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STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES
María Ximena Rivera Pinzón
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas
School of Science and Education
Master in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English
Bogotá-Colombia, 2016
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES
María Ximena Rivera Pinzón
Thesis Director Esperanza Vera Rodríguez M.Sc.
“A thesis submitted as a requirement to obtain the degree of M.A. in Applied Linguistics to the
Teaching of English”
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas
School of Science and Education
Master in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English
Bogotá-Colombia, 2016
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Note of acceptance
Thesis Director _____________________________________
Juror: _____________________________________
Juror: _____________________________________
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES
Acuerdo 19 de 1988 del Consejo Superior Universitario
Acuerdo 177: “La Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas no será responsable por las
ideas expuestas en esta tesis”
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Dedication
To my family who is my support, my blessings.
My sweet daughter
My loving husband
My wonderful mommy
My best friend and great little sister
And my angel from heaven, “My dad.”
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Acknowledgements
When finalizing this academic stage, I must express my deep gratitude to many people
who supported me and believed in my skills to get this project off the ground. I would first like
to thank God because He has set wonderful people around me and has given me such an
important opportunity in my life. I also want to acknowledge my mother for her unconditional
support, which softened the burden and loads so that I could focus on the Academy. To my
beloved husband for his love, patience, and understanding even in stressful and tiring moments.
To my sister and friend who always trusted me and raised me up when I needed it the most. To
my beautiful little daughter who, being very young, understood the great importance of making
this dream come true and provided me some of the time that we should have spent together.
I greatly want to thank my thesis advisor professor Esperanza Vera, for her everlasting
patience and for having shared her knowledge and pedagogy with me. In that way, I was able to
improve my professional practice and become a better teacher.
Finally, this academic experience led me to know awesome people who have become a
very important part of my life. Thank you Yised Nuñez and Leidy Orozco for your friendship,
because you supported me too and invested your time and knowledge along this whole process.
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Abstract
The present qualitative action research study was conducted to describe the effects of
storytelling and story reading on the improvement of reading comprehension and written
production of eighth grade students of a public school located in Venecia neighborhood.
Students were reluctant to participate in class due to lack of vocabulary, the monotony of the
lessons, and lack of meaningful activities. In the pedagogical intervention, three stories were
used, and students were involved in teacher‟s storytelling and story reading activities. The
instruments used for collecting data were students‟ artifacts, field notes from class observation,
transcription of audio recordings, and a survey. For the purpose of data analysis, the grounded
theory was used as a means to describe and analyze students‟ comprehension of the stories told
and read and their written production when they responded to story comprehension activities in
groups.
Findings suggest that group story reading may have a significant positive effect on
learners‟ reading comprehension. In addition, both storytelling and story reading enhance
students‟ creativity, as well as their English language written production.
Key words: Storytelling, story reading, literacy, reading comprehension, written
production.
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Table of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction........................................................................................9
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………..10
Research Question……………………………………………………......11
Research Objectives…………………...………………………………....11
Justification……………………………………………………………….11
Chapter 2. Literature Review……………….……………….………………...14
Theoretical framework …………………………………………………..15
Storytelling and Story Reading………………...………………………...15
Literacy………………….………………………………………………..17
Background to the study………………………………………………….19
Conclusions………………………………………………………………22
Chapter 3. Research Design…………………………………………………....24
Research Paradigm………………………………………………………24
Research Approach………………………………………………………25
Research Type……………………………………………………………25
Setting……………………………………………………………………26
Participants……………………………………………………………….27
Sampling…………………………………………………...…………….28
Role of Research …………………..…………………………………….28
Data Collection Instruments……………………………………………...29
Field Notes…………………………………………….………………….29
Students‟ Artifacts………………..………………….……………….…..30
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Audio Recordings………..………...………………………………….….31
Survey………………………………………………………………….…31
Chapter 4. Instructional Design…………….…………………….…………....33
Vision of Curriculum……………………………………………………..33
Vision of Language……………………..………………………………..34
Vision of Learning………………………..……………………………....35
The role of affection………………………...……………………………35
Experiential Learning………………………………...…………………..36
Vision of Classroom……………………………………………………...37
The communicative classroom…………………………………………...37
Pedagogical Intervention…………………………………………………37
Chapter 5. Data Analysis……………………………..…………………………………………….41
Procedures for Data Analysis…………………………………………….42
Categories of Analysis……………………………………………………45
Storytelling and story reading enhance reading comprehension and English
learning……………………………………………………………….......45
Learning vocabulary through pictures, teacher‟s body language, and
storytelling………………….……………………..……………………...45
Understanding stories and learning English language through negotiation
and strategy use.………………………………………………….……….49
Developing literacies: Summarizing the stories read, expressing students‟
point of view, and representing ideas through drawings, and creating
students‟ own stories……………………….……………………..……...57
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Storytelling and story reading help most of the students write their own
productions………………………………………………..……..……….61
Negotiating during the process of group story writing…….…………..…61
Expressing emotions and creativity……………………………………....65
Chapter 6. Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications……………...……..…69
References ………………………………………………………………….……73
Appendices………………………………………………………………….……79
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List of Tables
Table 1. Curricular platform 2014-2015 ……………………………………………………….39
List of Figures
Figure 1. Categories and subcategories………………………………………………………….44
Figure 2. Pre-reading activity, learning new vocabulary. The Selfish Giant Story
……….…….46
Figure 3. Transcription 1, March 12th.
Story “Ali and the Magic Carpet”
………………...…….47
Figure 4. Description of characters in the story “The Selfish
Giant”……….……….…………...48
Figure 5. Students‟ story using expressions and vocabulary from the original story……..…….49
Figure 6. Survey 1, Group 7...……………………..……………………………………………….50
Figure 7. Transcription6_june18th_lesson2_story2_group2…………………………………....51
Figure 8. Reconstructing the story, transcription 5_may21st_lesson2_story2_group1………....53
Figure 9. Using pictures to identify and learn new vocabulary.………………………………...54
Figure 10. Using pictures to remember vocabulary ………………………………………….…………………………….55
Figure 11. The selfish giant, using pictures to predict………………………………………….56
Figure 12. Madagascar, using pictures to verify the information. Using pictures to construct a
part of a story. ……………………………………………………………………………..…….57
Figure 13. transcription3_may21st_lesson2_story2_group1…………………………………………………………...58
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Figure 14. Story chart information. Row 1_artifact1_lessonplan3_Madagascar…………………………..59
Figure 15. Madagascar, example of pre- reading activity……………………………………….62
Figure 16. Observation 3. Story 1. Negotiate in order to construct a story…………………………………63
Figure 17. Students‟ own story…………………………………………………………………..64
Figure 18. Reconstructing the story…………………………………………………………….65
Figure 19. Story based on students‟ creativity…………………………………………………..66
Figure 20. Students‟ story following a pre-writing activity……………………………………..67
List of Appendices
Appendix A Grocery store and commercial small shops around the school…………….79
Appendix B. Survey format……………………………………………………………..80
Appendix C. Survey results …………………………………………………...………...81
Appendix D. Diagnostic test……………………………………………………………..82
Appendix E. Speaking part transcription ……………………………………………….84
Appendix F. Field Notes Format…………………………………………………………87
Appendix G. Transcription Format……………………………………………………...88
Appendix H. Consent Form……………………………………………………………...89
Appendix I. Survey results………………………………………………………………90
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Chapter 1
Introduction
Stories have been a part of humanity for many years; therefore, they are a universal
cultural practice (Ellis & Brewster, 1991). Since we were children, we have heard or told a
story. In fact, many stories have been used as life examples because they teach us something
about life, give us a moral message or show us a life lesson. Stories, both as oral narration or
printed text in a book, have been a company of many children‟s lives. In schools, teachers use
stories as a part of the learning process. As Groce (2004) affirms, reading improvement,
increased students‟ comprehension, and vocabulary development have been linked to the
integration of classroom stories. The literacy benefits of storytelling and story-reading have been
researched in different contexts (Miller & Pennycuff, 2008), and it was the teaching strategy
explored in the current study.
This research study was carried out with eight grade students of the afternoon shift at
Venecia School IED. This institution is located in the South of Bogota in zone six (Tunjuelito).
Students are between twelve and fifteen years old. Most of them live in neighborhoods around
the school and belong to socioeconomic strata one to three. This public school has an emphasis
on computer science and technology and its curriculum is framed within a socio critical
approach, where the students must be critical facing the socio- economic problems in their
community. After doing the community visit and recognizing the features of surrounding areas
of my school, it was necessary to implement an instrument in order to identify the students‟
interests and expectations with regard to storytelling as the core focus of my proposal. The next
section describes the needs analysis and its results.
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The needs analysis to identify the problem to address in this research study was carried
out in 2013 with a group of sixth graders (604), who are now in eigth grade (804). I used three
instruments for the initial analysis: First, a class observation in order to identify students‟
environment and behavior during an English class; second, a survey aimed at recognizing
students‟ preferences in relation to storytelling and finally, a diagnostic test that allowed me to
identify students‟ strengths and weaknesses in regards to their communicative skills in English.
From the observation, I could deduce that students avoid to participate in class because of
lack of vocabulary or they feel insecure to express their opinion. Regarding the diagnostic test
results, I could draw the following conclusions in regards to students‟ EFL skills. The first one
was that when students previously know the vocabulary used in the story, it is easier for them to
understand it or to participate in the activities than when they do not know many words. The
amount of vocabulary is important and relevant for them to participate in class. Second, they
feel more comfortable when they are doing writing activities than speaking ones. And finally,
the listening skill is one of the most difficult skills for them. They prefer reading than listening
to stories.
Statement of the Problem
After conducting the needs analysis, I could determine some issues that support the fact that
participants are interested in learning English; however, factors such as the methodological
strategies based only on grammar or structure learning did not allow me to encourage students to
enhance their English learning process. In addition, there is a need to adopt and adapt teaching
approaches that provide opportunities to improve students‟ literacies in EFL. Some students do
not want to participate in class, due to the lack of vocabulary needed to express themselves in
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English, the monotony of the lessons or lack of meaningful activities, and the poor level
evidenced in students‟ reading and writing skills and comprehension are the problems that could
be determined. Teachers of English at Venecia School generally recognize the importance of
developing literacies in class. However, not all the activities that we propose in class focus on
students‟ literacies. That is why the present research study looks into the development of
student‟s literacies in the English class through the use of storytelling, story reading, and written
activities related to the stories heard and read. In addition, this study describes the uses of
storytelling and story reading in learning English and enhancing reading comprehension, oral
expression, writing creation, and the integration of students‟ interest and motivation in class.
Hence, I posed the following research question and research objectives:
Research Question
To what extent may storytelling and story reading enhance eighth grade students‟ EFL literacies?
Research Objectives
1. To describe and analyze students‟ comprehension of the stories told.
2. To describe and analyze written production when responding to story comprehension
activities in groups.
Justification
Storytelling and story reading have been used in different contexts as a strategy to teach
and learn in EFL. Teachers from different parts of the world, including myself, have recognized
the effectiveness of telling stories in integrating the four skills of language and enhancing a
proficient use of the language. Thus, the teaching strategy chosen for this project was an
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integration of storytelling and story reading. At this point, it is important to clarify that even
though this research study initially sought to enhance the four communicative skills while
students were practicing their listening skills through storytelling, there was a need to focus on
reading, reading comprehension and finally, written production through the use of stories.
This research study was conducted to support eighth grade students‟ English learning in
Venecia School. Besides, this study could support the future bilingual project in School, which
is the next project in which our institution will be involved. Most likely, new methodological
strategies will be required to teach English in our school that could help improve English
teachers‟ teaching processes.
