Luận Văn Giáo Dục Sư Phạm Students’ perceptions of using short stories in learning English as a foreign language at a high school in Vietnam

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HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRAN KHANH HUYEN

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF USING SHORT STORIES IN LEARNING
ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT A HIGH SCHOOL
IN VIETNAM
( NHẬN THỨC CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN
NGẮN TRONG HỌC TIẾNG ANH NHƯ MỘT NGOẠI NGỮ TẠI MỘT
TRƯỜNG THPT Ở VIỆT NAM)

(Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of
Arts in English)

Major: English Language Teaching

Hanoi, 2019

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HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRAN KHANH HUYEN

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF USING SHORT STORIES IN LEARNING
ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT A HIGH SCHOOL
IN VIETNAM
(NHẬN THỨC CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRUYỆN NGẮN
TRONG HỌC TIẾNG ANH NHƯ MỘT NGOẠI NGỮ TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG
THPT Ở VIỆT NAM)

Major: English Language Teaching

SUPERVISOR: TRAN THI MINH PHUONG, MA.

Hanoi, 2019

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research would not have been completed without the support of many
people.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms.
Tran Thi Minh Phuong, a great supervisor, lecturer of Ha Noi Pedagogical
University 2, for her patience, unflagging support, and encouragement, who I owe
an enormous intellectual debt.
Besides, I am very grateful to all the lectures at Hanoi Pedagogical University
2, especially the lectures at Faculty of Foreign Languages for their help and
support throughout my course of study which have enabled me to work on my thesis
with confidence and focus.
I also want to thank the Principal, Head of Bac Dong Quan High School for

allowing me to conduct the survey in their school. My grateful thanks go to the
teachers and pupils for agreeing to participate in the questionnaire surveys and
interviews of my pilot study and main study. Without their much-appreciated
cooperation, I would not be able to collect the data needed for this study.
One more time, thanks for all the help we had during carrying out the research!

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ABSTRACT
Most early studies, as well as current work, focus on the use of literary texts
in learning the English classroom on the tertiary level. Nevertheless, short stories
are extraordinary for Vietnamese EFL learners, especially for High School students.
This research reports the results of investigating students’ perceptions of using short
stories in learning English as a Foreign Language at High School in Vietnam. The
participants were 76 students of grade 11 at Bac Dong Quan High School, randomly
chosen two classes: 11A9 and 11A11. The methodologies were used for this
research: classroom observation, survey questionnaire. In addition, interviews tool
were also developed to elicit the learners’ perceptions of the use of short stories in
learning English. The results of the data analysis can be also drawn that participants
have positive perception towards the use of short stories to learn English language.
In addition, short stories helped students enhance their English language proficiency
and were interested them in the lessons that used short stories. The research also
gave some pedagogical implications for the use of short stories in teaching and
learning English to encourage students to develop their language skills completely.
KEYWORDS: short story, students’ perceptions, foreign language.

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STATEMENT kOF kAUTHORSHIP
Title: k
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF USING SHORTkSTORIESkIN LEARNING
ENGLISH AS kA kFOREIGN kLANGUAGEkAT A HIGH SCHOOL kIN

k

VIETNAM.

k

(Graduation kpaper ksubmitted kin kparticular kfulfilment kof kthe kDegree kof kBachelor
of kPedagogy kin kEnglish)

k

I kcertify kthat kno kpart kof kmy kthesis khas kbeen kcopied kor kreproduced kfrom kother
person’s kwork kwithout kacknowledgements kand kthat kstudy kis koriginally kwritten

k

by kme kunder kthe kcareful kguidance kof kmy ksupervisor.

k

Date ksubmitted: kMay k2019.

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Student

Supervisor

Tran Khanh Huyen

Tran Thi Minh Phuong

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LIST OF THE TABLES AND FIGURES
Tables:
Table 1. Background information about the participants of the study .....................19
Table 2. Planning of short story lessons ..................................................................21
Table 3. Result of the Classroom Observation with class 11A9 and 11A11 in 5
weeks .........................................................................................................................26
Table 4. Students’ time spend on learning English by themselves ...........................28
Table 5. Respondent’ Eagerness to Get Short Stories for Self-Enjoyment ..............32
Table 6. Respondents’ Eagerness to Enjoy Short Stories as Components of
Language Skills Classes ............................................................................................32

Figures:
Figure 1. Percentage of student’ participant “Yes” in 5 Weeks. ............................26
Figure 2. Difficulties in learning English .................................................................29
Figure 3. Pie Chart of the proportion of students reading ST ..................................30
Figure 4. Respondents’ Interest Frequency ..............................................................31
Figure 5. Respondents’ Perception Frequency.........................................................34

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LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS

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1. HPU2

: Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2

2. FFL

: Faculty of Foreign Languages

3. BDQ

: Bac Dong Quan

4. ST

: Short Story

5. EFL

: English as a Foreign Language

6. ELT

: English Language Teaching

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................ iii
LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS ....................................................................................... iv
PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1
1. The Rationale of the study… ..................................................................................... .1
2. Aims of the study and Research Questions ................................................................. 3
3. Scope of the study ....................................................................................................... 4
4. Research methods........................................................................................................ 4
5. Significances of the study ........................................................................................... 5

