DS in teaching ESL/EFL

I was an English teacher back in my country, so I was glad to find a section on using DS to teach ESL in our web site. The introduction and examples have given me an idea of how digital storytelling can support language learning.

The web site introduces two main levels for which DS is used: basic one - to learn vocabulary and more advanced - to tell a story (in doing so, the learner has to summon many skills such as writing and speaking and use them competently in order to deliver a meaningful discourse). I really like this use of DS because it raises the learner's awareness of the final goal of learning a language: to create meaningful communication.

However, this is only for ESL. How about EFL? English as a foreign language is quite different because the learners are not merged in an English speaking environment. They may be much less motivated in using English in their daily life; and therefore, they have fewer chances to practice the language. Moreover, culture is another barrier to foreign learners of English. From my experience of teaching and learning English, knowledge of the culture of the country whose language one is learning would help a great deal in developing the language skills.

I'm wondering if and how DS can help conveying culture-specific concepts to EFL learners. For example, a learner can make a digital story to present how she understands a community library in the US works, and then compare her own experience of using a library in Vietnam with that. This would reveal a lot for the teacher to correct, develop and cultivate.

I don't know if this can be developed into anything for my mid-term for final project. It sure will need a great deal of elaboration if it can.