Regarding this issue, it is important to notice that teachers across countries have
experienced difficulties in EFL teaching. For instance, Fojkar, Skela, & Kovac (2013) affirm
that Primary English teachers in Slovenia have had problems to teach English as a foreign
language to students because the methodologies used were not appropriate. However, those
teachers proposed to use narratives in order to create ideal language learning conditions in class
with the purpose of improving L2, social relationships, and to enhance the learning of grammar
and vocabulary. The study reveals that teachers used narratives as a methodology to teach
English as a foreing language. However, they preferred reading stories rather than telling them,
because the latter needs more preparation, good storytelling techniques, and performing skills.
In a similar study, Moon & Maeng (2012) state that students of English in Korean
elementary schools cannot improve their English skills and learn the language effectively.
Hence, teachers had to look for methods to motivate the students and offer them more input in
order to improve their reading comprehension. They implemented two methods: Group
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storytelling and group storysinging. Even though both demonstrated that students improved their
attitudes towards learning English, storytelling brought a more representative improvement in
reading comprehension.
Also, authors such as Malderez (2010) and Atta-Alla (2012) emphasize on the importance
of telling stories and children‟s literature as a tool in second language. They remark the uses of
storytelling as a medium to integrate communicative skills and activities that afford the
collaborative work, encourage student‟s imagination, develop language skills, improve listening
comprehension, increase vocabulary, enrich students‟ writing skills and improve social
interactions.
This chapter described the problem that generated the research question, the research
objectives, and the justification. Chapter two depicts the theoretical framework that was used to
support this research study. Then, in chapter three the research design will be presented, as well
as the data collection instruments. After that, chapter four explains the elements of the
instructional design and the pedagogical intervention. Chapter five shows the data analysis and
procedures that were used for analyzing data. Finally, chapter six presents the conclusions and
the pedagogical implications that generated from this study.
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Chapter 2
Literature Review
Life itself is the most wonderful fairytale of all.
—Hans Christian Andersen
Throughout this chapter, the theoretical concepts that entail the development of this
project are introduced. Those concepts focus on storytelling and story reading as strategies to
enhance students‟ literacies and the concept of literacy. Dujmovic (2006) asserts that storytelling
promotes language learning, motivation, that and it is an original way of teaching. On the other
hand, Isbell, Sobol; Lindauer & Lowrance (2004) affirm that story reading is a twofold process
that enhances students‟ language acquisition and literacy.
First, I am going to discuss different contributions from local, national, and international
studies on storytelling and story reading to evidence the benefits in teaching English. Next, I am
going to quote some previous research studies done around the uses and the effectiveness of
storytelling and story reading as teaching methods.
It is important to understand the definitions of storytelling and story reading and the
influence that these have as methods of teaching and learning English and how they are used in
students‟ literacies. Because of that, the next section is going to expose the points about
storytelling, story reading, and literacy from different authors.
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Theoretical framework
In this section I present literature from theoretical and research sources that support
storytelling, story reading and literacy as key concepts.
Storytelling and Story Reading. From the results found in some studies such as Al-
Mansour (2011), Atta-Alla (2012), Gallets (2005), Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer & Lowrance (2004),
Dujmovic, Uciteljska, Pula (2006), Malderez (2010), Uchiyama (2011) and other teachers and
researchers, have determined that storytelling is a strategy to develop and motivate language
skills. Through narratives, human beings play an active role in constructing their own lives
(Mead, 1977) and storytelling is going to be the path to explore and print students‟ experiences.
Dujmovic (2006) asserts that “the children‟s own environment –themselves, family,
neighborhood, and school- are, of course, good sources of thematic units, but in addition to these,
nursery rhymes and children‟s literature offer a natural and interesting medium for language
acquisition” (p. 77). In my opinion, there is not better motivation for students than taking into
account their reality, their own problems, life experiences, and their own context, which can be
turned into stories that engage them to learn and express themselves at the same time. As it is
proposed by Cary (1998) contextualized storytelling is an instructional approach to help ESL
learners improve their acquisition of English.
The following definition is taken from The National Storytelling Network “Storytelling
as an ancient art form and valuable form of human expression (…) is the interactive art of using
words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener‟s
imagination,” which is a way to preserve human stories or narrative traditions. It is also, an
interactive practice that combines words and pictures and encourages the imagination. McGrath,
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Taylor & Kamen (2004) assert that the use of storytelling with young children supports early
literacy development and expands the creative literacy potential in young children. Thus, we can
see storytelling as a traditional oral practice and as a pedagogical method.
Dujmovic, Uciteljsk & Pula (2006) argue that storytelling is the main historical form of
teaching. This statement applies to several different areas. Ellis (1997) explains that storytelling
“is the embodiment of whole language pedagogy” and that it provides “opportunity for
cooperative learning and building social skills.” (p. 21).
Madhawa, Mohd & Hong (2013) claim that the storytelling method is closely related to
the cognitive and moral development of children. Children have a natural interest in listening,
reading and understanding stories. In his research Al-Mansour (2010) asserts that “through
reading, one can teach writing, speaking, vocabulary items, grammar, spelling and other
language aspects.” (p. 71).
Concerning story reading, there are also research studies that confirm the contribution of
story reading in second language learning. Authors such as Gallets (2005) asserts that reading
helps students to develop comprenhension abilities. Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer & Lowrance (2004)
affirm “Children who are frequently exposed to storybooks reading are more likely to use
complex sentences, have increased literal and inferential comprehension skills” (p.158). The use
of illustration is also a way to engage learners to read and it is a strategy to connect the text and
the illustrations and helps the reading to be easier and understandable.
Additionally, book reading fosters the development of language and literacy
simultaneously. Reading books is an opportunity to discover grammatical elements that can be
used later in one‟s own production; it is also a practical way to learn English and to use the
language with meaning; it is another opportunity to increase vocabulary. Besides, as part of the
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literacy process, reading fosters students‟ oral and written production. In his research study,
Alvarez (2005) affirms that students who are exposed to reading aloud activities increase their
learning process of L2 with regard to speaking, pronunciation, writing, listening, grammar, and
vocabulary.
Story reading is also an opportunity to promote communication and discussion in class.
Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer & Lowrance (2004) claim that the text and illustration in a story book
encourage young learners in discussion and stimulate participation by sharing and arguing
points of views.
On the other hand, when a book is read aloud, it allows the development of listening
skills in learners, as well as fostering attention and imagination. Listening repeatedly to words
helps to improve pronunciation, even when the meaning of the word is unknown, due to the fact
that students can listen to, compare and assimilate the sounds of words.
Literacy. The second construct that I took into account in this research was Literacy.
There are many definitions of literacy, all of them from different perspectives. Bernier (1995)
asserts that literacy is a way to communicate. It is a human activity that has been developed
throughout history. He also affirms that literacies can vary according to each specific society or
community we consider. Street (2003) affirms that the concept of literacy is directly connected to
the meaning of writing and reading. However, he also states that literacy is a social practice, not
just a technical skill. For that reason, literacy is constructed into a social environment. It is
contextualized and it depends on the particular social circumstances. Kennedy, Dunphy, Dwyer,
Hayes, McPhillips, Marsh & Shiel (2012) affirm that different dimensions such as cognitive,
affective, socio- cultural, cultural-historical, creative, and aesthetic should be included in the
definition of literacy. The concept of literacy goes beyond the development of skills. As
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Palacios, Mena & Chapetón (2014) assert, literacy is focused on language in use, how people use
language with others in context.
Cope & Kalantzis (2009) affirm, “Literacy needs much more than the traditional basics of
reading and writing the national language” (p. 6). According to this, Literacy entails more than
reading or writing, this implies knowing the world and using all the alternatives and tools that it
offers, such as the Internet, visual images and audio tools, gestures, social behavior, and cultural
practices. Besides, they propose the concept of a pedagogy of Multiliteracies whose main
objective is to create the appropriate environment in which the subject can mediate and interact
with others to shape a common interest. For example, constructing a story in collaboration with
others .
For Andrews (2005) literacy can have two connotations. First, the ability of reading and
writing, which is the basic definition of literacy. And the second one, a broader connotation is
the ability of interacting in a social and cultural context. In the case of this research project, the
context is the classroom and the interaction is given around the storytelling activities and the
motivation that they raise in students.
Baynham (1995) proposes different aspects to consider in order to understand literacy in
use such as the social context, situated interaction, acquisition processes, readers and writers‟
participation, text production and interpretation , ideologies, texts, media, and discourses. It is an
opportunity to interact in class by sharing life experiences in order to construct knowledge,
which in this case, is represented through text production and understandig reading.
In its document Education for all Global Monitoring Report, the UNESCO (2006)
proposes four approaches of Literacy that have been constructed throughout time. First, literacy
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was viewed as an autonomous set of skills, which refers to a group of cognitive skills mainly
reading and writing “that are independent of the context in which they are acquired and the
background of the person who acquired them” (p. 149). Second, literacy regarded as applied,
practiced, and situated, initially assumed that “literacy could be as a universal set of skills
(applicable everywhere)” (p. 151) that must be developed in the same manner in different social
contexts. Afterwards, with the New Literacy Studies, it was acknowledged that reading may not
only mean the decoding and understanding of words, but also the interpretation of signs,
symbols, pictures and sounds, which vary by social context (Cope and Kalantzis, 2000). Third,
Literacy is considered as a learning process which recognizes the importance of individual
experience as a central support for learning, and which recognizes the importance of integrating
active learning within socio-cultural settings. Finally, the last approach is Literacy as text that is
focused on the analysis of the text from a socio-linguistic perspective. According to this last
approach, we should not just talk about literacy but multiliteracies.
Keeping in mind the aforementioned, this research study is framed in a practical
perspective where the participants listen to, read and interpret the stories with the different
resources such as pictures and videos. And as I cited before, participants can interact among
themselves and finally, print their ideas in written productions.
Background to the study
In my personal experience, since we are children our parents, tell us stories or read them
to us. Some stories are about fairy tales, others are about parents‟ life experiences, or
grandparents‟ stories or perhaps popular or oral traditional stories. The fact is that stories are a
part of our lives. Al-Mansour (2010) affirms that storytelling is an oral tradition that has been
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used for generations and they reassert the power of the word. He claims that “storytelling began
with the advent of civilization” (p. 72). For this reason, stories are not just for children; people of
all ages can share or enjoy stories.
There are many research studies conducted to ascertain the effects of storytelling in
learning and teaching second languages. Al-Mansour (2010) investigated the effects of aloud
storytelling on the reading comprehension of two groups, one group was controlled and the other
was experimental. The experimental group was exposed to aloud storytelling and demonstrated
that students achieved better understanding through this method than through the traditional one.
Some of the achievements were in regards to better reading comprehension, increase of
vocabulary, and enhancement of communicative skills. Furthermore, Atta-Alla (2012) in his
research affirms that by using storytelling in ESL and in EFL, teachers can enhance English
language learners‟ abilities in order to acquire and integrate the four language skills: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing in a proficient way.
Similarly, other studies in our country confirm the effectiveness of using stories and
reading stories in English teaching. Diaz, Rodriguez & Triana (2000) worked on a method that
integrated the four language skills and encouraged students in a private school of Bogotá to
practice meaningful sentences using story books. The results showed significant progress in the
use of English. Students understood stories and they were able to write a short report about a
story or tell the story. Castro (2002) also affirms in her study that stories not just improve
students‟ vocabulary, but also strengthen their self-confidence and develop social values, due to
the fact that stories allow us to work with emotional and social aspects. In the same sense,
Malderez (2010) states that exposing students to stories in their target language has two
purposes: firstly, stories allow increasing students‟ vocabulary. Secondly, it is a way to engage
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students in the use of a target language and finally to initiate a learning process where the
language is meaningfully used.
Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer & Lowrance (2004) argue that through storytelling children can
improve the development of language and increase story comprehension. They conducted a
study to analyze if children are more efficient on comprehension and if they acquire more
vocabulary through heard than read stories. Through their research, the authors found the
influence of story reading and storytelling on language development. They argue that using
storybooks in storytelling increases language learning in children. The benefits of this method
are to increase students‟ vocabulary, language acquisition, and literacy. It also promotes
communication skills in children. The authors claim that when children are exposed to reading
aloud, they improve their listening and speaking abilities.
Likewise, Uchiyama (2011) in his study argues that stories also contributed to increase
students‟ acquisition of new vocabulary as they were exposed to listening to stories with a brief
explanation of the new words which appeared in them. His research was conducted with 120
Japanese male and female students between 10 and 12 years in a public elementary school. The
researcher made two groups of students who were exposed to English in the last year through
games and singing activities. A pre-vocabulary test and a post-vocabulary test were applied to
each group, before and after the reading or telling of the story. After that, a comprehension test
was conducted for 15 minutes. In his research Uchiyama (2011) used two approaches: the
Character Imagery and the Simple Reading. He concluded that in both approaches students
increased vocabulary. He also affirms that storytelling or reading stories are useful techniques
that can contribute to teacher education. From the previous research studies, researchers could
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LITERACIES 22
determine that storytelling is a complete method that allows the development of all language
abilities.
As I mentioned in chapter one, eighth grade students at Venecia School do not have as
much vocabulary as they need to understand a text in English or produce one. Because of that,
they feel frustrated or bored when they read or write. Another big difficulty these students have
is the low ability to understand what they read or listen to. The results presented in the Pruebas
Saber show students‟ low comprehension in Spanish as well as in English,As storytelling may
allow students to learn vocabulary in context and use the language in meaningful ways while
enjoying learning, the study used this methodology to foster reading and story comprehension
processes in EFL.
Conclusions
Through the reading of research studies on the use of stories in language learning and
literacy theories, the idea of re-telling stories using drawings and written language is a manner
to express what learners can understand. Storytelling allows interaction and through listening to
classmates, students may learn as well as improve their own work. Also by using storytelling
students may demonstrate and show progress in comprehension, story recall, and arranging
events in the correct order. They may also improve in their ability to transfer information and use
non-verbal language. Another benefit of using storytelling in teaching and learning a second
language is that students have the chance to hear and produce in the target language, first in a
guided way with practical activities and afterwards, in their own manner.
Indeed, storytelling is a method to learn a second language in context, and it allows to use
illustrations, linguistic, and paralinguistic resources (tone, stress, intonation, and rhythm), body
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 23
language, physical responses, and other tools to engage students in understanding stories.
Additionally, reading and answering workshops can show students‟ understanding and use of the
target language. This method increases comprehension at the same time students enjoy learning.
As Huang (2006) asserts in his research study “the effectiveness of contextualized storytelling is
that it provides links to comprehension through verbal and nonverbal communication” (p. 66).
Next chapter deals with the research design that frames this project.
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LITERACIES 24
Chapter 3
Research Design
This chapter presents the research methodology that supports the study. It includes the
research type, a description of the setting, the participants, the researcher‟s role, and the data
collection instruments that were used during the pedagogical intervention.
Research Paradigm
This research project is framed within the Constructivism, which conceives knowledge is
constructed from multiple or individual realities. According to Hatch (2004) there is not an
absolute reality; constructivists assert that through individual experiences, multiple realities are
constructed. Each student comes with his/her own experience of the world and builds meaning
together. From that point, the participants involved in this study make their own interpretation of
reality, but especially interpret the stories that were told by the storyteller and connected them
with their context. Gubrrium and Holstein “Storytellers are first interpreters of the stories they
tell. It is through their construction of their realities, and the stories, they know about those
realities, that we as researchers, learn what we want from them” (p.124).
Hatch (2004) asserts “researchers and the participants in their studies are joined together
in the process of coconstruction” (p.15). In the storytelling method, interaction between teacher-
researcher and participants is worth in order to construct knowledge. The teacher‟s role implies
to be connected to the participants in order to engage them to participate in an active way in the
learning process and to construct their knowledge together.
Observation was important at each stage of the process. Through class observation the
teacher-researcher identified student‟s needs and strengths. Then she created strategies that
encouraged students to construct their own knowledge and make sense out of their worlds.
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According to Creswell (2003) the teacher-researcher pretends to interpret the meaning that
students have of the world. It is not an imposed knowledge; it is the result of the construction
students make of classroom knowledge by using a story.
Research Approach
The research approach used in this study is a qualitative approach. Creswell (2007)
presents some aspects that we must take into account in this type of research. For instance, the
natural setting in which the researchers collect the data, the instruments that can be used, such as
the observation of participant‟s behavior, interviews, and students‟ artifacts among others.
Therefore, this research study is clearly qualitative because the observations were in the
classroom where the participants could act in a natural way, interact with their classmates, and
the storyteller was the teacher researcher. According to Creswell (2003) “a qualitative approach
is one in which the inquirer often makes knowledge claims based primarily on constructivist
perspectives” (p. 18). Hence, it allows to construct multiple realities from students‟ experiences
and also use students‟ narratives in order to express themselves and to interact in the group.
Research Type
This action research study was planned, reviewed, and evaluated in order to improve
student‟s literacies in EFL through the use of storytelling and story reading. Along the
implementation, its efficacy was proved and the appropriate changes were made depending on
the results presented . Valsa (2005) affirms that “action research‟s main purpose is to improve
practice – either one‟s own practice or the effectiveness of an institution” (p. 9). Besides, one of
the advantages of using action research is that the teacher can act as a researcher and this implies
to be self- reflective and critical throughout the process, looking forward to identifying the
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strengths and weaknesses of the research, and at the same time looking for strategies to improve
and refine it.
After implementing each lesson plan, the researcher must evaluate aspects of the
pedagogical and research process that can be improved. This is a systematic process that allows
planning, acting, observing, reflecting; and then evaluating, refining and improving the following
cycle until the end of the process. In the planning step, I defined the story students were going to
read as well as the pre, while and post reading activities that most fitted within the story. For
instance, the first story was “Ali and the Magic Carpet,” aspects such as vocabulary, easy
grammar structures, extension, and easy understanding were taken into account. After that, I
started to propose motivating activities in order to encourage students to pay attention to the
storyteller and then to read the story. Besides, a video and a Power Point presentation were used
to make the story understandable.
In the acting part, all the activities proposed in the lesson plan were developed. However,
sometimes the order or the time were adjusted and modified to the rhythm of the students. At the
same time of acting, observations were done in order to take field notes and later examine and
analyze the effectiveness of the planned class. Afterwards, the reflection phase began based on
the field notes taken from the observation. Advantage and disadvantages of the planning were
analyzed in order to evaluate the process and propose new strategies that could contribute to the
planning of the following lesson plan or in the selection of the following story.
According to Burns (2010), “action research involves taking a self-reflective, critical,
and systematic approach to explore our own teaching context” (p.2). Taking into account what
was mentioned before, when I finished implementing each story, I paused and evaluated which
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procedure had had better results in the students‟ learning process and considered possible
changes to be able to improve the results.
One of the instruments I used to evaluate the usefulness of the process was the students‟
survey . After finishing each story, I applied a survey where I could see my students‟ point of
view regarding the implementation of activities and the reading of the story. This allowed me to
evaluate and examine the procedure I had planned, not just in the activities proposed, but also in
the way the story was presented and understood by the students. Besides, it was possible to
improve and change the following lessons in the other stories, keeping in mind the students‟
opinions and evaluation, and also to determine if the activities proposed were addressed to
answer the research question.
Setting
This research study was carried out in the afternoon shift of Venecia School IED. This
institution is located in the South of Bogota in Zone Six (Tunjuelito). Venecia is a public school
located in the neighborhood that has the same name (Venecia). The neighborhood was built 50
or 60 years ago. It has changed throughout the years. At the beginning, Venecia was intended to
be a residential area. However, because of the growth and denseness, one part of the
neighborhood turned into shopping centers in order to create job opportunities, and night bars.
The neighborhood‟s socialeconomical strata is between one and three. However, the school is
classified in social strata three.
Venecia school has three shifts: morning, afternoon and evening shift. It also has
preschool, elementary, secondary, and high school. In addition, the school offers Specialized
Media Education for 10th
and 11th
students in the opposite shift because the emphasis of the
school is in technology and computers. Although the school has offered its educational service
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for many years; the building is new and it has technological resources such as computers, video-
beams, and eventually we can count on the internet service in some classrooms.
The main work activity of parents is sales. There is a big number of parents who work in
shops as employees; also there are others who have their own grocery stores or small shops.
Appendix A shows some pictures of commercial shops whose ownwers are students‟ parents.
Participants
The research study was conducted with a group of thirty six eighth grade students. Their
ages range from twelve to sixteen years old. There are twenty boys and sixteen girls. Even
though all the activities were implemented with the whole group, the sample used for the data
collection was twenty students, ten boys and ten girls who have been a part of the group since
sixth grade, that is when the project began. A big part of them live with their parents in Venecia
or neighborhoods around the school such as Rincon de Venecia, La Isla del Sol, Nuevo Muzu,
San Andres, Fatima and Delicias. Students of 804 are talkative, spontaneous and respectful.
They usually express what they think or feel using arguments in order to defend their own point
of view.
Students are talkative but they are also good listeners and they are easy to engage in
different kinds of activities. It was one of the reasons why the research study was carried out
with them. Regarding students‟ academic profile, they are good at English, Math, Dance and
Physical Education. They participate in class and ask a lot of questions in order to solve their
doubts and to clarify concepts. Besides, they have been participating in English activities such
as the English Day, spelling bee, and sketches.
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Sampling
According to Ritchie, Lewis and Ellam (2003) a purposive sample is used when the researcher
chooses the sample with a specific purpose. That sample must have similar characteristics and it
must contain the diversity needed in order to represent a big group. Therefore, in this research
study purposive sampling was used. As I mentioned before, this research study was carried out
with twenty teenage students. Thanks to the time I spent with them, I determined they shared
some similar characteristics about their age, their contexts, some of their likes, dislikes, and the
level of English defined by their results in the area. Students of group 804 had similar
characteristics in regards to age and behavior features. Besides, it is the group which is more
stable in terms of permanence in school in this grade. Taking into account the previous
characteristics, this research study also used a typical case sampling. Patton (2002) asserts that
in this kind of sampling “cases which characterize positions that are „normal‟ or „average‟ are
selected to provide detailed profiling” (p.81). Additionally, in this type of sampling, the
researcher must have previous knowledge about the participants, which is the case of this
sampling.
Researcher’s Role
The researcher‟s role was that of a participant observer in this research study. There are
three main reasons to have selected that specific role. First, the researcher is always located in
the place where the research study is developed, which in this case is in an EFL classroom.
Guest, Namey, and Mitchell (2013) state that a participant observation should be embedded in
the place where events are happening. This allows the researcher to know in depth the
participants‟ context. Second , as proposed by the authors, a participant observation allows
interaction between the researcher and the participants, thus, giving the opportunity to recognize
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participants‟ experiences as well as understanding their behavior in a particular context. Finally,
Guest, Namey, and Mitchell (2013) assert that “one reason for doing participant observation is
that many aspects of some social milieus are only visible to insiders” (p.79). It means the
researcher is aware of the social environment and the participants‟ contexts; in this case, group
804 in Venecia‟s neighborhood.
Data Collection Instruments
The instruments that I used in this research study in order to collect data were: field notes
based on classroom observations, students‟ artifacts, transcription based on an audio recordings
of students‟ interaction in groups while they participated in the intervention, and a survey
provided at the end of each workshop with a story.
