Using story telling to enhance spraking performances for 10 graders students

However, in the reality, the teachers and students from Le Loi high school have problems in teaching and learning English speaking.. Loi high school can be improved through using story-t

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I, Tran Dinh Thanh, certify my authority of the Study Project Report entitled

“USING STORY-TELLINGTO ENHANCE SPRAKING

of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Nghe An, 2017

ABSTRACTS

Mastering students’ oral communication is one of the ultimate goals of foreign language teaching in recent years However, in the reality, the teachers and students from Le Loi high school have problems in teaching and learning English speaking

Loi high school can be improved through using story-telling activities, and investigating the students’ attitudes toward using story-telling activities in teaching and learning English and the use of story-telling by teachers in teaching speaking skill

as well The findings of study showed that story-telling is an effective teaching technique which should be widely exploited in teaching and learning English speaking

help to improve the teaching and studying of speaking skill at Le Loi high school

ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS

During the process of conducting this research thesis, I have been blessed to receive supports and assistance from numerous individuals And the research thesis would not have been completed without the support of my supervisor, my lecturers, my

colleagues, my students and my family members

First of and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Ngô Đình Phương, whose expert guidance, vast knowledge of educational research and teaching experience greatly supported me during the time I carried out the thesis

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers at the Department of Post-graduate Studies, Vinh University Their sincere support and considerations have enabled me to pursue and finish the course

I would also like to thank all the teachers at Le Loi high school who kindly helped me

to answer the survey questionnaire and give practical solutions

Appreciation is also extended to 90 10th graders students at Le Loi high school for their patience and prompt responses to the questionnaires

Last but not least, I would like to thank, with all my heart, my family for encouraging

me to fulfill this thesis successfully

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ABSTRACTS ii

ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF CHARTS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Significance of the study 2

1.5 Methods of the study 3

1.6 Organization of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Overview of speaking skill 5

2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill 5

2.1.2 Elements of speaking skill 6

2.1.2.1 Accuracy 6

2.1.2.2 Fluency 7

2.1.3 Teaching speaking skill .7

2.1.3.1 Factors affecting speaking performance 7

2.1.3.2 Difficulties EFL learners have when learning speaking .9

2.1.3.3 Principles for teaching EFL speaking 10

2.1.3.4 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 11

2.1.3.5 Different speaking activities 12

2.2 Overview of story-telling 14

2.2.1 Definition of story-telling 14

2.2.2 Types of stories 17

2.2.3 Procedure of Story-telling 20

2.2.4 Advantages of using story-telling to enhance speaking performance for the 10th graders

students 20

2.2.5 Using story-telling in the English language classroom .21

2.2.6 Story-telling Strategies 22

2.2.7 Story-telling activities in the ESL Classroom 23

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 27

3.1 Research questions 27

3.2 Study setting 27

3.2.1 Theoretical setting 27

3.2.2 Practical setting 29

3.3 Participants 30

3.4 Materials 31

3.4.1 The curriculum and the textbook Tieng Anh 10 31

3.4.2 Research instruments 32

3.5 Procedure 33

3.5.1 Procedures of data collection 33

3.5.2 Procedures of data analysis 34

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 35

4.1 Data analysis and discussion from Phase 1 35

4.1.1 Data analysis from Phase 1 35

4.1.2 Discussion from Phase 1 39

4.2 Data analysis and discussion from Phase 2 40

4.2.1 Data analysis from students’ survey questionnaires 40

4.2.2 Data analysis from teachers’ questionnaires 42

4.2.3 Data analysis from class observation 46

4.2.4 Discussion from Phase 2 47

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 48

5.1 Conclusion 48

5.2 Pedagogical implications 49

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 51

REFERENCES 52

APPENDICES 55

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRES FOR STUDENTS 55

APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRES FOR TEACHERS 56

APPENDIX 3: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRES FOR STUDENTS 57

APPENDIX 4: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS 59

APPENDIX 5: CHECKLIST FOR CLASSROOM OBSERVATION 61

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Language used by students in speaking lesson 36 Chart 2: Teachers’ and students’ self-evaluation towards students’ speaking ability 37

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Teachers’ and students’ opinions towards the importance of teaching and

learning speaking skill 35

Table 2: Students’ interest in learning speaking skill 35

Table 3: Language used by students in speaking lesson 36

Table 4: Teachers’ and students’ self-evaluation towards students’ speaking ability 37

Table 5: Teachers’ & students’ evaluation towards speaking activities in the textbook English 10 38

Table 6: Students’ knowledge towards the term “story-telling” 38

Table 7: Frequency of story-telling activities in speaking lessons 39

Table 8: Results from students’ survey questionnaires 40

Table 9: Teachers’ opinions towards the importance of story-telling activities in speaking lessons 42

Table 10: Ways of motivating students to take part in story-telling activities 43

Table 11: Teachers’ preparation for story-telling activities 44

Table 12: Best time for teachers to implement story-telling activities in speaking lessons 44

Table 13: Ways of organizing the class for story-telling activities in speaking lessons 45

