Oral Tradition and ICT as Strategies to Foster Writing in Basic Education

Introduction

Written expression constitutes a fundamental competence in students' academic and personal development, as it enables them to communicate ideas clearly and to resignify culture in contemporary society. Mastery of written language represents an essential capacity because it supports clear communication and cultural resignification in contemporary society. In this regard, researchers recognize it as an indispensable communicative skill for effective performance across multiple professional and personal contexts. Basic education must therefore strengthen this competence as a priority to guarantee comprehensive and relevant formative processes.

Nevertheless, in Colombian basic education, students show recurrent difficulties in written production, since they present limitations in the organization of ideas, textual coherence, and creative expression of thought. These difficulties relate to the absence of innovative didactic strategies that motivate the acquisition of written expression, as well as to pedagogical practices that privilege mechanical repetition, which limits the development of meaningful communicative competencies.

In response to this situation, various authors have pointed out the importance of oral tradition as a pedagogical resource to strengthen written production. Amú and Pérez (2019) highlight its inclusion in the curriculum as a means to preserve cultural identity; Cuero and Longa (2019) show that it favors oral and written communication in primary education; and Rolón (2021) demonstrates that its integration with EdiLim software enhances textual comprehension and production. These antecedents suggest that the articulation between orality and ICT constitutes a viable alternative to overcome difficulties in the instruction of written expression.

Consequently, this study aims to explore how oral tradition can become a didactic strategy to foster written production in basic education students, with support from EdiLim software. The research question that guides this work is: How does the integration of oral tradition with ICT contribute to the development of written production in elementary school students?

Methodology

To respond to the stated objective and ensure coherence with the research lines and knowledge generation, this study followed the humanist paradigm, which conceives knowledge as a construction of meanings based on experience, subjectivity, and the sociocultural context of the subjects, and prioritizes comprehension of the educational phenomenon from the perspective of its actors (Rogers, 1983; Maslow, 1998). Within this framework, the researchers adopted an interpretive method, which sought to understand and analyze the meanings and senses that emerge from educational practices through the systematic interpretation of participants' discourses and productions (Gadamer, 2003; Ricoeur, 2001).

The study followed a qualitative approach, which allowed the researchers to understand the experiences and meanings that participants constructed in their immediate context (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). In accordance with the above, the design comprised thematic, narrative, documentary, bibliographic-analytical, and cross-sectional components; this structure allowed the researchers to collect information at a single point in time and analyze students' perceptions and written production in relation to oral tradition, while EdiLim software supported an integral comprehension of the educational processes.

Complementarily, in relation to the study population, the research included 54 fifth-grade students in Basic Primary Education at the San Mateo Educational Institution in Magangué, Bolívar, whose ages ranged from 10 to 12 years. The researchers selected participants intentionally according to inclusion criteria such as active participation in the pedagogical workshops and willingness to share experiences orally and in written form; these criteria ensured the relevance, richness, and depth of the information that the researchers gathered.

In relation to the institutional context, the researchers carried out the study at the San Mateo Educational Institution in the municipality of Magangué, Bolívar, which served approximately 2,321 students and offered preschool, basic primary, secondary, and upper secondary education in a context of cultural diversity. The institution stood out for its commitment to integral education and for the implementation of educational projects that sought to consolidate students' cultural identity. This socioeducational environment favored the integration of narratives from the territory with technological tools and generated a dynamic and contextualized educational space.

For data collection, the researchers applied diagnostic surveys, semi-structured interviews, and participatory workshops. Experts reviewed the instruments, and the research team conducted a pilot test to guarantee their reliability and relevance within the framework of the study. Subsequently, the researchers processed the data through categorical content analysis, which allowed them to identify patterns, new categories, and relationships among oral tradition, written production, and the use of ICT. This methodological procedure provided rigor and systematicity to the interpretation of the results.

Finally, the research included an ethical statement to guarantee respect for the principles of educational research. The researchers obtained informed consent from the participants, protected the confidentiality of the information, and established that the data would serve exclusively academic purposes. The research team identified no risks for the students and guaranteed voluntary participation in all phases of the study.