Field notes. The first data collection instrument that I used was the field notes that were
taken from the class observations. According to Yin (2001), observation is a significant data
collection instrument that allows the researchers to see and be aware by themselves without
using other sources to filter the information. All the information that the researcher considered
to be valuable for the research study was written down and organized in the field notes. This
collection was taken from the observation in class, supported, and complemented with video
recordings of the sessions in order to have the details of the most important issues to contribute
to answer the research question.
Before doing an observation, I as a teacher researcher, proposed a goal that included what
and why I would observe that class and how these data would contribute to strengthening this
research study, as Yin (2011) suggests; this was done to decide what I needed to observe in order
to be aware of the importance of the information.
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In order to take notes from the observation in situ and from the video recordings, I used a
field note format to organize the information I considered was important. The field notes format
was designed keeping in mind the research objectives that I proposed in this research study.
Based on that, Appendix E illustrates the initial format of the field notes.
Students’ artifacts. The second instrument used in this research study was the students‟
artifacts. Hendricks (2005) identifies three types of artifacts to answer research questions,
according to the study focus: these artifacts are student-generated artifacts, teacher-generated
artifacts or archived artifacts. In this research study I used student-generated artifacts in order to
appraise students‟ achievements in terms of story comprehension and writing. The information I
gathered with this instrument was related to the activities students did in their classes in relation
to the stories the teacher used. These artifacts were the written production that students did after
listening to the stories such as written workshops, and the stories that students created based on a
first story, posters, presentations or any other kind of artifact created in class. There were
different kinds of activities in each lesson plan.
Another kind of artifact was the worksheets solved by the students. These were planned
as a part of the lesson plan. They were divided into three parts: pre-, while and post reading
activities. All of these activities were addressed to involve and engage students in the stories.
Audio recordings. Another instrument that I used in order to collect data was the
audiotaped recordings of students‟ oral participation in class. According to Hopkins (2002), this
instrument is one of the most used by teacher researchers. Besides, if researchers want to focus
on a specific detail or event, they use transcriptions. Through this instrument I wanted to
analyze the students‟ oral participation. This instrument was the way to hear the students‟ voices
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LITERACIES 32
throughout interaction in the classroom, when they expressed themselves and shared within
themselves in working groups.
In order to analyze the information collected through audiotapes, I used transcriptions of
relevant parts of students‟ oral participation in the groups they worked with. Appendix F
illustrates the transcription format used to do the transcription of some of the students‟ oral
interventions. Before starting the data collection process, it was necessary to design consent
forms to legalize student‟s participation in this research study. Appendix G shows the consent
form that parents filled out to allow their children to participate in this project.
Survey. The last instrument I used, was a survey at the end of each story. Cohen and
Manion, (1994) claim that one of the purpose of a survey is to gather data in a specific moment
in order to describe the nature of existing conditions and identifying patterns to determine
relations in the contexts. Besides, they affirm that descriptive, inferential, and explanatory
information is provided from a survey. I applied a survey at the end of each story as a way to
have students‟ insights about the story, the activities developed, difficulties, and suggestions to
improve the following step in the research study. The last survey gathered general information
of the whole process.
The surveys presented were divided into three parts. The first parts asked for literal
information from the story, characters, places, topics, etc. The second part addressed their
reading, comprehension, and writing process. And the last part, showed the students‟ point of
view in regards to the activities, group work and the strategies used by them along the story read
and heard; and the difficulties they had throughout the process.
All the data collected through the instruments were used to present the results of the
analysis in chapter 5. The following chapter is going to present the instructional design. It
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depicts the vision of curriculum, language, learning, and classroom. Besides, the pedagogical
intervention used is described.
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LITERACIES 34
Chapter 4
Instructional Design
As it was mentioned in chapter 1, the research presented here is targeted at describing and
analyzing the effects of storytelling and story reading in developing student‟s literacies. This
chapter presents the visions of curriculum, language, learning, and classroom that the
instructional design focused on. The teaching approach, the curricular unit, and the lessons that
were implemented are also included.
Vision of Curriculum
According to Grundy (1998) the curriculum is a social construction, it is not a concept.
At school, the curriculum is built taking into account the school‟s culture and social
environment. In the three human interest theory, Groundy proposes three interests: technical,
Praxis and emancipate. In the case of my research, it had to be focused on a practical interest
where students would be able to interact among themselves and build learning, in short, one in
which Praxis was the most importan aspect to take into consideration. The teacher‟s concern is
learning, not just teaching. The curriculum content should encourage the construction of
meaning and knowledge.
The vision of curriculum will also be focused on a Backward Design. It follows the
processes proposed by Richards (2013) namely diagnosis of needs, formulation of objectives,
selection of content, organization of content, selection of learning experiences, organization of
learning experiences, and determination of what to evaluate, in order to determine what kind of
method this project would use.
Before making the decision about which approach to use, it was necessary to do a needs
analysis in order to identify students‟ concerns, potentialities and preferences, so as to determine
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the kind of approach I was going to focus on. Besides, it was necessary to apply a diagnostic test
in order to identify students‟ strengths and weaknesses in EFL. For collecting data in the needs
analysis, I used a survey which focused on the students‟ preferences in regards to the kind of
stories they liked, as well as the way they liked to make the stories known.
According to Ellis and Brewster (1991), storytelling enables the development of the four
communicative skills. Stories can be used to reinforce conceptual development in kids; besides,
they are a means of developing learning to learn: reinforcing thinking and training strategies for
learning English. Students must read or listen to a story, after that, they may be able to speak
about it and share with their classmates.
Vision of Language
As one of the objectives of this research is to identify students‟ interests and experience
through the use of storytelling, the vision of language I followed was language as a self-
expression. According to Tudor (2001), “language is viewed as self-expression, learning goals
are defined by what the learner wishes to express, and this means that each learner has his or her
own unique and personal learning agenda” (p.65). Students will have the possibility to share
stories and express their feelings, emotions, and interact among themselves about issues that they
are interested in. Teachers and researchers have determined storytelling as a strategy to develop
and enhance students‟ literacy. Through narratives, human beings play an active role in
constructing their own lives (Mead, 1977) and storytelling is going to be the path to explore and
print students‟ experiences. Dujmovic (2006) asserts that “the children‟s own environment –
themselves, family, neighborhood and school- are, of course, good sources of theme units, but in
addition to these, nursery rhymes and children‟s literature offer a natural and interesting medium
for language acquisition” (p.76). In my opinion, there is not a better motivation for students than
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taking into account their reality, their own problems, their life experiences and their own context,
all of which can be turned into stories that engage them in learning and in expressing themselves
at the same time.
One of the purposes of using storytelling is to express feelings and experiences. Groce
(2004) affirms that storytelling has a long tradition of orally communicating ideas, beliefs,
personal stories and life-lessons. Using students‟ previous knowledge and the new worlds that
stories open up for them, they may be able to connect what they learnt in class with what they
have lived and enrich their own writings. In this way, the communication they hold will be real
and meaningful because it is framed in a known context for them.
Vision of Learning
Conforming with the purpose of my research study, this can be addressed in two visions
of learning. The first one is the role of affect and the second vision is experiential learning.
The role of affect. Tudor (2001) affirms that “students are individuals whose interaction
with learning activities is influenced by a variety of cognitive, psychological, and experiential
factors, and these factors give rise to a certain affective interaction with the learning process”
(p.95). This study gives the students the possibility to express their experiences, interests, and
feelings through a story. Therefore, children are seen as individuals in a social group, who have
their own learning process. Affect plays an important role in this study because the most self-
confident students are, the most significant English learning will be for them. Taking into
account, other research studies based on reading aloud and stories told, behavior and improved
selfconfidence increase since the application of activites based on reading stories. For instance,
Cerón (2014) in her research study “ The effect of story read- alouds on children´s foreign
language development”concludes that students had more opportunities to interact among
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LITERACIES 37
themselves, as well as they felt more confident to express their ideas in spite of their mistakes,
and as a consequence increase motivation towards reading and learning English.
Atta-Alla (2012) affirms in his research study that storytelling is a medium to integrate
the four communicative skills in activities that encourage collaborative work and student‟s
imagination, develop language skills, improve listening comprehension, increase vocabulary,
enrich students‟ writing skills, and improve social interaction. One extra advantage that story
telling could promote in class is social interaction, not just social relationships through
collaborative work, but self-confidence represented in motivation and participation. Madhawa
Nair, Mohd & Hong, (2014) found that the experimental group was more interested in learning
through telling stories, because this method stimulated students and increased their motivation.
As storytelling fosters student‟s literacies and written production, a humanistic approach
must be taken into account in order to promote student‟s creativity and imagination, as well as
their social relationships in class; this may be achieved thanks to the proposed activities where
students are expected to participate and interact with their classmates depending on the tasks.
Experiential learning. This study can also be framed in experiential learning from the
point that students are exposed to the language with a communicative purpose, where language is
significant for them. Students will use the target language in order to make meaning of the
stories told, communicate using their experiences and at the same time, learn English in real
communication processes.
From the characteristic of learning by doing, students will be able to integrate language
use for the purpose of showing aspects of their lives such as personal information like their
families, students‟ anecdotes, etc. Here are some features that can be developed through
storytelling in this vision of learning:
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Communicate student‟s personal interest, affective issues or creativity.
Language use in real contexts.
Collaborative work is also fostered in storytelling when students share information and
build their productions together in order to show their creativity and with communicative
purposes.
Vision of Classroom
The communicative classroom. My class is usually an oriented classroom , in the sense
that students are always under the supervision and guidance of the teacher (Tudor 2001). In
general, students work in pairs or in groups. All the classes are organized according to the plan
the teacher has done. Nevertheless, in regards to the pedagogical intervention, the vision of the
classroom must be framed into the communicative classroom. According to Tudor (2001), a
communicative classroom is one in which students can connect what they learn in class and what
they live in the “real world.” This classroom is a place for communication that allows
interaction among participants.
From that point, students‟ interaction is noteworthy in this research study, when they share
family information and stories, exchange knowledge with their classmates, and strengthen social
relationships. Even though the tasks are oriented by the teacher, the students‟ role is essential in
the development of the tasks. The integration of all these visions will be embraced in the design
of the pedagogical intervention that is described below.
Pedagogical Intervention
The pedagogical intervention was carried out in the first semester of 2015, from March to
June. For this intervention I used three stories: Ali and the Magic Carpet, Madagascar and The
Selfish Giant. The stories were read and discussed during three sessions of about forty minutes
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per week, when the school timetable was not modified; there were eighteen sessions all together.
Not all the stories took the same time to be developed. The first story Ali and the Magic Carpet,
took less time because it was the shortest and Madagascar and The Selfish Giant took more
sessions because of the complexity and the length of the story.
In the three stories I used the same strategy: pre, while, and post reading or telling the
story. However, the activities changed for each story, taking into account relevant aspects of the
story, for example, the complexity, the length, the vocabulary, the purpose and the issue being
dealt with in the story, among others.
The pre-reading activities were used in order to elicit students‟ prior knowledge and
establish connections with what they already knew. Besides, new vocabulary was presented and
explained to students to make them familiar with the story and help them to predict what the
story was about. While-activities were used in order for students to interact with the story and
verify if they were understanding the story. For example, if they recognized the characters, the
places, the topic or if they could find a particular issue in the story. In this part, students‟
participation, interaction, and connection with the story was important. The post-reading
activities looked into how students incorporated what they understood from the story and how
they could create their own productions using the knowledge they built out of the story,
including students‟ points of view, student‟s stories, “frisos”- a kind of folded story books-, short
paragraphs or interpretations.
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STORY TOPIC OBJECTIVES DATE GENERAL
ACTIVITY
SPECIFIC
ACTIVITIES
DATA
INSTRUMENTS
ALI AND
THE
MAGIC
CARPET
Sharing
adventures
To introduce
students into the
world of the
story.
