Course paper

The structure of the work- the given qualification paper consists of an Introduction,

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  Chapter 1,
  
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  Chapter 2,
  
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  Conclusion
  
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  Reference list.
  

Chapter 1. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STORYTELLING IN ENHANCING COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS

Storytelling is not limited entertainment but can also be used as an effective teaching tool in a language classroom. This course paper is to identify the effects of atorytelling on students` language aspects of communication skills and evaluate the extent to which storytelling helps in enhancing students` communication skills. Storytelling need no special equipment beyond the imagination and the power of listening and speaking to create artistic images. As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore their expressiveness and can heighten a students` ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner. As Harriot and Martin(2004)¹ say, oral practice through storytelling increases speech and oral communication skills related to enenuation and articulation. Consequently, Foundation English course has included storytelling as one of the language learning activities in the classroom.

Stories are interested and motivating, thus attracting listeners and promoting communication. As storytellers, students have the opportunity to do it all- read, write, listen, and speak. The relaxed atmosphere and lively environment created by stories encourages the students to talk and discuss with each other. They have fun experimenting with voice, facial expressions, emotions, and gestures that make the story “just right” for telling. As they present their story, the art of listening becomes a two way street. By using good eye-contact and body language these storytellers communicate with their audience. As students tell and listen to a story, they become caught up in the story and forget about themselves and their nervousness. They become more self-confident in expressing themselves creatively. The activities and the skills that they learn will be used and across the curriculum and throughout life.

Studies suggest that there are positive effects in intellectual, social and emotional development of students who are encouraged to use storytelling. As students engage in storytelling they learn to listen, to participate in and understand narrative discourse and create a path to more sophisticated use of language, reading and writing in their everyday lives (Mallan, 1992)². This is confirmed by Brice,(2004)³ who said that storytelling or retelling of the stories is a successful strategy to increase pragmatic oral skills, the ability to use language in specific contexts for specific purpose, leading to greater ability to write.

Storytelling is an effective tool in improving the oral competencies of students( Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer&Lowrence, 2004)⁴. Becoming verbally proficient can contribute to a student`s ability to communicate effectively and successfully. Negotiation, discussion, and tact are peacemaking skills. Being able to accurately express one`s thoughts and feelings is important in everyday communication.

Both telling a story and listening to a well-told tale encourages students to use their imaginations. As Mallan, (1992) stated storytelling helps to develop the imagination which in turn builds on problem-solving competencies. Therefore, developing the imagination can empower students to consider new and inventive ideas. In other words developing the imagination can contribute to self-confidence and personal motivation as students envision themselves competent and able to accomplish their hopes and dreams.

1. 
   THE ROLE OF STORY TELLING IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
   

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of human communication, and much has been said in the literature about its effectiveness as a pedagogical tool in the development of language skills in first (L1) language, and also in a foreign or second language (L2), regardless of learners’ age or background (e.g. Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer & Lowrance, 2004; Cameron, 2001⁵). Furthermore, storytelling is even claimed to be more effective in language teaching than traditional teaching materials, such as textbooks. Indeed, studies generally believe that effectiveness of storytelling relies on the fact that it is fun, engaging and highly memorable, raising learners’ interest in listening to stories, as well as in speaking, writing and reading about them (e.g. Atta-Alla, 2012, Kim, 2010; Wajnryb, 2003⁶). However, the studies in the literature generally lack specifics such as how exactly the effects of storytelling were measured or what specific skills are benefited from the use of storytelling, for example. Furthermore, the vast majority of the studies do not investigate any potential negative impact of the use of storytelling on language learning, giving us the impression that it is a pedagogical instrument that only brings a positive contribution to L2 learning. This literature review aims to provide an overview about what empirical studies say about the effects of storytelling on the development of language skills in L2, how storytelling compares to other teaching methods in its effectiveness, and 3) identify gaps in the current literature that should be addressed by future research. Addressing these questions will provide researchers and teachers with a clearer understanding about the role of storytelling in the language classroom, and, consequently, help them improve their teaching skills.

