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RESEARCH PRODUCT

'Share your experience'. Digital Storytelling in English for Tourism

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The main purpose of this article is to describe the experience achieved when implementing the practical classes of English for Tourism so as to bridge the gap between the professional world of the tourism industry and what students learn at the university. In this article we will first introduce the concept of Digital Storytelling (Lambert (1997), Gregori-Signes (2007-2010), Alcantud-Díaz (2008-2011) and briefly describe some of the projects that have already been developed at the University of Valencia as well as the use of digital stories in the promotion of touristic products. We will then argue that Digital Storytelling can be considered as a productive type of activity which fits the demand of the CEFL with regard to implementing the use of ICTs within the curriculum. Additionally, it helps to improve traditional skills development, mainly speaking and writing along with researching, collaborative tasks and working with computers. Thirdly, we will depict and discuss authentic examples of digital stories produced by undergraduate students registered in the subject of ¿Communication in English Language in Tourism I¿. The students were asked to develop an original product related to the industry of tourism and to promote it by means of a digital story.