To create a new
story based on a
story told and
read.
March
1st week
LESSON
PLAN 1
Before
Reading
Activity.
1. Identifying and
learning new
vocabulary about
the weather and
the seasons.
2. Working with
synonyms.
Field notes based on
observation. (Video
recordings)
March
2nd
week
LESSON
PLAN 1
After reading
activity.
Group
presentations.
1. Asking for/
verifying
information about
the story, using
Yes/No
questions.
2. Organizing the
events that
happened in the
story..
Field notes (video
recorded)
March
3rd
and 4th
weeks
LESSON
PLAN 2
After reading
activity.
Group
presentations.
1. King for
knowing
students‟
opinion.
2.Reading
students‟ own
written
productions.
1. 3. Resenting their
story using
pictures.
Students‟ artifacts
Video recording
(field notes)
Transcription of
group work.
Survey
MADA-
GASCAR
Helping others To identify
events where
values such as
friendship and
loyalty can be
expressed.
To identify the
parts of a story,
causes and
consequences.
To compare a
story heard and
read with a
story in a
movie.
April
1st and 2
nd
weeks
Lesson Plan
No. 2
Chapter 1
1. Using previous
knowledge to
introduce the
story.
2. Identifying
true information
from the story.
3. Giving
opinions.
Field notes
based on observation.
(video recordings)
tion of
group work
Friendship
July
3rd
and 4th
weeks
Lesson Plan
No.3
Chapter 2 and
Chapter 3
4. Predicting the
following events.
5. Reconstructing
the previous
events in the last
chapter.
6. Describing
people.
7. Comparing the
book and the
movie.
Field notes based on
observation. (Video
recordings)
Transcription of
group work
Students‟ artifacts
Survey
CURRICULAR PLATFORM
2015
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LITERACIES 41
Table 1. Curricular platform 2014-2015
The chart describes the schedule and the organization used during the intervention. It
also displays the name of the story, the topic dealt within the story, dates and lesson plan
developed, and finally, the data collection instrument used for each activity. There were three
general activities based on reading, pre, while, and post activities. These were carried out in the
three stories. However, the specific tasks changed according to the story and its level of
difficulty. Those changes were based on the results got at the end of the first and second story
and they were also modified keeping in mind students‟ opinions throughout the survey.
The following chapter will depict the data analysis done in this research study.
Procedures of data analysis are described, as well as the categories and subcategories that
emerged from the data gathered.
Loyalty
August
1st,
2nd
and 3rd
weeks
THE
SELFISH
GIANT
Selfishness.
Loneliness
To predict and
organize events
in a story.
To identify the
plot of a story
and the part of a
story.
To identify
values and
behaviors
presented in the
characters of a
story.
September 1st,
2nd
and 3rd
weeks
Lesson Plan
No. 4
Introduction
and part of
plot Of the
story.
1. Predicting the
events in a story
based on the
pictures.
2. Scanning the
story.
3. Reading
pictures.
4. Identifying
true information
from the story.
5. Giving
opinions about
character‟s
behavior.
Field notes based on
observation. (video
recordings)
Students‟ artifacts
Transcription based
on group work
Solidarity,
sharing, and
happiness
October
2nd
, 3rd
and 4th
week.
Lesson plan
No. 4
Climax and
ending of the
story.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 42
Chapter 5
Data Analysis
In this chapter, I report the results of the data analysis. As I mentioned in chapter 1, the
purpose of this research study is to describe and analyze student‟s comprehension of the stories
told and read, as well as the students‟ written productions when responding to written story
comprehension activities in groups.
The pedagogical intervention was carried out with eighth grade students (804) in a public
school. For this intervention I chose three stories: Ali and the Magic Carpet, Madagascar and
The selfish Gigant. To introduce the stories, I used story books, pictures, a video beam to show a
Power Point presentation, guides, and videos. The procedures to work with the stories were
divided into three phases, pre-while-post activities.
In order to gather data, I used three instruments, field notes based on the class
observation, which were complemented with transcriptions of audio recordings, students‟
artifacts, and surveys which were administered at the end of each story. The results of this survey
helped me to know how students constructed their own story in groups, as well as to identify
some aspects that I had to change in the next story plan (Appendix H). Those results were
somehow a part of the students‟ voices, it was a way to know their points of view in regards to
the lessons. All this information allowed me to answer the research question: To what extent may
storytelling and story reading enhance eighth grade students‟ EFL literacies?
In the next section, I describe the procedures used to analyze data. Besides, I depict the
categories with examples.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 43
Procedures for Data Analysis
As the research approach used in this study is a qualitative approach, I used the grounded
theory in order to analyze the collected data. The procedures that I used to organize the data
were coding and grouping the codes to find common patterns to propose precategories,
displaying data to group it and reduce it as to obtain the most representative categories (Freeman,
1998).
As mentioned in chapter four, for this intervention I used three stories, the first story was
named “Ali and the Magic Carpet.” The second story was “Madagascar,” and the last one was
“The Selfish Giant.” I started to collect data through classroom observation. To do this, I video
taped the lessons in order to take a broader register. The observation was written down in a field
note format, and they were organized by date. The field notes were complemented with details
from the video recordings. The transcriptions were also organized according to the different
groups created in class.
The artifacts were organized by the lesson plan number, the number of the activities, the
group number or initial letters of the student‟s name, if the activity was individual
(lessonplan1_activity1_group2 or lessonplan1_activity2_sJ). Regarding the observations and the
audio recordings, these were gathered in a field note format and in transcription format
correspondingly. The organization was similar to the one used in the artifacts
(observation#_date_lesson#_story# or transcription#_date_lesson#_story#), the format included
a space to write the codes and comments on the important information. The field notes were as
descriptive as possible. There, I portrayed the activities we did in class, the environment, and the
student‟s behavior throughout the interventions, in order to observe if those activities engaged
students in the topic; otherwise, I proposed changes in order to increase students‟ motivitation in
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 44
reading and writing. On the other hand, the transcriptions described deeply and complemented
the most relevant parts taken from the observation in order to answer the research question. In
the case of the surveys, these were conducted at the end of each story, and the questions were
planned based on each storytopic, the activities developed and the group work, except in the last
survey which was planned to collect general information about the complete pedagogical
intervention. The results of these surveys were gathered in one document to be analyzed.
After collecting and organizing the data, I read them and started proposing codes
(Freeman, 1998) that were connected to and addressed the research question. The most difficult
part in this step was to identify the relevant information found in the data and to find the
appropriate name for the labels under the light of the research question.
Before grouping the codes, I organized all them into a chart which contained all the data
collection instruments used, so as to identify the frequency in which the codes were found in
those instruments as well as to observe the common bond of codes. After coding, the next step
was grouping. Freeman (1998) asserts that“grouping involves reassembling the names you are
giving to parts of data by collecting them into categories.” In this part, the codes with similar
characteristics were grouped. Those groups were proposed after observing the relationships
among the codes and identifying common patterns to determine possible categories.
After naming the codes, grouping them, and finding patterns to establish subcategories
and categories, Freeman (1998) proposes a data display step whose main goal is to lay out the
patterns and the relationship we observe among the categories. Finally, the categories emerged
from the previous process and they were also determined in light of the theory presented in
chapter 2 and aimed at answering the research question. Figure illustrates the categories and
sub-categories found to answer the research question.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 45
Figure 1. Categories and subcategories.
Keeping in mind the question that guides this research study, to what extent may
storytelling and story reading enhance eight grade student’s EFL literacies?, and the results
gathered from the data analysis and after the triangulation of those results, I can deduce: First,
using storytelling and story reading enhances reading comprehension as well as English learning.
Second, that storytelling and story reading help most of the students to write their own
productions. Using different kinds of strategies and tools that allow students to understand and
enjoy stories and to write their own ones, the combination of these two teaching strategies
transformed the students‟ English learning into a meaningful and enjoyable process for the
participants, where their reading and writing processes were enhanced, as we will observe in the
following sections.
To what extent may storytelling and story reading enhance eight grade students' EFL literacies?
Storytelling and story reading enhance reading comprehension
and English learning.
Learning vocabulary through pictures, teacher's body language,
and storytelling.
Understanding stories and learning the English language through negotiation and strategy use.
Developing literacies: Summarizing the stories read, expressing students' point of view, and representing ideas through
drawings and creating their own stories.
Storytelling and story reading help most of the students to write their
own productions.
Negotiating during the process of group story writing.
Expressing emotions and creativity.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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In the next section, I describe both categories and I support them with the sub categories
that emerged and with some examples from the data collection instruments, especiallystudents‟
artifacts.
Categories of Analysis
Storytelling and story reading enhance reading comprehension and English learning. As I
mentioned in chapter one, students in eighth grade in Venecia I.E.D., are interested in learning
English; however, there are factors that do not allow them to be committed or engaged in their
English learning process. Those factors are connected with the lack of vocabulary, monotonous
lessons or lack of meaningful activities, primarily reading and written activities. As a
consequence of that, students‟ participation in the English class was limited, as well as their
English learning progress . When I started analyzing the data, I observed that students had
started using different strategies to try to understand the stories. Those strategies allowed them
to become involved in the stories, as well as to recognize new vocabulary in general in their
English learning process.
Analyzing the data gathered in the students‟ artifacts, ield notes, transcriptions and
surveys, I could find that three subcategories came out from the data in order to support the first
category; they are:
Learning vocabulary through pictures, teacher‟s body language, and storytelling.
Understanding stories and learning the English language through negotiation and
strategy use.
Developing literacies: Summarizing the stories read, expressing students‟ point of
view, and representing ideas through drawings and creating their own stories.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 47
Learning vocabulary through pictures, teacher’s body language and storytelling.
Uchiyama (2011) in his studies argues that storytelling also contributes to increase the
vocabulary range as students are able to acquire new vocabulary by listening to stories. During
this pedagogical implementation, students used new vocabulary and expressions that they had
learnt from the stories. At the beginning, the new vocabulary was just used to understand the
stories, but later on the new words were used in their productions and as a way to communicate
among themselves and sometimes, with the teacher.
Figure 2. Pre-reading activity, learning new vocabulary. The Selfish Giant Story
The last example shows one of the ways used to learn new vocabulary during pre-reading
activities. As the participants would find those words in the story “The Selfish Giant” and all of
them were unknown to them, working with those words would prepare students for the
storytelling activity . Sometimes when a text has many unknown words for the students, they
feel discouraged and prefer not to read and just give it up. . However, if they recognize the
vocabulary, they become comfortable with the text and engage themselves in the story.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Another aspect to take into account when the students increase their vocabulary, is class
participation. Along this intervention students felt calm and safe to interact with each other and
with the teacher. They not only participated more often, but they also tried to use the new words
learnt and speak in English, even though their English language was not fluent. The following
graphic illustrates a part of a transcription. It was a conversation between the teacher and some
students. Student 1 wanted to interact in English, although at the beginning he could not speak
in English, he participated in Spanish and said the words that he remembered in English. In spite
of the lack of vocabulary, students did their best. They understood the teacher‟s questions and
used the vocabulary learnt from the story, not only to undesrtand the story but also to write their
own story.
Teacher:
Do you remember the story?
Students:
Yes
Teacher:
What does the story talk about?
What is the topic of the story?
Do you understand?
Student 1:
Ehhh.. en Ingles digo en inglés?
Teacher:
If you can do it… do it in English if not do it in Spanish
Try to do it in English
Student 1:
Ehhh… Ali.. Ali was tooo.(4 seconds pause)
Teacher:
Ok, do it in Spanish
Student 1:
Que Ali se subió en una alfombra mágica..
Teacher
How do you say alfombra in English?