Researchers use different types of stories and story formats to investigate the role of storytelling in the development of skills in L2. Differences in story types and formats play an important role in showing how L2 learners respond to the differences and, consequently, in helping teachers and/or researchers have a clear understanding on whether the story type or format used in the classroom matters and why. For example, with respect to story types, Huang (2006)⁷ studied the use of fairytales (stories that contain magic, fairies) to investigate the role of

storytelling in English in the enhancement of the speaking skills of a group of young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. In contrast, Cary (1998) used one fable (a short story that uses animals that talk or behave like humans as characters, to convey a moral), one fairytale, and two folktales (tales that are part of a culture or tradition and are orally told) to investigate the impact of storytelling on the development of the language skills of child learners of Spanish as a foreign language. Nicholas, Rossiter, & Abbott (2011)⁸ studied the impact of the use of stories of personal experiences on the development of learners’ language skills in English as a Second Language. Likewise, Ko, Schallert, & Walters (2003) focus on the use of stories of personal experiences as storytelling tasks. That different studies have used different kinds of stories is a factor that must be taken into account when analyzing how learners respond to storytelling, and also in showing us the ways in which such different types of stories impact L2 learning and why. With respect to story format, although studies widely agree that stories, in general, play a role in facilitating the improvement of language skills in L2, there is a lack of research comparing the effectiveness of printed and digital story formats on the development of L2 skills in a particular group of subjects. Indeed, even studies that use more than one type of story (e.g. Cary, 1998) do not analyze or discuss whether there was a particular type of story that was more effective and why. This would be important to show language teachers and/or researchers which type(s) of stories work best in a particular context, and with what kinds of learners (i.e. child learners, adult learners). In addition to the more traditional printed stories and the use of oral stories (with no reference to printed texts), digital stories are also currently being used in the L2 classroom. Indeed, digital storytelling consists of computer-based programs that offer learners the opportunity to create their own stories through the use of spoken narratives, in which learners may even record stories using their own voices, visuals, soundtracks, and other types of technologies to share a story that is usually (but not necessarily) based on personal experiences or memories. Furthermore, digital storytelling is claimed to be a motivating, efficient and interactional pedagogical tool, enabling learners to share their stories and provide one another with feedback on their content or performance in a fun and engaging manner. Thus, the use of digital stories has also become a common procedure in studies examining the effects of storytelling on the language learning process. Despite the fact that digital storytelling is considered to have a positive impact on language learning, through the engaging and technologically-advanced digital resources it offers, traditional printed-format stories are claimed to be as effective as digital stories in the development of language skills. In other words, the value of storytelling in promoting the development of L2 learners’ language skills is assumed to not be much influenced by the story format (i.e. printed and digital) used in the classroom. The next section will analyze and discuss what questions qualitative and quantitative studies have investigated, and their findings, about the effects of storytelling on L2 learning. The aim of the following section will be to explore what kinds of empirical evidence on the feasibility and impact of different kinds of storytelling are available to teachers and researchers working with L2 learners. It will be followed in section 4 by a discussion of the gaps left by these studies, and potential areas for future research.

There is a considerable number of studies which investigate the effects of storytelling on the development of receptive and productive skills in L2 (e.g. Ajibade & Ndububa, 2008; Brown & Hirata, 2007; Cameron, 2001; Costenaro, 2008; Ellis, 2009; Hughes, 2009; Rachmawaty & Hermagustiana, 2010; Peck, 1989; Speaker et al., 2004; Sue & Bayley, 2005; Wajnryb, 2003; Wright, 2007), as well as on the development of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation in L2 (e.g Beaken, 2009; Madros, 2010; Mattheoudakis, Dvorakova and Láng, 2008; Wajnryb, 2003). Oral narratives are held to “divide text into tone units, identify tonic syllables on significant information, identify information that is already known and therefore non-prominent, identify points where the storyline changes direction - where the high fall (new information) or the fall-rise (familiar information, but with a new viewpoint) should be used” (Beaken, 2009, p.349). Thus, storytelling is claimed to help young learners become aware of rhythm and intonation features (Mattheoudakis, Dvorakova & Láng, 2008). This section will review a range of qualitative and quantitative empirical studies, which may not be directly comparable as they use varying methods, participants of different age groups (i.e. child and adult learners) and from a variety of L1 backgrounds. Notwithstanding their differences, I will assess what kinds of insights these studies offer into the role of storytelling in the development of L2 language skills. I will start by reviewing studies which investigate the role of storytelling in the development of specific subsets of language skills, such as reading and speaking, and then I will examine studies which focus on the role of storytelling in developing the four language skills (reading, listening, reading and writing) as a whole.

