The use of storytelling teaching method in language teaching has been discussed both abroad and at home for many years. Before 1990s, storytelling in English as a second language classroom was often used informally by teachers to share personal and cultural information (e.g., “growing-up” stories or one’s experience to communicate with others). However, storytelling has been gradually promoted as an effective way to teach English to non-native speakers. Stories are viewed as providing comprehensible input that facilitates language acquisition.
Jane Yolen (1986), an American editor of Favorite Folktales from Around the World explains, “Storytelling, the oldest of arts, has always been both an entertainment and a cultural necessity”.
Dyson and Genishi (1994) believe that storytelling is a process in which the narrator uses narrative structure, vocalization, or dramatic and psychological images to communicate with the audience, and the audience also uses psychological images to provide oral and non-verbal feedback to the narrator.
2.2 Previous Studies on the Use of Storytelling Teaching Method in Foreign Language Teaching
The research on teachers’ using stories in language teaching can be found in case studies ranging from children of pre-school to adults of university level. Most studies deal with how the story is used, both when the teacher is storyteller and when learners are storytellers.
2.2.1 Previous Studies on the Use of Storytelling Teaching Method in Foreign Language Teaching Abroad
Morgan and Rinvolucri (1983) discuss teachers’ use of stories as lead-ins for listening comprehension activities and as prompts for questions. After stories are told by the teacher, students are asked to retell the story or to recall details and sequence.
Wright (1995), a British educator, points out that story-English teaching method is an excellent teaching method, which is of great significance for improving students’ interest in learning. It was practiced in Hungary and achieved great success, which benefits many children. The story-themed school English education model has proved to be an effective teaching method after long-term practice.
Cary (1998) uses a fable (a short story that uses animals that speak or act like human being as characters to convey morality), a fairy tale, and two folk stories (stories belonging to a culture or tradition and told orally) to investigate the impact of storytelling on the development of language skills of Spanish learners. Ko, Schallert, and Walters (2003) take the story of personal experience as the task of storytelling. Huang (2006) studies the use of fairy tales (stories involving magic and fairies) to investigate the role of English storytelling in improving the oral skills of a group of young learners.
CHAPTER THREE THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ................... 12
3.1 Input Hypothesis ..................................... 12
3.2 Output Hypothesis ................................ 12
CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH DESIGN .............................. 15
4.1 Research Questions ............................. 15
4.2 Participants ....................................... 15
CHAPTER FIVE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................. 27
5.1 Analysis of Classroom Observation ..................................... 27
5.2 Analysis of Speaking Tests Result ............................. 30
CHAPTER FIVE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Analysis of Classroom Observation
As is presented in the video camera, the activities of the students and the instruction of the teacher were recorded and replayed. Through observation, the author found that in the process of classroom teaching, the teacher designed different teaching activities to enrich the classroom teaching, so that the story class was interlinked, from easy to difficult, and full of interest. There are some enlightening instructional