6. Design of the study...................................................................................................... 5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT......................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .................................................... 7
1. Definitions English as a Foreign Language. ............................................................... 7
2. Clarification of Significant Concepts and Terms. ....................................................... 8
2.1. Definitions of perceptions. ....................................................................................... 8
2.2. Definitions of short story. ........................................................................................ 9
3. Relation between short story and language learning. ............................................... 11
3.1. Teachers ................................................................................................................. 11
3.2. Students .................................................................................................................. 12
4. Role of short stories in language learning ................................................................. 13
5. Previous study ........................................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY............................................................................ 18
1. Participants ................................................................................................................ 18
2. Data collection instruments. ...................................................................................... 19

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2.1. Classroom Observation. ......................................................................................... 19
2.1.1. Reasons for using Classroom Observation. ........................................................ 19
2.1.2. Description of Classroom Observation. .............................................................. 20
2.2. Questionnaire ......................................................................................................... 22
2.2.1. Reasons for using Questionnaire ......................................................................... 22
2.2.2. Description of Questionnaire. ............................................................................. 22
2.3. Interview ................................................................................................................ 23

2.3.1. Reasons for using Interview. ............................................................................... 23
2.3.2. Description of Interview ..................................................................................... 23
3. Planning..................................................................................................................... 24
4. Procedures for data collection ................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .................................................... 26
1. Findings of Observation. ........................................................................................... 26
2. Findings of Questionnaire. ........................................................................................ 27
2.1. Interest in Short Stories .......................................................................................... 31
2.2. Students’ Perceptions on the Inclusion of Short Story in Language Skills
Classrooms .................................................................................................................... 33
3. Findings of Interview ................................................................................................ 34
PART C: CONCLUSION........................................................................................... 36
1. Summary of the study. .............................................................................................. 36
2. Implications for teaching and learning. ..................................................................... 37
3. Limitations of the study. ........................................................................................... 38
4. Suggestions for further study. ................................................................................... 39
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 40
APPENDIX

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. The Rationale of the study.
In today’s globalizing world, language is our primary source of international
communication. In all countries of the world, English is spoken as the first language

by near 400 million people, and as the second language by 1,6 million people.
Therefore, English has become the most important language for people in many
sections of the world like medicine, engineering, business, and education. Good
English learning in the school level will help in making the students competent in
this era of globalization and be willing to enter their path of career.
Teaching English is not always easy in every simple case, you must connect
with students in the process of learning and inspire them to get the best outcome. A
variety of technique and old strategies have shown up in the fields of language with
the pass of time. This method resulted in boring and not motivating for students
because they did not connect and interact with their students. Therefore, students
often do not involve when learning language, because they do not feel part during
the time spent learning, they have an inactive role when learning English and they
forget it easily because the interaction is absent.
Hines (2005) states that: “it is better to use literature rather than a
communicative textbook as it can change the learning process from focusing on
grammar to higher- order thinking. He believes that literature-based programs
concentrate on the interpretation of the language and this allows students to
experiment with the language. It can be assumed that literature admits the students
to be creative in their thinking and also gives the students a basic platform to use the
language”. Moreover, Rosli Talif (1995:15) declares that “…language is inseparable
from literature and vice versa, we cannot run away from learning the language when
literary text is used. Students learn the language unintentionally when they read the
literary text”. Rosli Talif (1995:17) also believes that “language is the material of
literature as stone or bronze is of sculpture, paints of pictures, or sounds of music”.
To make a literary piece, the writer will need to use the language. Literature cannot
be made by itself; there is the material known as the language that makes it known

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as literature or short stories. Therefore, it can be concluded that literature and
language cannot be separated.
Teaching English has become a mission of many teachers and burdens for those
whose students have no interest in learning. Moreover, the teaching method also
plays an important factor to help learners enhance their language skills. In general,
each teacher has a variety of different method such as the grammar-translation
method, direct method, the audio-lingual method (ALM),… recommended aiming
at helping students to feel excited and motivate students to learn without effort.
And, there are lots of ways of learning English; many pupils enhance their English
skills through different methods such as reading interesting books, articles or
watching fun films, listening to music in English. Short stories, in general, to
engage students in the study of language skills, teachers apply short story lessons in
class and have to make connections between high- order thinking’s students, ideas
and also between youngest students’ perception forward short stories. The use of
short stories in the English classroom helps us to build basic cornerstone skills
faster and more efficient.
There khas kbeen ka knumber kof ktheses kstudied kto kinvestigate kthe kuse kof kliterary
texts kin klearning kthe kEnglish kclassroom kand kmost kof kthem kfocused kon kthe

k

tertiary klevel. kApart kfrom kresearch kconducted, kthere khas kbeen kthe kvery klittle

k

study kthat kfocused kon kthe kuse kof kST kand kinvestigated kstudents’ kperception kof

k

using kST kin klearning kEnglish kat kHigh kSchool. This kis kimportant kfor kthe kstudents

k

to kacquire kthe klanguage. k kStudents kneed kto kenjoy klearning kthe klanguage kas kwhen

k

there kis k“a kmental kblock, kcaused kby keffective kfactors k... kthat kprevents kinput

k

from kreaching kthe klanguage kacquisition kdevice” k(Krashen, k1985:100), kstudents

k

will knot kreceive kthe kinput kfully kand kthe klearning kprocess kcannot kbe koptimized.