Throughout the development of the research, the team respected the fundamental ethical principles of educational research and guaranteed informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity of the participants. Participants joined the study voluntarily, and the researchers ensured responsible use of the information for academic purposes only. Likewise, the team safeguarded students' integrity, well-being, and dignity throughout the research process and avoided any risk or harm. The researchers treated the data ethically and transparently, protected the identity of the participants, and complied with the principles of respect, beneficence, and justice.

Results

To avoid methodological ambiguities, the study redefined percentages as descriptive indicators of relative frequency, obtained from the recurrence count that the researchers identified in the applied instruments, without any claim of statistical generalization. The researchers used these percentages exclusively as reference resources to support the qualitative interpretation of the results, and calculated them on the basis of the proportion of participants who expressed certain categories or behaviors in relation to the total study group. In this way, the analysis incorporated quantified data as a complement to the qualitative interpretation and maintained coherence between the interpretive approach of the research and the treatment of the information.

The main result of the study showed that the integration of oral tradition with EdiLim software increased student participation and disposition toward written production activities. Likewise, students' written productions revealed changes in discourse organization, with a greater presence of textual coherence and cohesion, as well as manifestations related to the recognition of cultural identity in the classroom context, based on the categories that arose from the qualitative analysis.

In this regard, the diagnostic survey results showed that a high percentage of students initially had difficulties in the organization of ideas during written production. After the intervention, however, most students showed significant improvements in textual coherence. Complementarily, the participatory workshops revealed a notable increase in creativity and in the ability to connect oral narratives with written productions, which strengthened motivation for written expression. Teacher interviews also indicated that EdiLim software facilitated feedback and promoted students' active participation in text construction; this process consolidated a more dynamic and contextualized pedagogical experience.

Table 1 synthesizes the results from the diagnostic surveys, participatory workshops, and teacher interviews, and presents the evolution between the students' initial and final situations. This categorical matrix shows changes in textual coherence, creativity, and active participation, which constitute fundamental aspects for the assessment of the intervention's impact.

To strengthen the analytical traceability of Table 1, the researchers made explicit the comparison procedure between the initial and final situations through qualitative content analysis. They considered the categories they had defined in advance and the new categories they identified through the code-assignment process. The researchers linked each change they recorded directly to its respective source of information: diagnostic surveys, pedagogical workshops, or interviews. This procedure allowed them to identify the origin of the data and ensure coherence between the empirical evidence and the results they reported. Thus, Table 1 functioned as an instrument of interpretive synthesis and guaranteed transparency in the analysis, as well as consistency among the data they collected, the categories of analysis, and the results they obtained.

In coherence with these results, the students prepared stories based on local myths and legends, which showed greater linguistic richness and narrative cohesion. For example, one student wrote: “The myth of the Alligator Man teaches us that curiosity and the abuse of power can transform a person's life, and that grandparents pass stories down as warnings that we must listen to with respect,” which shows the integration between oral tradition and written production.

Similarly, another student narrated: “The myth of Bochica reminds us that the wisdom of elders can transform nature and teach us to live in harmony with water and the earth,” which highlights cultural appropriation and textual coherence. As for legends, one student wrote: “La Llorona teaches us that decisions have consequences and that a mother's pain can become an eternal cry that travels through the nights,” which showed progress in the construction of sense and narrative cohesion.

Among other examples, another student's appreciation stood out: “El Sombrerón appears to remind us that music and popular stories preserve the memory of peoples, and that we must listen with respect to the stories that travel from generation to generation,” which reflects creativity and the ability to link oral tradition with written production. The key aspects below explain how teachers can integrate oral tradition with EdiLim software as an effective tool in the classroom:

Legends and Myths. These oral narratives offer a window into the worldview of different cultures. When students explore legends and myths, they can develop their imagination and understand the diversity of perspectives.

Aesthetic Expression. Legends and myths constitute a form of artistic expression. When students analyze these narratives and write about them, they can explore the beauty of language and their creativity.

Identity Construction. Oral tradition serves as a vital resource that maintains the identity of a community. Through its narratives, communities transmit distinctive traits that differentiate one culture from another. These elements include the structure of stories, the intonations people use, and linguistic richness, because they connect students with their cultural roots. When students write about their own oral tradition, they can build a solid identity and appreciate their heritage.

Collective Memory. Each community has its own past, and oral tradition serves as the vehicle that preserves that history. Beyond form, it centers on cognitive richness and transmitted values. It functions as an evocative bank that gives reason for existence to lineages and reinforces the connection between generations.