Table 14: Kinds of correction techniques used in giving feedback on students’ doing story-telling activities 45

Table 15: Teachers’ evaluation of students’ improvement in speaking competence after using story-telling activities 46

Table 16: Teachers’ expectation towards integrating story-telling activities in speaking lessons 46

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

These days, people increasingly demand to have more than one language Language as a magic tool for communication plays an essential role in our daily activities Without communication, we will be left behind And it is its significant role

as the international language that makes English becomes more and more crucial in the context of globalization Therefore, in some recent years, the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to meet students' needs for effective communication Communication in foreign language is considered as a bridge to get information, knowledge, and culture

However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning speaking skills in particular have not come up to the expectations in spite of teachers’ efforts to supply students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, teaching and learning speaking effectively is quite a problem to both teachers and students at various schools in Vietnam

At Le Loi High school, the situation is the same Up to now, most of the students at Le Loi high school still have difficulties in learning English in general and

in speaking in particular They always think speaking is hard work and not enjoyable Hence, when the teachers ask them to practice speaking, they are not brave enough to speak up, especially in front of the class Sometimes, they also feel anxious and less confident about their speaking, pronunciation, or grammar For most students, they find speaking especially important yet most challenging one It also seems to the writer that the techniques exploited during a speaking activity such as: story-telling, simulations, discussions, etc are not always really effective Therefore, it

is useful to implement story-telling technique in improving students’ speaking competence By implementing story-telling, there are many benefits for teachers and

students, such as improving students’ vocabulary, improving students’ self-confidence, promoting students’ ability to pick appropriate words, etc Hopefully, through this writing, teachers who are concerned with students’ weakness in their speaking can recognize the effective way to improving students’ speaking competence

It is the reasons mentioned above that urge me to discuss it in my presentation today The reasons and factors have inspired me to conduct a research

entitled "Using story-telling to enhance speaking performances for 10 th graders students."

1.2 Aims of the study

The study is conducted with the aim of investigating the use of story-telling activities

in speaking lessons at Le Loi high school In details, the aims of the study are:

- Exploring the attitudes of students at Le Loi high school towards applying

story-telling to speaking lessons

- Investigating the use of story-telling activities by teachers at Le Loi high school

in teaching speaking to 10th graders

- Drawing several implications from the research

1.3 Scope of the study

Among numerous techniques of teaching speaking, the study focuses specifically on using story-telling in enhancing speaking performances for 1 0t hgraders students at L e L o i H i g h school Therefore, the target that the study investigates and serves is just 90 students from 2 classes of grade 10 in the context

of Le Loi high school

1.4 Significance of the study

The research is a great attempt to investigate the effectiveness of telling activities in enhancing speaking performances for 10th graders students at Le Loi high school Once completed, it will be a useful source for those who are teachers

story-of English at high schools Moreover, this study provides teachers at Le Loi high school with suggestions to apply story-telling activities successfully Thus, the results

of the research will make a great contribution to the improvement of teaching speaking skill for students at high schools The result of this study is expected to enable students

to improve their English speaking competence At the same time, the study supplies the English language teachers with further understanding of speaking skill and story-

telling in terms of types, advantages when employing them

1.5 Methods of the study

With the aim of addressing the research questions, this study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods including survey questionnaire and classroom observation

Firstly, for its versatility and straightforward data processing, the survey questionnaire was employed to quickly collect data from a large number of participants

Secondly, classroom observation was used as the indispensable method since it offered a double-checking scheme of participants' responses, helping the researcher to investigate the issue in practice with an objective view

1.6 Organization of the study

This paper is divided into five main chapters:

Chapter 1 is the Introduction In this part, the rationale of the study, the aims of the

study, scope of the study, significance of the study, methods of the study, and organization of the study are presented

Chapter 2 is the Literature Review In this part, theoretical background related to

the study: speaking skills and story-telling are discussed

Chapter 3 is the Methodology This part presents the research question, study

setting, participants, materials and procedures of data collection

Chapter 4 is Findings and Discussions This chapter is by far the most dominant

one which provides an analysis of the data as well as the interpretation of the results

Chapter 5 is the Conclusion which summarizes the findings, and pedagogical

implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study are provided

in this part

References and Appendices are presented in the last pages of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of speaking skill

In learning English as foreign/ second language, students have to develop four major skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking Among them, speaking is considered as a crucial skill that language learners should master However, it represents an actual challenge for students since mastering this skill is not an easy task Yet, the students are hindered by many obstructions in their way of achieving the language proficiency

In this chapter, we will discuss the speaking skill, its definitions, elements, importance, and the characteristics, how teacher corrects mistakes; as well as, the major strategies for a successful communication and the major difficulties that the speaking is hindered by

2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill

Speaking can be seen as the key to human communication It is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching There are a variety of definitions of speaking

Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of context” (Chaney, [12, p.13]) Another

definition is proposed by Nunan [48] which states that speaking is the ability in using oral language to explore ideas, intentions, thoughts and feelings to other people as a way to make the message clearly delivered and well understood by the hearer

Byrne [9, p.8] describes speaking as “a two-way process between the speaker(s) and the listener(s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding.” It can be transferred from his idea that both speaker and listener have

the function in the interaction The message has to be encoded by the speaker in order

to convey it in appropriate language, while the listener has to decode the message Sharing this point of view Thornbury [63] reveals:

“Speaking can be typified as an activity involving two or more people, in which

the participants are both hearers and speakers having to react to what they hear and make their contribution.”

