USING STORY TELLING TO ENHANCE SPEAKING PERFORMANCES FOR 10 GRADERS STUDENTS

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY
--------------------

TRẦN ĐÌNH THANH

USING STORY-TELLING TO ENHANCE SPEAKING
PERFORMANCES FOR 10 GRADERS STUDENTS
Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Code: 60140111
MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Ngơ Đình Phương, Assoc. Prof., Dr.

Nghệ An, 2017


CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
I, Tran Dinh Thanh, certify my authority of the Study Project Report entitled
“USING STORY-TELLINGTO ENHANCE SPRAKING
PERFORMANCES FOR 10th GRADERS STUDENTS” in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts.

Tran Dinh Thanh
Nghe An, 2017

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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.
This research was carried out to examine how the speaking skill of 10 th graders at Le
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
to enhance 10th graders’ speaking performance. In short, it is hoped that this thesis will
help to improve the teaching and studying of speaking skill at Le Loi high school.

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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. Ngơ 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 10 th 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.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF CHARTS

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LIST OF TABLES

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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: storytelling, 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

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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 storytelling 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 0 t h
graders 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 storytelling activities in enhancing speaking performances for 10 th graders students at Le Loi
high school. Once completed, it will be a useful source for those who are teachers of

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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 storytelling 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

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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.

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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

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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
2.1.2.1. Accuracy
Skehan refers to accuracy as “how well the target language is produced in
relation to the rule system of the target language” (1996, cited in Ellis & Barkhuizen,
2005, p. 139). To achieve accuracy, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation should be
considered.
- 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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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 mothertongue 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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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 storytelling as a knowledge management technique, a way of distributing information,
targeted to audiences and a sense of information, she added that stories provide natural

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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 nonverbal 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.
- Story-telling is, by its nature, personal, interpretive, and uniquely human. Storytelling 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.

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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.

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• 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

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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.

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