k

It kis kessential kto ksee kwhat kare kthe kstudents’ kperception krather kthan kfocusing kon

k

the kteachers kor kinstructors kalone. kAnother kexample kof ka kstudy kwas kon kyoung

k

adults’ kresponse kto knine kyoung kadult kstorybooks kby kToo k(2004). kToo k(2004) kin

k

Too k(2006:13) kin kToo k& kVethamani k(Eds.) kstates kthat k“the kmost kfrequent

k

reason kfor kyoung kadult kreaders kto kenjoy kreading kthese knine kstories kwas kthat kthe

k

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stories kwere kall kabout kyoung kadults”. kThe kother kreason kwas kthat kthe klanguage

k

used kin kthe kstory kis kinteresting kand kuses kreal-life kexpressions. kHowever, kthere

k

were kfew kstudents kwho kdidn’t kenjoy kthe kstory kas kthey kthought kthat kit kwas knot

k

interesting, kthe ksetting kof kthe kstory kis kunfamiliar kto kthem kand kthere kis kno

k

message kin kthe kstory.

k

English is a compulsory subject at BDQ High School, the students will learn all
the four skills at the same time. All these skills are needed for language learning and
it is essential for them to enhance the English level. Teachers have a trend to bring
traditional methods to apply in teaching English which and it is not really effective
to English learners which makes students feel bored and anxious when studying
language, so with the introduction of new methods: short story. Therefore, it is as
new and strength wave given for students at BDQ High School, this has changed
and now learning a second language can be funny and enjoyable. When using short
stories, teachers not only teach higher order thinking because of promoting the use
of all the four skills but also are embedded motivational benefits.
For all of the reasons list above, I would decide to choose: “Students’
perception of using short stories in learning English as a Foreign Language at High
School in Vietnam” as the title of my thesis. It is because a short story not too long
to read and has various interesting topics. So hopefully through this way, it will be
created a funny and interesting atmosphere in the English classroom.
2. Aims of the study and Research Question.
Given that there might be a possible tension perception of learners. By using a
short story to help students in learning English, the present study is to examine
whether the short stories in the English classroom as a pedagogical resource is to
investigate English learners’ perception. Furthermore, this material aims to

determine students’ level of interest in reading short stories. Therefore, a thesis
study was conducted of Grade 11 at BDQ High School in Academic Year 20182019 to satisfy two purposes above.
In order to achieve the aim of the study, the following research question is
raised:

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1. What are the perceptions of students towards using short stories in
learning English?
3. Scope of the study.
Within the scope of our study, the thesis author discusses only the students’
perception of using short stories in learning English. Hopefully, this field of study
will provide learners of English as a Foreign Language with some theoretical base
and fundamental background short stories. Then, I have a clear look at the students’
perception of using short stories. I neither mention about other issues nor teachers’
perception of using short stories. Due to a shortage of reference materials as well as
the limited time, the study is somewhat conducted to English classroom setting at
grade 11 at BDQ High School in the academic year of 2018-2019. The population
took part in the study was a group of 76 students. It consists of 2 classes at (Class
11A9 and Class 11A11). Both classes have the same curriculum and have been
taught by the same English teacher. All of the students in these two classes have
been learning English for nearly six years since they were in the fifth grade.
4. Research methods.
In order to achieve the aims of the study, the following three research
instruments have intended to be conducted in my thesis study: classroom

observation, survey questionnaire, and interview.
Design a questionnaire concerning the students’ perception of using ST in
learning English as a Foreign Language. The questionnaire was used to gain
quantitative information as it “enables the researcher to collect data in field
settings.”
Interview 5 students who used short stories as a pedagogical source for
studying English of Grade 11 at BDQ High School. It also gave flexibility for the
interviewer in conducting the interview. The interview was utilized to confirm the
findings from the questionnaire. The interview also explored the relationship of
using short story in language learning classroom and the Foreign Language
learners’ perception about it.

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5. Significances of the study.
Generally, kthis kresearch kis kuseful kfor kthe kEnglish kteachers kat kHigh kSchool

k k

and kfocuses kon kthe kuse kof kshort kstories kin kteaching kthe kEnglish klanguage kamong

k

Foreign kLanguage klearners. kThrough kthis kstudy, kthe kresearcher khave ka kclear

k

picture kof kthe kstudents’ kperception kof kthe kuse kof kshort kstories. kIn kaddition, kthis

k

thesis kalso kdetermines kstudents’ klevel kof kinterest kin kreading kshort kstories.