1.2 THE IMPACT OF STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Storytelling is defined as the art of telling stories through the use of words and actions (Soleimani & Akbari, 2013)⁹ in order to engage an audience. In other words, it differs from reading a story as it narrates a tale from memory (Dujmović, 2006). Storytelling is one of the best ways to help students learn the four skills in their first and second language because of the numerous benefits embedded in stories. It also enhances learners’ communication skills (Mokhtar, Kamarulzaman, & Syed, 2011). According to Sanchez (2014), storytelling is the best way to help the students learn the second language in the same way as their mother tongue. They present parts of speech such as grammar and vocabulary in a meaningful context (Amer, 2003). It also increases learner’ writing skills and their visual memory (Sarıca, & Usluel, 2016). According to Miller and Pennycuff (2008), telling stories can be used as an effective instructional strategy to increase learners’ abilities in all learning areas. It is a useful teaching technique for language development and exploring meanings of experience (Woodhouse, 2007). It also improves students’ general knowledge (Alsumait, Al-Musawi, 2013). Storytelling also increases the accuracy of learners’ speaking (Chalak, & Hajian, 2013). Using storytelling as a teaching tool for improving language learners’ speaking skills in virtual classes, especially with the Telegram messaging app, has not yet been researched. Thus, it is hoped that using storytelling in the Telegram class will help students improve their speaking abilities. This study is going to address the following questions: Does telling stories in Telegram have any effect on the participants` speaking abilities? Are there any significant differences between speaking skills of the experimental participants who retell the stories and the participants of the control group who do not? The past studies show that the use of storytelling in classrooms can contribute significantly to early literacy development. For example, Rivera Pinzón (2016) showed that storytelling and reading stories can improve both students’ reading comprehension and their writing. Mello’s (2001) research also demonstrated that storytelling can improve the fluency and vocabulary acquisition of children. Similarly, Mallan (1992) showed that storytelling helps students learn to listen and to participate in their everyday communication. The effects of storytelling on learners’ first language literacy were extended to second language learning too, and some researchers and teachers tried to use story telling techniques in teaching speaking and oral skills. For example, Trousdale’s (1990) study showed that storytelling improves learners’ English speaking abilities. Brice (2004) believes that storytelling is a great technique which can be used to increase EFL learners’ oral skills. In a similar vein, Sepahvand (2014) states that storytelling is a great strategy to improve the oral speaking abilities of students as they draw students' focus on meaning rather than form. Parallel to this, Ebrahiminejad, Azizifar, Gowhary, and Jamalinesari (2014) advocate that short stories help learners improve their speaking skills and enhance their independent English language learning. The storytelling technique is believed to be one of the most enjoyable techniques which can develop students’ English language (Samantaray, 2014), and Abdolmanafi-Rokni and Qarajeh (2014) believe that digital storytelling can improve students’ speaking skills much more than the traditional way of storytelling. Marzuki, Prayogo and Wahyudi (2016) showed that the implementation of interactive storytelling strategy increased the EFL learners’ speaking ability and their classroom activities. At the same time, Hemmati, Gholamrezapour and Hessamy (2015) demonstrated that reading story aloud and teachers’ storytelling affects students’ listening comprehension.

Storytelling also develops other language skills such as vocabulary and grammar knowledge, reading and writing. For example, Mokhtar, Abdul Halim and Kamarulzaman (2010) show that storytelling improves learners’ reading skills and helps them develop their vocabulary. In a similar study, Soleimani and Akbari (2013) also confirmed that storytelling increases learners’ English vocabulary. This is also corroborated by Kalantari and Hashemian(2015), who showed that storytelling increases the vocabulary knowledge of Iranian English

students and also boosts their motivation. Soleimani and Khandan (2013) revealed that using storytelling also helps students learn grammatical rules easily. Moreover, storytelling encourages less willing EFL learners to participate more in the classroom activities such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. Other studies show that the use of stories has positive effect in the classroom. For