Student 1 and 2:
Carpet
Teacher:
Ok carpet
And how do you say alfombra magica?
Student 3:
Magic carpet
Student 1:
Y fue a diferentes lugares del planeta
T: what places did Ali visit?
S1: sur Pole
S3: jungle,mountains
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Figure 3. Transcription 1, March 12th.
Story “Ali and the Magic Carpet”
I observed that students used the new vocabulary in their reading activities and when
they wrote their own texts. According to Ellis & Brewster (1991), listening to stories allows
introducing new vocabulary and structures by exposing children to varied language. Then, when
students listen to and read a story, the new vocabulary begins to become part of their language
and they use it to communicate with others.
Figure 4. Description of characters in the story “The Selfish Giant.”
Figure 4 shows how some students took words from the story to describe characters or
places mentioned in it. In this case, students connected what they heard and read from the story
with the topics that they had to describe.
Another example is shown in graphic 5 and graphic 9, they t illustrate how students
increased their vocabulary and used it in order to communicate their written ideas with others.
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Another example when students created their stories, they mainly used words and expressions
taken from the text, as can be noticed in the excerpt below.
In this example, the students used the original story as a guide to create their own story.
The original idea and structures are respected; however, these students changed aspects such as
characters, places and vehicle used to travel and learned specific verbs related to the characters
such as trot, stable, neigh, and places characteristics such as wet, cold, among others.
Figure 5. Students’ story using expressions and vocabulary from the original story.
Understanding stories and learning English language through negotiation and strategy
use. At the beginning of the pedagogical implementation, students demonstrated their need for
using different tools such as dictionary, a translator, and visual tools in order to understand,
communicate their own ideas and increase their vocabulary. As I mentioned before, at the end
of the first cycle of the implementation a survey was applied in order to inquire into group
work. There, students mentioned the use of Spanish to write the story and then, translating it into
the target language, because in this way it was easier for them to create the story. They also
Ali and the magic carpet
One very hot day Ali finds a carpet in
his uncle’s shop.
“What’s this?”
Suddenly the carpet jumps! It moves
and flies off into the air.
“Hey! What’s happening?”
A loud booming voice comes from the
carpet.
“Welcome, O master. I am a magic
carpet.”
First, they fly high up into the sky and
then they land in a jungle. It is hot and wet and
it’s raining.
Then they fly to the desert. It is very,
very hot and dry.
“It is very, very hot today!”
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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argued that the use of the dictionary was important in this process, as well as the use of a
translator. In figure 6, we can see a part of the survey where students explain how they preferred
writing a story and the kind of tool they used.
Figure 6. Survey 1, Group 7.
However, along of the intervention they started using other strategies in order to
understand the story and express their points of view. One of those strategies was inferring
meaning through the text without using the dictionary or an automatic translator. In this case,
students used the text and the pictures, trying to understand the whole sense of the story. They
also used previous information taken from the first story to comprehend some aspects in the
second and third story. Furthermore, students shared their knowledge in order to facilitate
comprehension and to construct their own productions.
While doing the storytelling activities, students were able to make predictions from the
pictures or the title by answering the teacher‟s questions. Predicting is an important top-down
strategy that prepares students to understand story content using their world and language
previous knowledge (Brown, 2000). Figure 7, describes a part of an activity where students had
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 52
to decide what was going to happen in the story. Students had three options and they had to
discuss among them and choose the best option. There is also, a part of a transcription where
they argue their ideas, this is group 2.
Figure 7. Transcription6_june18th_lesson2_story2_group2
As can be noticed in the previous transcription, students followed the instruction and tried to
understand it by recognizing cognates, connecting words, and remembering explanations and
vocabulary given in the previous classes.
Additionally, students were also able to reconstruct the story in groups or individually by
using all the available information. Usually, when they reconstructed a story, this was supported
by pictures. Then, they showed the illustrations and remembered how the story happened, in this
way they could organize the pictures and reconstruct the story as we will see later. In other
S1:Venga resolvamos este. S2:Lea S1:Predict what is next S2:Predecir S1: (continúa leyendo la instrucción, aunque comete algunos errores de pronunciación,
trata de leer lo mejor posible y termina de leer la instrucción) Instrucción:“Talk with your group and decide what sentence explains what happens in chapter II. In the blank card make a drawing representing the sentence.
A. Alex, Melman, Gloria and Marty get in a boat and return to the zoo. B. Wild animals kidnap Alex. C. The boxes with four friends are in the sea. They arrive to Madagascar
S1: que nos toca hacer? S2: pues leer y elegir S1: pero que elegimos? S2: Next es siguiente. Que pasa luego? S1: Pues en la peli llegan a la isla S2: cómo es que es??? Ahhh si Madagascar. Pero busquemos que es kidnap aunque yo
creo que es la C porque ahí dice Madagascar y en la A dice return y zoo y eso suena como retornar??? Y zoo es zoológico.
S1: de pronto es que se devolvieron al zoológico. S2: Busquemos kidnap y pregúntele a la profe que si box es lo mismo que boxes. S1: siiii es la C porque dice Madagascar y la profe explicó que arrive es como llegar o
algo asi, se acuerda? Además ellos si llegan a Madagascar.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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occasions, students used words that they knew and used their previous knowledge to organize the
sentences and reconstruct the story. Sometimes they used the knowledge of the story they had
learned while listening to it or reading it or they used dictionaries or the translator to help them
remember key vocabulary. This can be seen in the excerpt below.
Utilizing pictures, videos, word games or body language has been a useful tool in order to
understand the stories. Figure 8 shows a sample when the students reconstructed a story using
the illustrations. They connected the pictures with the story told as to organize them. And then,
using the original story, they took sentences that described each picture and wrote them down.
Besides, there is a transcription of audiorecording #5 made on May 18th
with group 1 from the
story Madagascar, which depicted how students talked and worked among themselves to
reconstructure the story and describe the pictures.
S1: Tenemos que ordenar las imágenes como pasaron. S2: esta va primero, porque fue en el cumpleaños, miren el ponqué. S1,3,4: ahh siii S3. Y esta sad S4: he is sad, jajajajaja S4: la otra es en la que camina solito, por la ciudad Nueva York. S3: se dice New York. S4: Bueno New York. La del barco es la última y la de las cajas están antes. S2: o sea que esta donde Alex está hablando por teléfono es la tercera. Listo ya está uno, dos, tres, cuatro y cinco. S1: y ahora que hay que hacer S4: escribir que pasa pero podemos utilizar las copias del cuento. Es una frase. S2: entonces leamos y escribamos. Quién tiene las copias? S3: yo. S4: Yo leo…. Mire mi English!! Jajajaja. Mmmmm… ( el estudiante comienza a leer) S3: ahí donde dice “celebrating” eso debe ser celebras escribamos esa. S1. En la primera? S3: siii en la del ponqué desde Alex and Melman no sé qué cosas hasta
birthday, ahí. S2: la otra, cual es la otra?
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Figure 8. Reconstructing the story, transcription 5_may21st_lesson2_story2_group1
Another tool that students usually used was pictures. Through the use of images, students
connected the pictures with the meaning of the word, in this way they inferred the meaning
avoiding the use of the dictionary. The pictures below illustrate many examples in which
students inferred the meaning of vocabulary through images.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Ali and the Magic Carpet, guide No.1 Madagascar, pre reading activity.
Figure 9. Using pictures to identify and learn new vocabulary.
They not only used the pictures to learn new vocabulary, but also to remember it. They
connected the picture and remembered the word that they had learnt before, as it can be noticed
in the artifact included on the next page as part of The Selfish Giant pre-reading activity.
Sometimes, the spelling was not appropriate, but they knew the word and what the meaning was.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Figure 10. Using pictures to remember vocabulary.
Reading pictures was one of the most useful tools in this pedagogical intervention, due to
the fact that it was a way to talk and negotiate meaning among students.. Different processes
such as observation, inference, and deduction were essential in order to read a picture in this part
of the intervention. Thibault & Walberrt (2003) affirm that literacy is not just the ability to read
and write, it is also the ability to “read” different kind of signs other than words. They name this
visual literacy, which is the way to communicate graphically, it is to observe, to understand, and
to create through images. Taking into account the aforementioned, the participants in this
intervention read pictures as a part of their literacy progress.
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Figure 11. TheSelfish Giant, using pictures to predict.
This picture reading activity was planned with three purposes. First, as I mentioned
before, as a part of learning to identify or remember vocabulary. Second, reading pictures to
predict what will happen in a story. Third, reading pictures to reconstruct a story that students
had read before, to verify certain information or to verify if the story was understood. Figure 8
illustrates a sample of a pre-reading activity, in which students had to organize the paragraphs
using the pictures and the words they knew. They did a scanning exercise and guessed how the
story would be. After that, the teacher read the story aloud and they checked if their partners did
it correctly.
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Figure 12. Madagascar, using pictures to verify the information. Using pictures to construct a
part of a story.
Madagascar, using pictures to verify the information. Using pictures to
construct a part of a story.
Developing literacies: Sumarizing the stories read, expressing students’ point of view,
and representing ideas through drawings and creating their own stories. During the intervention,
the concept of literacy was shown as a social practice. Literacy development was a way to
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 59
communicate with the world (Bernie,1995). Students built their literacies through the interaction
among themselves. They shared their knowledge and contributed with their ideas. Based on
the theoretical support exposed in chapter two and following Andrews (2005), it can be said that
literacy has two connotations. First, the ability to read and write, which is the basic definition of
literacy. And the second, a broader connotation, is the ability to interct in a social and cultural
context; that ability was developed during the intervention, as we can notice in the following
excerpt where students interact among themselves recreating the stories, givin their own points
of view in order to answers the question and understand the story.
S1:¿qué nos toca hacer?
S2: completar con la información del cuento.
S1: ahhh, todos o solo uno
S3: por filas, primero usted y pasa la hoja.
S2: pero rápido, escriba lo primero, el nombre … Madagascar!!!
S1: ya sé, tome (pasa la hoja al compañero de atrás)
S2: mmmm como era???? Ahh si. New york y como es zoológico en Inglés?
S1: zoo, con “z” y doble “o”. Pásela (entrega la hoja al compañero de atrás)
S3: uy me toco fácil!. Profe solo los nombres o con el común también?
Teacher: if you remember both write it dowm.
S3. thank you.(…) listo ya
S4: ay nooo. Espere, venga me ayuda
S3: Que Marty cumplió 10 años. Happy birthday ten years old.
S4. Gracias
S3. Pasela
S5. Teacher!!. Puedo ver en el cuaderno, please?
Teacher: ok
S5: ya, y ahora?
Teacher: please, make a group and answer the other information.
S 2 and 3: rapido, rapido
S2: escribe ss4.
S4. Que es consequence?
S2. Mmm no se escribe esto…(they are in the city) y en el 8 escriba “they are in the boat”,
porque ellos terminaron en el barco cuando los atraparon. Pero escriba rápido para acabar
primero.
Figure 13. Transcription3_may21st_lesson2_story2_group1
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Figure 14. Story chart information. Row 1_artifact1_lessonplan3_Madagascar
In the last examples ,a group of students completed an information chart about the story
Madagascar. Figure 14 shows the chart with the information they had to complete with
information from the story. At the beginning of the chart, the information required was literal,
that is about places and the name of the story, but it also asked students to deduce information.
In both cases, students worked together to complete the chart, each one contributed with their
knowledge about spelling, vocabulary or grammar, mainly sentence structure as a first part of
comprehension . When the students participated in communicative practices, they used the
previous knowledge and socialized trying to construct their own literacy practices. As I have
stated in several opportunities, interaction as a part of literacy improvement plays an important
role in order to build literacies as a social practise.