k

Moreover, kthe kinvestigation kalso kgives kbenefit kresearchers kwithin kthe karea

k k k k k k

as kthey kcan kuse kthe kfindings kas ka kreference kor kfor kfuture kresearch. kThey kutilizes

k

this kexamination kas ka kguideline kto kraise kon kthe kuse kof kliterature kin kEnglish

k

language kteaching kwithin kone kcontext. kSince kliterature kdoes knot konly kenhance kthe

k

four klanguage kskills, kit kcan kalso kdevelop kskills kthat kare kimportant kfor kHigh

k

students’ kattributes. k

k

6. Design of the study.
Apart from the acknowledgment, the abstract, the appendix, my study consists
of the following three parts as follow:
Part A, Introduction explores a general introduction that captures the
background of the study as well as the rationale of the study, aims of the study,
research questions, scope of the study, research methods and significances of the
study.
Part B, Development, gives information on Theoretical Background,
Methodology, Findings and Discussion of the study.
Chapter I: Theoretical Background comprises a review of related some
theoretical background knowledge leading to the study of students’ perception of
using short stories as a Foreign Language at a High School in Viet Nam. The
chapter begins discussion on definition of learning English as a Foreign Language.
In addition, it also gives clarification of significant concepts and terms such as:
definition of perceptions, short story. The last one, it refers to the relation between
language learning and short story and the role of short stories in language learning.
Chapter II: Methodology is the core chapter of my study which is designed for
a more detailed presentation. It deals with the research process, collection of data

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through the administration of the research tools designed for the study, and detailed
analysis.
Chapter III: Findings and discussion focus on analyzing gathered data and
interpretation of data. It discusses the research findings of the study.
Part C, Conclusion, is the last one presentation, summarizes the main findings,
implications for teaching and learning, draws conclusions from the findings and
ends with recommendations for further study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
In this chapter, a review of theoretical background knowledge on students’
perception of using short stories in learning English as a Foreign Language is given.
First, the review introduces definition of English as a Foreign Language from which
there is a need to be clear look in order to have a comprehensive and complete
understanding about the process of learning or acquiring a Foreign Language. The
review then goes on to explain some concepts and terms such as: perception, short
story, and that is followed by a very brief discussion. At the end of the review, a
discussion of the relation between language and ST and the role of ST in language
learning which have been referred to have possible impacts on the process of
learning EFL is given, focusing only on positive factors which have a direct bearing
on this experiment.
1. Definitions English as a Foreign Language.
As you know, a klanguage kis kconsidered kforeign kif kit kis klearned klargely kin kthe

kclassroom kand kis knot kspoken kin kthe ksociety kwhere kthe kteaching koccurs. kStudy kof
another klanguage kallows kthe kindividual kto kcommunicate keffectively kand

k

creatively kand kto kparticipate kin kreal- klife ksituations kthrough kthe klanguage kof kthe
kauthentic kculture kitself. kLearning kanother klanguage kprovides kaccess kinto ka
kperspective kother kthan kone’s kown, kincreases kthe kability kto ksee kconnections kacross
kcontent kareas, kand kpromotes kinterdisciplinary kperspective kwhile kgaining
kintercultural kunderstandings. kLanguage kis kthe kvehicle krequired kfor keffective
khuman kto khuman kinteractions kand kyields ka kbetter kunderstanding kof kone’s kown
klanguage kand kculture. k kThe kdistinguish kbetween ktwo kterms kacquisition kand
klearning: k“acquisition” krefers kto kthe kprocess kof klearning kfirst kand ksecond
klanguages knaturally, kwithout kformal kinstruction, kwhereas k“learning” kis kreserved
k

for kthe kformal kstudy kof ksecond kor kforeign klanguages kin kclassroom ksettings. kEFL
kis kalso kconsidered kan k“additive kbilingual ksituation” ksince kthe kaddition kof ka
ksecond klanguage kis kunlikely kto kreplace kor kdisplace kthe kfirst klanguage kor kculture
k(Lambert, k1980). kEFL, kon kthe kother khand, kit kis kdefined kas k“English kfor klearners
kwho kcome kfrom ka kcountry kwhere kEnglish kis knot kspoken kas ka kmother ktongue”
k(Scrivener, k2005, kp.426) kand kwhere kEnglish kis kalmost kalways knot kspoken koutside
kthe kclassroom kin kpublic. kTherefore, kEFL kstudents khave kfewer kchances kto kpractice
k

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with knative kspeakers kbecause kthe klanguage koutside kthe kclassroom kis knot kEnglish.

k

It kmay kalso kbe kused kas ka klanguage kfor kcertain kcourses kat ka kuniversity kor kcollege.

k

It kmay kbe krelated kfor kpeople kwho kwork kin ka ktourism kbusiness, kand kfor ksome
ksections kof kthe kcivil kservice k(Richards, k1985, kp.3). kAccording kto kDavid kCrystal
k(2003) k“language kdoes knot kbecome ka kglobal klanguage kbecause kof kits kintrinsic
k

structural kproperties, kor kbecause kof kthe ksize kof kits kvocabulary, kor kbecause kit khas
kbeen ka kvehicle kof ka kgreat kliterature kin kthe kpast, kor kbecause kit kwas konce
kassociated kwith ka kgreat kculture kor kreligion. kThese kare kall kfactors kwhich kcan
k

motivate ksomeone kto klearn ka klanguage”. k(p.9). kIt kmeans kthat klearning ka klanguage
ksuch kas kEnglish kas ka kforeign klanguage kis ka kkey kfor kawareness kand khuman
k

cognitive. kWhat kis kmore, klanguage kencourages kindividuals kto kmanage kthemselves
kon kthe kplanet kand ktheir klife, klanguage kis kknown kas ka kforeign kthat kit kinstructed kor
k

learned kin kthe kclassroom kand kisn't kspoken koutside kin kthe kgeneral kpublic kit kis
kopposite kwhatever kwe kcall kas ka kfirst kor ka klocal klanguage, kit kadditionally kcontrasts

kfrom ka ksecond klanguage. kSo, kthe kmost kessential kconcepts kof kthe kexpression
k