The communication purpose can be broken when both participants do not have intention to make their contribution to the conversation

In short, speaking can be seen as the way people interact and share information

By mastering the speaking skill, students can improve the communicative competence which helps them much in the process of language acquisition

2.1.2 Elements of speaking skill

- Grammar: Grammar refers to the “description of the ways in which words can

change their forms and can be combined into sentences in that language’ (Harmer

2001, p 12) Luoma points out to that learners’ improvements are frequently, tracked according to the grammatical forms that they can produce accurately (2004) Furthermore, learners initiate from few to more structures, simple to more complex structures, and from many to few or no mistakes till they eventually can express themselves with the correct forms of utterances

- Vocabulary: Achieving accuracy requires possessing rich vocabularies; hence, a

learner who has many vocabularies may not find difficulties when speaking The knowledge of words is as important as the knowledge of synonyms; these latter are used to avoid repeating the same words again

- Pronunciation: English language is considered difficult due to its complex

pronunciation Learners should focus on the pronunciation to be effective speakers, since if they mispronounce words listener will not be able to grasp their meaning

Harmer (2001) emphasizes that if learners are taught pronunciation, they will be aware of the different sounds and sound features besides, their speaking production will be vastly developed; In addition, knowing places of articulation, where to put stress, and when to rise or fall intonation are also essential issues giving them additional advantage to improve their level of achieving proficiency and better understanding of spoken English

2.1.2.2 Fluency

The ultimate aim of EFL learners is to be able to speak fluently According to Hasselgren (1998 cited in Luoma, 2004, p 89) fluency is the ability to contribute to what a listener, proficient in the language, would normally perceive as coherent speech, which can be understood without undue strain, and is carried out at a comfortable pace, not being disjointed or disrupted by excessive hesitation

Researches on fluency proved that the speakers’ speed is not the only factor that determines their fluency but rather knowing when pausing, to take breath or let the other grasp what have speaker said, is important factor as well Thornbury (2005), states that both speed and pausing are key factors determining fluency However, recurring pauses is an indication of the speaker’s incapability of speaking

2.1.3 Teaching speaking skill

2.1.3.1 Factors affecting speaking performance

In order to help students to overcome problems in learning speaking, it is necessary for the teachers to figure out factors that affect their speaking performance Students’ speaking performance can be affected by the factors that come from performance conditions (time pressure, planning, standard of performance and amount

of support), affective factors (such as motivation, confidence and anxiety), listening ability and feedback during speaking activities

Performance conditions: Students perform a speaking task under a variety of

conditions Nation & Newton (2009) believe that performance conditions can affect

speaking performance The four types of performance conditions that Nation & Newton (2009) suggest include time pressure, planning, the standard of performance and the amount of support

Affective factors: One of the most important influences on language learning success

or failure is probably the affective side of the learner (Oxford, 1990) Krashen (1982) states that a variety of affective variables has been confirmed to be related to success in second language acquisition in research over the last decade but most of those studies examined the three categories: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety

Listening ability: Speaking skills cannot be developed unless we develop listening

skills (Doff, 1998) Students must understand what is said to them to have a successful conversation Shumin (1997) shares the ideas of Doff (1998) by stating that when one person speaks, the other responds through attending by means of the listening process

In fact, every speaker plays the role of both a listener and a speaker Therefore, one is certainly unable to respond if he/ she cannot understand what is said It means speaking

is closely related to listening

Topical knowledge: Topical knowledge is defined as knowledge structures in

long-term memory (Bachman & Palmer, 1996) In other words, topical knowledge is the speakers’ knowledge of relevant topical information The information that topical knowledge provides enables learners to use language with reference to the world in which they live Bachman & Palmer (1996) state certain test tasks may be easier for those who possess the relevant topical knowledge and more difficult for those who do not Bachman & Palmer (1996) believe that topical knowledge has effects on speaking performance

Feedback during speaking activities: Most students want and expect their teachers to

give them feedback on their performance However, all speaking production should not

be dealt with in the same way Harmer (1991) asserts that the decisions that the teachers make about how to react to students’ performance will depend upon the stages

of the lesson, the activities, the types of mistake made and the particular student who is making that mistake If the teachers correct whenever there is a problem, the conversational flow as well as the purpose of the speaking activity will be destroyed (Harmer, 1991) If the students are corrected all the time, they can find this very demotivating and become afraid to speak They suggest that the teachers should always correct the students’ mistakes positively and with encouragement (Baker & Westrup, 2003)

