chapter one

Laporan Projek ilmiah Tahun Akhir

Dikemukakan kepada Fakulti Pengajian Pendidikan, University Putra Malaysia,

Sebagai memenuhi keperluan untuk kursus FCE4999

THE STORY TELLING AND IT’S IMPACT TO THE PRIMARY STUDENTS IN LEARNING LANGUAGE.

BY

Parwathi A/P Narayanan (J43780)

DECEMBER 2015

Penyelia: Pn. Juridah Md Rashid.Fakulti Pengajian Pendidikan

ABSTRACTS

This paper seek and briefly to examine together with extended research on the vital

importance of storytelling in standard three(3) primary school children’s learning experience

and the relevance of storytelling to improve literacy level among students in English language.

The paper also provides teachers with suggestions for getting started with storytelling in the

classroom. The best thing the teachers can do to help every students succeed is to provides

teachers with suggestions

Performance in speaking and reading has remained a serious global issue in most

primary government schools in Malaysia especially in rural places. Despite a rising focus

education Ministry to target to a special teaching strategy such as implementing story telling in

teaching and learning English language for year one until three are most welcoming. The

sample of the study consisted of 60 students specifically choosen from Sekolah Rendah

Kebangsaan Taman Kosas standard three primary school class 3 amanah and 3 cekap and

assigned to experimental and control groups.

The paper also offers recommendation for how to use storytelling, including using a range of

stories to help meet students interest. Exploring storytelling as a way for students to learn and

develop their inner strength and understanding of themselves and others since from young age.

Apart from that discuss more detail about the reading and writing skills by building upon the

ability to orally articulate personal experience.

This paper seeks to examine a group of students in standard three (3), performance level of

different categorization of group. The rest of the paper is organized as accordingly. This

research is fully based on qualitative and partially on quantitative study.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Contextual Background of the study.

The decision to use storytelling in the standard 3 primary classes in an integral way is

problematic. The common public perception is that storytelling is of little more use than as

an entertaining diversion. Admittedly, both teller and their audience appear to enjoy

themselves and some learning theorists believe that students learn best when they enjoy

what they are learning. In truth, much learning does occur but because it is primarily

cerebral, the learning is not readily observable. Indeed the act of storytelling itself appears

difficult to define because so much of what takes place in a storytelling session involves

unobservable mental processing by both the teller (Teachers) and listeners (students).

Yet the potential of storytelling as a viable teaching – learning tool can be recognized only

if its inherent nature is clearly understood.

What is "storytelling"? Telling stories, of course! In 2015, there are so many diverse,

wonderful, and sometimes overwhelming ways to do this. What I want to explore is

traditional, oral storytelling, which has been a part of human life since we first left Africa

200,000 or more years ago. Perhaps storytelling was the reason language developed in the

first place, as our minds began to inquire, wonder, think.

1.1.1 Why Do We Tell Stories?

Whether in caves or in cities, storytelling remains the most innate and important form of

communication. All of us tell stories. The story of your day, the story of your life, workplace

gossip, the horrors on the news. Our brains are hard-wired to think and express in terms of a

beginning, middle and end. It's how we understand the world.

Storytelling is the oldest form of teaching. It bonded the early human communities, giving

children the answers to the biggest questions of creation, life, and the afterlife. Stories define

us, shape us, control us, and make us. Not every human culture in the world is literate, but

every single culture tells stories.

You already are. Teachers are storytellers, and storytellers have been teachers for millennia. In

reality, teachers don't see themselves as storytellers. Or rather, they see the occasional

storyteller and think it's a theatrical, exaggerated show more akin to acting. But hang on a

minute -- being a teacher definitely involves acting and theatrics.

1.1.2 What can storytelling offer to students?

Students have an innate love of stories. Stories create magic and a sense of wonder at the

world. Stories teach us about life, about ourselves and about others. Storytelling is a unique

way for students to develop an understanding, respect and appreciation for other cultures, and

can promote a positive attitude to people from different lands, races and religions.

Teachers like to know "why" when it comes to introducing any new skill or curriculum

component, and rightly so. As a full-time teacher I was astounded when I incorporated

storytelling into my curriculum. Working up tales and performing them took time, yes, but the

benefits affected the reading, writing and understanding of my students in so many ways that I

felt it was well worth the time. Even in a short visit, I can see students' increased confidence

and facility with language because of storytelling.

Teachers and tellers once helped me compile a list of the positive effects of storytelling on

children and their learning. If you want to be able to convey to others the value of storytelling

in education, help yourself to this list of all the reasons for "Why storytelling?"

The cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the specific region gives specific educator an

excellent opportunity to enrich students leaning. Diverse points of view, personal histories,

prior experiences, and learning styles can be used to greatly enhance teaching and learning.

The professional literature suggests numerous ways for teachers to design instruction so that all

children learn. Storytelling is one way it costs nothing, is enjoyable, and can be used anywhere

and at any time (Zabel, 1991).

In a number of countries including Malaysia where this was previously not the case,

foreign language competence, and particularly a good command of English, has now become

essential for good job prospects and an improved standard of living. One country where this

has become particularly clear, is Ukraine. At the same time educational specialists are

increasingly suggesting that it is best to start teaching children a foreign language between the

ages of 3 and 5, that is as early as in pre-school (Barkasi 1998; Filatov 1998; Cameron 2001;

Cherniakova 2002; Ellis and Brewster 2002; Harmer 2007; Ksenofontova 2008; Larson-Hall

2008; Curtain and Dahlberg 2009; Gunjko 2010; Munoz 2010)

There are consensuses that are education of children is one of the key vehicles

engendering the development of economies. (UNESCO, 2009). Individual who become

teachers generally wants to be the very best they can ‘become in their field and seek to have

elevated purposes in their teaching pursuits’ (Fink, 2003, p.244). They want their students to

have ‘significant learning experience, grow and progress especially the three most valid

characters such as reading, listening and writing.

This detailed and briefing research paper highlight research on the importance of storytelling

and how it embark students learning in English language and standard three students

experience in classroom. The main aim of this paper to provides English teachers with

suggestion and extended recommendation for getting started with storytelling in the classroom

especially for language subjects.

In order for schools to improve the literacy learning of all students, different pedagogical

strategies’ need to be employed. Using storytelling in the classroom is one way to address

literacy development by improving oral language, reading, comprehension, and writing. This

research paper will identify how storytelling really can be used as a pedagogical strategy in the

classroom to enhance literacy learning in the areas of reading and writing.

From the moment students enter kindergarten until their last exam in high school in Malaysia,

students are being instructed and assessed on their reading and writing ability. Even with the

goal of improving literacy achievement in the national blueprint No child should left behind,

many children’s are still struggling to read at a basic level. (Haycock & Huang, 2001). With so

many students struggling to become literate, steps must be taken to improve all students

reading ability. If something is not done, the achievement gap between proficient and

underachieving and illiterate students will most likely continue to grow.

Engaging in storytelling activities is a way to motivate even the most reluctant students.

Storytelling is defined as, “relating a tale to one or more listeners through voice and gesture”

(National Council of Teachers of English, 1992,p.1). One of the possible solutions for early

English teaching is to apply alternative teaching method, storytelling etc. Many language

teaching specialists world-wide (Nunan 1988; Brumfit et al. 1991; Ellis and Brewster 1991;

Wood 1998, Brewster et al. 2004; Write 2004 and others) suggest that storytelling is an

appropriate and effective way in enhancing young learners’ skills and interest in English and

improving their learning output. Rokhayani (2010) holds that storytelling provides an

outstanding opportunity for young learners to master the foreign language. In addition, stories

can bridge the gap between language study and language use and also link classroom learning

with the world outside (Rokhayani 2010). Numerous books devoted to storytelling as a

teaching technique (Ellis and Brewster 2002; Wright 2004 etc.) advocate the use of authentic

stories, written entirely in English, accompanied by English instruction that is using a method

of full or partial immersion in the target language. It is not stated to what extent the native

language is supposed to be used to help children acquire new lexicon and understand the plot

of the story.

Researchers have found that literacy instruction is most effective when developed through

social interaction and collaboration with others (Dugan, 1997). In fact, some other researchers

have found that the weakest readers and writers are often the most adept at storytelling.

(NCTE,1992). This research paper focuses and mainly proves on synergistic relationship

between language in interactive way, teachers and students can obviously storytelling to

improve effective learning.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Vocabulary is central to language and very important in language learning. It is unacceptable to

understand a written text without knowing the vocabularies it consists. Therefore , Schmitt

(1997:203) says that “vocabulary learning strategies are the processes by which information is

obtained, stored, retrieved and used ”. The problem of this study is that many learners of

English as a foreign language (EFL) have difficulties in retrieving the vocabulary and the

vocabulary learning through rote memorization results in poor performance in the

communicative use of previously learned vocabulary.