“foreign klanguage”. kAleidine kJ. kMoeller kand kTheresa kCatalano k(2015) kindicates
kthat k“Study kof kanother klanguage kallows kthe kindividual kto kcommunicate
keffectively kand kcreatively kand kto kparticipate kin kreal-life ksituations kthrough kthe
k

language kof kthe kauthentic kculture kitself” k(p.327) kand kwe kinfers kthatn kan keducated

k

man kor kwoman kin kthis klife kis kassessed kupon kthe kmastery kof kanother klanguage
krather kthan khis kor kher knative klanguage.
k

2. Clarification of Significant Concepts and Terms.
2.1. Definitions of perceptions.
According to the Cambridge dictionary definition, perception refers to “a belief
or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem”. This
dictionary definition does not seem to make a clear distinction between perception,
belief or feeling. Wesely (2012), referring to learner beliefs and perceptions, is of
the view that learner convictions, “although rarely distinguished formally from
learner perceptions in the literature, have often been assumed to be more
overarching and pervasive than perceptions, which have tended to focus on specific
experiences. Learner beliefs have included what learners think about themselves,
about the learning situation, and about the target community.” (Wesely, 2012, p.
S100).

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However, in my research, I am focusing on students’ perceptions – a specific
set of experiences – of a short story, and the perceptions might hint at the students’
beliefs about the short story. Etymologically, the word “perception” originates from
the Latin word “percipere” (to perceive). Perceiving kideas kand kconcepts kis kviewed
kfrom ktwo kdimensions k- kfirst kis kthe kconscious krecognition kand kinterpretation kof
sensory kstimulate kthat kserve kas ka kbasis kfor kunderstanding, klearning, kand kknowing
kor kfor kmotivating ka kparticular kaction kor kreaction. kThe ksecond kis kthe kresult kor
kproduct kof kthe kact kof kperceiving. kMoreover, kinstinctive kknowledge khas kbeen kused
k

to kdefine kor kexplain kthe kterm kperception. kThese kinclude kawareness,
kunderstanding, ksense, kimpression, kidea, ktaste, knotion, krecognition, kobservation,
k

consciousness, kconception, kapprehension, kdiscrimination. kPutting kthe ksemantic
kconnotations ktogether, kFazio kand kWilliams kexplain kperception kas: k“Those
k

subjective kexperiences kof kobjects kor kevents kthat kordinarily kresult kfrom
kstimulation kof kthe kreceptor korgans kof kthe kbody. kThis kstimulation kis ktransformed
kor kencoded kinto kneural kactivity k(by kspecialized kreceptor kmechanisms) kand kis
k

relayed kto kmore kcentral kregions kof kthe knervous ksystem kwhere kfurther kneural

kprocessing koccurs . According to them, it is the final neural processing in the brain
that underlies or causes perceptual experience; and therefore perception-like
k

experiences can sometimes occur without external stimulation of the receptor
organs. Merriam Webster dictionary (since 1828), perception is defined as a result
of perceiving: OBSERVATION and a mental image: CONCEPT. We can
understand that it is a judgment resulting from awareness or understanding (as
meanings and ideas) and the ability that you notice or understand something easily
using one of your senses.
2.2. Definitions of short story.
In the 19 century, short stories developed which turn out more and more
progressively prevalent and widely read. It is as an abstract structure like
magazines. Right now, lots of writers assume extraordinary jobs in the movement of
the ST, these writers are as often as possible anthologized in the accumulations of
short stories. Besides, and especially at the right on time of the 20th century, stories
was set up in the west, additionally seemed numerous authors like Edgar Allan Poe,
Guy de Maupassant, and Anton Chekhov and they begin to utilize the scholarly type
of stories that investigate an assortment of sorts which contains different sorts, for