2.1.3.2 Difficulties EFL learners have when learning speaking

For Ur (1996), there are some speaking problems that teachers can come across

in getting students to talk in the classroom These are: inhibition, lack of topical knowledge, low or uneven participation and mother-tongue use

The first problem that the students often encounter is inhibition When students try to say things in a foreign language in the classroom they are often inhibited They are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face They are shy of the attention that their speech attracts Little wood (2007) asserts that a foreign language classroom to can create inhibitions and anxiety easily

Secondly, learners often complain that they cannot think of anything to say and they have no motivation to express themselves Rivers (1968) believes that the learners have nothing to express maybe because the teacher had chosen a topic which is not suitable for him or about which he knows very little It is difficult for many students to respond when the teachers ask them to say something in a foreign language because they might have little ideas about what to say, which vocabulary to use, or how to use the grammar correctly (Baker & Westrup, 2003)

Another problem in speaking class is that participation is low or uneven In a large group, each student will have very little talking time because only one participant can talk at a time so that the others can hear him/her There is a tendency of some learners to dominate while others speak very little or not at all

Finally, when all or a number of learners share the same mother-tongue, they tend to use it because it is easier for them Harmer (1991) suggests some reasons why students use mother tongue in class Firstly, when the students are asked to have a discussion about a topic that they are incapable of, if they want to say anything about the topic, they will use their own language Another reason is that the use of mother- tongue is a natural thing to do In addition, using the first language to explain something to another if there is no encouragement from the teachers Finally, if teachers frequently use the students’ language, the students will feel comfortable to do

it

2.1.3.3 Principles for teaching EFL speaking

The first principle is that, to make sure the teaching takes place in an intended way, it is critical to create a high level of motivation (Ur, 1981, p.4) That is the key consideration in the determining the preparedness of learners to communicate Motivation is the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning plus favorable attitudes toward learning the language So effort alone does not signify motivation but it is the desire and the satisfaction in the activity that count (Nunan, 1999: 233) In order to make students feel satisfied and have the desire to get involved

in the lesson, teachers should do the following things

First, teachers use the instinct or experience, depending on the teacher’s qualification, to choose interesting topics in order to draw students’ attention and make inspiration Productive skills cannot be developed beyond meaningful contexts In addition, unreal contexts cannot help students get involved in such real life activities as job and academic settings (Green, 1995)

Second, teachers can create interest in the topic by talking about the topic and

by communicating enthusiasm Teachers can ask if anyone knows about the topic and can therefore tell the others about it before the activities start In this way, students have chances to express their ideas meaningfully and teachers can exploit their

previous knowledge to get them into the lesson Also, teachers can ask students to make guesses about the content and to discuss what happens which inspire students’ curiosity and their wanting to find out the truth So they have a reason to attend to the lesson and to talk for themselves Additionally, teachers can ask several guiding questions before the activity and provide necessary information without telling what students have already known to create stronger motivation (Harmer, 2002: 253) Third, motivation is raised in a lesson also by the fact that teachers help to create a relaxed, no anxious atmosphere which helps even weak and reluctant students This can be done through some activities such as playing guessing games, doing the rehearsal in small groups before speaking in front of many people, or practicing speaking under the guidance of the teachers through drills, repetition, mechanical exercises first (Harmer, 1999: 234,235) In the case students feel fear of mistakes, teachers can encourage them to take risk and focus on content rather than form

Fourth, teachers should give appropriate level of difficulty, not too difficult nor too easy for students may feel bored

And finally, teachers had better employ meaningful learning with meaningful activities relevant to the real life to get students to talk about themselves

The second principle is, when students are motivated enough to get involved in the lesson, teachers should give them the maximum number of opportunities possible

to practice the target language in meaningful contexts and situations which helps to facilities acquisition for all learners rather than grammatical explanation or linguistics analysis (Nunan, 1999: 241) It is because learners must learn to develop the ability to use language to get things done in real life, outside the classroom

2.1.3.4 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity

To support the teaching learning process of speaking skill, the teachers must know about the characteristics of students and also the characteristics of successful speaking activity If the teacher knows about the characteristics of each student, the

teacher can easily give the material to students According to Underhil (1987; 120), there are some characteristics of successful speaking activity:

- Students talk a lot: As much as possible period of time allotted to the activity

occupied by students talk This is obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher talks or pauses It means the students must be active to speak with their friends as much

as possible It is very clear that the students are busy, but they seldom spent their time

to talk with their teacher

- Participation is even: Classroom discussion is not dominated by a monitory of

talkative participants: all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed It means that the classroom discussion is not dominated by one participant

only, but all of participants get a same chance to speak

- Motivation is high: Students are eager to speak because they are interested in the

topic and have something new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieve an objective task It means that the students have high motivation to speak English By having a high motivation, the students will be interested in learning English, especially in speaking They often try to deliver their own idea confidently

- Language is of an acceptable level: Students express themselves in utterances that

are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy It means that they use the components of speaking which are relevant with the acceptable level of language such as, pronunciation, grammar, fluency, and comprehensible So, the students often try to speaking English correctly in real communication