One of the important ideas of this research paper is to acquire insight into how the teachers

implement storytelling in the programme for young learners at the pre-reading stage, what

materials they use and the challenges they experience while developing and delivering

storytelling lessons.

The findings from the study indicate that, for the teachers interviewed, English teacher,

storytelling has a place their English teaching, but it is not a very structured part of their

lessons and is only picked up occasionally. This seems to a large extent to be rooted in the fact

that storytelling is not highlighted in the current national curricula and textbooks for the

primary school especially for standard three English text books, which also explains the lack of

ready-made materials for storytelling to young learners in the pre reading period. On the

occasions when storytelling is used, it appears often to be by means of constructed short

stories, made up by the teachers themselves in accordance with their current teaching needs

that are to raise students’ motivation, to introduce new vocabulary or to reinforce acquired

vocabulary. It appears that, due to the limited time allocated to teaching English in the primary

school, teachers find it difficult to conduct storytelling lessons entirely in English and they

have to resort to help from the first language to make the input more comprehensible.

The teachers reported that they find storytelling an efficient classroom activity, but a rather

time-consuming one. The teachers interviewed suggested that time restrictions in their own

everyday life may be reinforcing their tendency to rely heavily on the contents of course books,

and may indirectly make it less relevant to include storytelling in the lessons. At the same time,

teachers find it difficult to use storytelling frequently in the classroom because of the limited

range of available storytelling material adapted for the young learners. Based on these findings,

I conclude that it may be possible to help establish the storytelling technique more firmly in the

teaching process by developing a set of specially designed, structured teaching materials for

primary school student’s young learners in the pre-reading period. Moreover, it appears worth

consideration to blend English with the native language at the early stages of the storytelling

programme, and then gradually reduce the amount of the native language used.

1.3 Objectives of the Study.

Students will be given the opportunity to have daily language practice in the safe and

relaxed environment of their classroom. This daily language practice will allow the students to

interact on a personal level with both the teacher and fellow classmates. The students are able

to gain language knowledge from their participation both as speakers and listeners. These

personal interactions are meaningful because the students are able to interact with one another,

carry on conversations, and hear significant rules being modelled involving sentence structure.

Each lesson within the unit will focus on a particular aspect or skill set of storytelling, each

week building upon the last in complexity. The skills learned in this unit will help to develop

the student’s oral language, which is necessary to become successful academic learners in the

classroom. This will further prepare the students to effectively take on the second grade

curriculum.

In this unit students will meet the following objectives:

To help students feel at ease and minimize their stage fright when speaking to others-

confidence building.

To help students to learn to visualize images when learning a story.

To encourage students to have spontaneous oral production with emphasis on

coherence, and the mood of the story

To encourage students’ to have self-expression with emphasis on the use of body

language, manipulation of setting, to make a lively and communicative presentation

To encourage students to speak at a moderate pace, have clear enunciation, and pay

attention to the following phonetic features: Consonant clusters, stress, linkage, single

word and phrases

To develop students’ ability to pay attention to the coherence in speech delivery and to

be able to memorize chunks of utterance effectively.

1.3.1 Hypotheses:

It is hypothesized that:

Using storytelling technique as a means for acquiring vocabulary can help students to

enhance their vocabulary knowledge and help to memorize it when needed.

Using storytelling by teachers in classroom brings out significant difference in language

learning (i.e. vocabulary learning) as compared to a situation where no storytelling is

used. So ,there is significant difference between the control group and the experimental

group in acquiring vocabulary correctly by using storytelling as a means of learning .

1.3.2 Value of the study

For a teacher , storytelling is important because of its effectiveness in fostering a relaxed and

intimate atmosphere in the classroom. So, teachers can hold the attention of their classroom

and teach not only the art of storytelling, but also the information of core subjects using stories.

This teaching method brings fun into learning for today's video generation. For students , they

can increase their skills in both speaking and listening, as well as writing , and they can more

easily retain the information found in the contents of a story especially vocabulary.

1.4 Significant of The Research

It is common for teachers to read stories to young standard three school students in class.

Storybook reading is widely recommended in educational literature (kaderavek and justice, 2002;

Rubin and Wilson, 1995; snow, 1983). In addition to its entertainment value, some proponents of

storytelling believe that storytelling may have considerable potential as an educational tool (Alna,

1999; Colon-Vila, 1997; Hamilton and Weiss, 1993; Mallan, 1997). The role of storytelling in the

foreign language classroom has been the concern of many teachers and scholars; however, its

validity as an equal complement to language learning has often been ignored (Hyland, 1990).