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example, romantic tales, dream, and others. A few highlights of ST lived of
migrants, who worked so hard and learned to adjust new language and culture in a
new domain as historical events that contributed in the development of stories like

the World War I, and World War II structure the sceneries to a considerable lot of
the best ST in the first of the half twentieth century. In any case, at the late of the
twentieth century, ST have been composed and regularly have reflected the weights
of the pressure of daily life and manage some issues that influence society and
family just as, yet presently days story in English had really turned into a worldwide
language. We can define that a short story can be characterized as a work of fiction
that is generally written in a composition, frequently in a narrative format.
According to Labov (1972), a short story also defined as “one method of
reduplicating past experiences by matching a verbal sequence of events” (p.359-60),
it is succinct and describes a progression of occasions with temporal connections
between them. The end in the short story is unique in relation to the start. Moreover,
Poe (as refer to in Abrams, 1970, p158) characterized ST by as “a narrative that can
be read at one setting from one half hour to two hours, and that limited to a certain
unique or single effect, to which every detail is subordinate”, that they appear to be
the most reasonable one to use in language educating particularly in showing skill,
likewise educators and teachers for a long time have realized that a short story is an
exceptionally successful technique. This thought short stories are the most
appropriate literary genre to use in English language instructing because of its
shortness, as indicated by Hirvela and Boyles (1988) the individuals who upheld
this view think about on grown-up Hong Kong Chinese students frames of mind
towards four types of literary texts(short story, novel, poetry and drama) also they
declared that short stories are the main genre that is less feared and the second best
enjoyed (43%, the novel was the most appreciated with 44%). Since short stories
are not difficult to comprehend and complete anything.
Furthermore, Matthews concludes that: “the ST is one of the few defined
literary forms -a genre and that the ST was developed long before the novel in the
history of literature” (Matthews 1994, p. 74)”. He claims the purpose of the novel is

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often to give a personal impression of life, not so much to tell a story. The story
itself, then, is at the heart of the ST, while a story is of less significance in the novel.
3. Relation between short story and language learning.
3.1. Teachers
Learning language is very important for students and the utilization of ST as a
material will be a teaching method for English language teachers, not exclusively to
enhance sentence structure abilities, just as students᾽ imagination. Furthermore,
basic and short are characteristic of ST genre. In this way, it creates to be interesting
for the students to learn grammar as it prompts comprehend the topic simpler. As
indicated by Ariogul, S.(2001), a short story is utilized as a material in EFL
educational modules that offered these focal points among them, giving greater
innovativeness, testing writings which required individual investigation bolstered
with earlier learning for cutting edge peruses level, likewise advancing basic
reasoning aptitudes, as it made the students reading task simpler to being basic and
short when it contrasted and other literary.
One more and furthermore the most strength of utilizing ST in the English
classroom is that it assists the students to improve their basic four language abilities
(listening, speaking, reading, writing.) Besides, Collie and Slater indicates that: “If
selected and exploited appropriately, short stories enrich the courses and learners
can enhance an advanced level of the target language. A literary text provides a
vivid idea about a syntactic structure which clarifies the written form of
grammatical structures” (qt in Kaya, 2014: 42)”. As it is clear, applying ST in
language learning classes has a valuable and constructive outcome on four language
skill. It builds up a variety of vocabulary, the competence of grammar structures and
students’ critical thinking in the objective language. Additionally, Erkaya puts

accentuation on the side effect of reading ST in ELT/EFL classes, for the
improvement of students’ critical thinking and communicative skills: “when
students read, they interact with the text. By interacting with the text, they interpret
what they read. By interpreting what they read, they can work toward speaking
English more creatively” (Erkaya, 2005: 5). As a result, the ST as a literary genre

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has an advantageous and undisputable impact on improving the four language
abilities.
3.2. Students
The relation between ST and students is as a problem which we are always to
refer to. Students are presented to a wide range of parts of composing. Investigating
a unit of short stories offers understudies numerous chances to disguise and apply
the intelligence they increase about perusing and translating writing to the following
story they read. They are all the more much of the time presented to the specialty of
utilizing language, the scholarly gadgets that writers use, and how these can make a
story work (or not work) for a pursuer. The short stories themselves contain
fundamental subjects or themes that challenge the understudies to make more
extensive inferences from the material, urging understudies to think on a more
extensive dimension about interconnected issues and topics that keep running all
through the materials. Collie and Slater (1991) propose that utilizing literary in
ELT/EFL classes gives some significant advantages in language instructing:
“authentic material, cultural enrichment, language advancement, and personal
growth” (qt in Pardede, 2011: 15). It is accurated that it is written normally that it is

a show-stopper created in the local language. As literature is created in a native
language of its speakers, it has the social thought processes and qualities in it.
Students of a language additionally become familiar with the way of life that
produces it. Since writing is a result of a local language, it is an extraordinary pool
of etymological and grammatical examples. A few pupils can gain the syntactic and
phonetic structures well, they may use to practice speaking of it. Now, literature is a
two collapsed instrument that intentions and represents the utilization of linguistic
structures of the objective language (Kaya, 2014: 41). In this manner, utilizing
literary in language showing leads not exclusively to the social advancement yet in
addition to the self-improvement for its students. As key focuses, Lindsay Cland
field (2011) entireties up the purposes behind utilizing ST in the English classroom
as pursues unmodified language and a useful tool in the classroom since they
abilities they obtain in managing troublesome or obscure language can be utilized

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outside the class. Therefore, writing is regularly more involve than the texts found
in course books. Accordingly, in ELT/EFL classes, literature has an undeniable job
which empowers: “students to understand the language better by providing them
with real-world experiences, relationships between society and people where the
target language is spoken, even if they are fictions” (Pardede, 2011: 17). Then
again, the point of convergence for this paper is the utilization of ST specifically as
a literary genre.
4. Role of short stories in language learning.
Nowadays, literature has important vital role to play in the teaching of English.