2.1.3.5 Different speaking activities

Speaking activities can be done mostly with group work, teachers should know what their students want and need to practice and select the activities upon their that We shed light on the main tasks of speaking activities and the reasons for what the teacher should encourage learners to do them

Hedge (2000) had identifies three main activities that are commonly used in class which are free discussion, information–gap games and story-telling

- Free discussions: Free discussion permits students to express themselves and give

their opinions about the topic under discussion Hedge (2000) affirms that free discussion helps in developing students’ fluency and provides them with opportunities

to practice the strategies required in interpersonal communication, for instance, taking turns, and shifting between topics, etc She insists on that teachers should provide information about the topic or the material of the discussion because some topics may appear difficult for learners and they have nothing to say about, they may never discuss before even in their own L1 In addition, Hedge sheds the light on the importance of giving students some time for brainstorming before opening the discussion since that some students need to write some ideas down to help them later on to remember

- Information - gap games: This kind of tasks is seen as enjoyable and entertaining

activity, which students like mostly, it requires more interaction between classmates Hedge describes information gap as ‘it involves each learner in a pair or group

possessing information which the other learners do not have The learners' information

must be shared in order to achieve an outcome’ (2000, p 281) Many activities may use information gap design, for instance, it is a puzzle solving, picture drawing, things ordering or comparing pictures Hedge (2000, p 281) confirms that students will benefit from this task the maximum since in gap information activity ‘there would be

more comprehension and confirmation checks, more clarification requests, and more repetitions’ However, unlike story-telling in which all students have to speak, there may be some students that are not engaged in the activity and do not speak

- Story-telling: One of the most common used activities in oral expressions session is

story-telling Hedge (2000, p 279) refers to story-telling as a number of different activities, ranging from simple dialogues prompted by specific information on role cards to more complex simulations, which pass through a number of stages She lists

the advantages of story-telling as follows, first, it is not an individual work but rather it

is performed in pairs or groups in front of the class so that students will not feel shy and will participate Second, if it is based on real life situations, learners will enjoy it and feel as if they are in the real world and are not actually acting in the class Third, some students find story-telling more enjoyable and easier than free discussion, since this later requires them to participate with innovative and clever thing Finally, students enjoy acting like another person and find it more enjoyable In order to achieve the goals of story-telling, teachers should ask students about the kind of roles they want to take, and whether they are able to understand the role that they are given

- Oral presentations: One of the common used activities among EFL learners is oral

presentations It is the act of standing in the front of the class and presenting the prepared work Thornbury (2005,94) declares that ‘the experience of standing up in

front of their colleagues and speaking for a sustained turn is excellent preparation for

real-life speaking This is especially the case if they also have to respond to the

questions from the floor’ This activity enables student to promote their speaking

- Stories and jokes: Telling stories or jokes is very enjoyable activity for learners It is

quite pleasant activity to learners to practice their speaking skill However, Thornbury (2005) states that the narration is an essential mean of speaking practice, he adds, teachers should encourage their learners to tell stories and specially their own ones, this will be more beneficial because it raises some sort of pleasing interaction among learners

2.2 Overview of story-telling

2.2.1 Definition of story-telling

According to Handayani (2013, p.1), story-telling can encourage students to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner Barnes (1997, p.1) argued that story-telling is the art of telling a story that includes telling a story with the

use of the written word, with the use of song, acting, mime, dance and other mediums Plourde (1985) suggested activities that emphasize on story-telling, generating character, helping students find an appropriate voice, and developing the ability to make logical conclusions He reveals a variety of techniques suitable for children in kindergarten through grade 6 One of which is story-telling

Coconi (2013) defined Story-telling is the communicating of events through the use of words and sounds This is an art of expression and improvisation, which revolves around a plot and/or narrative point of view There are a number of different types of story-telling that are shared within many different cultures of the world, aiming to spread moral values, entertainment, inspiration and advice Maynard (2005) defined stories as the way people communicate their experience, the way they understand the experience of others, the way they liberate their imaginations, the way they make sense of the world and their own position within it Maynard (2005) stated that stories are important to people, politics, and education Stories are how people make sense of themselves and their worlds "Story-telling is a task shared by storyteller and story listeners, it is the interaction of the two that makes a story come to life" (Baker and Greene, 1985) I emphasize that the story has its own components; storyteller, story listener and a topic, and most of the stories are taken from real life Baker and Greene(1985) stated several characteristics of a good story to have a single theme, clearly defined , a well-developed plot ; the style should contain vivid words and pictures, having pleasing sounds and rhythm , should have characterization , be faithful to source , have dramatic appeal , be appropriate to listeners , be short and contains simple words and sentences , be effective, contain active verbs , avoid adjectives, contain expressions of opinion , cite quotes, facts, sources , be edited with appropriate punctuation, grammar and capitalization Barzaq (2009) defined story-telling as a knowledge management technique, a way of distributing information, targeted to audiences and a sense of information, she added that stories provide natural

connection between events and concepts

According to National Story-telling Association (1997), story-telling can be defined as the following ways:

