Experiential Narratives and Discourse Competence in EFL/L2 Education: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Discourse competence includes the ability to create and interpret communicative acts that are coherent, appropriate for a particular genre, and appropriately calibrated in terms of social context. To address this challenge, many teachers have turned to using experiential, narrative tasks such as digital storytelling. However, there has not been a thorough synthesis of what we know about how these types of tasks contribute to improving students' discourse competence. The results of a systematic review of the research on the topic of the application of experiential narratives to the formation of discourse competence in students. Among these 25 non-retracted articles were used in the synthesis analysis, and 2 retracted articles were stored as descriptive records but not as interpretative statements. The studies included in this review were selected based on searches of Scopus and Web of Science databases. The studies used in this review were all published between 2021 and 2026. The data collected from each of the studies was then examined for its methodological quality and relevance to the research question. Finally, the results of the studies were thematically synthesized into answers to four research questions. The four research questions addressed the theoretical frameworks that the author used to guide their research. This product is a preliminary result of the doctorate in education from the university.