In Viet Nam, the English subject has experienced through lots of stages of
improvement, where different perspectives on the best way to realize and what to
realize were attempted and tried. We have moved from a strict spotlight on
language-grammar and interpretation in the mid1900s, to an informative
methodology from the mid-1970s, where it was viewed as critical to study language
in a meaningful setting (Simensen 1998, p. 64). With the development of
communicative approaches to deal with language educating and learning, literature
was likewise given a progressively central place, particularly from the late 1980s to
mid1990s. It was viewed as vital to give the pupils an introduction to the valid
language, where literary texts are viewed as authentic messages (Eikrem 1999, p.
21). Today, English is a wide subject that points not exclusively to show pupils how
to talk, read, listen and write in English, additionally to create social understanding,
social abilities and to empower the students' self-improvement. In the subject
educational programs for English, we can read that in addition to language learning,
English ought to add to giving experiences into lifestyles and societies in Englishspeaking countries. It is additionally noticed that literary texts in English can give
long-lasting delight of perusing, and a more profound comprehension of others and
of ourselves, just as rouse the students' own imagination (Norwegian Directorate for
Education and Training, 2013. 12). Literature and culture, as we can unmistakably
observe, have been given a focal spot in the English educational programs. The role
of literature in English educating is both that of an incredible source language - the

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more etymological viewpoints and as a hotspot for finding out about, understanding
and examining social and social. There is a substantial number of advantages of

using ST for EFL students. And as indicated by Maley (1989, which referred to in
Hismanoglu, 2005) that they recorded the following explanations forwarding ST in
English classroom particularly it can raise social mindfulness, linguistic awareness,
inspiration, and others. Therefore, short stories are professed to enhance all the four
skill , Murdoch (2002) shows that “short stories can, if selected and exploited
appropriately”(p.9), Erkaya (2005) peruses literature text lead pupils to think
fundamentally, he called attention to when understudies read they cooperate with
that content and translate what they read and this investigation made them
progressively innovative and basic. In addition, Yong (1996) has examined about
two strength of utilizing short stories for bringing critical thinking in students as
pursued: "because they are entertaining, students’ pervasive is reduced, and they
learn from the beginning that critical thinking is natural, familiar, and sometimes
even fun additionally stories put issues of basic reasoning in effectively recollected
contexts"(p.90). You kcan krealize kthat kST kat kthe kintermediate klevel kof klanguage
learning kcould kbe kbeneficial ksince kliterature khas kthe kquality kof kbeing kuniversal

k

and kshort kstories kwill kenable kthe kteacher kto kdeal kwith khuman kissues. kStudents

k

voice ktheir kfeelings kabout kmany kproblems kand kare ksolemnly ksearching kfor

k

information kthat kcan kpromote ka kbetter kcomprehension kof kthe kworld kin kwhich kwe

k

as kindividual klife. kFurthermore, khe kis kexpressing khis kfeelings kabout kan kissue, khe

k

will kget kassociated kwith kthe ktopic kwhich khe ktends kto ksee kas kvital kand kwill klike kto

k

spend ka kgreat kdeal kof ktime kon kit. kIt kis kquite knatural kfor khuman knature kto

k

communicate kthrough knarration ka ksequence kof kactions kthat kcould kbe kinteresting

k

and ksometimes kmotivating ktoo k(Maibodi, k2008). k kAccording kto kSaka k(2014) ksee

k

the kview kthat kshort kstories khave ksome kadvantages kto kteach kforeign klanguage

k

compared kto kanother kgenre. kShort kstories kallow kinstructors kto kteach kthe kfour

k

skills kto kall klevels kof klanguage kproficiency. kMurdoch k(2002) kindicates kthat k“short

k

stories kcan, kif kselected kand kexploited kappropriately, kprovide kquality ktext kcontent

k

which kwill kgreatly kenhance kELT kcourses kfor klearners kat kintermediate klevels kof

k

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proficiency” k(p. k9). kHe kexplains kwhy kstories kshould kbe kused kto kreinforce kELT kby

k

discussing kactivities kinstructors kcan kcreate ksuch kas kwriting kand kacting kout

k

dialogues. kAlso, kOster k(1989) kaffirms kthat kliterature khelps kstudents kto kwrite kmore

k

creatively k(p.85). kInstructors kcan kcreate ka kvariety kof kwriting kactivities kto khelp

k

students kto kdevelop ktheir kwriting kskills. kThey kcan kask kstudents kto kwrite kdialogues

k

(Murdoch, k2002, kp. k9) kor kmore kcomplex kwriting kactivities kif kstudents khave

k

reached ka khigh klevel kof klanguage kproficiency.