- Story-telling is an interactive performance art form Direct interaction between

the teller and audience is an essential element of the story-telling experience An audience responds to the teller's words and actions The teller uses this generally non-verbal feedback to immediately, spontaneously, and improvisationally adjust the tones, wording, and pace of the story to better meet the needs of the audience

- Story-telling is, by design, a co-creative process Story-telling audiences do not

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

a television program or motion picture The teller provides no visual images, no stage set, and generally, no costumes related to story characters or historic period Listeners create these images based on the performer's telling and on their own experiences and beliefs

- telling is, by its nature, personal, interpretive, and uniquely human

Story-telling passes on the essence of who we are Stories are a prime vehicle for assessing and interpreting events, experiences, and concepts from minor moments of daily life to the grand nature of the human condition It is an intrinsic and basic form of human communication More than any other form of communication, the telling of stories in

an integral and essential part of the human experience

- Story-telling is a process, a medium for sharing, interpreting, offering the content and meaning of a story to an audience Because story-telling is spontaneous

and experiential, and thus a dynamic interaction between teller and listener, it is far more difficult to describe than is the script and camera directions of a movie, or the lines and stage direction notes of a play Story-telling emerges from the interaction and cooperative, coordinated efforts of teller and audience

2.2.2 Types of stories

Classifying stories into categories can be very difficult because categories often overlap Therefore, different linguists use different ways to classify stories According to Helen McKay and Berice Dudley (1996), "there are many different types of stories The most important consideration when choosing a tale to tell is whether you like it enough to tell it with enthusiasm Stories should communicate to you a need to be told" They classify stories into many more categories as follows:

• Fable - a short moral story not based on fact, using animals as characters, such as, Aesop's Fables-The Fox and the Grapes, Lion and the mouse and others

• Fairytale - The best-known would be Grimm's fairytales about imaginary folk, such as elves, giants, witches, gnomes, and fairies

• Folk tale - a traditional story, in which ordinary people gam special insight, transforming them and enabling them to overcome extraordinary obstacles See The Magic Orange Tree & other Haitian Folktales by Diane Wolkstein

• Legend - a story based on the life of a real per son in which events are depicted larger than life, for example, The Stories of Robin Hood, or King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

• Myth - a story about gods and heroes, explaining the workings of nature and human nature Such as, Psyche and Eros or Inanna by Diane Wolkstein

• Parable - a fictitious story told to point to a moral, for example,

The Sower and the Seed from the New Testament of the Bible

• Personal story - a life story from your own or your family’s experience, such as, Streets and Alleys by Syd Lieberman

• Religious story - an historical and philosophical story based on a particular culture and religious persuasion, for example, The Story of Lazarus from the Bible

• Tall tale - an exaggerated story, often humorous Fishing stories,

Australian Bush stories, such as, The Loaded Dog by Henry Lawson

• Traditional tale - a story handed down orally from generation to generation, such as the Polynesian stories - Maui, and The Coming of the Maori

Story-telling is also a part of the key which helps students to develop their creativity and fantasy which in turn builds on problems solving competences (Mallan, 1991) It is also important to inform students about the different kinds of story-telling

to guiding them in how to construct their own stories Hamilton & Weiss (2002 as cited

in Hamilton & Weiss, 2005) divide story-telling into 8 types of story-telling all of which are used for teaching in the classroom, including, fables, fairy tales, folk tales, myths, tall tales, cumulative tales, and pour quoi tales

- Fables are a short and compact animal tales They have a few characters that represent aspects of human nature in simple and normal situations, for example, The Hare and the Tortoise This story describes a race between a speedy hare and a slow moving tortoise They most often have a moral or lesson in the form of a proverb

- Fairy tales are simple stories of humans and their dealings with marvelous things and magical beings such as fairies, dragons, and wizards, which always occur in fairy tales The stories are mostly narratives of supernatural events The term embodies folktales such as Snow White: the beautiful girl who falls unconscious after she eats a poisoned apple

- Folk tales originates from oral traditions which are passed down by word of mouth through generations and which feature morals or lessons They narrate the relationship between people in fantastic and symbolic terms Such as Hansel and Gretel, relatives who eat a candy house, is one of the world’s most famous folk tales

- Myths are traditional sacred stories which are related to the qualities of super natural beings who were the heroes of these stories They often focus on human qualities such

as good and evil, and also show the relationships between gods and heroes One famous myth is that of Hercules, who had superhuman strength and was a brave superhero who carried out twelve very difficult labors, such as killing lion with his bare

hands

- Tall tales are stories that have a main character that is bigger or stronger than real people with a special job He always solves his problem in an amusing way Tall tales are always exaggerations of actual events, such as Paul Banyan Paul Banyan was the biggest and strongest lumberjack with a big blue ox for clearing the way as he passed and made it safe for others

- Cumulative tales are built up by repeating lines and adding to them over and over again They also often include repetition of rhymes and rhythm Such tales depend upon repetition and rhythm for their effect as, for example, in The Gingerbread Man The story about a gingerbread which jumped out of the oven and ran away

