fact, that digital storytelling, as supported by ComicsCLIL, can facilitate this practice by being engaging, easy to use, fully educational while considering the collaborative aspect.