k

5. Previous study.
There have been some studies investigated the aspects of short stories in
English classroom for students, as well EFL learners.
In 2012, Mohammad Khatib conducted the study “Enhancing Reading
Comprehension through Short Stories in Iranian EFL Learners”. This kstudy ktries
to ktest kusing kliterary ktext kin kimproving kreading kcomprehension kability kof kIranian

k

foreign klanguage klearners. kA kgroup kof k26 kstudents kmajoring kin kEnglish kat kthe

k

Islamic kAzad kUniversity kBabol kBranch kand kAmol kBranch khas kbeen ksampled kfor

k

the kpurpose kof kthis kstudy. kThe kstudents kwere kthen kdivided kinto ktwo kgroups– kthe

k

control kgroup kand kthe kexperimental kgroup. kBoth kthe kgroups kwere kadministered

k

identical kPre-Test kand kPost-Test kwhich kconsists kof kselected kreading kpassage kfrom

k

different kTOEFL kbooks. kThe kfindings kof kthe kstudy kshowed kthat kthe kexperimental

k

group kdid knot kshow ka ksignificant kimprovement kover kthe kcontrol kgroup. kSo kthe

k

using kof kliterary ktexts kseemed kunsatisfactory kfor kIranian kEFL klearners’.

k

Pourkalhor kand kKohan k(2013) kalso kinvestigated kabout k“Teaching kReading
Comprehension kThrough kShort kStories kIn kAdvance kClasses”. kThe kinvestigation

k

has kinspected kthe keffects kof kshort kstory kguidance kon k20 kadvanced-level ktenth-

k

grade kstudents kto kshow kif kthe kmethod khad kan kimpact kon kstudent kreading
comprehension. k. kTo kserve kthis kpurpose, kthe kstudy kwas kcarried kby kan kinstrument:

k

a kreading kcomprehension ktest. kTwo kgroups kwere koccupied kwith kthe kexamination

k

in kthe kstudy. kIn kone, kstudents kwere kpresented kto ka kstrategy kfor kperusing kguidance

k

more kthan kten kweeks. k kThe ktraditional kway kof kteaching kreading kcomprehension

k

get kthe kother. kThe kdata kobtained kfrom kthe kinstrument kwas kanalyzed kusing ktests.

k

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The koutcome kdemonstrated kthat kstudents kin kexperimental kgroup kimproved kon kthe

k

comprehension ktest kthan kthose kin kthe kcontrol kone.

k

In kthe ksame kyear, kHandayani kwrote kan kexperiment: k“Using kChildren kShort

kkkkkk

Stories kTo kEnhance kStudents kReading kComprehension”. kThe kstudy kinforms kthe

k

use kof kchildren kshort kstories kin kteaching kreading kcomprehension kin kone kof kjunior

k

high kschools kin kBandung. kThe kdata kwere kcollected kthrough kvarious kinstruments:

k

observation ksheet, kreading ktest, kquestionnaire, kand kinterview. kThe kdata kthen kwere

k

analyzed kthrough ktriangulation kmethod kand kreported kin kqualitative kdescriptive

k

analysis. kThe kfindings krevealed kdespite ksome klimitations, kthe kuse kof kchildren

k

short kstories khelped kthe kstudents kto kimprove ktheir kreading kcomprehension. kThe

k

result kof kreading ktest kshowed ka kslightly kimprovement kon kthe kstudents k‟ kaverage

k

score kfrom k61.09 kin kdiagnostic ktest kincreased kto k76.28 kin kCycle k3 ktherapeutic

k

test. kThe kresult kof kobservation kimplied kthat kthe kemployment kof kreading kstrategies

k

and kthe kcharacteristic kof kchildren kshort kstories kgave kinfluences kto kthe

k

improvement kof kstudents‟ kreading kcomprehension.

k

Study kof kMustafa kPathan k(2012) kcarried kout k“Advantages kof kUsing kShortstories kin kELT kClassroom kand kthe kLibyan kEFL kLearners’ kPerceptions ktowards
them kfor kDeveloping kReading kComprehension kSkill”, kLibya. kThe kstudy kfollowed

k

the kdescriptive kapproach. kThe ksubject kare kEFL klearners kfrom kuniversity kof

k

Sebha, kLibya. kThe kstudy khas kreached kinto kso kmany kfindings ksuch kas: kthe kuse kof

k

short k–stories koffers kthe kmaterial kwhich kis kreal, kcreative kand krich kin klanguage

k

selection, kas kwell kas kis kamusing kand kmotivational kin knature. kIt kis kalso kconsidered

k

as ka khighly keffective kapproach kfor kteaching kand klearning kof kforeign klanguage

k

like kEnglish kand kis krecommended kfor kthe ksame kreasons kby keminent kintellectual

k

comprehension kskill. kThe kpresent kstatus kof kthe kuse kof kshort-stories kin kthe kLibyan

k

EFL kclassrooms kand kthe kresearcher’s kperspective kon kthe kuse kof kshort-stories kin

k

the kLibyan kcontext kalso kform kan kimportant kpart kof kthe kdiscussion kin kthe kpaper. k

k

In k2014, kSaka, kÖ. kalso kexamined k“Short kstories kin kEnglish klanguage

k

teaching. kInternational kOnline kJournal kof kEducation kand kTeaching k(IOJET),1(4),

k

278-288.” kThis kwas ka kdescriptive kstudy kand kthe ksamples kwere k40 kjunior kstudents

k

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