Farrell and Nessel (1982) pointed out ‘‘classroom storytelling has a ragtag reputation among

school teachers’’. The reason for this reputation may be that much of the evidence that indicates

storytelling is beneficial to students (Gallets, 2005). In the current environment of research-based

practices, many educators may be sceptical about allowing the use of a ‘‘new’’ educational tool

until the effects of that tool have been clearly documented through qualitative research. This study

investigates the effect of teacher’s storytelling on the reading comprehension of primary school

students conducted in Sekolah Rendah Taman Kosas, did not tackle at all. To the best knowledge

of the researchers, this is the first attempt to determine whether or not standard three students’

reading comprehension significantly improves when they are told stories by the teacher.

Therefore, it is hoped that:

(1) It will help researchers involved in the educational process gain insights into storytelling and

seek to improve it over time.

(2) It may encourage further research, which in turn, may lead to the enrichment of the field of

storytelling in general and language teaching and learning in particular.

(3) It will help teachers to better understand the issue and integrate storytelling into their

classroom routine.

(4) The information gathered in this study will aid proponents of storytelling in better

understanding the educational effects of their craft.

(5) As a result of this study and of other studies, practitioners of storytelling will be welcome in

schools not only as entertainers, but also as partners in the educational

Process.

By this research, we are able to track and notify the challenges encounter by students and other

benefits obtain by them.

Students will develop vocabulary through listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Students will listen to and respect the opinions of others about written, oral and visual

texts.

Students will listen to, read and respond to texts about and from many cultures and

times.

Students will recognize values and beliefs included in a text.

Students will determine purpose, point of view and audience, and choose an

appropriate written, oral or visual format.

Students will use oral language with clarity and voice to communicate a message.

Students will use strategies to generate and develop ideas for speaking, writing and

visual activities.

Students will read, listen to and tell stories from a variety of cultures, and identify the

similarities and differences in the way language is used.

Shifting storytelling from an entertainment or educator-controlled activity to a robust mode of

student inquiry requires thoughtful consideration. While some students will feel comfortable

from the onset, others may need time and assistance to use this tool confidently. How educators

promote and use storytelling will impact on how students perceive its value. It is also worth

noting that different activities will appeal to different students. Oral, written, visual and

physical stories are all possible options (McDrury and Alterio, 2002). Prior to introducing

storytelling processes and activities, it is prudent for educators to consider questions such as:

• Is storytelling the most compelling and memorable way for this group of students to learn

English and if so, why?

• What form of storytelling best suits these students' learning needs?

• What outcomes do I want this group of students to achieve?

• Will these outcomes be assessed, and if so, how?

• What forms of support are needed?

• How can confidentiality and anonymity issues be addressed?

1.5 Research Questions

In my thesis I would like to address the following research questions:

1. How often do the teachers use the storytelling technique in their lessons and for what

purposes?

2. Do they often experience a lack of ready-made materials for use in storytelling in their

lessons?

3. To what extent do the teachers use the native language in their lessons? How is the

storytelling approach perceived and used amongst Standard 3 students for (English)

lesson?

4. What are the differences and similarities between Arif class and Bestari class teachers’

use of storytelling and what can be learned from the implementation of storytelling

experience?

5. Which challenges do teachers and students experience while working with the

storytelling techniques and how do they deal with these challenges?

1.6 Scope of the Research

What benefits does learning through storytelling have for students?

To learn through storytelling is to take seriously the human need to make meaning from

experience, to communicate that meaning to others, and, in the process, learn about ourselves

and the worlds in which we reside. Meaningful storytelling processes and activities incorporate

opportunities for reflective dialogue, foster collaborative endeavour, nurture the spirit of

inquiry and contribute to the construction of new knowledge. In addition, cultural, contextual

and emotional realities can be acknowledged, valued and integrated into storytelling processes.

Students who learn through

telling and reflectively processing their stories develop skills that enable them to link subjective

and objective perspectives, capture the complexity of experience and bring about thoughtful

change to self and practice. When storytelling is used as a robust mode of inquiry, student

learning is enhanced in multiple ways.

1.6.1 Teaching English to young learners

Based on their work, experiences and discussion at the Language Resource Center at Iowa

State University, Curtain and Dahlberg (2009) listed some of the most important issues related

to second language acquisition for young learners. They offer the following concise summary

of their current understanding of effective foreign language pedagogy for young learners:

•Second-language acquisition proceeds according to predictable stages.

•The degree of acquisition is correlated with the time available for instruction.