example, Samantaray (2014) believes that storytelling technique changes the environment of a tedious classroom into an exciting one. Dujmović and Bančić (2014) conclude that animated storytelling can be used as a powerful tool in the classrooms. Among these, Hemenover (2003) showed that storytelling can improve the competence of EFL learners and decrease their stress. Kalantari and Hashemian’s (2016) and Martinez’s (2007) studies demonstrated an increase in EFL students’ motivation toward and interest in learning through telling stories. Similarly, Miller and Pennycuff (2008) observed that reluctant students tend to be motivated by engaging in storytelling activities. In addition, Cortazzi and Jin (2007) also confirmed EFL learners’ improvement in their skills. Finally, storytelling provides an interacting bond between teachers and students for learning language. With regard to the role of storytelling in developing language learning, first of all most studies have primarily investigated using storytelling in developing language proficiency rather than in an exploratory research project employing a quantitative method together with storytelling in virtual classes. Particularly, using storytelling through Telegram has not yet, to our knowledge, been researched. Considering the importance of issue and also the literature gap on it, this study intends to investigate the role of storytelling in enhancing the speaking abilities of EFL students in virtual classes.

1.3 THE BENEFITS OF STORYTELLING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

We humans have long recognised that stories are a great way to transfer knowledge and wisdom. We know that better stories result in more resonant messages. But we’re selling storytelling short by putting it in the ‘communications’ box. This limiting belief that story is simply how we impart information means we don’t harness its full potential.

A good story well told helps you to:

1. Communicate with clarity and confidence.

2. Achieve emotional resonance with your audience.

3. Be more persuasive and influential.

4. Consistently act in alignment with your mission.

5. Attract the right people, whether they be customers, employees, volunteers or donors.

6. Inspire people to buy into your mission or get behind your cause.

7. Execute plans as you work towards your vision for the future.

8. Add value to your products, services and company

9. Spread your ideas.

10. Change the culture and create the future you want to see.

Stories do more than help us to tell and sell. Shared narratives are powerful catalysts for change and the building blocks of our culture. We create our lives though stories we tell ourselves and the stories we hear. What stories are we telling our children?

Social Understanding: Storytelling promotes understanding of other peoples and cultures. In a story we feel connected to others and this promotes compassion, tolerance, respect and responsibility. It connects us as a family and community. We see ourselves in the story. It is feeling, moving and being the benevolent king, the sharing elves and even the mischievous monkeys.

Mental: The connection between storytelling and literacy is well established. Storytelling creates a love of language and motivation to read. Vocabulary, comprehension, sequencing, memory and creative writing all benefit from storytelling. Storytelling improves listening skills that are essential in learning and in relationships. Storytelling encourages creative writing, creative thinking and problem solving. Science and technology without imagination is like music without and instrument. By Imagining it, we create the possibility. It you can't imagine it you can't create it. When children "play a story out" they have a chance to change the characters, the conflict or the resolution. When you make those kinds of changes you see the possibilities in a story and in life. It empowers a child to change their world.

Emotional: In a story a listener can personally experience fear and heroism, love and hate, compassion, sorrow, grief and joy in a controlled and safe environment. Where else coulde you experience high adventure or tender love in such safety? Only in storytelling. We develop stronger memories for the events of our lives when we learn to convert our events into meaningful stories.

Children 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.

There are a number of ways in which storytelling can enhance intercultural understanding and communication. Stories can…

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  allow children to explore their own cultural roots
  
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  allow children to experience diverse cultures
  
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  enable children to empathise with unfamiliar people/places/situations
  
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  offer insights into different traditions and values
  
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  help children understand how wisdom is common to all peoples/all cultures
  
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  offer insights into universal life experiences
  
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  help children consider new ideas
  
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  reveal differences and commonalties of cultures around the world
  

Other benefits of using storytelling in the classroom. Stories…

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  Promote a feeling of well-being and relaxation
  
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  Increase children's willingness to communicate thoughts and feelings
  
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  Encourage active participation
  
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  Increase verbal proficiency
  
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  Encourage use of imagination and creativity
  
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  Encourage cooperation between students
  
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  Enhance listening skills
  
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  Commonalities of cultures around the world
  

Stories reveal universal truths about the world. Through stories we see how very different people share the same life experiences and how human nature can transcend culture. Telling a story can captivate an audience; that is, with the right techniques and a little practice. Young Learners share a remarkable variety of personal experiences, values and ways of understanding. The language they learn in the classroom is the tool they use to shape their thoughts and feelings. It is more than a way of exchanging information and extending ideas, it is their means of reaching out and connecting with other people. Stories can link not only between the world of classroom and home but also between the classroom and beyond. Stories provide a common thread that can help unite cultures and provide a bridge across the cultural gap.