Oral tradition not only keeps the memory of peoples alive but also educates. Communities transmit morals, teachings, and values through tales and stories. Each oral communicative act has a didactic purpose, and communities adapt it to their customs. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have transformed many aspects of our lives, especially the ways people write and communicate. EdiLim software, in particular, has contributed significantly to the field of written production and text creation. The next elements present some contributions of ICT and EdiLim software to written production:

Inclusion of ICT as a Complementary Tool. The use of EdiLim software and other digital tools enriches the educational experience. Students can create digital versions of traditional stories, explore online resources, and collaborate on collective text production projects.

Ease of Access and Availability. ICT, such as EdiLim software, allows easy and rapid access to written production tools from any place with an internet connection. This means that writers can work on their projects at any time and place, without the restrictions of a specific physical location.

Automated Revision and Correction. Programs such as EdiLim offer automatic revision and correction functions that help writers identify and correct orthographic, grammatical, and stylistic errors quickly and efficiently. This facilitates the revision process and improves the quality of the texts they produce.

Organization and Structure of Ideas. With tools such as EdiLim, writers can organize their ideas more effectively through outline functions, text highlights, and section labels. This facilitates the plan and structure of complex documents, such as reports, essays, or manuscripts.

Online Collaboration and Feedback. ICT enables real-time collaboration among writers, editors, and reviewers, and supports the exchange of ideas, joint document review, and instant feedback. This proves especially useful in collaborative work environments or team text production projects.

Publication and Dissemination of Content. Thanks to ICT, writers can publish and share their texts quickly and easily through online platforms such as blogs, social networks, or specialized websites. This broadens the potential audience of writers and facilitates the dissemination of their ideas and creations.

Creation of Digital Resources. EdiLim software allows students to transform their texts on oral tradition into interactive digital resources. They can create presentations, videos, or infographics to share with their classmates and with the community.

Online Publication. Through EdiLim software, students can publish their texts online. This gives them a wider audience and motivates them to write with greater care and precision.

Collaborative Revision. The EdiLim platform facilitates collaborative revision. Students can comment on and review their classmates' written work, and this practice encourages constructive feedback.

Access to Multimedia Resources. EdiLim software provides access to images, videos, and other multimedia resources. Students can enrich their texts on oral tradition when they include visual and auditory elements.

Assessment and Self-Assessment. Teachers can use EdiLim software to assess students' work more efficiently. In addition, students can evaluate their own written production process. In the educational context, oral tradition can serve as a valuable didactic strategy. When teachers foster active attention, comprehension, and interpretation of oral stories, they promote written-production ability. Moreover, the incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICT), such as EdiLim software, can further enrich this experience because it combines traditional and digital resources.

In conclusion, the results allowed the researchers to identify relevant patterns and categories about the integration of oral tradition and the use of EdiLim software in the students' written production process. The analysis of oral and written productions, as well as the perceptions that the instruments gathered, showed these patterns and categories. These results, which the researchers organized in line with new categories, constituted the empirical basis for interpretation and comparison with theoretical contributions and previous studies. This process deepened comprehension of the sense, scope, and educational implications of the results the students achieved.

Discussion

In response to the research question, the results show that the integration of oral tradition with EdiLim software relates to changes in students' processes of written production, particularly in their disposition toward written tasks, in discourse organization, and in the incorporation of elements of cultural identity. These results suggest that the articulation between traditional cultural practices and digital resources favors a pedagogical environment that enhances written expression from a contextualized perspective. On the basis of this evidence, the discussion deepens the interpretation of the results and contrasts them with theoretical contributions and previous studies to understand their scope and educational implications.

The integration of oral tradition with EdiLim software contributes significantly to the consolidation of written production in basic education students. The results show that this strategy increases motivation for textual production, improves coherence and cohesion in texts, and promotes appreciation of cultural identity in the classroom. In this way, it consolidates a contextualized and relevant pedagogical process.