- Pour quoi tales are a fictional narrative that explain the world and how thing become Pour quoi means „why‟ in French The stories usually describe something in nature, especially animals, such as “Why the elephant has a long nose” or “Why bees buzz” Pour quoi tales are told firstly as a tale but then they are used to explain the reality that occurred in nature

- Legends are considered to be true stories about human heroes that occurred in the past and may feature some religious references, for example, The Odysseus, who is the hero

of a Greek myth The Odysseus is a story about a hero king fighting against the gods All of different types of stories can be used in the ESL classroom to illustrate the meaning and format of each type of story to students Students must learn about the different types of stories so that they know what is appropriate when telling a story themselves They can also notice the different ways of making up and telling stories themselves after reading or listening to them Teaching the different ways of telling a story in the classroom is easier when the teacher plans good strategies for organizing the important English language skills which are required to the stories to be related in the lesson plans

2.2.3 Procedure of Story-telling

According to Jianing (2007), there are six steps in conducting story-telling, as follows:

- Warming Up

- Divide the students into groups and each group prepares a story

- Ask each student to prepare a story (about two minutes long) in advance

- Divide the students into four to five groups and each group is given an opening of a story and asked to finish the story in about 20 minutes

- Ask each group to hand in an incomplete story and redistribute them among the

2.2.4 Advantages of using story-telling to enhance speaking performance for the

10 th graders students

Opening a lesson with a story may put the students at ease and allow them to understand something concrete before going on to the related abstract concept Depending on the age of the students, story-telling can be used in almost any subject area English and History spring to mind as story-telling subjects, but story-telling can extend to the social sciences, science, health, music, art, and just about every subject being taught As we can see, there are a number of advantages of using story-telling to enhance speaking performance for the 10th graders students

The first advantage that can be cited is story-telling gains the students’ attention

It enables the students to be exposed to a moral dilemma or a problem-solving exercise Students can use story-telling to share stories of success and develop a sense of community They also can use it to explore personal roles and make sense of their lives This enhances the use of imagination and concentrates the mind It may be the use of imagination enables stories to be remembered It has also been suggested that story-telling enhances critical thinking The subject for which this strategy appears to

be most appropriate is that of developing language Story-telling is appropriate allowing for creative expression and an intuitive application of knowledge Yet it is not just an understanding of words that is enhanced, story-telling also develops verbal skills One final aspect of story-telling is the interaction that it generates Fry and colleagues have proposed that teaching is about facilitation and that exchanging stories allow the teacher to hear the student’s perspective Similarly, it has been claimed that the process of listening shows respect to others That is develops relationships and that the teacher can assess the students at the same time According to Tsukanto in Jamari’s research, story-telling motivates participants to listen and speak The activities can be done better by integrating story-telling The students can work together to train themselves repeatedly both in the classroom and outside The story-telling provides participants with opportunities to listen to language in context rather than in bits and pieces" According to Amanto, "stories have traditionally been used to teach and entertain" Based on explanations above, story-telling is a technique which gives many opportunities for participants to listen and speak Besides that, it can also give entertainment for the participants

2.2.5 Using story-telling in the English language classroom

As we all know, stories have always played a significant role in children's growth Stories not only help in stimulating children's imagination and understanding

of the world, but also in developing children's language ability and appreciating

literature (Aiex, 1988; Cooper, 1989; Koki, 1998; Zobairi & Gulley, 1989) It is just as Wright wrote, "Stories which rely so much on words, offer a major and constant source

of language experience for children" (Wright, 1995) The primary reason to recommend story-telling in the EFL speaking classroom is that stories are motivating and immensely interesting, can best attract listeners and promote communication "The excitement and drama of story-telling provide a context that holds students' attention." (Cooter, 1991; Bla, 1998) Secondly, stories are an enormous language treasure For hundreds of years, thousands of stories have been created and passed down Many old stories are regarded as the models of language and treasures of the culture, from which learners at various language levels and age groups can find suitable stories to read and tell It would be a waste and pity if they are neglected in the course of EFL/ESL In addition, stories are easily accessible; storybooks can be found in bookstores and borrowed from libraries or friends Today, the most convenient and quickest way to find stories is from the Internet “Story-telling …… costs nothing, is enjoyable, and can be used anywhere and at any time” (Zabel,1991) Thirdly, the lively atmosphere and real life environment created by stories encourages the students to talk and discuss with each other When telling and listening to a story, the learners will easily be plunged into the plots and the scene and forget about themselves, which will, to a great degree, relieve their nervousness Colon-vila (1997) also commented that story-telling helps EFL learners become more self-confident to express themselves spontaneously and creatively However, teachers have not been zealous to use it in the classroom (Alvey, 1977) Some students say that they have no time to meet with their partners and practice dialogues when they fail to do it well Though sometimes it is just an excuse, nevertheless, story-telling helps solve the problem: partners are not indispensable to practice story-telling though it is better to have an audience