Due to this fact, almost all the activities were developed in pairs or in groups, and the
students‟ interaction was relevant during this intervention. This was observed when they wrote
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LITERACIES 61
their stories, as figure 11 shows, when they answered the guides, as figures 3 , 13 and 15
illustrate, or when they discussed and argued their points of view among themselves, as it is
evident in the examples of transcriptions presented.
In addition, using stories in the classroom addressed the development of students‟ literacy
by improving oral language, reading comprehension and writing. According to Cairney (1992),
the skills of literacy embrace not only reading and writing, but also responding to different kinds
of messages, which involve texts to help convey meaning to others, messages with pictures to
express emotions and inform and the ability to persuade. That is, all of the students' activities
and interactions throughout the intervention support literacy development. Not only reading and
writing events, but also exchanging messages, the expressions of points of view, the students‟
representations of ideas through drawings contributed to enhancing literacies in the students‟
learning process.
To conclude this category, I can say that storytelling,story reading, and collaborative
construction of meaning help increase students‟ vocabulary. Besides, when a story is told using
pictures or a text supported with images is read, it is easier for the students to grasp the
message, because they become connected and involved with the story context. In addition, story
related activities and interaction can provide powerful literary experiences that contribute to
students‟ literacy development. From the data analysis a second category emerged.
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Storytelling and story reading help most of the students to write their own
productions.
This category refers to the written process fostered after reading and listening to a story.
Besides, this category describes students‟ opportunity of expressing and creating their own
stories; two subcategories support this category:
Negotiating during the process of group story writing.
Expressing emotions and creativity.
Negotiating during the process of group story writing. As I have mentioned, this
intervention was carried out with students of eighth grade. Even though there were thirty seven
students, the sample was about twenty students. The intervention was carried out in pairs or
groups of three students. Due to this, negotiation and the permanent conversation were
important to come to agreements at the moment of writing and producing a new story or text.
Bearing in mind the data analysis, I deduced that students agreed during the writing process by
means of:
Supporting their ideas with facts from the story.
Facing the challenge of coordinating the writing process.
Acknowledging each other‟s differences.
Proposing their own ideas.
Using the previous text read and heard as an example.
Before writing a story or a text, some kinds of activities were made, in order for students
to get familiar with the stories. In the first place, a series of “ pre- activities” were done. There,
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the participants not only recognized and learnt the vocabulary which is presented in the story, but
also made their predictions about the story‟s argument. Additionally, in this step, the
characters, places, and the plot of the story were introduced.
Figure 15. Madagascar, example of pre- reading activity.
The example presented above shows an excerpt of a “pre- reading” activity done in the
story Madagascar. Before this activity, students had watched a trailer of the movie to introduce
the story. Then, they identified the characters of the story, with their proper and their common
names.
Identifying previous iformation.
Recognizing story’s characters:
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After those activities, students had to answer other exercises while they listened to the
story all with the purpose of verifying or clarifying the information. At this point of the
intervention, the negotiation part began while students were working in groups or pairs. Each
member of the group proposed and debated their ideas, sometimes based on the facts from the
original story or thinking about their preferences or experiences.
The next fieldnote describes an observation done when the participants had to write a new
story based on the original one. In this case students used their imagination to write their own
story and go further, because they wanted to use places they even did not know. For that reason,
they had to verify information to make the story more believable. Each participant contributed
with information they knew and shared their preferences in order to construct a better story.
Figure 16. Observation 3. Story 1. Negotiate in order to construct a story
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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Working in groups has been a valuable learning tool in this process as students shared
their knowledge and contributed to the story reconstruction and construction through the ability
to interact in their social and cultural context, as suggested by Andrews (2005). In the case of
this research, the context is the classroom and the interaction is given around the storytelling and
story reading activities and the motivation that this provoked in the students.
After all the pre and while- reading activities, participants had to construct their own texts
based on the story they heard or read. They connected the story with their contexts, sometimes
with their experiences or maybe with their dreams or what they thought . Other students decided
not to follow the original text structure, but their original story. Even though the instruction was
to base their story on the text and use places they know, some students chose places they do not
know but that they would like to know. Some others used the previous text as an example to
write their own, as can be noticed in figure 17.
Figure 17. Students’ own story
Using the previous text read and heard as an example.
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Another way used to foster writing skills was to reconstruct the story. By means of
reconstructing the story, students had the possibility to work in group, remember the story and
distinguish the parts of a story as figure 18 illustrates. These examples were elaborated by
students in rows. Each student had to complete one part of a chart and at the end, the
participants had to answer the most difficult part among all of them.
Figure 18. Reconstructing the story.
Expressing emotions and creativity. In my opinion, there is not better motivation for
students to write than relating to their reality, their own problems, life experiences, and their
own contexts, all of which can be turned into stories that engage them in learning and expressing
themselves. This indicates that imagination and creativity are important when they want to write
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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and create. McGrath, Taylor & Kamen (2004) assert that the use of storytelling with young
children supports early literacy development and expands the creative literacy potential in young
children. In addition, according to The National Storytelling Network, “Storytelling as an
ancient art form and valuable form of human expression (…) is the interactive art of using words
and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener‟s
imagination.” 2 groups tried to encourage their own and the readers‟ imagination when creating
their stories.
The following example describes a story made by a group that decided to make their own
story using their own text structure, their imagination, and some characters from television. At
the beginning, the group had trouble making decisions. Some students wanted to follow the
structure proposed by the teacher in the original story. However, other students wanted to be
creative and original, and write a different text; in the end, they agreed on writing an original
story. Although sometimes it was difficult to understand the ideas in their story, they made a big
effort to convey meaning and structure the different elements of the story following the narrative
structure, that is, with an introduction, a plot, and an ending.
THOM
There was once a train called Thomas and live in ee.uu They were in Winter and many cars are broken .
A halfway by snow but like all train helped clear the way But as he could get out of their way? well using their fairly odd parents called Yurany, Nicolas, Dennys and his daughter named Laura And they could carry Thomas where the wanted And make a wish And desire is to have two luxury homes in new Zelanda He appeared in new zeland in the courtyard of their two houses.
After a tank asked really and puffff appeared in a museum next and to your tank
Also called a fish with lobster and tuna burger And puff appeared in Colombia, After He told his Fairly odd parents sadly. I want to go to EE.UU, where returned, His fairly good parents asked him.
Thomas because if you’re sad we fultill everything you wanted, and he said – it is not so what happents is that All the things you asked me not eat and I can not use because I’m a train, and their fairly oddparebts said if you would like we can convert to a man in order for you to enjoy and accept and it became a very nice man and he could be happy.
End….
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Figure 19. Story based on students’ creativity.
As a teacher researcher, I wanted to give students freedom to write their story, therefore, I
allowed them to choose their own way to do it. As a result, the most common feature at the
moment of writing was the use of both languages. This means that students first wrote in
Spanish and then they translated it to English, especially when they were not sure about the
sentences. However, there were some other students who followed the sample given by the
teacher, where she describe a friend, completing the chart of her best friend and then writing a
paragraph with the chart information. The groups already mentioned wrote their own paragraph
directly in English, as figure 20 shows.
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Figure 20. Students’ story following a pre-writing activity.
Along the pedagogical intervention there were many ways to communicate and express
what students thought and felt. The most common was the written form. However, when
students interacted among themselves, they shared their feelings and opinions. Another way
was the graphic one as through pictures they also expressed themselves.
Although storytelling and story reading have been used in many opportunities as a
strategy to learn and improve English; this was the first time it was used with this group of
students. The benefits in the students‟ English learning process was evident. This intervention
not only contributed to increase students‟ vocabulary, enhance written production, improve
reading stories conmprehension, but also this methodology encouraged students to be more
active and participatory in class, as well as to expand their imagination. As it has been shown,
this study has impacted positively the English learning in my students and it has enhanced their
literacies through the development of the different activities in the pedagogical intervention.
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Chapter 6
Conclusions and Pedagogical implications
This chapter attempts to answer the research question set out in chapter 1, which consists
on describing to what extent may storytelling and story reading enhance eighth grade students‟
EFL literacies. Therefore, conclusions and some of the limitations found are depicted along this
chapter.
In order to answer the research question, two categories were proposed Category 1:
Storytelling and story reading enhance reading comprehension and English learning and category
2: Storytelling and story reading help most of the students to write their own productions.
Regarding the first category I can affirm that using stories in class has been a valuable teaching
tool in order to catch students‟ attention and interest in learning and increase students‟
vocabulary. Stories introduced new vocabulary and language patterns that would l be used later
by students in their own stories.
Storytelling as a pedagogic resource that strenghthens strengthen communicative skill
development. Besides, it encourages students' interaction and it promotes collaborative work
where students can distribute different tasks and cooperate with their work. In addition, it fosters
understanding and learning through negotiation of meaning and the use of different learning
strategies.
In relation to storytelling and story reading, I can state that they enhance the reading
ability, but the most important and meaningful finding is that students can dream as they listen to
or read each other‟sadventures, which totally capture their creativity and imagination. Reading
and listening to the selected stories helped most of the students to write their own stories.
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Through listening and reading stories students learnt to think creatively and to create their own
stories and adventures. The use of new words and expressions in the stories allowed students to
achieve a feeling of self-confidence to express themselves through writing.
Finally, one of the features I could notice in the observations was a difference between
storytelling and story reading. Some of the students tended to remember more information
when they heard the story. The use of pictures, videos or other tools allowed students to find
more details about the story. On the other hand, when students read the stories, in some cases
they understood formal elements of story structure which were used later on in their written
documents.
Pedagogical implications
As I metioned before, there is a lot of research focused on storytelling and story reading
as a teaching strategy to improve communicative skills and to develop literacy. However, this is
the first time that this kind of strategy is used with this population. The findings indicate that
stories may contribute to English learning in many ways. First, it increases vocabulary learning,
it fosters reading comprehension, it contributes by expanding students‟ imagination and also
stories are a point of reference to improve students‟ writing style. Taking into account the
important process that Venecia School is going through, , this research study could contribute to
the bilingual education process. Storytelling and story reading as a method to learn English in a
school whose goal is to become one of the Public Bilingual schools in Bogotá.
Limitations of the study
In spite of the benefits found throughout this intervention, three issues were present. First,
the time factor: As students expressed in the first survey, the time given to write the first story
was not enough because they could not finish the activity and they had to divide tasks into the
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group members. Because of the short time, most of the students did not finish the written text. I
realized that groups that did this task at home used an automatic translator changing the goal of
the writing process. This situation was improved in the next cycle because it was necessary to
extend the time for working in class and verify that students‟ productions were written by them
using the tools provided in class.
The second issue was group work. . Even though it was interesting to see how they
shared their knowledge, distributed tasks, and negotiated to reach the goals, some students
expressed that not everybody in the group invested the same time in doing their work. In some
cases there were participants who were leaders. They proposed ideas, organized the group, and
put into practice their own ideas. In contrast, there were other participants who were not involved
in all the process, sometimes because of lack of motivation and sometimes because they did not
understand what they had to do and they did not ask me.
The last issue is associated with the lack of a reading culture. In general, students are not
used to reading stories or they do not have a reading culture in Spanish. For that reason,
sometimes and some students did not feel comfortable when they read in English. However, the
disposition to listen to a story was different. Perhaps the use of tools such as pictures, videos or
body language allowed them to understand better or get engaged in the story.
Further research
While this study is focused on reading comprehension and written production, additional
studiens could focus on oral skills in order to enhance spoken interaction in class and to foster
students‟ oral participation. During the intervention, I observed that students in general feel
afraid of speaking in English, even though the teacher is not present. It is important to foster the
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
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use of English in class. Not only the teacher- students, but students- teacher and students-
students.
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Appendices
Appendix A Grocery store and commercial small shops around the school
.
