The effect of storytelling on efl grade-5 students' oral performance at An Minh primary school in Kien Giang province

The National Foreign Languages Project 2020 (hereafter NFL Project 2020) is the latest breakthrough that attracts tremedous efforts and investments from top government leaders[r]

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ABSTRACT

Storytelling has been an English teaching method which was studied by a number

of researchers This current paper analyzed the effect of storytelling on EFL grade 5 students’ oral performance in the English language Its implementation took place at An Minh Primary school in Kien Giang Province The objective of this study was to measure the students’ oral performance through the storytelling method This study used experimental study methods with a sample which was divided into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG) The EG was taught by using the storytelling technique, while the CG was taught by using a conventional technique for teaching speaking In collecting the data, tests and a questionnaire were used The results showed that the oral performance of the EG students, taught with the storytelling technique, improved much more and were significantly better than the improvement in the oral performance of the

CG students taught by using the conventional technique Moreover, the qualitative information helped us to understand that the participants have positive emotional, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward storytelling

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of authorship i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of abbreviations viii

List of tables ix

List of figures xii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION……….……… ……… 1

1.1 Rationale ……… ……….……… … ……… 1

1.2 Statement of the problem ……….…….……….……… …… ….4

1.3 Research aims ……… …….…… ……… … 5

1.4 Research questions……….……… …… 5

1.5 Research hypothesis……… … 5

1.6 Significance of the research……….… 6

1.7 Scope of the study……….………… 6

1.8 Organization of the research……… ……… ……… 6

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW………… ………….………… …… 8

2.1 Speaking……… ……….… 8

2.2 Teaching speaking……… ……… ……… 9

2.3 Young Language Learners……….….… 10

2.4 Characteristics of Young Learners…….……… …10

2.5 Teaching speaking to Young Learners and its related problems……… … 12

2.6 Story and storytelling……… ………….13

2.7 Storytelling: characteristics and purpose……… …… …….15

2.8 Storytelling: Types and steps……… …… 17

2.9 Empirical research on teaching English to YLLs through storytelling………… 18

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……… 23

3.1 Research design……… …… 23

3.2 Research site……… …… 24

3.3 Participants……… ……24

3.4 Research instruments……… … 25

3.4.1 Test design……… ………… 25

3.4.1.1 Pretest ……… ……… … … 25

3.4.1.2 Posttest……….…… … 25

3.4.1.3 Test administration and scoring method……….….….…….….26

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3.4.2 Questionnaire, piloting and reliability……….….….……26

3.5 Materials and treatment procedure… ……… 28

3.5.1 Materials……… ……… 28

3.5.2 Treatment procedure……….……… …… 29

3.6 Data collection………….……….……….…… 30

3.7 Data analysis……… ……… 31

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION……… …….32

4.1 Findings……….……… ….32

4.1.1 Testing the effect of storytelling on grade 5 students’ oral performance………… 32

4.1.1.1 Participant analysis……… 32

4.1.1.2 Normality test……… … 33

4.1.1.3 Pretest results of the Control group and Experimental group……… ………….33

4.1.1.4 Posttest results of the Control group and Experimental group……… … 35

4.1.1.5 Pretest and posttest results of the Experimental group……….…….…36

4.2 The EFL grade 5 students’ attitudes toward storytelling………….……….… 37

4.2.1 The behavioral aspect of attitude toward storytelling……… …… 38

4.2.2 The cognitive aspect of attitude toward storytelling……… … 41

4.2.3 The emotional aspect of attitude toward storytelling……… …….42

4.3 Discussion……… … 45

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4.3.1 Research Question 1……… … 45

4.3.2 Research Question 2……… …… 46

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION, PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……… ………… …50

5.1 Summary of key findings……… …… 50

5.1.1 Research Question 1: Students’ oral performance in pretest and posttest… … ….50

5.1.2 Research Question 2: The grade 5 students’ attitudes toward storytelling…………51

5.2 Pedagogical Implications……… 52

5.2.1 To the English language teachers……… ……… … 52

5.2.2 To the administrators……… …… 53

5.3 Limitations……… ……… 53

5.4 Suggestions for futher research……… ….53

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Sample Lesson plan 64

Appendix 2: Pre-test 68

Appendix 3: Post-test 69

Appendix 4: Rubrics 70

Appendix 5A: Questionnaire (English version) 72

Appendix 5B: Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 74

Appendix 6: Pre-test and Post-test Scores of both Control group and Experimental group 76

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations

AMPS An Minh Primary School

BCEA Behavioral, Cognitive, Emotional Attitude

CAR Classroom Action Research

CG Control Group

CCI Contextualized Comprehensible Input

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

EG Experimental Group

EFL English as a Foreign Language

L1 first language

L2 second language

M Mean

MOET Ministry of Education and Training

NFL The National Foreign Languages

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OPT Oxford Placement Test

RQ Research Question

SD Standard Deviation

Sig Significance

SPSS Statistic Package for the Social Science

STT Storytelling Technique

TBLT Task-Based Language Teaching

TPRS Total Physical Response Storytelling

WTO World Trade Organization

YLs Young Learners

YLLs Young Language Learners

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Reliability Analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha)……… … ……27 Table 2 Treatment procedure……… … 29

Table 3: Tests of Normality……… …….33 Table 4 Descriptive statistics of the two groups on the speaking pretest………….…….34 Table 5 Mann-Whitney test of the mean scores of CG and EG on the pretest…… ….35

Table 6 Descriptive statistics of the two groups on the speaking posttest…….… … 35 Table 7 Mann-Whitney test of the mean scores of CG and EG on the posttest….… 36

Table 8 Wilcoxon Test for the Experimental Group before and after the treatment…….37

Table 9 Respondents’ positive & negative behavioral attitudes toward storytelling… 39

Table 10 Respondents’ positive & negative cognitive attitudes toward storytelling… 42

Table 11 Respondents’ positive & negative emotional attitudes toward storytelling …43

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure1 A pretest – posttest non-randomized control-group design………… ……… 24

1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

This chapter, the Introduction, presents the sections including the rationale, the statement of the problem, the research aims, the research questions, the research hypothesis, the significance of the research, the scope of the study and the organization of the research Each section will be described in details

1.1 RATIONALE

In this contemporary world, where mobility for a variety of purposes, people the world over are inclined to using an international language to meet their own objectives in life and at work It is English which is now used widely in a great many countries for education, business, science and technology, culture, politics and diplomacy Vietnam is not an exception when it is now a full member of ASEAN, WTO, and is going to join other international trade organizations Therefore, teaching and learning English effectively presents teachers, learners, educational administrators at different levels as well as other stakeholders a number of challenges

Vietnam has been facing with many changes in teaching and learning foreign languages in general, especially English in particular since the initiation of Doi Moi policy in 1986 The National Foreign Languages Project 2020 (hereafter NFL Project 2020) is the latest breakthrough that attracts tremedous efforts and investments from top government leaders, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) officials down to provincial levels and teachers and students, especially parents and society alike with a hope to effectively improve the quality of English language learning and teaching across all school levels in Vietnam Within this context, attention has been made in this decade

to encourage and inspire new ways of teaching and learning English in Vietnam at all levels of education and training where English is now a compulsory subject in all schools, colleges and universities in Viet Nam

In an attempt to enhance the teaching and learning English at primary schools in Vietnam,

as part of NFL Project 2020, Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)

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