2.2.6 Story-telling Strategies

Story-telling strategies utilizes the vocabulary and structures which need to be

taught in the early stages of language learning This can be achieved by incorporating them into stories which the students listen to, watch, retell, read, and write Moreover, story-telling is a successful strategy to increase pragmatic oral skills (Brice, 2004) Subsequent stories can be used to introduce additional vocabulary and structures in meaningful contexts Strickland & Morrow (1989) assert that giving students an opportunity to tell stories can help their language development by enhancing vocabulary, syntactic complexity, sense of story structure, and comprehension It allows them to become active participants in the creation of language Because students usually tell stories cooperatively to other, the activity provides a social context as well The students are already familiar with stories from their experiences life, and now they are exposed to this familiar genre as the teacher presents it in a new language with an abundance of gestures, pictures, and other props to facilitate comprehension After hearing a story, various students act it out together or assume different roles while their peers watch Students are not required to memorize the stories; on the contrary, they are encouraged to construct their own variations as they retell, using props such as illustrations and labels Story-telling then is not only use to stimulate the students‟ imagination, but also to develop their language abilities (Koki, 1998) Stories are more than just words; they offer a constant sources of language learning The ultimate goal is

to have learners develop original stories and share them with others (Baker & Greene, 1977)

2.2.7 Story-telling activities in the ESL Classroom

In the researcher’s opinion, activities in teaching and learning or instructing are procedures that impart knowledge or skills They are an important approach to attract students‟ interest in activities during class Many classroom activities can help develop students‟ ability to integrate their English skills As Neal (2001) suggests, story-telling

is one of the most effective techniques for conveying amusing presentations There are many kinds of interesting story-telling activities which can be used in the classroom

Story-telling in the classroom should hold the interest of the students and let them be participants in the process of telling a story Such activities not only entertain students, but also encourage them to participate more in class As the list of activities below shows, group discussion and interaction, story-telling, retelling a story, story completion and story-telling or drama, can all be used in the ESL classroom to encourage students to improve their integrated skills In each activity, they can also adapt the method of teaching and learning to improve more than one skill in an appropriate situation

- Group Discussion and Interaction: Story-telling provides a great opportunity for

students to become involved in group discussions and interaction as they both tell

stories and sit in the audience to listen to the stories of the others students At both of

these times students learn to take turns when they speak in a group, to back up and give appropriate reasons for their thoughts and opinions and to take into account others‟ reactions and thoughts on the same topic According to Snow & Tabors (1993), stressing the value of working in a small group and pair interactions, has an effect on offering students more opportunities to co-construct their opinions and build connections between story-telling and oral language Students also learn to place the stories in context and relate other things they know about the topic, and to continuously extend their ideas the discussion about the stories progresses

- Story-telling: Strickland & Morrow (1989) claim that giving students the opportunity

to tell stories can help students‟ language development by enhancing vocabulary, syntactic complexity, sense of story structure, and comprehension Students may create their own stories, by means of speaking and writing, to tell their stories to their classmates Story-telling also fosters creative thinking It helps students to express ideas with a beginning, development, and an end, including the characters and the setting of a story In this way, the teacher will not only encourage students’ speaking and writing abilities, but also get the attention of the class while students listen and

read the stories

- Retelling Story: Retelling a story is an activity to help students focus on their

understanding of what they read or listen to and challenges them to communicate what they have learned to others Retelling can come in the form of an oral presentation or written assignment, which features the main components of characters, setting, problem, events, solution, and theme As Hamilton & Weiss (1990) have noted, when students have the opportunity to retell stories they have heard, and eventually search for their own stories to tell, they begin to develop a better understanding of themselves

An easy-to-remember handout will help students to organize their thoughts and

information as they prepare to retell their stories

- Story Completion: This is a very enjoyable, whole-class, free-speaking activity for

which students sit in a circle For this activity, a teacher starts to tell a story, but after a few sentences he or she stops narrating Then, each student starts to narrate from the point where the previous one stopped Each student is supposed to add from four to ten sentences Students can also add new characters, events, descriptions and so on In fact, students not only improve their skill in narrating stories, but they also improve their speaking skills at the same time They can also practice their writing skills by continuing a story following on from the beginning of the story which was presented

by the teacher

- Story-telling or Drama: Harmer (1998) explains the meaning of story-telling as

activities in which students are asked to imagine their own ideas to create a story in which they are the characters As Stocker & Stocker (2000) have stated, a story-telling

is a game in which players assume the roles of characters and work together to create stories Story-telling at its best is truly a dramatic art, so it should come as no surprise that it is an activity that requires the story-telling or drama skills When they tell stories, students learn how to use their language to convey the setting, characters and emotions, and they can create and keep up all the different roles of the different

characters in the

story As they listen to others ‟story-telling, students also watch others do these things and learn how to comment on the drama that has unfolded before them All kinds of interesting stories are used in different situations which depend on the students’ ages and their situations However, using story-telling in the English classroom is still one

of the best activities to encourage students to study English (Jianing, 2007) telling activities can not only improve integrated English skills, but also enhance students’ other skills