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Appendix B. Survey format
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Appendix C. Survey results
GENDER F 12 M 17
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AGE 11 (F) :3
12years: 8
13years:1
14 years: 0
15 years: 0
11(M): 4
12years: 4
13 years: 3
14 years: 1
15 years: 5
Do you like
tales or stories?
YES: 7
NO: 5
YES:13
NO:4
Do you like
telling stories?
YES: 8
NO:4
YES:9
NO:8
Do you like
writing stories?
YES: 5
NO: 7
YES:8
NO:9
Do you like
your English class?
YES: 11
NO: 1
YES:12
NO:5
Do you like
talking or writing
about your ideas?
TALKING:7
WRITING:5
TALKING:11
WRITING:6
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Appendix D. Diagnostic test
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Appendix E. Speaking part transcription
Teacher: Good afternoon, I am going to ask you some questions about the story. Try to
answer in English but if you don‟t understand, you can do it in Spanish. Do you understand?
Students: Yes.
Teacher: Where do you live?
Students 1: (silence moment)
Teacher: Pay attention. I live in San Mateo. Where do you live?
Student 1: Ahhhh. In Venecia
Student 2: In Nuevo Muzu
Student 3: I live in Venecia
Student 4: I life in Fatima
Teacher: Ok thank you. Next question. Do you have grandma?
Student 1:Yes
Student 2: Yes
Student 3: Yes
Student 4: No
Teacher: What is her name?
(Students‟ expression shows that they did not the question. They laughed and see each
other)
Teacher: What is your grandma‟s name?
Students: (laughed again)
Student 1: Carmen
Student 2: Maria
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Student 3: She is Blanca
Teacher: Where does your grandma live? For example you (pointed at student 1) in
Venecia.
Student 1: In Venecia
Student 2: She is live in Boita
Student 3: She live in Nuevo Muzu
Teacher: Who do you live with? For example I live… in my house I live with my
husband (and show the marriage ring) and my little daughter Maria Jose. So, who do
you live with in your house?
Student 1: I life with my mother, my sister and my father.
Student 2: Mother and brothers.
Student 3: I life with my mother, my father, sister and brother.
Student 4: I life is with my mother.
Teacher: Did you like the story? ( she repeat the question in Spanish)
¿Les gustó la historia?
Students: Yes
Teacher: Which character did you like the most? The woodcutter or the wolf, or Little
Red Riding Hood
And why?. Give me a reason (¿Por qué?)
Student 1: Woodcutter. Porque es valiente
Student 2: The woodcutter. Me gustó
Student 3: I like the wolf. Porque he is dangerous
Student 4: The wolf. Sí es valiente
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Teacher: Did you like the end of the story?
Student 1: Yes.
Teacher: Why?
Student 1: El lobo se lo merecía
Student 2: Yes. No sé
Student 3: No.
Teacher: Why?
Student 3: I don‟t the wolf die
Student 4: No. no quería que mataran al lobo
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Appendix F. Field Notes Format
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Appendix G. Transcription Format
TRANSCRIPTION NO. ____
DATE:
PLACE: TIME:
AIM:
TRANSCRIPTION:
FINDINGS:
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Appendix H. Consent Form
FORMATO DE AUTORIZACIÓN
Proyecto de Investigación:
“Storytelling a way to enhance eighth grade student’s literacies”
Señor Padre de Familia o Acudiente:
Actualmente, estoy trabajando el proyecto titulado “Storytelling a way to enhance
eighth grade student’sliteracies”, el cual es requisito para mi programa de Maestría en
Lingüística Aplicada al Inglés en la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas.
Este proyecto busca determinar qué avances presentan los estudiantes por medio del uso
de las Historias, dichos avances están encaminados al mejoramiento de las habilidades orales
(hablar y escuchar). Además, tiene como objetivo fortalecer la comprensión lectora, escritura y
lectura en estudiantes a través del uso de cuenta historias como opción metodológica en el
aprendizaje de una segunda lengua.
La recolección de datos para el proyecto se llevará cabo durante el primer semestre académico
de año 2015. Esta incluye toma de notas/ grabaciones de audio y de video y ejemplos de
material producido por los estudiantes. La participación de su hijo(a) es muy importante para el
desarrollo del proyecto y es de carácter voluntario. A todos los participantes se les garantizará:
1. El uso de nombres ficticios para mantener su identidad en el
anonimato.
2. Estricta confidencialidad con la información que se recolecte.
3. La oportunidad de verificar las declaraciones hechas en las entrevistas
en el borrador de los informes del proyecto.
4. Que el proyecto no tendrá incidencia ninguna en las evaluaciones y
notas parciales y/o finales de la materia.
Agradecemos de antemano su autorización para contar con su hijo como participante en este
proyecto.
Cordialmente,
María Ximena Rivera Pinzón
(Estudiante Maestría Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza del Inglés)
Investigadora Principal.
Nombre del estudiante: __________________________
Nombre del padre de familia o acudiente:_____________________
Firma: ____________________________
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Fecha: _________________________
Appendix I. Survey results
SURVEY RESULTS
This survey was done with nine groups and was divided into two parts.
Part one: ACERCA DE LA HISTORIA PUEDES RECORDAR.
1. El tema principal de la historia es:
Alí y la alfombra mágica
Alí pasa por muchos lugares
Alí viajó por el mundo gracias a la alfombra mágica
De un niño llamado Alí que viaja en una alfombra voladora
Un viaje por el mundo
La alfombra mágica
Alí decidió conocer muchos lugares del país en una alfombra mágica.
Se dirigía a la tienda del tío a comprar una alfombra
Historia se viajes en una alfombra mágica.
2. Los personajes de la historia son:
El tío y Alí (2 grupos)
Alí (2 grupos)
Ali, alfombra, león, pingüino, tortuga, lagarto, ardilla, tío(5 grupos)
3. Algunos de los lugares mencionados en la historia:
Desierto, jungla, montaña, bosque, Antártida, Polo, isla
4. Escribe algunas palabras nuevas que hayas aprendido de la historia:
5 grupos no respondieron
Carpet, Alífoggy, frozen
Mountains
Jungle, desert
Magic, carpet, jungle, uncle and shop
Part two: SOBRE LA ESCRITURA DE LA HISTORIA NUESTRA
1. ¿Cuántos integrantes hay en tu grupo?
3 estudiantes 1 grupo/ 4 estudiantes 6 grupos/5 estudiantes 2 grupos
2. Al escribir la historia
de tu grupo…:
Respuesta C
antidad
1
Primero fue en español y después la pasaron al inglés
6
2
Fue escrita directamente en
3
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 92
inglés
3. ¿Cuáles herramientas utilizaste
para escribir tu historia?:
Respuesta C
antidad
1 Diccionario 8
2 Traductor 3
3 Alguien te ayudó 3
4
Estructuras y
vocabulario de la historia que
conté
4
5
Estructuras y
vocabulario de la historia que
leíste
4
6 Otras 0
1 2
6
3
Al escribir la historia tu grupo...
0
10
1 2 3 4 5 6
¿Cuáles herramientas utilizaste para escribir tu historia ?
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 93
4. Si utilizaste un traductor en línea, ¿crees que estás aprendiendo a escribir en Inglés? Explica tu
respuesta
No porque a veces da respuestas erróneas
Pues no porque escribimos y nos sale pero con diccionario aprendemos más
Sí porque al traducirlo puedo escucharlo y ver cómo se escribe
No porque en algunas oraciones no me gusta leer lo que escribimos
No aprendemos porque en el traductor sale listo y sólo es pasarlo al cuaderno
No, porque hay palabras que en el traductor no están
Me parece que a veces no es muy conveniente utilizar el traductor
5. Si utilizaste estructuras y vocabulario de la historia que les conté, ¿cuáles recuerdas?
Utilizamos palabras de la historia
Ninguna
Nuestra historia fue diferente
El desierto, la isla, la jungla
Sí utilizamos estructuras y vocabulario de la historia, por ejemplo: first, they, fly, high up, into
sky and then, in a…
6. La historia la hiciste en:
Respuesta Cantidad
1 Clase 3
2 Casa 1
3 Ambos 5
¿Qué procedimiento o pasos utilizaron para escribir la historia?
Grupo 1. Primero hicimos el cuento en español frase por frase y lo íbamos traduciendo.
Grupo2. La inventamos, la escribimos, la tradujimos, la transcribimos y dibujamos.
Grupo 3. Buscar palabra por palabra en el diccionario.
Grupo 4. Unir las cartulinas, realizar el título, la portada de la historieta y seguir el cuento.
Grupo 5. Pues nos distribuimos trabajos y así trabajamos muy bien.
Grupo 6. Primero lo escibimos en español y después la tradujimos con diccionario a inglés.
Grupo 7. Conocer los países, escoger, pensar qué trasporte tenía.
Grupo 8. Recordar la historia de Alí y cambiar los personajes.
Grupo 9. Primero revisamos la guía de la historia y empezamos a cambiar diferentes aspectos
que se acomodaran a nuestro país.
7. ¿Quiénes participaron en cada parte de la elaboración de la historia?
Grupo 1. Todos aportamos para crear el cuento
0
5
1 2 3
La historia la hiciste en:
STORYTELLING & STORY-READING: A WAY TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS‟
LITERACIES 94
Grupo2. Todos la inventamos, dos dibujaron y uno la tradujo.
Grupo 3. Leidy y Valero hicieron casi todo.
Grupo 4. Todos, porque todos escribimos párrafos.
Grupo 5. Sólo dos participaron.
Grupo 6. Sólo dos participaron.
Grupo 7. Sólo una persona lo hizo.
Grupo 8. Todos aportamos para crear el cuento
Grupo 9 Todos aportamos para crear el cuento
8. ¿Qué opinas de la escritura en grupo?
Grupo 1. Nos fue bien
Grupo2. Es fácil porque todos dimos ideas para que quedara bien, hubo orden.
Grupo 3. A veces los compañeros no ayudan.
Grupo 4. Bien
Grupo 5. No nos gusta porque al final no todos quedan felices.
Grupo 6. No nos gustó porque los dos que no participaron molestaron.
Grupo 7. No hubo trabajo en grupo.
Grupo 8. Cada uno dio su idea y opinó.
Grupo 9. El trabajo en grupo fue fantástico, nos ayudamos y se vio la unidad además que
podíamos charlar y confiar entre nosotros.
9. ¿Aprendiste algo de la escritura en grupo? Explica tu respuesta.
Grupo 1. Aprendimos a crear una historia en inglés
Grupo2. Aprendimos a escucharnos y trabajar todos aportando para que esté bien.
Grupo 3. Cosas nuevas
Grupo 4. Todos trataban de hacer las cosas bien.
Grupo 5. Es difícil trabajar con varias personas.
Grupo 6. Aprendimos que no necesitamos traductor y cada día sabemos más.
Grupo 7. No hubo trabajo en grupo pero sí aprendimos más.
Grupo 8. A interactuar más.
Grupo 9 Aprendimos que todos tenemos ideas diferentes, rasgos diferentes y pensaminetos
totalmente heterogéneos.
10. ¿Tuvieron algún inconveniente al escribir la historia en grupo?
SÍ 7
NO 2
EXPLICA TU RESPUESTA
Grupo 1. No, porque todos trabajamos unidos y pudimos decidir bien.
Grupo2. Todos estábamos ordenados y nos escuchábamos.
Grupo 3. Sí, porque tuvimos complicaciones al buscar palabras en el diccionario.
Grupo 4. Sí, porque algunas veces no estábamos de acuerdo con las opinones de otros.
Grupo 5. Sí, no nos gustaron las decisiones tomadas.
Grupo 6. Sí, porque no tuvimos ayusd de todos los compañeros y por eso no terminamos la
historia.