•Standard three students acquire language best in a low-anxiety environment.

•Culture is closely related to language and is an essential component of instruction.

•Children acquire language through a focus on meaning rather than on grammar.

•Children involve many senses in the acquisition process.

•Meaning is established through visual cues.

•Children acquire language through extended listening experiences and negotiation of meaning.

•A relevant, meaningful context is necessary for effective language acquisition.

•The teacher can use a variety of techniques to make the language understandable to children

(comprehensible input).

•Children acquire language through tasks appropriate to their developmental level.

•More manipulation is necessary for younger students.

•Language analysis begins later.

•Older students often demand more translations.

•The rate and the degree of two different classes acquisition are affected by differing student

learning styles.

All language teachers must be aware of how languages are learned and of essential concepts of

second language acquisition, and this is especially the case when teaching early learners.

1.7 Definition and Operational Definition

Storytelling deeply can be defined in its most basic form, storytelling is a process where a

person or a teacher ( the teller), using vocalization, narrative structure, and mental imagery and

in turn communicate back to the teller primarily via body language and facial expression. The

communication cycle is ongoing, and in the process a ‘story’ is created. Diagrammatically

storytelling takes the following form.

According to the National Storytelling Association and Most dictionaries define a story as a

narrative account of a real or imagined event or events. Within the storytelling community, a

story is more generally agreed to be a specific structure of narrative with a specific style and set

of characters and which includes a sense of completeness. Through this sharing of experience

we use stories to pass on accumulated wisdom, beliefs, and values. Through stories we explain

how things are, why they are, and our role and purpose. Stories are the building blocks of

knowledge, the foundation of memory and learning. Stories connect us with our humanness

and link past, present, and future by teaching us to anticipate the possible consequences of our

actions.

It is the live, person-to-person oral and physical presentation of a story to an audience.

"Telling" involves direct contact between teller and listener. It mandates the direct presentation

of the story by the teller. The teller's role is to prepare and present the necessary language,

vocalization, and physicality to effectively and efficiently communicate the images of a story.

The listener's role is to actively create the vivid, multi-sensory images, actions, characters, and

events---the reality---of the story in their mind based on the performance by the teller, and on

their past experiences, beliefs, and understandings. The completed story happens in the mind of

the listener, unique and personal for each individual.

1. Storytelling is an interactive performance art form. Direct interaction between the

teller and audience is an essential element of the storytelling experience. An audience

responds to the teller's words and actions. The teller uses this generally non-verbal

feedback to immediately, spontaneously, and improvisation ally adjust the tones,

wording, and pace of the story to better meet the needs of the audience.

2. Storytelling is, by design, a co-creative process. Storytelling audiences do not

passively receive a story from the teller, as a viewer receives and records the content of

a television program or motion picture. The teller provides no visual images, no stage

set, and generally, no costumes related to story characters or historic period. Listeners

create these images based on the performer's telling and on their own experiences and

beliefs.

3. Storytelling is, by its nature, personal, interpretive, and uniquely

human. Storytelling passes on the essence of who we are. Stories are a prime vehicle

for assessing and interpreting events, experiences, and concepts from minor moments of

daily life to the grand nature of the human condition. It is an intrinsic and basic form of

human communication. More than any other form of communication, the telling of

stories in an integral and essential part of the human experience.

4. Storytelling is a process, a medium for sharing, interpreting, offering the content

and meaning of a story to an audience. Because storytelling is spontaneous and

experiential, and thus a dynamic interaction between teller and listener, it is far more

difficult to describe than is the script and camera directions of a movie, or the lines and

stage direction notes of a play. Storytelling emerges from the interaction and

cooperative, coordinated efforts of teller and audience.

1.7.1 Operational Definition

STORYTELLING – the telling or writing of stories.

IMPACT – To drive or press closely or firmly to learn storytelling or the tremendous impact

by storytelling gained by standard three students.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/story

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/telling

PRIMARY STUDENTS – Standard three Arif and Bestari Classes students in Sekolah

Rendah Kebangsaan Taman Kosas age 9 years old.

LEARNING - Knowledge acquired by systematic study in storytelling of through practice,

Training or classroom activities.

LANGUAGE. – English language for standard three students only.

1.8 Limits of the study

The study is limited to the Third year students of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Taman Kosas

education for the academic year (2015) from two different classes . It is concerned specifically

with the effect of using storytelling on the acquisition of vocabulary and other related skills can

be obtained through storytelling by Students during English lesson .

chapter one

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