In agreement with the results of the present research, various studies show similar effects from the inclusion of oral tradition in educational processes. Amú and Pérez (2019) indicate that the integration of oral tradition into the curriculum contributes to the preservation of cultural identity and the consolidation of communicative competencies, which coincides with what the researchers observed in the written productions of the student participants. Complementarily, Cuero and Longa (2019) highlight that systematic work with oral stories favors the development of oral and written communication in primary education, which aligns with the changes that the researchers identified in the organization and coherence of the texts that students produced in this study. Likewise, García (2019) maintains that oral tradition enriches literary creation because it provides narrative and expressive resources; the analyzed texts reflect this effect through greater creativity and cohesion.

Along the same lines, Lemus (2017) argues that oral tradition favors the development of inferential comprehension of texts, which matches the students' ability to establish relationships between oral stories and their written productions. Similarly, Rodríguez (2021) states that oral tradition constitutes an effective pedagogical alternative to strengthen written production, which coincides with the results of this research on the organization and coherence of the texts that participants prepared. Finally, Rolón (2021) emphasizes that didactic interaction through EdiLim software contributes to the development of textual comprehension and production, which aligns with the changes that the researchers identified in the students' processes of written production.

In general, the results remain consistent with previous research because they confirm that oral tradition, when teachers articulate it with technological tools, favors meaningful written production and creativity. Nevertheless, the researchers identified differences in the degree of technological appropriation, since some students initially showed resistance to the use of EdiLim. This situation suggests the need to strengthen digital literacy in the classroom.

Among the limitations of the study, the research team recognizes the limited availability of technological resources in the institution, the need for greater teacher preparation in the pedagogical use of ICT, and the specific contextual conditions under which the researchers carried out the study. These limitations mainly affect the transferability of the results, because a particular educational context closely shapes the results and the study does not seek statistical generalization. Likewise, the limited technological infrastructure may have influenced the frequency and depth of the activities through EdiLim, which delimits the scope of the results. Even so, methodological coherence and consistency in the qualitative analysis support the internal validity of the study; therefore, the results provide relevant elements to understand similar experiences and to guide future research in educational contexts with comparable characteristics.

On the basis of the results that the researchers obtained, which showed changes in disposition toward written production, discourse organization, and incorporation of cultural identity elements through the integration of oral tradition and EdiLim, the research team recommends the extension of this pedagogical experience to other school levels and regional contexts to analyze the consistency of these results in diverse educational realities. Because oral narratives prove relevant to strengthen written-production processes, the researchers also suggest the incorporation of stories from different communities, which would broaden the analysis of cultural identity in the classroom. Likewise, the results reveal the need to strengthen teacher preparation in methodologies that articulate orality and ICT to enhance their pedagogical application.

Finally, the research team proposes the analysis of the impact of these strategies on textual comprehension and on the production of more complex academic genres, as a logical projection of the changes that appeared in initial written-production processes. This line of inquiry would contribute to the consolidation of an integral approach to meaningful written production in basic and secondary education.

Conclusions

First, the study highlights the importance of the integration of oral tradition with information and communication technologies as a relevant pedagogical strategy for the consolidation of written production in basic education students. The results show that this articulation favors more organized processes of written production, with greater attention to textual coherence and cohesion, as well as a more active disposition toward written expression. The incorporation of elements from oral tradition also contributes to the recognition of cultural identity in the classroom, which underscores the educational value of contextualized and meaningful proposals.

Second, in relation to the specific objectives of the research, the results suggest that the integration of orality and educational technology could positively influence the transformation of pedagogical practices in the area of Spanish language. In the future, this strategy has the potential to favor the development of communicative competencies, critical thought, and students' intercultural awareness, as long as teachers adapt it to the conditions and resources of each educational context. In this way, the results open the possibility of progress toward more inclusive and participatory pedagogical approaches that show sensitivity to cultural diversity.

Finally, on the basis of the results that the researchers obtained, future research should deepen the relationship between oral tradition and academic written production and broaden the scope of the study to other educational levels and institutional contexts in order to analyze the transferability of the results. Further studies should also assess the impact of these strategies on textual comprehension and on the production of more complex textual genres, and explore the integration of other digital tools complementary to EdiLim. These lines of research will strengthen the empirical evidence and contribute new elements to pedagogical innovation in diverse school contexts.

Statement of Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest that could affect the conduct of this study. None of the authors has received funding or maintains personal or professional relationships that could influence or condition the results obtained or their interpretation. The entire work was carried out independently, guaranteeing impartiality and scientific rigor at each stage of the research process.